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Attendance at Regionals
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Originally posted by MinniQUFan View PostThis seems like as good a place as any to ask with many who seem to have been there and done that... how hard (or easy) is it to pickup tickets for the national championship game considering it's "sold-out"? I'm talking day of or even day before? I don't think any of the four teams in Pittsburgh are going to draw huge crowds.
Word to the wise on those selling tickets, don't ask face value if you want to sell them. Offer a small discount and free shipping. I have done this for previous FFs when I had extra tickets and I sold them within hours of posting. Remember, this year there is no N. Dakota, Minnesota , etc... which has a huge fan base. Take a small loss and have peace of mind you sold them. If you go to Pittsburgh with tickets in hand your loss will likely be greater.
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Re: Attendance at Regionals
Originally posted by Priceless View PostI assumed it was an April Fool's joke.
The eastern regionals within a certain distance of Boston have a great track record. Worcester and Manchester both have averaged over 8000, Providence is lower but still respectable. When the eastern regionals head to places like Amherst or Albany we see attendance drop significantly. Bangor would fall flat on its face, just like those places unless Maine were in the tournament. Portland might be able to host because it is still within driving distance of most of New England and is situated on the rail line connecting Boston, the Merrimack Valley and the UNH campus in Durham. Bangor is not within driving distance and the only mass transit that services them are Concord Coach bus lines and the airport...I doubt many people in New England are interested in flying to Bangor on five days notice.
Here is a helpful diagram.
*****http://img825.imageshack.us/img825/2861/bangor1.jpg******
If your city falls within the lines then your city has a chance of having decent attendance. Don't see Bangor? There's a reason for that. You also don't see Albany, Rochester or Amherst. There's a reason for that. Out west it's even simpler to diagram. Just a picture of Minneapolis/St Paul.
There are many factors that go into why certain regional locations are failing. Geography is one. Population density is another. Outrageous prices don't help. Trying a regional in a place like Bangor (or quite frankly, Portland) is a bad idea. The eastern regionals should rotate between Providence, Manchester and Worcester and the west should have a permanent home in St Paul. Where the second western regional goes is anyone's guess because there hasn't been another location out west (that the NCAA will consider) that has been a success. Maybe put one regional in Minneapolis and the other in St. Paul?
Of course it will never happen. Sites will keep bidding way too much to host, then overprice tickets to try to make their money back leading to empty seats. If Cross Insurance wants to overbid for a regional, good luck. If Maine isn't there it will be friends and family attending three games - which is the same as happens in Albany, Rochester and Amherst BTW.
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Re: Attendance at Regionals
Originally posted by erikjt01 View PostESPN is terrible with this tournament. Dave Starman has to be one of the biggest losers out there (did you see his resume they kept showing?). It's really too bad college hockey coverage for the NCAA's is money driven. It's never going to get a national following so leave it up to the local syndicates to cover the games. The East isn't broke so no need to fix it. One of the west/midwest is always going to have a poor draw. They got unlucky with Michigan not making the tournament. I remember going to the 2003 regional at Marriucci against Cornell. Place was sold out and a great atmosphere reminiscent of a regular season game. The players/fans need an atmosphere like that.tUMD Hockey
"And there is a banana running around the DECC." "Well you don't see that every day..."
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Re: Attendance at Regionals
Originally posted by sandiegoblkbr View PostYeah......there's no college hockey fans in the Central/Eastern Maine area that could fill up 5,500 seats for a first ever NCAA hockey regional at a brand new facility.
Lets say that Maine does not get in, BC gets a number 1 seed and is placed in the other Eastern regional in Worcester or Providence, BU (or someone else that would possibly bring fans) gets shipped out west as the last team in the tourney, and the other Hockey East team in is Merrimack.
So you have a regional of Merrimack, an ECAC team, someone from out west and the AHA auto qualifier.
I'm thinking a lot of these central/eastern Maine hockey fans that are accostomed to paying $18 - $24 for UMaine and Portand Pirate games will get scared off pretty quickly by the $40 plus ticketmaster fees.
If Maine gets in, then they would bang the place out, but that is a big gamble when they can do this in Manchester and know they are a half an hour away from half a dozen teams that will bring some fans in.
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Re: Attendance at Regionals
Originally posted by ericredaxe View PostYou might get a bump the first year on the new arena, but unless Maine get's in the tourney (obviously they would be the host) I just don't think it is long term viable.
Lets say that Maine does not get in, BC gets a number 1 seed and is placed in the other Eastern regional in Worcester or Providence, BU (or someone else that would possibly bring fans) gets shipped out west as the last team in the tourney, and the other Hockey East team in is Merrimack.
So you have a regional of Merrimack, an ECAC team, someone from out west and the AHA auto qualifier.
I'm thinking a lot of these central/eastern Maine hockey fans that are accostomed to paying $18 - $24 for UMaine and Portand Pirate games will get scared off pretty quickly by the $40 plus ticketmaster fees.
If Maine gets in, then they would bang the place out, but that is a big gamble when they can do this in Manchester and know they are a half an hour away from half a dozen teams that will bring some fans in.
Whatever........most people just don't want it in Maine's backyard. Have fun playing in empty arenas!
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Re: Attendance at Regionals
Originally posted by Slap Shot View PostSure attendance sucked, but at least there was bracket integrity.
Even though the ECAC has five teams in the tournament, the Quinnipiac-Union game can be changed. An easy swap is to send them to Manchester for Western Michigan. We can further boost attendance in both Providence and Toledo by switching Yale and Miami. The only thing that might save attendance in Grand Rapids is if Michigan has a great second half and snags a bid. Attendance in Manchester would be fine with both UNH and BU there.
I think the attendance out west is going to suck anyway no matter who makes the tournament. I also expect the NCAA to do whatever it can (within reason) to boost attendance. The NCAA is hoping against hope that Minnesota and Michigan (and maybe Wisconsin) have a great second half and they can stick them in Grand Rapids.
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Re: Attendance at Regionals
Originally posted by Priceless View PostAttendance in the East was fine. Attendance sucked out west - which everyone said it would. Check out my first bracketology post back on January 1.
Switch BU with Lowell and you've pretty much got it. Michigan came a game away. My next post in that thread
Just imagine attendance in the east had bracket integrity won out and Minnesota was in Manchester, North Dakota was in Providence and Lowell and BC were out west.BS UML '04, PhD UConn '09
Jerseys I would like to have:
Skating Friar Jersey
AIC Yellowjacket Jersey w/ Yellowjacket logo on front
UAF Jersey w/ Polar Bear on Front
Army Black Knight logo jersey
NCAA Men's Division 1 Simulation Primer
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Re: Attendance at Regionals
Originally posted by Patman View PostWest seems to suffer from geographic separation. I know I've advocated an 8 team regional before... why not just go with eight teams in the west and the 4/4 split in the east?a legend and an out of work bum look a lot alike, daddy.
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Re: Attendance at Regionals
Originally posted by ericredaxe View PostYou might get a bump the first year on the new arena, but unless Maine get's in the tourney (obviously they would be the host) I just don't think it is long term viable.
Lets say that Maine does not get in, BC gets a number 1 seed and is placed in the other Eastern regional in Worcester or Providence, BU (or someone else that would possibly bring fans) gets shipped out west as the last team in the tourney, and the other Hockey East team in is Merrimack.
So you have a regional of Merrimack, an ECAC team, someone from out west and the AHA auto qualifier.
I'm thinking a lot of these central/eastern Maine hockey fans that are accostomed to paying $18 - $24 for UMaine and Portand Pirate games will get scared off pretty quickly by the $40 plus ticketmaster fees.
If Maine gets in, then they would bang the place out, but that is a big gamble when they can do this in Manchester and know they are a half an hour away from half a dozen teams that will bring some fans in.
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Re: Attendance at Regionals
Originally posted by Priceless View PostNo need to do the nightmare scenario. Just take last weekend's regional in Manchester. Denver and Wisconsin will fly into Bangor, the same as they flew into Manchester. New Hampshire is 3 hours away, Lowell 3.5. Not the same as the 40 and 50 minute commutes they enjoyed this past weekend. Are you seriously going to drive 3+ hours each way to attend the regional? Are you going back the second day too, because that adds 6-7 more hours of driving. I don't think so. Are 5500 locals going to shell out $80 for a two-day pass to see Lowell and UNH in the tournament? I don't think so. Attendance would be about what you saw in Toledo...probably worse.
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Re: Attendance at Regionals
Originally posted by Slap Shot View PostDoesn't negate the fact they nailed bracket integrity. That extra 15k in total tickets across the country will save NCAA hockey.
I am aware that it is a new practice to sacrifice integrity for the Almighty Dollar (in every walk of life) but that is Capitalism. Ain't it grand?
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