Are University of Hawaii season ticket holders becoming something of an endangered species?

You might wonder after glimpsing some of the recent sales figures.

Rainbow Wahine volleyball sales have been running down 10% from the same point last year and football has a 1% dip, according to school figures through June 10. Basketball figures have been on the slide in recent years, too, as fans across the board are increasingly picking and choosing which events to attend rather than shelling out for season packages.

On the surface, the most recent dip in football would seem manini and something that can be balanced out by the time the kickoff is in the air Aug. 24.

And, hopefully it will. But football has been in steady decline, with sales dropping from nearly 28,000 in 2009 to under 15,000 in 2018. (Rainbow Wahine season tickets have dipped from more than 3,800 in 2015 to just over 3,300 last season, this for a program that has gone to 26 consecutive NCAA tournaments and looks to regain its Big West supremacy).

For football in particular, this year seemed positioned to make a significant U-turn back up the charts, not run in place. For one thing, the Rainbow Warriors offer their most attractive home schedule in at least a decade, beginning with back-to-back Pac-12 opponents, Arizona in the season opener followed by Oregon State. Army is the season-ending attraction and Mountain West Conference contenders Fresno State, San Diego State and Air Force visit Aloha Stadium in between.

For another, the ’Bows are coming off their first winning season in seven years and return the bulk of a high-scoring offense, including quarterbacks Cole McDonald and Chevan Cordeiro, and the foundation for an improving defense.

Season ticket sales are key because in good years as much as 70% of the football ticket revenue and 65% of Rainbow Wahine volleyball ticket revenue — key contributors to the athletic department bottom line — are derived from season ticket sales. That’s money in the bank and not at the mercy of in-season losing streaks or in-climate weather.

The season ticket woes, however, are hardly the ’Bows’ alone. The combination of a disappearing, aging fan base, an inability to make inroads with millennials and the availability of an assortment of games through TV and streaming is being increasingly felt across the landscape, especially by UH’s football peers.

For example, Nevada has experienced a steady five-year decline during which its football season ticket sales have fallen under 9,000. San Diego State, Fresno State and even Boise State have struggled from one year to the next to maintain their numbers.

The trend is forcing schools to become more inventive with promotions. Nevada-Las Vegas offers purchasers of group season tickets a $6 per game all-you-can-eat concession stand deal, where the selection varies by the game. (Unlike UH, UNLV owns and operates its stadium).

UH unveiled a program to attract recent graduates and millennials. San Diego State offers a discount for early-year renewals and has rolled out a flexible mobile season pass, where seat locations can change by the game based on availability. Fresno State is running a reported $50,000 promotional campaign touting its stars and area pride across various platforms, including billboards, banners and social media.

These days, the battle to win on the field is running parallel to trying to keep people in the seats.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.