Attendance at NCAA

[Trillium]

Re: Attendance at NCAA

No cameras in the arena? Hmmmm, lovely concept. Good luck telling parents of players in the FF they can't snap pics of their kids.

No worries.....hockey parents happen to be illiterate

[CammieBuckeye]

Re: Attendance at NCAA

I know when I was at Ridder they said no flash on the camera. That's cool. The lighting is good enough there. I hope they allow cameras. That would be ridiculous to not allow parents to take pics of their kids. I can understand no flash though. That's cool. But let cameras in.

[Skate79]

Re: Attendance at NCAA

From the OHL Arena Guide Page


Items of Note:

This arena sounds like the public skating rink in my town. You hold your most important event in a third rate facility? Fantastic. The press box sounds like it won't be able to accommodate the TV crew. And people wonder why women's hockey is suffering from poor attendance.

[dave1381]

Re: Attendance at NCAA

. The press box sounds like it won't be able to accommodate the TV crew. And people wonder why women's hockey is suffering from poor attendance.

They'll find a way. Lots of places don't exactly have 1st-rate press facilities.

[MICZamboni]

Re: Attendance at NCAA

What is the capacity of the arena it will be played in?

5586 with room for standing room only (not that it will be needed for the Frozen Four unless Mercyhurst is playing).

I do suggest clicking on the link someone put on earlier. There will be major renovations taking place starting this spring and the place should look even better.

[IceIsNice]

Re: Attendance at NCAA

I attended the men's regionals today at the DCU Center in Worcester. First game featured #3 ranked Boston College, a virtual home team, vs. Alaska-Fairbanks. Second game pitted #4 North Dakota vs. #8 Yale. Maybe Worcester is not quite as close to home as BC is, but it's still only about a 2 hour drive.

DCU Center capacity is 14,800. Attendance today was 6,500. I was shocked. When the men play the Beanpot tournament in early February, it's played at the Boston Bruins home rink, the TD Bank Garden. The place is completely banged out, SRO for sure.

I'm not sure why attendance was so low today, but two very close and very exciting games were played and each definitely lacked that intangible excitement that only a sold out venue can bring.

If two games featuring the men's #3 and #4 teams can't draw more than 6,000 then expecting 5 or anything close to it for a women's game is very appropriately unthinkable.

[Trillium]

Re: Attendance at NCAA

I attended the men's regionals today at the DCU Center in Worcester. First game featured #3 ranked Boston College, a virtual home team, vs. Alaska-Fairbanks. Second game pitted #4 North Dakota vs. #8 Yale. Maybe Worcester is not quite as close to home as BC is, but it's still only about a 2 hour drive.

DCU Center capacity is 14,800. Attendance today was 6,500. I was shocked. When the men play the Beanpot tournament in early February, it's played at the Boston Bruins home rink, the TD Bank Garden. The place is completely banged out, SRO for sure.

I'm not sure why attendance was so low today, but two very close and very exciting games were played and each definitely lacked that intangible excitement that only a sold out venue can bring.

If two games featuring the men's #3 and #4 teams can't draw more than 6,000 then expecting 5 or anything close to it for a women's game is very appropriately unthinkable.

Good perspective. Perhaps attendance expectations are too high given the variety of competiting entertainment options available (including free ones on TV such as March Madness).

Beanpot notwithstanding, with the latest abysmal attendance <200 also for the U18 worlds in Chicago, it seems to me that holding major events in large metropolitan areas is a big part of the problem. (As perhaps is wearout, as previously noted for Minneapolis.

Locating events in smaller towns where they are not used to having major sporting events of any kind, typically generates huge publicity, and seems to serve as a rallying cry for exceptional involvement from its surrounding communities for both volunteers and attendance. I've seen this on several occasions. It also becomes a richer experience for the athletes, as they're treated like superstars in the community. Of course, you have to have the sporting facilities to host the event.

Ironically, governing bodies seem to shy away from such locations for whatever reasons except as a last resort. To me, it's a no-brainer.

[Hux]

Re: Attendance at NCAA

Good perspective. Perhaps attendance expectations are too high given the variety of competiting entertainment options available (including free ones on TV such as March Madness).

Beanpot notwithstanding, with the latest abysmal attendance <200 also for the U18 worlds in Chicago, it seems to me that holding major events in large metropolitan areas is a big part of the problem. (As perhaps is wearout, as previously noted for Minneapolis.

Locating events in smaller towns where they are not used to having major sporting events of any kind, typically generates huge publicity, and seems to serve as a rallying cry for exceptional involvement from its surrounding communities for both volunteers and attendance. I've seen this on several occasions. It also becomes a richer experience for the athletes, as they're treated like superstars in the community. Of course, you have to have the sporting facilities to host the event.

Ironically, governing bodies seem to shy away from such locations for whatever reasons except as a last resort. To me, it's a no-brainer.

That only works in Canada. This is the US. Politics, not hockey, is the religion.

The event is in the suburbs, at a rink that actually has the size(locker room and training facilities) to accommodate the number of teams involved. A rarity to be sure.

[Jersey]

Re: Attendance at NCAA

Maybe the fact that so many of the games are blowouts comes into play. I'd be curious to know the attendance of the gold medal game

[Nowheresville]

Re: Attendance at NCAA

DCU Center capacity is 14,800. Attendance today was 6,500. I was shocked. When the men play the Beanpot tournament in early February, it's played at the Boston Bruins home rink, the TD Bank Garden. The place is completely banged out, SRO for sure.

If two games featuring the men's #3 and #4 teams can't draw more than 6,000 then expecting 5 or anything close to it for a women's game is very appropriately unthinkable.

Once again, I think this is pretty clearly a case of the NCAA pricing the games out of the reach of the casual fan.

The in St. Paul attendance of the Wisconsin/St. Cloud game was just over 7,000. The same two teams played one week earlier, in the same building and drew more 13,000. The NCAA game was on a Saturday evening, while the WCHA game was on a Friday afternoon. So with a better time slot and a more important game, the attendance was cut in half! The only other difference was the ticket price. The NCAA game cost $52 for a ticket, with the Final Five, you could get in the building for $15 (or $35 for a good seat).

With both the men and the women, the NCAA is putting a price point that far exceeds the demand. The die-hards will find a way at nearly any ticket price, but the casual fan isn't going to pay that much money. Both men and women can and do get larger crowds, when the fans aren't being priced out of the building.

Maybe the fact that so many of the games are blowouts comes into play. I'd be curious to know the attendance of the gold medal game

Once you get the the NCAA tourney level, its pretty rare to see a blowout, and there have been several multi-ot games, including this years final of course. Plus, it seems like the number of regular season blow outs is falling, as the teams at the bottom start to catch up a bit.

But in answer to the question, its apple to oranges, but pretty much all the womens games at vancouver were sell outs. The semi-final and medal round games, and Canada's opening game, all drew more than 16,000 at GM Place. All the rest of the games were at UBC and all drew between 5,200-5,500.

[binnyrus]

Re: Attendance at NCAA

I'll just take this in a very, very different direction. (And that is not to suggest that previous points have not been valid!!!)

Mostly I believe it's a cultural issue. In the US it's simply not part of the culture, we aren't "trained" as children to cheer for girls/womens' sports. From the time we're little both boys and girls are trained (by nealry all of the adults around us, including TV, radio, video, movies . . all mass media) to root for and cheer for boys. There's the NFL, NBA, MLB . . . so, I'd say until cheering for girls/women you don't know is as cool as cheering for boys/men you don't know a sport like women's hockey - regardless of the quality of play - will never generate much interest.

Let's just start there and see what posters do with this.

[unofan]

Re: Attendance at NCAA

I'd say until cheering for girls/women you don't know is as cool as cheering for boys/men you don't know.

The coolness factor may play a role at the high school level (especially among students), but I doubt it's a major factor.

Put it this way, why are more people in LA Lakers fans than Clippers fans? Sure, being a Lakers fan is cooler, but it's also because the Lakers win, and going to Lakers games is entertaining. Going to a Clippers game isn't nearly as fun.

[glove]

Re: Attendance at NCAA

That only works in Canada. This is the US. Politics, not hockey, is the religion.

The event is in the suburbs, at a rink that actually has the size(locker room and training facilities) to accommodate the number of teams involved. A rarity to be sure.

my two cents, Boston may have been more in the neighborhood of hockey hotbed..

[binnyrus]

Re: Attendance at NCAA

The coolness factor may play a role at the high school level (especially among students), but I doubt it's a major factor.

Put it this way, why are more people in LA Lakers fans than Clippers fans? Sure, being a Lakers fan is cooler, but it's also because the Lakers win, and going to Lakers games is entertaining. Going to a Clippers game isn't nearly as fun.

Maybe "cool" was a bad choice in wording . . . . I didn't mean like "cool" as in Jack Nicholson. I meant a socially accpeted thing to do. When I was a kid my parents dragged me to every sporting event my bother's were part of . . . but rarely did my parents attend my sporting events, much less drag my brother's along. Why? The girls sport is not seen as important enough to watch, much less support vocally.

[IceIsNice]

Re: Attendance at NCAA

Maybe "cool" was a bad choice in wording . . . . I didn't mean like "cool" as in Jack Nicholson.

This was your best effort at identifying a "cool" icon?