Average Men's Attendance

[MadCityRich]

Re: Average Men's Attendance

Lots of long drawn out posts here with reasons,excuses, and stats for dropping attendance in some cities.

In Madison it's all about the team's performance and Big 7 hockey.

Big 7 hockey sucks + WI has sucked for a decade = plummeting attendance. Pure and simple. No graphs needed.

 

[The Zlax45]

Re: Average Men's Attendance

As I said, home winning percentage could be a contributing factor, just one of several. The cost of tickets, traffic, free or low cost streaming are some of the other factors that have been previously mentioned here or in the BU thread. Other entertainment options are also a factor for teams in metro areas (here in the Boston area teams regularly change the time of games when a Patriots playoff game ends up scheduled at the same time) as you mention. As for the size of the Minneapolis market, you compare it ti the top five markets in the country and Boston (which is 10th) and make it seem much smaller than it actually is. It is the 16th largest overall in the U.S. and is 74% the size of Boston, 52% the size of Houston and 48% the size of Dallas/Fort Worth. Against the top three it is 38% the size of Chicago, 27% the size of Los Angles and 18% the size of New York. There are also a number of smaller markets that have have similar sports options as the twin cities.

Since I already had each team's seasonal home records since 2004 in a workbook and their average attendance figures since 2001 in another workbook it wasn't too much work put the information together. I should have that completed shortly.

As for distance to opponents, there are 9 other DI hockey teams within 40 miles of BU, 5 of them in Hockey East. So while attendance may be slightly improved by visiting fans for a few games, overall the DI fanbase in the greater Boston area is very fractured compared to most other DI teams, like Minnesota. As an example, on 8 November of this year BC hosted UConn (5,291), BU hosted PC (2,837), UML hosted Maine (4,199) and Merrimack hosted NU (2,014) for a total of 14,341 fans watching a Hockey East game within 23 miles of each other. Harvard was hosting Princeton in front of another 1,633 fans just a mile-and-a-half from BU and Holy Cross hosted Sacred Heart in front of 1,052 fans just under 40 miles away.

Sean

Then the next night, PC hosted BU in front of 2741 (how many fans are going to make the trip to Boston on a Friday night and then go to Providence the next?) Eventually, you have to make decisions on your personal life also and what is too much hockey?

 

[UMD21]

Lots of long drawn out posts here with reasons,excuses, and stats for dropping attendance in some cities.

In Madison it's all about the team's performance and Big 7 hockey.

Big 7 hockey sucks + WI has sucked for a decade = plummeting attendance. Pure and simple. No graphs needed.

I wasn’t aware UW hockey attendance was hurting. Seems to me you would have been one of the schools hurt the least if not benefitted from B1G conference. Kinda surprised, must be results driven.

 

[Sean Pickett]

NCHC Attendance

NCHC Attendance

NCHC Attendance

<img src="https://www.buhockeyarchives.com/Charts/CC.png">

Colorado College's attendance remained relatively stable, as did their home record, until 2012-13. Their final season in the WCHA saw an upswing in attendance, even though their home record dropped to just over 0.500, their worst in 9 seasons. It is possible that many fans made sure to attend games for those WCHA rivals that they would no longer be playing every season. For the first 4 seasons in the NCHC attendance remained strong, if slightly lower than when the team was in the WCHA. However, their home record got progressively worse until the disastrous 2016-17 when they won just 1 home game. That appears to have been a tipping point as attendance dropped off sharply the following two seasons, despite having above 0.500 home records for both. This season attendance as flattened, although their record so far is again below 0.500.

<img src="https://www.buhockeyarchives.com/Charts/DU.png">

Denver has had solid attendance since 2004-05, along with an excellent home record almost every season (only dropping below 0.600 three seasons). Attendance did dip in 2014-15, the second season of the NCHC, despite an improved home record that season, but bounced back in 205-16 as the team had another strong season at home and overall and were a national contender. The national championship season in 2016-17 and solid home records since appear to have had Denver's attendance increase and or hold steady the past three seasons, going against the general trend n college hockey, in a city that has teams from all five major pro sports leagues, as well as a MLL team.

<img src="https://www.buhockeyarchives.com/Charts/MIA.png">

Miami's attendance has mirrored their home winning percentage, more closely when they were in the CCHA, but since joining the NCHC and having progressively worse home records since 2014-15 attendance has also dropped and is now at its lowest since Steve Cady Arena opened in 2006. Clearly their move to the NCHC and the end of longtime CCHA rivalries, along with usually being a cellar dweller in the NCHC, has led to a drop in attendance.

<img src="https://www.buhockeyarchives.com/Charts/UMD.png">

Minnesota-Duluth's attendance, like that of BU, received a boost with the opening of their new arena. Even with a poor last season in the WCHA and a sub-0.500 first season in the NCHC their attendance remained strong, although it did see a 3 season decline from 2014-15 through 2017-18 before rebounding in 2018-19 as they successfully defended their national championship. BU's new arena bounce wore off after 8 seasons and a lack of on ice success, while UMD's success during their 8th season in their new arena looks to have kept their attendance strong for now. However, halfway through this season both attendance and their home record are lower and it remains to be seen how both do the second half of the season and over the next several seasons.

<img src="https://www.buhockeyarchives.com/Charts/UND.png">

North Dakota's fanbase and attendance is hands down the best among all 60 DI programs. Over the past 19 seasons their average attendance has fluctuated by just 10% between their lowest and highest and is currently off their peak by just 5%. Still, their attendance has very loosely mirrored their home record until the past three seasons. However, it is possible that the decrease has more to do with the change in tax laws that made donations that allowed sports fans to buy tickets to no longer be tax deductible than any other reason.

<img src="https://www.buhockeyarchives.com/Charts/UNO.png">

Omaha's attendance vaguely mirrors their home record as it appears that their attendance has been more dependent on which league they have been in. From 2004-05 through 2009-10 they were in the CCHA and had good attendance, with their last in the league being their best as they also had an excellent home record. However, the three seasons they were in the WCHA they had their best attendance, all over 7,000 with the first in 2010-11 having their best home record and attendance. Upon joining the NCHC attendance saw a significant drop and has continued to decline, except for a one season boost they saw with the opening of their new arena in 2015-16. Poor home records in three of the four seasons since haven't helped, but even an excellent home record in 2017-18 only increased attendance slightly.

<img src="https://www.buhockeyarchives.com/Charts/SCSU.png">

St. Cloud's attendance seems to have little correlation to their home record or what league they have been in. Since the 2010-11 season it has been trending downward, with a slight bump their first season in the NCHC, as well as last season when they went undefeated at home.

<img src="https://www.buhockeyarchives.com/Charts/WMU.png">

Western Michigan's attendance closely mirror's their home record while they were in the CCHA from 2004-13. Since joining the NCHC their attendance has not mirrored their home record as well, and in fact has appeared to reflect their home record of the previous season.

 

[Sean Pickett]

Re: Average Men's Attendance

Providence in general has had SO MANY home games this year that it has overloaded the fan base. A couple of the games have been scheduled with men's basketball playing just before them across town. Not an excuse at all just the way they have been scheduling games this year.

PC has 15 scheduled regular season home games this season, the same as last season, but last season they had only played 5 home games before the new year. In past seasons 20 seasons they have played as many as 19 and as few as 14 regular season home games, 15 overall is on the low end (the average is 16). It appears that like BU, PC has a poorly balanced home schedule this season, with 2/3 of the games in the first half and most, 7, in November or early December.

Then the next night, PC hosted BU in front of 2741 (how many fans are going to make the trip to Boston on a Friday night and then go to Providence the next?) Eventually, you have to make decisions on your personal life also and what is too much hockey?

We used to go to the back-to-back games for most of the BU men's games, but once they started the women's program we stopped as we started going to the women's home games and trying to make it to a 7 pm game in Providence after a 3 pm game at BU was a bit much, especially with a young child.

Sean

 

[MadCityRich]

Re: Average Men's Attendance

I wasn’t aware UW hockey attendance was hurting. Seems to me you would have been one of the schools hurt the least if not benefitted from B1G conference. Kinda surprised, must be results driven.

Exactly!

"A long slide in crowd size for the University of Wisconsin men's hockey home games continued in the 2018-19 season.

For the ninth time in the last 12 years, the average crowd for Badgers games at the Kohl Center was smaller than in the previous season.

The average number of tickets scanned last season was 6,862, the second-lowest figure in 13 years of data. That's 39% lower than in the 2006-07 season, the first available for comparison.

The ticket scans represent the actual number of people in the crowd for a game."



Even with the "hyper-hype" of the incoming freshmen this year, season ticket sales were down, but walk-up sales were up; people are taking a "wait and see" attitude. With the very disappointing start, I'm not looking for any big crowds at the Kohl Center which looks empty even with 8,000 in the house.

 

[LynahFan]

A robust high school hockey community maybe only rivaled by Texas football and Indiana basketball.

Maybe? Show me the Minnesota hockey equivalent of these:

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/sports/highschool/article/Most-expensive-high-school-football-stadiums-Texas-13145194.php

 

[Sean Pickett]

B1G Attendance

B1G Attendance

B1G Attendance

<img src="https://www.buhockeyarchives.com/Charts/MI.png">

Michigan's attendance was generally stable when they were in the CCHA, although it did drop their last two seasons in the league, 2011-12, when they had a very good home record, and 2012-13, when they had (for them) a poor home record. Since joining the B1G in 2013-14 their attendance has also been generally stable, albeit about 1,000 per game lower then most of their CCHA seasons.

<img src="https://www.buhockeyarchives.com/Charts/MSU.png">

Michigan State's attendance mirror's its home record for 2004-05 through 2007-08 and then appears to lag and follow how the team did at home through the 2013-14 season, their first in the B1G. With the 2014-15 their attendance again seems to mirror their home record. So, overall, their is limited correlation between the two.

<img src="https://www.buhockeyarchives.com/Charts/MN.png">

Minnesota's attendance, of which a bit has already been written, was pretty stable while they were in the WCHA regardless of the team's home record. Starting with them joining the B1G attendance saw a 900 per game drop in average attendance despite an excellent home record that season. Attendance then began mirroring their home record until this season, when attendance has gone up, while their home record has gone down.

<img src="https://www.buhockeyarchives.com/Charts/ND.png">

Notre Dame's attendance does not track with their home record at all. The opening of their new arena led to a large increase in their average attendance which they have seen fluctuate over the seasons. Their last two seasons in the CCHA saw attendance increase, while their 4 seasons in Hockey East saw it fluctuate up and down, ending with their lowest average in the new arena. Their three seasons in the B1G have also fluctuated up up and down, but at least for the first two seasons with higher averages than their Hockey East seasons, including last season which was their highest average attendance in their new arena.

<img src="https://www.buhockeyarchives.com/Charts/OSU.png">

Ohio State is another school who's attendance has not mirrored their home record much. However, their change of leagues from the CCHA to the B1G did lead to six straight seasons of increases in their average attendance. However, despite and excellent home record so far this season their attendance is currently down and they are at risk of not extending their attendance gains for a 7th straight season.

<img src="https://www.buhockeyarchives.com/Charts/PSU.png">

Penn State's attendance has been strong and stable since their new arena opened and they joined the B1G in 2013-14. Their home record has also been very good since that first season in the B1G, so their attendance as pretty much mirrored their home record to date.

<img src="https://www.buhockeyarchives.com/Charts/WI.png">

Wisconsin's attendance has basically mirrored their home record, with the exception of their first season in the B1G, when they had a great home record, but only saw a modest increase in attendance. I have used the actual attendance figures from 2006-07 through last season. For this season I am using their reported attendance, so it is probably about 30% lower.

Sean

 

[purpleinnebraska]

Re: Average Men's Attendance

With Omaha, some years were played in what is now the CHI, with a capacity of over 15,000. Those were their peak attendance years, but playing there wasn’t sustainable from a cost or atmosphere perspective

 

[Fishman'81]

Re: Average Men's Attendance

It seems like a bit of a cop out for those schools in a large metro area. I get there are more options, but there are also more people for each of those options to pull from. For example, if you consider that the Gophers current average attendance is 8283 (yes, I know that's tickets counted not seats occupied, but that's the only consistent state we have to go on for all teams nationally. That's roughly 0.25% of the population of the MSP metro area. Compare that to UND which has a average attendance of 11,171 (or 10.9% of the population). Or Mankato which is at 4,484 (4.4% of the population). Generally speaking, the amount of options available are comparable with the level of population. I understand that options may have something to do with it, but it seems like that's a convenient excuse for MN.

Your points are reasonable.

But, the bottom-line is that nobody wants to spend money watching a loser, whether it be in an vibrant metro area (eg. The Twins) or in a back-water (eg. Maine) and people will show-up or ignore games in a converse fashion, too... (eg. North Dakota and BU).

Too many entertainment options these days to expect blind fandom for a bad program, no matter where you live.

 

[beaverhockeyfan]

Re: Average Men's Attendance

Maybe? Show me the Minnesota hockey equivalent of these:

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/sp...h-school-football-stadiums-Texas-13145194.php

In Minnesota, we don't need big, new, shiny arenas to play high school hockey in. The old barns have character and, for the most part, have great ice. A lot of the old barns have better sight lines than the newer rinks due to building codes now that limit how steep the incline of the seating can be. And most everyone knows that Minnesota hockey barns have the best concessions around!

 

[Bale]

Re: Average Men's Attendance

Your points are reasonable.

But, the bottom-line is that nobody wants to spend money watching a loser, whether it be in an vibrant metro area (eg. The Twins) or in a back-water (eg. Maine) and people will show-up or ignore games in a converse fashion, too... (eg. North Dakota and BU).

Too many entertainment options these days to expect blind fandom for a bad program, no matter where you live.

I completely agree with you. I guess that was kind of my point. I'm not sure all the other entertainment options makes that big of a difference. Each program itself is what makes or breaks their attendance. It doesn't matter whether it's a metro area or if it's the only show in town.

 

[Fishman'81]

Re: Average Men's Attendance

I completely agree with you. I guess that was kind of my point. I'm not sure all the other entertainment options makes that big of a difference. Each program itself is what makes or breaks their attendance. It doesn't matter whether it's a metro area or if it's the only show in town.

That's what I should have said.

 

[MissThundercat]

Re: Average Men's Attendance

Eager to see NMU's data. I know the experienced a bump with Grant coming on as coach, and now that NMU is winning again, seeing more butts in the seats at the Berry. It helps that teams like St. Cloud and Cornell are coming to visit.

 

[Sean Pickett]

ECAC Attendance

ECAC Attendance

ECAC Attendance

<img src="https://www.buhockeyarchives.com/Charts/BRN.png">

Brown's attendance loosely mirrors their home record, although it attendance still went down the past two seasons even though their home record improved both seasons. It appears that 11 seasons of losing home records (and 13 overall) have taken there toll and as attendance has fallen 60% since 2013-14, when they had hopes of building on a winning season in 2012-13, and is currently the smallest average attendance Brown has had since 2001. It is also the third smallest average for this season, only better than Sacred Heart, Niagara and St. Lawrence, which has played their games to date at the smaller capacity SUNY Canton rink. It remains to be seen if they can rebuild their fanbase or how long it will take.

<img src="https://www.buhockeyarchives.com/Charts/CLA.png">

Clarkson's attendance has remained strong, even when they have had seasons with bad home records. In general it has increased or remained relatively flat, and the only two large declines in attendance were in the back-to-back seasons of 2009-10 and 2010-11. This season's average is currently their highest since 2001 as they tend to be bucking the trend of lower attendance.

<img src="https://www.buhockeyarchives.com/Charts/COL.png">

Colgate's attendance mas generally mirrored their home attendance, with the noticeable exception of 2015-16, the last season they played at Starr Rink, and 2016-17, the first season in the new Class of '65 Arena.

<img src="https://www.buhockeyarchives.com/Charts/COR.png">

Cornell is another team that has had strong attendance for many seasons regardless of their home record, at least until 2009-10. After that season attendance began a downward trend which accelerated with the 2017-18 season before stopping in 2018-19 and which appears to be rebounding strongly this season.

<img src="https://www.buhockeyarchives.com/Charts/DC.png">

Dartmouth's attendance has mostly trended down since 2005-06, regardless of their home record, although it did go up for the 2011-12 & 2012-13 seasons before trending back down.

<img src="https://www.buhockeyarchives.com/Charts/HU.png">

Harvard is yet another team that has had a generally steady attendance regardless of home record.

<img src="https://www.buhockeyarchives.com/Charts/PU.png">

Princeton's attendance has also not correlated well with their home record. It has even improved as their home record got worse and declined as their home record improved.

<img src="https://www.buhockeyarchives.com/Charts/QU.png">

Quinnipiac's attendance is a bit interesting, as it show a better than doubling from 2004-05 to 2005-06 as they played played several home games at Ingalls Rink and one at the Harford Civiv Center, as well as pack 1,750 fans into the Northford Ice Pavilion for several games. Then in 2006-07 they opened their on campus arena halfway through the season as their attendance increased again. After that it has remained strong, and even increased 36% two seasons after a dip in the 2011-12 season. There was also almost no dip in 2017-18 despite a sub-0.500 home record.

<img src="https://www.buhockeyarchives.com/Charts/RPI.png">

Rensselaer's attendance also shows only a very loose relation to their home record. Overall it has decreased since the 2006-07 season, as losing home seasons (9) are nearly double that of winning home seasons (5).

<img src="https://www.buhockeyarchives.com/Charts/SLU.png">

St. Lawrence's attendance has mirrored their home record pretty well, with the exception of the three seasons from 2014-15 through 2016-17, when they had winning home records, but home attendance remained basically unchanged. This season attendance is way off, likely due in part to temporarily playing their home games at SUNY Canton. With their expected return to the renovated Appleton Arena later this season it will be interesting to see if attendance, and home record, improves.

<img src="https://www.buhockeyarchives.com/Charts/UC.png">

Union's attendance mirrored their home record pretty well until the 2014-15 season. That season saw their average attendance peak, despite a losing home record, likely because of their national championship. Attendance has remained strong since, although there are signs it may be weakening, as attendance is currently down for the third straight season and is 12% off their peak attendance of 2014-15.

<img src="https://www.buhockeyarchives.com/Charts/YU.png">

Yale's attendance has also not mirrored their home record. It remained strong from 2004-05 through 2008-09, but decreased over that time despite their home record improving every season from 0.233 to 0.694. Attendance improved after that and then remained strong. It also received a boost for several seasons after winning the national championship in 2013, even though their home record regressed. Their attendance took a drop last season despite a solid home record and has tumbled by 33% so far.

 

[Sean Pickett]

WCHA Attendance

WCHA Attendance

WCHA Attendance

<img src="https://www.buhockeyarchives.com/Charts/UAH.png">

Alabama-Huntsville's attendance appears to slightly mirror their home attendance, but a closer look shows that some seasons it had smaller, larger or no gains and drops than their home record. For example, attendance spiked during the 2008-09 season, despite only a modest improvement in their home record before dropping back into the range it had been in. After the demise of the CHA and UAH having to go independent attendance took a big hit, dropping by a third between 2009-10 and 2010-11. It improved some the following season, which was possibly the most tumultuous in the team's history as the program was terminated and then saved. The campaign to save the program also led to a 35% attendance gain in 2012-13 and their joining the WCHA the following season led to another small increase in attendance. However, since their first season in the WCHA their attendance has drifted downward and is currently 22% lower than that season. Seven straight seasons of losing home records (and 12 out of 13) certainly has played a part in the lower attendance and a few winning seasons at home would likely increase attendance again.

<img src="https://www.buhockeyarchives.com/Charts/UAF.png">

Alaska's attendance, has generally trended downward since 2004-05. Attendance dropped in seasons in which they had losing home records, but didn't increase in seasons when they had winning home records. The move from the CCHA to the WCHA probably also contributed to lower attendance (their average attendance from 2004-13 was 3,155 and from 2013-20 it has been 2,371) along with five straight seasons of sub-0.500 home records.

<img src="https://www.buhockeyarchives.com/Charts/UAA.png">

Alaska-Anchorage's attendance has seen a long steady decline, going down in 12 of the past 14 seasons. The new WCHA also didn't seem to interest their fans, as attendance dropped in 2013-14 despite an excellent home record that season. The attendance attrition seemed to be blunted in 2016-17 when they had an attendance bump that was then mostly retained for the following two seasons, despite horrible home records. However, due to the massive budget cuts imposed on the school all home games were moved to their 750 seat on campus rink in 2019-20. This has had a major impact on attendance, as the limited seating is just 39% of their average attendance for the 2018-19 season.

<img src="https://www.buhockeyarchives.com/Charts/BSU.png">

Bemidji's attendance mirrored their home record from 2004-05 through 2009-10, but with the opening of their new home arena any correlation between the two appears to have disappeared. After an increase for the first season in their new arena attendance trended down until it stabilized for the past 2-and-a-half seasons.

<img src="https://www.buhockeyarchives.com/Charts/BGSU.png">

Bowling Green's attendance does have some correlation to their home record, but not too much so. The move from the CCHA to the WCHA also appears to have caused a drop in attendance in 2013-14, but it rebounded in 2014-15.

<img src="https://www.buhockeyarchives.com/Charts/FSU.png">

Ferris State's attendance also roughly mirrors their home record, but the season to season changes are not nearly as sharp as their season to season home record changes. And after reaching a peak in attendance in 2014-15 they have had 5 straight seasons of declining attendance despite having three seasons with winning home records.

<img src="https://www.buhockeyarchives.com/Charts/LSSU.png">

Lake Superior's attendance had a slight downward trend from 2004-05 through 2015-16 as it was not affected much, if at all, by their home record. However, for the past three-and-a-half seasons their attendance has mirrored their home record very closely.

<img src="https://www.buhockeyarchives.com/Charts/MTU.png">

Michigan Tech's attendance has mostly mirrored their home record, although it has not fluctuated as much from season to season. It is also not mirroring their home record this season to date, as attendance is up despite a sub-0.500 home record.

<img src="https://www.buhockeyarchives.com/Charts/MSM.png">

Minnesota State's attendance has shown a slight correlation to their home record, but with far less fluctuation. They have also seen their attendance trend upward over the past eight seasons and are currently just 1.5% off their peak season of 2008-09.

<img src="https://www.buhockeyarchives.com/Charts/NMU.png">

Northern Michigan's attendance also shows a general mirroring of their home record. The move from the CCHA to the WCHA appears to have impacted their attendance, as it dropped 20% their first season in the WCHA and then another 18 % over the next three seasons. With the hiring of Coach Potulny their attendance has improved each of the past 2-and-a-half seasons, even though their home (and overall) record has not been as good as his first season.

Sean

 

[Fishman'81]

Re: Average Men's Attendance

This is great stuff, Sean. Thanks!

 

[Snively65]

This is great stuff, Sean. Thanks!

Agreed; great work, Sean!

AHC teams next?

 

[Sean Pickett]

Atlantic Hockey Attendance

Atlantic Hockey Attendance

Atlantic Hockey Attendance

<img src="https://www.buhockeyarchives.com/Charts/AFA.png">

Air Force's attendance doesn't mirror their home record as much as it lags it by a season. However, like many teams their attendance has trended down since the 2010-11 season and is currently 31% off their average for that season. They did enjoy an attendance bounce from 2015-16 through 2017-18, but that has been lost the past season-and-a-half.

<img src="https://www.buhockeyarchives.com/Charts/USMA.png">

Army's attendance shows no relationship to their home record, even increasing when they had a winless season (0-12-3 in 2011-12) and a one win season (1-13 in 2013-14). This season has seen their attendance drop to its lowest average since at least the 2001-02 season, despite a current winning home record.

<img src="https://www.buhockeyarchives.com/Charts/AIC.png">

AIC's attendance was pretty flat when they played at the Olympia Ice Center through the 2015-16 season regardless of their home record (which was sub-04.00 for all but one season). However, everything changed with the 2016-17 as the team got a new head coach, home games were moved to the MassMutual Center, and the team started winning at home. That first season, 2016-17 saw only a slight improvement on the ice, but attendance almost doubled (from an average of 217 to 418) in the better facility. The following season both their home record (their first winning home record since before 2004) and attendance (an average of 683) increased substantially. Their home record has improved the past season-and-a-half, while attendance as dropped slightly, but is still much better than before the move. For AIC the commitment by the school to the hockey program has made for positive gains on the ice and in growing their fanbase.

<img src="https://www.buhockeyarchives.com/Charts/BEN.png">

Bentley's yet another team who's attendance has not been reflective of their home record. Playing in an older public off-campus rink kept their attendance low, even when they had winning home records. When their new on-campus arena opened late in the 2017-18 their attendance ticked up and saw a nice increase for their first full season in their new home, while this season has seen another nice increase to date.

<img src="https://www.buhockeyarchives.com/Charts/CAN.png">

Canisius' attendance mirrored their home record from the 2004-05 season until they moved into The Rinks at Harborcenter. After moving into their new home attendance remained stable for three seasons, before again mirroring their home record for the following season and this season to-date.

<img src="https://www.buhockeyarchives.com/Charts/HC.png">

Holy Cross' attendance has also mirrored their home record, although several seasons it lagged their home record by a season. To date this season has been an exception, with attendance up, while the team has been winless at home.

<img src="https://www.buhockeyarchives.com/Charts/MH.png">

Mercyhurst' attendance has mirrored their home attendance some seasons and not done so other seasons. The biggest divergence started in 2015-16, when they had the same home record as the previous season, but attendance improved 36% and then remained near that level the next three seasons despite sub-0.500 home records for two of the seasons. This season attendance has dropped significantly and is currently 11% lower than the 2014-15 season.

<img src="https://www.buhockeyarchives.com/Charts/NIA.png">

Niagara's attendance has loosely followed their home record, although from 2012-13 through 2017-18 it dropped at a slower rate their their home record. It then continued to dropped the following two seasons, even through their home record improved both seasons.

<img src="https://www.buhockeyarchives.com/Charts/RIT.png">

RIT's attendance vaguely mirrors their home record, but the opening of their new home arena saw in increase in their average attendance 56%. The following season saw attendance rise again, despite a losing home record, but the following three-and-a-half seasons has seen their attendance more closely mirror their home record.

<img src="https://www.buhockeyarchives.com/Charts/RMU.png">

Robert Morris' attendance mirrored their home record slightly until the 2012-13 season, when attendance dropped while their home record improved. Since then their attendance has more often then not increased or decreased in an inverse relationship to their home record.

<img src="https://www.buhockeyarchives.com/Charts/SHU.png">

Sacred Heart's attendance generally mirrored their home record from 2004-05 through 2012-13 as both trended downward. Attendance dropped the following season and bottomed out in 2014-15 even though they had a winning home record that season. The move to Webster Bank Arena with the 2016-17 season has helped their attendance improve somewhat, but a continued lack of success on the ice has done nothing to draw new fans. A proposed on campus arena may be able to do for Sacred Heart what Bentley's new arena has done for them, but winning home games would also help as it has helped AIC.

Sean

 

[Sean Pickett]

Independents Attendance

Independents Attendance

Independents Attendance

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Arizona State's attendance has not mirrored their home record in their short history. The two main reasons are that they play most of their home games at Oceanside Ice Arena, which only holds 750 spectators, with others played about 30 miles away at Gila River Arena and in 20161-17 two games at the Prescott Valley Event Center about 100 miles away. The second reason is their first season they only played 7 home games against NCAA varsity teams, 5 at Oceanside and 2 at Gila River which had just over 5,000 and just under 3,800 fans for those 2 games. Those two games accounted for 72% of ASU's total home attendance that season and significantly raised their average attendance. In 2016-17 they played 7 at Oceanside, 4 at Gila River at 2 at the Prescott Valley Event Center. Of the 4 games at Gila River, only one drew over 3,000, 2 drew about 1,800 and one drew just 853, while the 2 games at the Prescott Valley Event Center drew just over 1,150 and 814. So, with smaller crowds at the larger arenas ASU's attendance dropped significantly. For the 2017-18 season they played 10 at Oceanside and 4 Gila River and the attendance for those 4 games were better overall, again raising their average attendance. For 2018-19 they played 13 at Oceanside and 3 at Gila River, but besides the larger crowds at the 3 Gila River games they also started to allow about 175 more fans into Oceanside Ice Arena for each game, which also helped to maintain their attendance average. This season attendance is down, with 7 games at Oceanside and only 1 at Gila River and with all 8 remaining home games at Oceanside their average for this season will decrease regardless of their home record. However, playing most games in Tempe and the strong fans support they have bodes well if their proposed 4,500 seat on campus arena is built in the near future.

Sean