Kansas State University Athletics
Ask the AD - August 18, 2020
Aug 18, 2020 | Athletics
Brian Smoller (BS): Hello and welcome to another edition of Ask the AD, and yet a bit closer to our normal setup. We're inching closer to what we would normally have for Ask the AD. We've actually moved me to the studio as part of the Zoom call, but Gene Taylor nearby, within yards literally, a couple hundred yards away, but talking today about what you've already been able to see. You, as the K-State fan, which is the plan for K-State Football coming up in 2020 when it comes to tickets, people in the stands, all those sorts of things. Let's start with the stadium policies. That was released yesterday, but let's talk about the stadium policies. No tailgating, lots open two hours out, masks for everybody that's involved coming into the stadium, alcohol sales. What stands out to you about the policies enacted for this year?
Gene Taylor (GT): I think the biggest thing, Brian, is when we talked about these and we knew there were going to be changes to our normal operating procedures for our football season, at the end of the day it was about safety. The county commissioners and our city were really concerned with how we could do this safely. What are some steps and measures we could do to not only ensure our fans are safe, but the community is safe once those fans go out into the community after the weekend. There were tough decisions. We know how much everyone loves tailgating, and it's a big part of K-State football. The exit and reentry has always been a big part of K-State football. But we knew those things were going to be issues that we've have to address from a safety perspective, so the mask is very critical. We are going to require masks, and it's going to be something we wanted to get out there early, so if you are uncomfortable with a mask or don't want to wear a mask, then you'll have options that the ticket office sent out, as well, options as a ticket holder if you're uncomfortable wearing a mask. But we're going to enforce it, and it's going to be a critical part of our plan. The exit and reentry; we wanted to make sure that once people get in, it eliminates a lot of activity going through the turnstials and metal detectors. So once you're in, you're in. Obviously the tailgating and mass gatherings, we know maybe people wouldn't be critical in wearing their facemask out in the tailgate area. All those things are all about safety and something we needed to continue making a priority as we go through. We've introduced alcohol in parts of the stadium. We've talked about it for a while. If we're not going to let them exit and reenter, we have to give them an opportunity to grab an alcoholic beverage if they like. Biggest thing is this isn't forever. If we get back to normal operating next year, we'll reconsider all of these. Certainly tailgating would be allowed, and some of these pieces we would have to continue talking about. For this year, these are the policies.
BS: What was the process like in coming to these? I'm sure you've been told by many media outlets that they don't envy you. What's the process been like arriving at these policies, working with local officials?
GT: It started internally as a team effort with our operations staff, our ticket staff, Ahearn Fund staff and fan experience staff. They worked really hard before we even went to the county health and said, 'what are our issues, how can we operate knowing we're probably going to face a limited capacity?' We didn't know at the time what that was going to be. Our staff worked really hard. They brought it to me and talked about what the issues were. What were the critical parts of things people were going to have concerns with? We started there and put together a very detailed plan. Then we went to our county health department and started having some meetings with them. We started introducing our plan to them. They reviewed it. They talked about it in various meetings and then ultimately took it to the county commissioners this week and was improved. There were a lot of hours and thoughts put into it, a lot of conversations. It wasn't something that we just pulled off the top of our head, but it was very detailed. It's a very detailed plan. The commissioners even talked about that, as did the county health. A lot of people had input, not just things we did internally. We shared it with the county health and they gave us feedback, as well. It was a long process.
BS: For fans that are going to be coming to games, 25 percent is the number that was ruled to be approved for K-State football this fall. Everyone has seen the ticket release that has options and laid out the mini plans for fans to attend games. Obviously there were people working hard on the ticket options with a lot of unknowns in the mix there. What are the ticket options for fans now, with 25 percent being the number listed out there, what are the options for people to come to games?
GT: Hats off to the ticket office. Being an old ticket guy myself, I know it was not easy to come up with those options. We want our fans to have plenty of reasons to make the right choice. The biggest thing is we want our season ticket holders to have an option for at least one or two games or more. If we just would've said that we were going to do a single game by game and started from a high priority, we would've only got through about 45 or 50 percent of our season ticket holders that would've had an opportunity to come to the games. So we came up with these packages, a 2-game package, a 3-game package so everyone has the opportunity to come to one or two games or maybe more, which is critical. That was kind of the first decision. Through that, priority points are obviously going to become part of the process in terms of seating locations. If you don't get a chance, there's opportunities if you don't want to come to roll your tickets over to 2021. There's opportunities to keep the dollars in the department, which would be great for us and help pay for some of our expenses. That would be 100 percent deductible with Ahearn fund donations the same. A lot of options, which we wanted to give our season ticket holders. Our goal is to take care of as many as we can this year and bring as many back next year once we're back. We wanted to be pretty flexible with that decision.
BS: You mention the donation of your ticket. For those that do decide to, if you're not going to attend games but you want to donate your ticket back, the money you're going to pay for your season ticket. You talked about priority points being an issue there, there is going to be an option for priority points to triple or increase the value of those points by donating your tickets back and more information through the Ahearn Fund to come and also through Ahernfund.com. But the 25% measure I think there's some question as to what all is included in the 25% allowed into the stadium.
GT: That's a great question. One of the first things a lot of people were concerned about were the students. THe students that were able to get tickets before the deadline will be able to come and certainly enjoy the game the students had purchased. But it's going to include our team player comps and their families. Visiting team tickets, visiting teams get 500 tickets whether they'll take all 500 or not. Obviously our season ticket holders at some percentage and then premium seating as well, it'll be reduced but they'll get some percentage as well. Our staff and coaches will get tickets and the band will be there. Again working with Dr. Tracz, it will be a limited band size It won't be the full band. He's working through that but they will be in attendance. That's a good thing. We want to have the best atmosphere we possibly can. So normal folks that come to the game, but in a smaller number will be allowed to come this season but just in the 25% range.
BS: Not to get too much into the details here on each section but you did mention about the students in there and I know that was bandied about on social media last night and this morning about students. And students will be allowed to come into games.
GT: Yeah they will. Again we did set a deadline this year because we knew we'd be at a limited capacity, the deadline was I think a week or so ago. Anybody who purchased before the deadline will be able to come and again they have options too, if they don't want to come or they don't feel safe they can work with our ticket office on the options they have with their ticket purchase as well.
BS: As everything has been the case during these times, it feels like everything changes very quickly. Do these policies in your mind, do they change for the better or for worse, what's your gage on that?
GT: Well I think our policies of face mask, no tailgating, exit/reentry, those won't' change. If we have a spike in the community and there's a concern that our numbers go significantly up. The county commission did say they could re-evaluate our 25% number and it could go the other way. I hope that doesn't happen, I hope everyone stays safe, and wears their mask. Including our students and our athletes while they're out socially. That's going to be critical and we talk about it, you know we saw some pictures from the first weekend in Aggieville. But those kind of issues could affect our ability to host even the 25%. The other thing is if we go down the other direction positively we could consider potentially more folks in the stadium in later part of the season. I don't really think that's a possibility but I hope it is and if it is we'll adjust from a ticket perspective and get that information back to our fans as well.
BS: We've spent most of this time talking about football, obviously it draws a lot of interest around these parts. But there are some fans that ask about volleyball and soccer which are the other two ticketed fall sports and of course there are other fall sports that are also affected by what's going on in this pandemic. Can you give us an update at this point on volleyball and soccer.
GT: Yeah we're going to have a final decision today. I've got an AD call. Here's what we're doing, we're committed to playing volleyball and soccer. Our soccer season will probably be shortened just like football has been. We are going to look at playing a single game per week soccer match and possibly an end of the year tournament for the top four teams, that's on the table right now for soccer. Volleyball will play their traditional double round-robin in a little different format. Instead of home in one week and away in one week you'll actually play the team twice. They are going to move forward. Cross country, I know it's not a ticketed sport, but they are going to run this fall and have a chance to run for a cross country championship. We should have those final decisions today and then get it out to our fans in terms of what our schedule is going to look like. We're committed to those sports as well and having the opportunity to play for a Big 12 championship.
BS: Well a lot of good things on the horizon in the sense that we're talking about sports. It feels good to get into some bit of normalcy even though we can't see each other face to face and be in the same room, it feels like old times again getting back into things. Thank you again Gene and your staff for our the hard work that's being done. And thank you for the fans that have been so loyal during this whole time. I know this is important to you too, I'm sure you've heard a lot of encouraging emails, amidst all the bad stuff. The K-State fans have been just trying to stay the course and we're in there with you.
GT: Yeah Brian that's a great point. Our fans have been tremendous. They've been patient waiting for us to give them answers to their questions and they've been supportive. We appreciate that. We've always said all along we have the best fans in the country, I truly believe it. This is just another example of how great our fans in terms of their ability to be patient and be supportive. We're going to still need you to be that way throughout the season whether it's in the fall season or when we get into the winter sports as well. So thank you guys very much for all your support and all your patience. It means a lot.