| Chat With Ian McCaw on Tuesday Welcome to BaylorBears.com's online chat, where Baylor athletic director Ian McCaw will join us at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, July 6. McCaw won't be dropping by until Tuesday morning, but you can submit your questions now, and we will hold them until then. |
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| Moderator: The live chat with Baylor Director of Athletics Ian McCaw will begin at 11 a.m. Please submit your questions now. |
 |  | Ian McCaw: Good morning and thank you for joining us for today's chat. |
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| Scott Waco: Great job on the Big 12 save. How can we be proactive to prevent a re-occurence? |
| | Ian McCaw: Scott, thanks for the question. I expect that there will be another wave of conference realignment at some point in the future. The best way to position Baylor favorably is by building the value of our football program in the eyes of our television partners. The key metrics are competitive success and season ticket holders. Coach Briles and the team are highly committed and doing a terrific job in putting an improving product on the field. We need Baylor Nation to be committed to "fill the stands" for all six home games and in Dallas for the Texas Tech game. That means every person in Baylor Nation circling the calendar for these seven dates and making sure that you are in the stands pulling for the Bears! |
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| John Ferrell (Fort Worth): How will the football schedules in 2011 be done to where everyone will have an equal number of conference games? |
| | Ian McCaw: John, we have started the process of developing future football schedules for the Big 12 once the conference becomes 10 members. The sentiment favors a nine-game schedule where Baylor would play each conference member in football every year. |
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| Bob (Temple): Thank you for your great efforts in keeping the Big 12 together. What are the next steps and time line for moving the football stadium to campus? The BU game day experience could be one of the best in the nation! The sooner the better! |
| | Ian McCaw: Bob, thank you for the kind comments and question. There are already quite a number of questions today about an on-campus football stadium. Before undertaking any significant building project, it is necessary to study all of the implications (physical, programmatic, financial, development, funding/debt service, etc.). I have made recommendations to the University's leadership about how we should consider this project within the context of the overall needs of the University. To answer your question, development and funding/debt service are the most significant hurdles to clear before launching a project of this scope. I agree that the game day experience is one of the most appealing aspects for this project. |
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| Jeff (Waco): The PAC-10 commissioner called it a tsunami. How would you describe the political activity during the realignment episode and what part did you and Judge Starr play in it? Also, who is writing the book about the episode and when will it be published? |
| | Ian McCaw: Jeff, thank you for the e-mail. I believe that Pac-10 Commissioner Larry Scott's description was quite accurate. Baylor Nation rallied to support its athletics program at a time when there was considerable concern about the future of the Big 12 and for that I am extremely grateful. President Starr and our Board of Regents provided great leadership and are to be commended for these efforts. I am not aware of any books currently being written, however, it will be the most interesting chapter in my memoirs! |
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| Jim (Dallas): Ian, with the increased emphasis on raising football attendance, can we expect to see some kind of marketing campaign to increase both season and individual game ticket sales? What is our all-time high for season ticket sales? Is 20,000 a reasonable goal? I would like to hear your thoughts on this. Thanks! |
| | Ian McCaw: Jim, it is always good to hear from you. Each year we emphasize selling football season tickets, but there is an added sense of urgency following the recent conference realignment situation. Thanks to President Starr's leadership and call to Baylor Nation to "fill the stands" in support of Baylor football, we are making considerable progress with our 2010 marketing and sales efforts. A Football Strike Force committee has been established to focus on engaging our campus constituents including students, faculty and staff. This group will focus on encouraging the campus community to attend our six home games in Waco and utilize a variety of communication and marketing vehicles to do so. We have had some exciting developments with the local business community as a result of their increased desire to support Baylor and the Big 12. Thanks to the excellent work of our marketing staff, the Baylor spirit program has more than 850 local business signed up to display Baylor football posters, schedule cards and signage in their stores beginning later this month. On July 12, we will launch our multi-media football marketing campaign with the theme of calling Baylor Nation to "Rise Up" and support the football program. We are utilizing all of the traditional media platforms: newsprint, postcards, internet, television and radio. In addition, we will place a special emphasis on tailgating and the fan experience by way of a commercial that will be delivered to more than 80,000 via e-mail. We want to encourage our fans to come early, stay late and wear gold! |
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| Jim (Dallas): Ian, I read that due to water damage in the men's gym at the Whetsel Practice Facility, we had to replace the floor and ended up renting the floor we played on during the Elite Eight, which I think is a great idea. Is purchasing this floor an option or will we have a custom replacement floor made? |
| | Ian McCaw: Jim, we were fortunate that when the men's basketball practice floor in the Lt. Jack Whetsel Jr. Basketball Practice Facility was damaged we had an opportunity to rent the floor used during the 2010 NCAA Basketball Regional in Houston. I know that our coaches and student-athletes have been excited about using this floor during the summer on a temporary basis. We will be installing a permanent floor that will be ready when classes begin in the fall. |
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| Hayden (China Spring): How do I get some of those middle section seats with the chair backs? |
| | Ian McCaw: Hayden, please call the Baylor Bear Foundation today at 254-710-2582 or go on-line at Baylorbears.com. We have a very limited supply of premium season tickets remaining and expect them to go very quickly. Thanks for your support of the Bears! |
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| Gerald G. in Waco: Q ??? Hey Ian. I bored with no Baylor sports going but pumped for some football. You and Ken Starr did a great job with the conference and I want to thank Starr for calling Baylor Nation to ???fill the stands???. This message from a president is long overdue. I realize we are not going to have crowds like big state schools, but we should be up there with the best private schools. How are season ticket sales going this year? |
| | Ian McCaw: Gerald, thanks for the e-mail and kind words. We need Baylor Nation to 'rise up' and fill Floyd Casey Stadium this year and we are grateful for President Starr's leadership in this effort. Regarding your question about state schools versus private schools, in 2009 Baylor ranked 64th nationally in football attendance at 36,306 fans per home game. This number compares favorably with other top BCS privates including Stanford (58th at 41,436), Northwestern (83th at 24,190), Wake Forest (72nd at 31,791) and Vanderbilt (67th at 35,015). These are all institutions with relatively comparable alumni bases. Our focus continues to be on growing our season ticket base and that is where we need Baylor Nation to make a difference. We have sold just over 10,000 season tickets thus far which is more than 1,400 ahead of the same date last year. If you don't have season tickets, we need you to buy two. If you have two, we need you to purchase four. If you have four, please consider getting six! |
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| Alan - Ft Worth: Ian, This questions sounds critical about Baylor fans, but why do our fans complain about our ticket prices when they are the lowest in the Big 12? The other schools prices are like twice as high and you don't hear complaints from their fans. Alan |
| | Ian McCaw: Alan, thank you for the question. Despite the rising costs of doing business at the BCS level, Baylor continues to be very price-sensitive when it comes to establishing its single-game and season ticket prices. We offer the most inexpensive tickets in the Big 12 Conference, and continue to offer local businesses the opportunity to purchase discounted season tickets through a program called Bear Force One. A family of four can purchase a $320 season ticket for Baylor's six-game 2010 home schedule, an average of $60 per game or $15 per person. On a single-game basis, Baylor also offers a youth ticket, for children 18 and under, and is the only Big 12 school to offer adult and youth single-game ticket price-points--everyone else has one price regardless of age. With that, we need everyone in Baylor Nation to be a part of Baylor Football in 2010! |
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| Buddy, Houston: Ian, why do Baylor teams not wear uniforms from the same manufacturer? Wouldn't the university see more revenue from a single source? |
| | Ian McCaw: Buddy, thank you for the question. Baylor teams have relationships with a number of different apparel vendors in order to maximize value. We have considered single source relationships at appropriate contractual negotiating points, however we believe that we are best served by the sport-by-sport relationships that are currently in place. |
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| George (Crawford): How do you like working with Ken Starr? |
| | Ian McCaw: George, thank you for the e-mail and question about President Starr. It is a tremendous privilege and joy to serve under President Starr's leadership. He is a brilliant man who emanates the qualities of humility, graciousness and kindness. He is a tremendous encourager and I believe that he will lead Baylor Nation forward to a bright and prosperous future. From an athletics standpoint, he has made a tremendous impact through his work with the Big 12 and strong support of successful intercollegiate athletics with a proper emphasis on our Christian mission and academic values. |
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| Harvey, Waco: What was the biggest lesson learned from the recent Big XII conference issues in regards to Baylor? |
| | Ian McCaw: Harvey, the greatest lesson learned by fans and observers of intercollegiate athletics in recent weeks is that football, and more specifically football television, is what drives conference revenue. With that, football television appeal is what creates value for an institution as it relates to conference affiliation. |
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| (Jackson, MS): Congratulations to you on your outstanding leadership. The future looks great for Baylor. Will the football teams begin to play each other in 2011 or '12, Thanks and Blessings to all Bill |
| | Ian McCaw: Bill, thank you for the kind e-mail. There is a great deal of work taking place to address future schedules, championships and conference operations as a result of Nebraska and Colorado announcing that they will be leaving the Big 12. At this time, we anticipate both institutions departing following the 2010-11 academic year which will result in these changes being made effective 2011-12. |
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| Chuck in Hewitt: I-man, I don???t mind saying that the Big 12 stuff scared the bleep out of me. Thanks for doing a great job and being such a good AD. We have a program to be proud of. What do you feel are the best things you have done since you came to Baylor. Chuck |
| | Ian McCaw: Chuck, I appreciate these kind comments and can assure you that the month of June was the most exciting yet challenging time that I have experienced in my career. I am grateful for the leadership of the Board of Regents, President Starr, Commissioner Beebe and Baylor Nation rising up in support of our program and University. It is dangerous to put together a list of our most significant accomplishments because I will surely leave out several important successes. However, if given some grace on that basis, I would rank the most significant accomplishments that we have achieved in the past seven years to be: the overall athletic and academic success of our student-athletes and teams; the successful completion of Victory With Integrity; implementing our strategic plan, Above and Beyond; completion of the Highers Athletics Complex and Whetsel Basketball Practice Facility; and, enhancing the Sports Ministry Program under the leadership of Wes Yeary. |
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| | Ian McCaw: Baylor Nation, thank you for joining us for today's chat and your incredible support over the past year. Great days are ahead for the Baylor Bears! See you at Floyd Casey Stadium on September 4th! |
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