Attendance at Regionals

[Jim]

Re: Attendance at Regionals

My solution would be:
A. keep rounds 1 and 2 on neutral ice but in smaller venues. Nothing over 10,000 seats, and preferably something around 5000 to 8000. You might have to take a chance that a team gets to play in its home venue sometimes. I'd rather not, but I could live with it. This is an easier issue to deal with in the East. If Conte, for example was a site in boston, BC might grumble but they'd still draw well if sent to Manchester or someplace.
B. keep the early rounds in hockey friendly cities. Roughly the I-95 corridor from Portland Maine to Bridgeport in the East. I can't say I know exactly where the Western sites can be but I would say forget about your St Louises and Toledos.
C. I know everyone disagrees but I'd keep teams as close to home as possible even at the expense of seeding. Or you could even take a page from basketball where the 1st round games are played near home even if a team is technically in the opposite region if the numbers work out that way.
D. I'd skip the seeding beyond making 4 teams #1s, 4 #2's and so forth. That gives more flexibility in deciding where to send teams.
E. There are a few teams that can go either way. Niagara is an example. Those teams give you some flexibility when they qualify. Probably a push sending them to Providence or say Ann Arbor just as an example.

 

[DoubleA]

Re: Attendance at Regionals

There's always going to be that chance no matter where you hold the tournament or how many games are played in a day. Clearing the rink isn't always so bad; they did it during the WJC when they had it in Buffalo. Of course, they also had a beer tent nearby to hang out (and get out of the cold) between games. Hopefully that's not against NCAA regulation.

I went to the Regionals in Providence this year. Two games on Saturday. Great games but........

1. It was about 7 hours in the Dunkin' Donuts Center. NO RE-ENTRY! and there are bars everywhere all over in the arena neighborhood.
2. No beer, no alcohol at all in the arena.
3 One and a half hours between games.

I LOVE college hockey. I LOVE the playoffs. I will not go back again under those conditions. Who do you call or write to to get the message across?


3.

 

[FredDavenport]

Re: Attendance at Regionals

I went to the Regionals in Providence this year. Two games on Saturday. Great games but........

1. It was about 7 hours in the Dunkin' Donuts Center. NO RE-ENTRY! and there are bars everywhere all over in the arena neighborhood.
2. No beer, no alcohol at all in the arena.
3 One and a half hours between games.

I LOVE college hockey. I LOVE the playoffs. I will not go back again under those conditions. Who do you call or write to to get the message across?


3.

You could not of said it better. No beer sales, while there is beer in the luxury boxes and beer ads on TV makes no sense. No re-entry also stupid. Also $75 for tickets when most of college hockey arenas do not charge more than $15-20 per game.

The NCAA Committee has to do it job by fixing this for the fans.

 

[FredDavenport]

Re: Attendance at Regionals

still think the committee should take a look at the Men's Lacrosse format:

1st Round - High seeds hosts (16 @ 1, 15 @ 2, 14 @ 3, etc. etc)......8 games on campus, 8 teams do not travel
2nd Round - Two Neutral sites Hosts four teams each; two winners from each site advance to FF....gives all the neutral site fans something to be happy about
3rd Round - Final/Frozen Four

Something has to change before the NCAA decides to change the number of teams in the tournament.

Amazing that most all sports (MLB, NFL, NHL, NBA & more) earn playoff home ice/court/field via their regular season record, but in ice hockey we play 34 games that meannothing in NCAA post-season sites.

 

[scoreboard]

You could not of said it better. No beer sales, while there is beer in the luxury boxes and beer ads on TV makes no sense. No re-entry also stupid. Also $75 for tickets when most of college hockey arenas do not charge more than $15-20 per game.

The NCAA Committee has to do it job by fixing this for the fans.

Just curious, do they sell beer at BCS football bowl games? I believe they are not NCAA sponsored events.

 

[CLS]

Re: Attendance at Regionals

...
Amazing that most all sports (MLB, NFL, NHL, NBA & more) earn playoff home ice/court/field via their regular season record, but in ice hockey we play 34 games that meannothing in NCAA post-season sites.

? MLB, NFL, NHL, and NBA are PROFESSIONAL leagues. In the college version, football has no home field. Hockey and basketball have neutral court. Not sure about baseball, but I believe the first round is pre-assigned home fields. There are good reasons for considering the lax format, but what the pro leagues do isn't one of them

 

[FlagDUDE08]

Re: Attendance at Regionals

I went to the Regionals in Providence this year. Two games on Saturday. Great games but........

1. It was about 7 hours in the Dunkin' Donuts Center. NO RE-ENTRY! and there are bars everywhere all over in the arena neighborhood.
2. No beer, no alcohol at all in the arena.
3 One and a half hours between games.

I LOVE college hockey. I LOVE the playoffs. I will not go back again under those conditions. Who do you call or write to to get the message across?


3.

Hence why it was recommended to clear the arena between games so you don't have to go through the pains you felt.

 

[DoubleA]

Re: Attendance at Regionals

Hence why it was recommended to clear the arena between games so you don't have to go through the pains you felt.

Got it. But again, who decides No Re-Entry, No Alcohol, 1 1/2 hours between games?? What Committee decides this s**t and who is on it? I will write, call, send telegrams, belly dancers, anything to get their attention. Attendance at the NCAA Regionals - a showcase of great college hockey - is a joke.

I just want to voice an opinion as a guy who spends alot of $$ on season tix, single game tix and playoff tix. And I ain't spending it on playoffs any more if these morons can't figure out how to make it a good take for the fans. It's not that tough!! Jeeezuss!

 

[Shirtless Guy]

Re: Attendance at Regionals

Got it. But again, who decides No Re-Entry, No Alcohol, 1 1/2 hours between games?? What Committee decides this s**t and who is on it? I will write, call, send telegrams, belly dancers, anything to get their attention. Attendance at the NCAA Regionals - a showcase of great college hockey - is a joke.

I just want to voice an opinion as a guy who spends alot of $$ on season tix, single game tix and playoff tix. And I ain't spending it on playoffs any more if these morons can't figure out how to make it a good take for the fans. It's not that tough!! Jeeezuss!

I don't know but I agree, they need to move on from the 1.5 hours between games, no reentry, I doubt they'll get away from no alcohol...They need to change the ticketing not to be by session and then offer discounts on both games...$25 a game or $40 for both, etc.

 

[WiscDC]

Re: Attendance at Regionals

I don't know but I agree, they need to move on from the 1.5 hours between games, no reentry, I doubt they'll get away from no alcohol...They need to change the ticketing not to be by session and then offer discounts on both games...$25 a game or $40 for both, etc.

That sounds like a good compromise between separate admission for each game and single admission for both. Even if both teams skated right off the ice immediately following the game, you'd need roughly 50 minutes before the next game can start. (Actual start time, after the listed start time.) This makes separate admission, allowing re-entry, more ideal.

 

[FlagDUDE08]

Re: Attendance at Regionals

That sounds like a good compromise between separate admission for each game and single admission for both. Even if both teams skated right off the ice immediately following the game, you'd need roughly 50 minutes before the next game can start. (Actual start time, after the listed start time.) This makes separate admission, allowing re-entry, more ideal.

I don't know if you're going to be able to get around "re-entry", but it would be nice to have people be able to purchase individual games. Granted, I can understand why they do it this way, so that people will be more inclined to watch both games on a given day. Most people who don't want to stay for a second game are already not doing it. If they want to do a package deal (half price on the third after buying the first two), go for it, but let's see individual tickets.

Granted, a number of NHL and junior rinks do no re-entry. Of course, they also have separate tickets for each game.

 

[FlagDUDE08]

Re: Attendance at Regionals

Got it. But again, who decides No Re-Entry, No Alcohol, 1 1/2 hours between games?? What Committee decides this s**t and who is on it? I will write, call, send telegrams, belly dancers, anything to get their attention. Attendance at the NCAA Regionals - a showcase of great college hockey - is a joke.

I just want to voice an opinion as a guy who spends alot of $$ on season tix, single game tix and playoff tix. And I ain't spending it on playoffs any more if these morons can't figure out how to make it a good take for the fans. It's not that tough!! Jeeezuss!

No re-entry is usually an arena policy. No alcohol is obviously the NC$$. 1.5 hours between games would I assume be because they bring out the siding machine after each game (at least they did that at HFH when we had our tournament) to clean that part of the ice that the resurfacing machine cannot clean.

 

[Shirtless Guy]

Re: Attendance at Regionals

No re-entry is usually an arena policy. No alcohol is obviously the NC$$. 1.5 hours between games would I assume be because they bring out the siding machine after each game (at least they did that at HFH when we had our tournament) to clean that part of the ice that the resurfacing machine cannot clean.

No reentry is a perfectly fine rule if the break between games in longer and there are seperate tickets for each game...which means no reentry during an individual game, clearing out the arena between games is a good idea anyway.

 

[WiscDC]

Re: Attendance at Regionals

I don't know if you're going to be able to get around "re-entry", but it would be nice to have people be able to purchase individual games. Granted, I can understand why they do it this way, so that people will be more inclined to watch both games on a given day. Most people who don't want to stay for a second game are already not doing it. If they want to do a package deal (half price on the third after buying the first two), go for it, but let's see individual tickets.

Granted, a number of NHL and junior rinks do no re-entry. Of course, they also have separate tickets for each game.

No reentry is a perfectly fine rule if the break between games in longer and there are seperate tickets for each game...which means no reentry during an individual game, clearing out the arena between games is a good idea anyway.

What he said. I should have been clearer about what I meant by "allowing" re-entry - they clear out the arena with a longer time between the two games, but if you buy a ticket to each game in a package deal, you can go back in with your other ticket.

 

[FlagDUDE08]

Re: Attendance at Regionals

Actually, if they were to do a super regional (two "regionals" at the same site), six games all single tickets with clearing the house after each game, maybe do full price for two games and then half price for each game after that (to encourage people to attend games where their team does not play), that'd be a pretty sweet deal for a weekend of hockey.

 

[FredDavenport]

Re: Attendance at Regionals

The NCAA Committee has to make this a priority and do all they can to enhance the student-athlete and fan experience.

Having more empty seats than full seats at the regionals is a HUGE concern.

I am still baffled as to why teams that earn high seeds during their 34+ game season have to go to 75% empty neutral sites, when if they played in their arenas there would be a full house, awesome atmosphere, maximum revenue and minimal expense with only one team traveling. What am I missing??

Sports fans expect that the teams with the best regular season record earn the right to host post season tournaments. Why NCAA Men's Ice Hockey does not do this the same way the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, NCAA MLAX, NCAA WHOK, NCAA Baseball and many others is baffling.

Oh and the re-entry policy is stupid! Ever hear of a hand stamp?

And not selling beer at the games, while it is allowed in the luxury boxes and also shown in TV ads during NCAA produced games is beyond common sense!!!

Common Sense, wonder if that is something that qualifies for Academic Progress Rate/APR points.

 

[CLS]

Re: Attendance at Regionals

I can understand the NCAA or the venue not wanting to sell individual game tickets. But even if you don’t sell individual game tickets (i.e. sell only packages) ticketing the games separately and clearing the venue between games would let the secondary market take care of the folks who only want to attend one of the regional semis or who want to sell their ticket to the regional finals if their team loses in the semis. The NCAA (or an entrepreneur) could facilitate the secondary market by providing a point for ticket delivery, credit card services, etc. They could do the same thing at the Frozen Four.

I suspect that one of the problems with crowd size (as opposed to ticket sales) at regionals is fans who (had to) buy tickets for games they don't attend.

 

[DoubleA]

Re: Attendance at Regionals

And not selling beer at the games, while it is allowed in the luxury boxes and also shown in TV ads during NCAA produced games is beyond common sense!!!

Have you ever been to a B.U. game at Agganis? It is the best college hockey venue in greater Boston and possibly in the Northeast. Excellent seating all around the entire rink, several food and beer stands (I count 5 or 6), right on Comm Ave for great access. Better than most AHL facilities. The morons who run the NCAA Hockey Tournament can't figure out how to maybe broaden their thinking and use Agganis as a Regional site? Or.... maybe Agganis doesn't want the NCAA anywhere near their arena?? Just sayin'.

 

[Fishman'81]

Re: Attendance at Regionals

You guys continue to miss the point.

I've been to NCAA hoops regionals where the venue was >50% empty, and seen the same thing on the box many times recently... Yet that tournament is a huge money-maker and perhaps the biggest sports event in our fair country.

It's all about the TV coverage, folks, and college hockey is right there, right now. Nobody should really care about attendance, as long as everyone in the nation has the option of watching the games. That's the only attendance that counts.

 

[Jim]

Re: Attendance at Regionals

Have you ever been to a B.U. game at Agganis? It is the best college hockey venue in greater Boston and possibly in the Northeast. Excellent seating all around the entire rink, several food and beer stands (I count 5 or 6), right on Comm Ave for great access. Better than most AHL facilities. The morons who run the NCAA Hockey Tournament can't figure out how to maybe broaden their thinking and use Agganis as a Regional site? Or.... maybe Agganis doesn't want the NCAA anywhere near their arena?? Just sayin'.

Agganis would be a great regional site. So would Conti. They are the right size. They are in an area where college hockey flourishes. They are easy to get to by public transit and to drive to. Even if you want to have a rule that BC can't play at Conti and BU can't play at Agganis, you can pretty easily send them to the other eastern site with minor negative impact on attendance. And even 4-5000 in a 7-8000 seat venue is pretty good. If BC/BU is playing even if its in the other guy's Barn, you're going to get a solid turnout. As long as you make the tickets for both games, you're going to have some vacant seats, because some significant portion of the fans are fans of a particular school more than they are hockey fans, and if they are Yale fans, and Yale is playing BU in game 1, they aren't necessarily going to wait 1 1/2 hours to watch BC-Niagara. Nor are most BC and Niagara fans going to arrive for the puck drop of BU-Yale. If you can reduce that wait to 30-45 minutes, you'll probably have more stay. If you sell individual game tickets you might have a bigger crowd at each game, too.