Average Men's Attendance

[Ralph Baer]

Re: Average Men's Attendance

Right you are and that's why I said in the original post that it's not just undergrads. I singled out Brown for its 3-figure attendance but could easily have added to that category St Lawrence (~1,500), Bowling Green (<2,000) and Harvard (1,661). Harvard is especially discouraging given that it is ranked #3, returns the core of its FF team, is the defending Beanpot champ, and has a kid who is well worth going out of your way to see in Ryan Donato,

Has there ever been interest in Harvard hockey?

 

[chickod]

Re: Average Men's Attendance

Has there ever been interest in Harvard hockey?

There seemed to be a pretty good crowd there when Oliver Barrett IV was playing in front of Jenny Cavalleri

 

[hockeyplayer1015]

I singled out Brown for its 3-figure attendance but could easily have added to that category St Lawrence (~1,500), Bowling Green (<2,000) and Harvard (1,661).

FWIW, St. Lawrence had 2100 and 2750 (roughly) for their opening weekend (Michigan and Penn St). Maybe "bigger names" led to bigger draws for a crowd, maybe a not great start led to lesser crowds for the games you figured into your investigation.

The other factor is in recent years, the SLU fans have brought up that the attendance figures don't seem to match the eye test at times. Not saying that plays a part here, as the PC and UML games (that you referenced) didn't look crowded on the stream, but the info is only as accurate as the entry allows it to be.

 

[kdiff77]

Re: Average Men's Attendance

I singled out Brown for its 3-figure attendance

This is the result of two decades of gross negligence by the administration and back-to-back seasons with single digit win totals. Attendance has been a problem at Brown for quite a long time, but we've reached an even darker, deeper abyss than ever before. If the team starts winning (ha!), there will be a noticeable difference in both student and local interest.

 

[pdt1081]

The Ohio State/Penn State football game had an impact on attendance at the BG game on Sat (we Ohioans loves us some Buckeye football). While I believe this particular game is an outlier, all the points made in this discussion are valid.

Halloween also had an impact. Wooster Street (main campus road) was packed with slutty Halloween costumes and dudes looking to score. We normally see maybe 1 or 2 people on that street after immediately after games. Saturday we only drive halfway through campus before turning south and saw 50-75 students heading to parties. Can't even imagine what downtown looked like.

 

[joecct]

My PC season tickets in seven years went from a Family Plan season ticket at 99 dollars total to 250 for one season ticket.

Check out JWU. Next year they join the same league as Norwich, Babson, and Mass-Boston. They play up at Lynch in Pawtucket.

 

[FireKnight]

Re: Average Men's Attendance

Among many factors driving the drops in physical attendance is the fact that today’s undergrads are the FANG (Facebook/Amazon/Netflix/Google) generation (and don’t forget Xbox and PlayStation). They tend to be ambivalent toward team sports and generally don’t have the attention spans needed to sit through 2+ hour games. And it’s not just the undergrads.

In an attempt to bring some mathematical perspective to this discussion, I went back and looked at the box scores (which include attendance) for every team that plays in an arena with at least 2,000 seats for each of the past two weekends. It’s impractical to list every single game so I’ve broken down what I found into these categories:

--Win and They Will Come (programs drawing at, close to, or even over capacity): North Dakota, Denver, Michigan, Northern Michigan, Western Michigan, *Wisconsin, Penn State, and Clarkson (*Wisconsin is not close to capacity but is averaging 8K+ in a 15K+ arena)
--Bloom is Off the Rose (Sellouts of the past now down to ~60% (or less) of capacity): Michigan State, Miami, Maine
--In the Middle: All others (except Brown). Most running between 35 and 65 percent of capacity
--Why Even Bother? (Program where apparently, nobody notices): Brown—only 553 souls at its opener

It’s a brave new world in sports marketing at both the college and pro levels. And not just in hockey.

Clarkson doesn't sell out except on parents' weekend and games against SLU. I must admit though, the student section is always full.

You could also add Princeton to the Brown category. I go down to the Clarkson game every year and the Hobey has more green and gold than orange and black, especially if it's a home football weekend. (I don't know if they still do it but they used to give away free hockey tickets to anyone attending the football game and there was still nobody there.)

 

[Crimson on the Glass]

Re: Average Men's Attendance

Has there ever been interest in Harvard hockey?

Some, yes. We saw a handful (OK single hand) of Crimson jerseys in Chicago. I note that Bright-Landry for this year eliminated the YOUTH ticket class, so even young children now pay full adult fare - and our family block of season tickets increased in cost substantially. Maybe that's the result of a frozen four appearance, but I think they could have waited to see if there was actually any increase in demand. And why target families? Occasionally, like the morning when an ECAC playoff series is added, you can get a glimpse (based on the chart of available seats) of how few season ticket holders there actually are. It should be no surprise that team supporters willing to travel can easily outnumber the home crowd. And the Harvard University Band too nearly always has given up its section for visitor fan tickets in recent years. My impression is that frequency of bands appearances at Bright-Landry in recent years ranks Visiting Collegiate Band > Guest High School Pep Band > HUB. Really kind of sad.

 

[chickod]

Re: Average Men's Attendance

... even young children now pay full adult fare - and our family block of season tickets increased in cost substantially.

They have to pay those professors who get $350,000 to teach one course...

 

[Split-N]

Re: Average Men's Attendance

There seemed to be a pretty good crowd there when Oliver Barrett IV was playing in front of Jenny Cavalleri

Alas poor Jenny! But those were halcyon days for Harvard. Hockey was considered "cool" and Watson Rink was a place certain people went to be seen. Same for the Beanpot. Harvard also had a decent townie following in that era but those days are long gone.

 

[dxmnkd316]

Re: Average Men's Attendance

Subscribed

 

[elbojpb]

The Cornell Experience

The Cornell Experience

Student attendance can be cyclical depending on which winter team sport is doing better. At Yale, if the basketball team is doing well, the hockey student section suffers, as well as the meager band having to play BB before hockey.

Declining attendance is ubiquitous. Hockey is the only fall/winter sport (if you ignore wrestling) at Cornell that has any modicum of sustained success. At last Saturday's UAH game, half of sections A & B (the traditional student sections) were empty.

Since I was there in the 80s, the Univ admin put a severe crimp in the students' behavior which (I must assume) has had an impact on attendance. E.g. game administration actually made students remove their Yuck Fale t-shirts a few seasons ago, and the chants used 30 years ago would get one expelled today. The whole student game experience has been sterilized.

For alum like myself who don't live in Ithaca, the geniuses in Cornell ticketing have decided to only offer single-game tickets on the preceding Tuesday before the games!? Not sure of others, but I like to plan trips a bit further in advance than 3 or 4 days.

Even in a hockey hot-bed like Cornell, stupid management decisions can disenfranchise even the most ardent of fans, and dissatisfied customers are five times as likely to relay their issues to others than their satisfied counterparts.

 

[MissThundercat]

Among many factors driving the drops in physical attendance is the fact that today’s undergrads are the FANG (Facebook/Amazon/Netflix/Google) generation (and don’t forget Xbox and PlayStation). They tend to be ambivalent toward team sports and generally don’t have the attention spans needed to sit through 2+ hour games. And it’s not just the undergrads.

In an attempt to bring some mathematical perspective to this discussion, I went back and looked at the box scores (which include attendance) for every team that plays in an arena with at least 2,000 seats for each of the past two weekends. It’s impractical to list every single game so I’ve broken down what I found into these categories:

--Win and They Will Come (programs drawing at, close to, or even over capacity): North Dakota, Denver, Michigan, Northern Michigan, Western Michigan, *Wisconsin, Penn State, and Clarkson (*Wisconsin is not close to capacity but is averaging 8K+ in a 15K+ arena)
--Bloom is Off the Rose (Sellouts of the past now down to ~60% (or less) of capacity): Michigan State, Miami, Maine
--In the Middle: All others (except Brown). Most running between 35 and 65 percent of capacity
--Why Even Bother? (Program where apparently, nobody notices): Brown—only 553 souls at its opener

It’s a brave new world in sports marketing at both the college and pro levels. And not just in hockey.

At Northern, it could be that the Cats are winning, but the new coach is bringing an up tempo, exciting style of play as well. But I don't know if that contributes a lot.

 

[burd]

Re: Average Men's Attendance

These statistics are hard to come by at North Dakota, since the men are all well above average in every way.

 

[Slap Shot]

Re: Average Men's Attendance

These statistics are hard to come by at North Dakota, since the men are all well above average in every way.

Nope. Too easy.

 

[burd]

Re: Average Men's Attendance

Nope. Too easy.

Sota nice, my foot.

 

[dxmnkd316]

Re: Average Men's Attendance

Sota nice, my foot.

Your foot or Kristo’s? Because Kristo’s is slightly below average.

 

[Yuppie Scum]

Re: Average Men's Attendance

You guys write the same frickin post every single year. Phones, FaceSpaces, Nintendo...

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

 

[AKSWF]

Among many factors driving the drops in physical attendance is the fact that today’s undergrads are the FANG (Facebook/Amazon/Netflix/Google) generation (and don’t forget Xbox and PlayStation). They tend to be ambivalent toward team sports and generally don’t have the attention spans needed to sit through 2+ hour games. And it’s not just the undergrads.

In an attempt to bring some mathematical perspective to this discussion, I went back and looked at the box scores (which include attendance) for every team that plays in an arena with at least 2,000 seats for each of the past two weekends. It’s impractical to list every single game so I’ve broken down what I found into these categories:

--Win and They Will Come (programs drawing at, close to, or even over capacity): North Dakota, Denver, Michigan, Northern Michigan, Western Michigan, *Wisconsin, Penn State, and Clarkson (*Wisconsin is not close to capacity but is averaging 8K+ in a 15K+ arena)
--Bloom is Off the Rose (Sellouts of the past now down to ~60% (or less) of capacity): Michigan State, Miami, Maine
--In the Middle: All others (except Brown). Most running between 35 and 65 percent of capacity
--Why Even Bother? (Program where apparently, nobody notices): Brown—only 553 souls at its opener

It’s a brave new world in sports marketing at both the college and pro levels. And not just in hockey.

I didn't even make it past your first sentence.

This is not limited to my generation, seen plenty of 40/50 year old people on their phones while driving. Mostly the finer sex.

 

[LtPowers]

Re: Average Men's Attendance

This is not limited to my generation, seen plenty of 40/50 year old people on their phones while driving.

No one said that phenomenon was limited to current undergraduates. (And if you had made it past the first sentence, you would have seen explicit acknowledgement of that in Split-N's post.) The thing is that 40/50-year-old people weren't on their phones when they were undergrads. Because that was 20-30 years ago. And it's whichever cohort is currently undergraduates that drives college sports attendance.


Powers &8^]