A former Disney executive is helping UCLA revamp its gameday experiences and generate more revenue amid a $200-million budget deficit, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Daniel Cruz, the school’s new deputy athletics director and chief revenue officer, is focused on improving the fans’ experience at the Rose Bowl and Pauley Pavilion.
Though the Bruins have a nearly $220-million deficit, new clubs and lounges at the two venues are intended to draw more fans, as attendance issues have plagued the school in recent years.
“Essentially, what I’m trying to do is just trying to set us up for success and do things differently, because the old way of how college athletics normally conducts business, it’s not working,” Cruz told the Times.
Other expected changes include a shift to a new ticketing agency and dynamic pricing, which will make less-desirable games more affordable.
Furthermore, Pauley Pavilion will return to a previous layout that better features the energetic student section on broadcasts.
The basketball programs will likely benefit from changes like these, as both the men’s and women’s teams play on campus and have seen success in recent years. The women’s team won the Big Ten Conference tournament this year and made it to the Final Four earlier this year, while the men’s team made it to the Final Four as recently as 2021.
The football team, however, hasn’t fared as well. Not only have they not won 10 games since 2014, but they play in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, which is 26 miles from campus — a literal marathon away.
As Bruin great Troy Aikman noted after lackluster attendance for a 2022 game against South Alabama, a smaller on-campus stadium could be better for the program’s future.
“This is an embarrassment, but we couldn’t fill the Rose Bowl in 1988 when we were the No. 1 team in the country,” Aikman said on social media. “Anyone else at UCLA think it’s time for an on-campus 30,000-seat stadium?”
Aikman noted, however, that results on the field are also part of the equation when it comes to drawing fans. In that 2022 game, the Bruins narrowly escaped an upset by the underdog Jaguars, a program younger than the college students who play there.
“Of course, if we can’t play better than we did today, it would be half-empty too,” Aikman noted.
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