Boston University - 2017-2018 season - thread numero uno

[Sean Pickett]

Attendance

Attendance

I added day of the game to my spreadsheet and crunched the numbers since Agganis Arena opened. To date there have been 241 games played: 98 on Friday, 108 on Saturday, 13 on Sunday, 2 on Monday, 12 on Tuesday, 3 on Wednesday and 5 on Thursday.

Here are the median attendance figures:
Overall
all (241): 5,009
2016-17 (18): 4,541
2017-18 (7): 3,897
Friday
all (98): 5,018
2016-17 (7): 4,335
2017-18 (4): 3,623
Saturday
all (108): 5,227
2016-17 (6): 5,280
2017-18 (3): 4,056

Saturday's median is over 200 higher than Friday's, which supports Coach Parker's view that Saturday games are better attended. The difference was even more pronounced last season, when the difference was over 900 between the two nights. This season the difference is still significant at over 400, and it is likely to widen as there are 7 Saturday games left and only 2 Friday games left.

To date, this season's attendance is way off even last season, but I think it may recover some.

Sean

 

[Lemonade]

Re: Attendance

Re: Attendance

I added day of the game to my spreadsheet and crunched the numbers since Agganis Arena opened. To date there have been 241 games played: 98 on Friday, 108 on Saturday, 13 on Sunday, 2 on Monday, 12 on Tuesday, 3 on Wednesday and 5 on Thursday.

Here are the median attendance figures:
Overall
all (241): 5,009
2016-17 (18): 4,541
2017-18 (7): 3,897
Friday
all (98): 5,018
2016-17 (7): 4,335
2017-18 (4): 3,623
Saturday
all (108): 5,227
2016-17 (6): 5,280
2017-18 (3): 4,056

Saturday's median is over 200 higher than Friday's, which supports Coach Parker's view that Saturday games are better attended. The difference was even more pronounced last season, when the difference was over 900 between the two nights. This season the difference is still significant at over 400, and it is likely to widen as there are 7 Saturday games left and only 2 Friday games left.

To date, this season's attendance is way off even last season, but I think it may recover some.

Sean

Interesting stuff...maybe some of the decline is due to the visiting teams that have played at BU so far this season....Minnesota St twice certainly didnt bring many visiting fans. Same with Denver despite their high ranking.

 

[brassbonanza]

Re: Attendance

Re: Attendance

I added day of the game to my spreadsheet and crunched the numbers since Agganis Arena opened. To date there have been 241 games played: 98 on Friday, 108 on Saturday, 13 on Sunday, 2 on Monday, 12 on Tuesday, 3 on Wednesday and 5 on Thursday.

Here are the median attendance figures:
Overall
all (241): 5,009
2016-17 (18): 4,541
2017-18 (7): 3,897
Friday
all (98): 5,018
2016-17 (7): 4,335
2017-18 (4): 3,623
Saturday
all (108): 5,227
2016-17 (6): 5,280
2017-18 (3): 4,056

Saturday's median is over 200 higher than Friday's, which supports Coach Parker's view that Saturday games are better attended. The difference was even more pronounced last season, when the difference was over 900 between the two nights. This season the difference is still significant at over 400, and it is likely to widen as there are 7 Saturday games left and only 2 Friday games left.

To date, this season's attendance is way off even last season, but I think it may recover some.

Sean

Interesting info! I also wonder how much of the Fri/Sat disparity of late has to do with the amount of construction on Comm Ave and surrounding area over the past two years. The whole area has been a year-round construction zone in some part since 2015.

 

[Friend_of_BU_Hockey]

Re: Attendance

Re: Attendance

Interesting info! I also wonder how much of the Fri/Sat disparity of late has to do with the amount of construction on Comm Ave and surrounding area over the past two years. The whole area has been a year-round construction zone in some part since 2015.

I wonder if it's worth considering moving Friday games to a 7pm start time again. Is 7:30pm perhaps too late for some fans on Fridays, especially those who live/work outside Boston and attend games with their child(ren). And with home games now available online for free, did that create a case of the law of unintended consequences (re: on attendance)?

 

[Friend_of_BU_Hockey]

Re: Boston University - 2017-2018 season - thread numero uno

Sean - Thanks for the analysis!

It got me digging a bit deeper into Friday & Saturday regular-season attendance in recent years, starting with the 2009-10 seasons. From 2009-10 thru 2011-12, there was a discernible gap between Friday & Saturday attendance supporting Coach Parker's belief.

BU moved the start times of Friday games from 7pm -> 7:30pm prior to the 2012-13 season. From the 2012-13 through 2014-15 seasons, Friday regular-season games actually outdrew Saturday regular-season games based on average attendance. However, that trend has shifted back towards Saturday being a draw in the last 2+ seasons.

Season FRI SAT DIFF (Sat vs. Fri)
2017-2018 3727 4052 325
2016-2017 4546 5283 737
2015-2016 4537 5063 526
------------------
2014-2015 5260 4920 -340
2013-2014 4331 4110 -221
2012-2013 5096 4645 -451
========== Friday start times moved to 7:30pm
2011-2012 5073 5637 636
2010-2011 5005 5495 490
2009-2010 5075 5631 556

 

[chickod]

Re: Attendance

Re: Attendance

I wonder if it's worth considering moving Friday games to a 7pm start time again. Is 7:30pm perhaps too late for some fans on Fridays, especially those who live/work outside Boston and attend games with their child(ren). And with home games now available online for free, did that create a case of the law of unintended consequences (re: on attendance)?

Just to throw in my two cents...I don't think the fact that the streaming is "free" makes as much difference as the fact that the games are available online period. I mean, the yearly "subscription" cost was what...$30? You could get the entire season package (except for playoffs because that was done by Hockey East) for less than the cost of one game. That being said, neither am I saying the games shouldn't be available, because there are many people (especially the ones out of the area) that are unable to attend.

Regarding the Friday start times, personally 7:30 is better for me, as 7:00 is just cutting it too close. But that's just me...

 

[ericredaxe]

I wonder if it's worth considering moving Friday games to a 7pm start time again. Is 7:30pm perhaps too late for some fans on Fridays, especially those who live/work outside Boston and attend games with their child(ren). And with home games now available online for free, did that create a case of the law of unintended consequences (re: on attendance)?

Tough call. I pretty much have not brought my kids to the Friday games in part due to the later start times, maybe that will change as they get older. So Friday’s games have been a “-2” for attendance from my family.

On the flip side, it is nice to have the extra 30 min to get into the city where traffic has been getting worse and worse the past few years.

 

[Rhett Hot]

Re: Attendance

Re: Attendance

I wonder if it's worth considering moving Friday games to a 7pm start time again. Is 7:30pm perhaps too late for some fans on Fridays, especially those who live/work outside Boston and attend games with their child(ren). And with home games now available online for free, did that create a case of the law of unintended consequences (re: on attendance)?

I believe part of the 7:30 start times on Friday is due to security deciding to strictly enforce the bag policy following the Paris attack in November 2015.
For me anyways, living in Cambridge at the time, I carry a work bag no bigger than a brief case, and my first few seasons I was able to bring it into Agganis just fine. Immediately following Paris, Agganis began to strictly enforce the 12x12x6 bag policy which ticked off a lot of people.
As someone who works in the city and had to commute from downtown/south boston for work, it wasn't feasible for me to go home to drop off my stuff, then hop on the bus/T to get to Agganis on time for puck drop at 7 pm. I know this is true of many STH I've had this particular conversation with.
Agganis security actual told me "Well, worst case scenario you miss the first period." I was outraged as that's a third of the home season!!

So I like the 730PM start time on Friday, especially as I now work in Quincy and have to commute home to Brighton to drop off my stuff then back to Agganis.

 

[Friend_of_BU_Hockey]

Re: Attendance

Re: Attendance

I believe part of the 7:30 start times on Friday is due to security deciding to strictly enforce the bag policy following the Paris attack in November 2015.
For me anyways, living in Cambridge at the time, I carry a work bag no bigger than a brief case, and my first few seasons I was able to bring it into Agganis just fine. Immediately following Paris, Agganis began to strictly enforce the 12x12x6 bag policy which ticked off a lot of people.
As someone who works in the city and had to commute from downtown/south boston for work, it wasn't feasible for me to go home to drop off my stuff, then hop on the bus/T to get to Agganis on time for puck drop at 7 pm. I know this is true of many STH I've had this particular conversation with.
Agganis security actual told me "Well, worst case scenario you miss the first period." I was outraged as that's a third of the home season!!

So I like the 730PM start time on Friday, especially as I now work in Quincy and have to commute home to Brighton to drop off my stuff then back to Agganis.

Good point about the bag policy. I work near Agganis and take public transportation; on Friday games, I often have to return to my office following games to fetch my work laptop.

Also agree that while the bag policy is understandable, the way which arena security has enforced it -- especially immediately following its implementation -- has left something to be desired.

 

[brassbonanza]

Re: Boston University - 2017-2018 season - thread numero uno

From what I understand the 7:30 start time was strictly because of rush hour traffic which is notoriously worse on Friday than every other day of the week. Getting from Kendall to the Coolidge Corner area for me on a Friday can take as much as an hour if I leave anywhere from 430-6. I can't imagine how much longer that commute would be for someone coming from outside the city to Agganis. When I'm walking across Comm Ave to the arena for a Friday game at 645 or so, it's nearly complete gridlock.

 

[smyler3]

Re: Boston University - 2017-2018 season - thread numero uno

I'm sure this has been asked here before over the years. Unfortunately I can't get the search results to show actual posts. So, apologies for the repeat.

Has anyone gotten a BU jersey custom number/lettered? Anywhere in particular that you know will do it? Do we know what the actual font BU uses is?

Thanks!

 

[Agganis]

Re: Boston University - 2017-2018 season - thread numero uno

I'm sure this has been asked here before over the years. Unfortunately I can't get the search results to show actual posts. So, apologies for the repeat.

Has anyone gotten a BU jersey custom number/lettered? Anywhere in particular that you know will do it? Do we know what the actual font BU uses is?

Thanks!

Check your rep.

 

[brassbonanza]

Re: Boston University - 2017-2018 season - thread numero uno

Hickey is benched tonight. Also no Farrance.

 

[Tater]

Re: Boston University - 2017-2018 season - thread numero uno

I thought the change to 7:30pm was a good move for Friday night games when it started and I still do. Even in well sold games, Agganis would be a quarter full at puck drop and it would be the start of the 2nd before the seats were better filled. I can't imagine games ending just 30 minutes later being that big of a deal. It IS a big deal on the start time.

Watching the NU stream. Tons of empty seats at 7pm when the game is supposedly sold out.

 

[Terrance]

Re: Boston University - 2017-2018 season - thread numero uno

Good to see the team come out with some urgency in a league game tonight.

 

[J.D.]

Re: Boston University - 2017-2018 season - thread numero uno

What in the hell...were you preseason #2? This is the year NU wins the pot.

 

[BU Fan 84]

What in the hell...were you preseason #2? This is the year NU wins the pot.

Don't confuse David Quinn being a ****ty coach with Northeastern being any good.

 

[defkit]

Re: Boston University - 2017-2018 season - thread numero uno

What in the hell...were you preseason #2? This is the year NU wins the pot.

This team is playing terrible hockey. Whether or not they have the skill to right the ship is really tough to tell. Oettinger is not on his game. Greenway is back to taking selfish/stupid penalties. There is no offense on this team other than feeding the point for shots. So a team that can block shots well will negate that easily, as happened tonight.

I really wouldn't be surprised if this team finishes below .500. It's hard to imagine that Keller, McAvoy, and JFK were that critical to last years success, but it sure seems like it now.

 

[chickod]

Re: Boston University - 2017-2018 season - thread numero uno

Well, I'm guessing that the attendance "woes" will continue...

 

[northeastern]

Don't confuse David Quinn being a ****ty coach with Northeastern being any good.

thx sour grapes..
anyway, gluck in the coming gms, i think they'll get better some, deeper the season goes . definitely some talented kids.. just figuring it out.. its a curve.