BCI tackles the basketball attendance issue. They look at how size impacts our ranking. I actually think Conte is too big. At least too big given the demand. We've seen that consistent winning basketball is not enough to fill the building. I think reconfiguring to a smaller size is the way to go. If there is real demand for the seats and real consequences for the season ticket holders to use their seats, attendance patterns might change.
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more than anything else, BC students unfortunately need to feel like going to a game is "the thing to do" in order to get them to go to one. a tuesday or wednesday night game against virginia doesn't generate much buzz which is ultimately the biggest reason people don't go.
the student ticket policy is another big problem. no undergrad has yet been able to explain it to me in a way that makes any kind of sense. so either it is really confusing or just that stupid. in any event, they're not helping themselves with that mess.
i am curious though how our numbers compare with our last few seasons in the big east.
where is big krack jack? i need his encouraging words in a time like this.
Institute the Duke way of thinking with tickets...have students line up...its not going to happen every game but at least students who do want to go to games won't be left out in the dark.
Well, with all due respect to the BCI guys, I think they touched on every possible reason without offering their opinion on what is causing such poor attendance figures to reaffirm the stereotype about BC.
Ticket policy? Proximity? Size? Previous year's lack of success?
All can be pretty easily refuted as reasons, truth be told.
As an aside, Ga Tech's numbers will not likely decline next year with the arrival of Favors. And they stunk this year.
As for BC, lots of excuses, but no reasons. Fact is, there is NO excuse for 64% capacity in a small arena.
If students wanted to attend, they'd find a way and wouldn't be so discouraged by a ticket policy that they'd rather play their Wii in their dorm rooms instead.
Is BCI saying that people only show after good seasons? Does that hold true historically? Then that would be a comment on the fair-weather fan syndrome at BC. Not exactly reassuring. Proximity? Is Ga. Tech close to anything other than Clemson?
Regardless, you must sell out your own building without having to play Providence or UConn 16 times a year. If not sell-out, then get more than 5,500 (an abysmal number) to create a home-court advantage (at BC? Really?).
That Tuesday or Wed. game vs. UVA generates enough buzz at other schools. Fact of the matter is, barring a legitimate excuse for exams or vacations, BC students and the BC community at large (even nearby neighborhoods) simply aren't good fans of late. And it's not just a basketball issue, either.
I think people quickly forget that we only won four ACC games in 2007-08 and lost 6 conference games in a row twice during the season and finishing the season (including ACCT) on a horrible 2-12 run.
Then in 2008-09 the team loses to Harvard after beating UNC.
Those combined with the economy and I actually give the fans a pass this season. Basketball is not the main sport at BC and it even fights to be #2. I never missed a game as a student but that was just me. The team deserves better support and will hopefully get it next year.
How many games at Conte did the people of BCI and atleagle attend at Conte combined last year? I believe zero. So just as bloggers/fans, how much can we say about the issue?
Lastly, the reasons that the student section is empty and the reasons the rest of the stadium is empty are two entirely different issues.
Re-sizing the arena to be smaller would be 100x more embarassing than an empty arena. We'd never hear the end of it from other fan bases (ACC fan bases, and New England haters).
i went to the iowa game, nc state game, and clemson game. the upper decks are always more filled than the lower levels and the student section usually looks like it's lacking.
how do we get the lower sections to fill up? will the bc administration get its act together and get students to come to the games?
also, everyone needs to get louder. on the first defensive possession of every game i started screaming "hooooooooo" just to get the crowd and students cheering too. it's way too quiet in there sometimes. i'm optimistic about attendance next season though.
It's all just student interest. Last year's lack luster season had a huge effect, I think, this years attendance, but there was definitely a lot more buzz surrounding the team than even in the other four years I was there. I know for sure that myself and a lot more of my roommates and friends went to games than I remember in previous years, but the bottom line is you're not going to get kids to go to a Wednesday night game against NC State. I remember we played #15 Clemson on a Tuesday or Wednesday and a lot of people didn't go...coming down the stretch winning that game would have been key if we hadn't beaten Duke, but no one showed.
The ticketing policy is crazy but students tend to work with it and most kids get to go to games that they want to. I wasn't able to get season tickets this year (though had in years past) and was able to go to every game that I wanted to, probably also indicative of the lack of attendance, but it just says tickets are there and the students that want to go will go. In short, I don't have the answers, but I will say that I think having a school that has three consistently decent sports teams may be an issue. Most schools out there, especially in the ACC, don't have a national champion caliber hockey team, and football and basketball teams that are consistently ranked and performing decently well. At Duke, you're going to have 100% attendance at all games because thats the only sport they have. At FSU, football is going to be packed because the basketball team usually isn't that good. At BC, we're lucky to have three teams that we can always support, but it can work against us.
On a side note, I would just like to say congratulations to all my fellow classmates in the BC class of 2009 on our graduation and here's to a new life as BC Alumni!
Last year's 14-17 season actually had little effect on % capacity. We went from 67% to 64% year over year.
The biggest drop off over the last few years has been between 2006-2007 and 2007-2008. And the 2007-2008 season was one season removed from when BC went 28-8. The Jared Dudley effect?
Was 2007 the year that the AD changed the student season ticket policy so that students only get 1/2 season ticket packages?
Congrats John and other 2009'ers. Just remember to stay strong when the rest of the world gives you crap for being a BC alum.
And continue to go to games, buy merchandise, and support the Eagles!
I'd have to disagree with you, Jeff. Down economy or not, BC doesn't exactly sport the most enthusiastic fans. Besides, student enrollment at $40k a year hasn't dropped off as a result of the economy.
You can't cite losing to Harvard as a reason why fans decided not to come out--especially after beating UNC before that.
I can say plenty about the issue because I, like the rest of you, was a student and I went to all the games in the early to mid '90s and the arena was packed. And those teams were no better than the Smith/Dudley teams.
Perhaps you are right about the fact that the issues of student attendance and non-student attendance are two distinct issues.
BC's non-student attendees will likely NEVER create a home-field or home-court advantage--the late arrivals, the wine and cheese mentality, etc. But the students most assuredly can.
Too bad they don't show up enough to know.
Re-sizing the arena is a bad idea. Are we BC High or are we BC?
The point about having three competitive teams in hockey, bball, and football...okay, that's fair and perhaps plays a certain role in all of this. But let's not forget that even football has a difficult time putting butts in the seats quite frequently.
Why was there buzz about a Wed. night game vs. Providence 15 years ago and not against a ranked Clemson team this past year? Perhaps old rivalries and allegiances die hard. Maybe it'll take time for BC to get accustomed to playing the NC States of the world rather than UConn. Maybe that'll never happen.
Maybe. Maybe not.
I don't think any of this is a source of pride. It needs fixing.
BC needs to do more to get the area involved. The biggest disappointment, hockey and basketball, is the lower bowl. It goes to big paying alums, who probably work in boston, and maybe a third of them show up. I know BC wants the big donations, but those people only show up to Duke and UNC. Give them to Brighton and Allston people. Do something.
I think you need to look at the changing student make up. As BC continues to get more academically competitive you are going to get more students who value studying over sports. This may also happen at a school like Duke, but they have more students and alumni to draw from.
Since the student ticket policy is constantly in question, there might be people who don't know what it is. And opinion from someone who has survived different policies.
The policy is there are a certain percentage of season student tickets available and people who achieved a certain amount of points from last year (each game is valued based on popularity from 1-4: 1 is a Duke, 4 is a South Carolina Upstate). The original idea was there would be packs of 3 games on sale a week before the first of the 3 game pack. But then they didn't sell. Mainly because the first pack was Cent. Conn, Loyola, and St. Johns and the next one was Iowa, Bryant, and SC -Upstate. People wouldn't want to invest $33 for a pack where 2 of the games were garbage so they scrapped the 3 game pack idea. They then just sold individual games and I think the only games the student section were sold out for were: Wake, VTech, and Duke.
My thoughts on the policy was that in the past if you had a ticket to the game in a season pack (aka you have already paid for the ticket) you would be more likely to go instead of walking down to the ticket office for the Tuesday night Bryant games which occupy the vast majority of the first semester.
Another thing that doesn't help is that in my three years of buying student tickets football has gone up (either 33% or 66% I can't remember whether Ryan's junior year tickets cost 12 or 15) and basketball and hockey have gone up 38%. Our attendance is crappy enough without Gene jacking up the prices every year.
This is BJK - I've been out of the country in Europe - returning Thursdayand will catch up then.
rocky:
BC has almost 3,000 more undergrads than duke. their ability to draw has less to do with a bigger student population than it does with a greater zeal on the part of its students to support hoops
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