Debunking the Myth – Who you play has a huge impact on attendance

[dggoddard]

Re: Debunking the Myth – Who you play has a huge impact on attendance

Pointless. Damien typically just makes ridiculous assertions and is incapable of defending them.

Funny how DU's Athletic Director mentioned in a newspaper article today...

http://www.duclarion.com/sports/brig...2#.T5dPuo6zhxs

“The formation of the NCHC was for hockey programs that had a vision and a commitment to national success,” said Bradley-Doppes. “It is a tremendous hockey conference, a tough one, but it’s wonderful for our coaches, recruits and certainly fans. We have a fierce rivalry with Colorado College and North Dakota, and they’re in the NCHC with us. But I also expect new rivalries to develop.”

Similar to the other athletic programs, Bradley-Doppes said the geographic range of the WCHA members led to a lack of name recognition with the opponents, who are as far away as Alaska.

[JohnsonsJerseys]

Re: Debunking the Myth – Who you play has a huge impact on attendance

Bradley-Doppes said the geographic range of the WCHA members led to a lack of name recognition with the opponents, who are as far away as Alaska.

...And now you have Western Michigan and Miami (who you always have to mention is actually from OH, not FL) right in your "backyard" which should help name recognition. So The Broncos motto goes from "Why Western?" to "Who's Western?"
Like a record player - that's all spin from an AD who had a lot of damage control to do with other WCHA members.

Most real hockey fans at least know the location of the teams in their conference. I would be willing to bet most real college fans could tell you the conference and hometown of at least 30 teams (if not all 58), much less their own conference. But if you have to dumb it down for them... so be it. Those are the same folks who grab the corporate tickets for NHL games. They can't tell you who their leading scorer is, but they can tell you the name of the hot chick to tends the martini bar in the club level because that's where they spend most of the game.

The article also states "[Hockey]’s the hottest ticket in town. But it’s difficult with hockey because of the Friday and Saturday back-to-back."
Wow, well it's good that in the new conference the games will mostly be played on.... wait Friday and Saturday still?
Oh I can hear it now... "We're too tired to come back two days in a row.... We'll just stay home. Besides we're playing that CC Tigers team and I have no idea where they are from anyway..."

Ryan J

[uaafanblog]

Re: Debunking the Myth – Who you play has a huge impact on attendance

Funny how DU's Athletic Director mentioned in a newspaper article today...

http://www.duclarion.com/sports/brig...2#.T5dPuo6zhxs

Cos the woman who basically bailed from the decision process by giving Gwoz the reins (1st pretend NHL GM in college hockey!!!) said something about hockey and conferences then it's reality?

Learn something everyday.

[dggoddard]

Re: Debunking the Myth – Who you play has a huge impact on attendance

Not only has Denver's population doubled or tripled in the past 20 years, but the population had probably turned over four or five times. Lots of people have moved away or been relocated and replaced by even more people moving in.

So the challanges that face DU in a rapidly growing Sunbelt city with massive population turnover are different than those schools who's populations are stagnant or declining.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fb...type=1&theater

[dggoddard]

Re: Debunking the Myth – Who you play has a huge impact on attendance

Cos the woman who basically bailed from the decision process by giving Gwoz the reins (1st pretend NHL GM in college hockey!!!) said something about hockey and conferences then it's reality?

Learn something everyday.

IMO she's one of the best AD's in D-1 sports.

[uaafanblog]

Re: Debunking the Myth – Who you play has a huge impact on attendance

imo she's one of the best ad's in d-1 sports.

lol

[Fighting Sioux 23]

Re: Debunking the Myth – Who you play has a huge impact on attendance

IMO she's one of the best AD's in D-1 sports.

Agreed. DU has one of the best athletic departments in the country for a school that doesn't play football.

[dggoddard]

Re: Debunking the Myth – Who you play has a huge impact on attendance

lol

She's not as smart as you think you are, but then who is? :-)

[JohnsonsJerseys]

Re: Debunking the Myth – Who you play has a huge impact on attendance

Not only has Denver's population doubled or tripled in the past 20 years, but inspite of the rapid growth we still can't sell out games or educate our fans with simple facts about their own league such as where each team is located. So the challanges that face DU in a rapidly growing Sunbelt city with massive population turnover are different than those schools who's populations are stagnant or declining so we quit your league and started our own.

I fixed that post for you. Millions of people and you can't even get one half of 1% of them to watch DU hockey on a regular basis? The problem is not who you play - trust me. Schedule 18 games a year against CC and AF and your attendance isn't going to change beyond more visiting fans attending since they are close by.

Ryan J

[SJHovey]

Re: Debunking the Myth – Who you play has a huge impact on attendance

I posted this in the NCHC thread as well. UND home attendance statistics since the current REA opened, broken down by team (games played in parenthesis) are as follows (current WCHA teams in bold):

1. Minnesota 11,785 (22)
2. Michigan State 11,738 (1)
3. New Hampshire 11,728 (2)
4. Nebraska-Omaha 11,724 (4)
5. Notre Dame 11,711 (2)
6. SCSU 11,542 (20)
7. Maine 11,542 (6)
8. Holy Cross 11,492 (1)
9. Wisconsin 11,463 (16)
10. Miami 11,425 (1)
11. Cornell 11,421 (2)
12. Brown 11,413 (1)
13. Denver 11,381 (19)
14. Merrimack 11,369 (2)
15. Colorado College 11,349 (16)
16. Bemidji State 11,343 (12)
17. Michigan Tech 11,330 (25)
18. UMD 11,295 (17)
19. UAA 11,251 (16)
20. Ohio State 11,251 (1)
21. Quinnipiac 11,215 (2)
22. Michigan 11,153 (1)
23. Harvard 10,969 (4)
24. Mankato 10,876 (21)
25. Niagara 10,795 (2)
26. Boston College 10,497 (3)
27. Canisius 10,386 (4)
28. Northeastern 10,333 (2)
29. Yale 10,229 (2)
30. Wayne St. 9475 (1)
31. Findlay 9410 (1)
32. Air Force 8699 (1)

[Slap Shot]

Re: Debunking the Myth – Who you play has a huge impact on attendance

So debunking the debunking.

[Fighting Sioux 23]

Re: Debunking the Myth – Who you play has a huge impact on attendance

So debunking the debunking.

If that were the case I would expect that Denver, CC, Duluth, Wisconsin, Michigan, and BC would all be higher than Maine or New Hampshire (or Omaha for that matter). At least for the Sioux, it really doesn't matter too much who they are playing, rather how strong the team is and when the games are scheduled matter more for attendance.

What is interesting though is that more fans have watched Michigan Tech play at REA than any other team (other than the Sioux obviously)...about 25k more than the Gophers.

[CleggyofUML]

Re: Debunking the Myth – Who you play has a huge impact on attendance

The thing is that each school has its own different scenario when it comes to attendances. UND has a huge fanbase behind it already due to years and years of success, compared to DU who struggles to sell out. DU more than likely would need not only to face a big name team, but to upset them and go on a run that could get them into the NCAA tournament.

Also it kind of makes me wonder a little how Penn State's attendance will be for their first year. Think they'll draw in a crowd?

[SJHovey]

Re: Debunking the Myth – Who you play has a huge impact on attendance

If that were the case I would expect that Denver, CC, Duluth, Wisconsin, Michigan, and BC would all be higher than Maine or New Hampshire (or Omaha for that matter). At least for the Sioux, it really doesn't matter too much who they are playing, rather how strong the team is and when the games are scheduled matter more for attendance.

What is interesting though is that more fans have watched Michigan Tech play at REA than any other team (other than the Sioux obviously)...about 25k more than the Gophers.

Maybe. There are some strange ones, but most have a pretty easy explanation.

Michigan was only there once, and that was an NCAA ticket game, like Holy Cross, so it's hard to judge.

BC was just killed by what was admittedly horrible attendance at last year's Icebreaker (as was Air Force). I assume that has something to do with the games not being part of the season ticket package.

Brown's game came after the X-mas break in the 2002-03 season when UND went undefeated in the first half with freshman Zach Parise. There was a little enthusiasm, to say the least, at that time.

Similarily, Merrimack and Michigan St. benefitted from opening the season (with games that were part of the package). UNO benefited from the "Blais effect".

Denver and UMD were the main surprises to me. It must be recalled that it really wasn't until the Bina incident in 2005 (on the heels of the heartbreaking loss in 2004) that the rivalry with DU ramped up, as did attendance. We had a 3 game playoff series before 2004 that had a 1000 less people per game than normal.

To me, it seemed there is clearly some small benefit to having name programs show up. I suppose if you draw an extra 200-400 a game it adds up after awhile.

But a lot of other things can have an impact too, such as how the team is doing, when during the schedule you see that team, is it part of the season ticket package, etc...

[aparch]

Re: Debunking the Myth – Who you play has a huge impact on attendance

I posted this in the NCHC thread as well. UND home attendance statistics since the current REA opened, broken down by team (games played in parenthesis) are as follows (current WCHA teams in bold):

1. Minnesota 11,785 (22)
2. Michigan State 11,738 (1)
3. New Hampshire 11,728 (2)
4. Nebraska-Omaha 11,724 (4)
5. Notre Dame 11,711 (2)
6. SCSU 11,542 (20)
7. Maine 11,542 (6)
8. Holy Cross 11,492 (1)
9. Wisconsin 11,463 (16)
10. Miami 11,425 (1)
11. Cornell 11,421 (2)
12. Brown 11,413 (1)
13. Denver 11,381 (19)
14. Merrimack 11,369 (2)
15. Colorado College 11,349 (16)
16. Bemidji State 11,343 (12)
17. Michigan Tech 11,330 (25)
18. UMD 11,295 (17)
19. UAA 11,251 (16)
20. Ohio State 11,251 (1)
21. Quinnipiac 11,215 (2)
22. Michigan 11,153 (1)
23. Harvard 10,969 (4)
24. Mankato 10,876 (21)
25. Niagara 10,795 (2)
26. Boston College 10,497 (3)
27. Canisius 10,386 (4)
28. Northeastern 10,333 (2)
29. Yale 10,229 (2)
30. Wayne St. 9475 (1)
31. Findlay 9410 (1)
32. Air Force 8699 (1)
xx. Western Michigan 0 (0)

Added in the NCHC to compare/contrast.