NCAA Quarterfinal: UW Hosts BU

[Nowheresville]

Re: NCAA Quarterfinal: UW Hosts BU

I'm impressed that Johnson was so honest. I'd expect him to walk the company line. I mean, he's right, I just never would have expected him to admit it, in public.

But in regards to Advertising, I can say for an absolute fact that they did run radio ads for last years quarterfinal (I was surprised to hear them, so they stood out), and while I can't say they didn't run any this year, I didn't hear any.

One thing that was not a factor in the low crowd size was the ticket prices. They have always been $10 for the Quarterfinal, going back to at least 07. That is one of the few things that hasn't changed.

I suspect there were a lot of factors for crowd size. An afternoon game, on one of the first really nice weekends of the year, with the basketball team stealing the entire UW athletic dept. spotlight, and hockey being out of sight out of mind with the mens team being so bad this year all likely played a major role. Although, I can't shake the nagging feeling that the negative aspects of LaBahn, including never having a band during regular season games, have helped to dull the interest in the team as well.

 

[Watson Rink]

Re: NCAA Quarterfinal: UW Hosts BU

with the basketball team stealing the entire UW athletic dept. spotlight

Thank you, Wisconsin fans, for avoiding any mention of what your men's basketball team (#1 seed in the West) might be expected to do to Harvard should Harvard (#13 in the same bracket) survive to advance to a match-up. Ouch!

 

[NMH]

Re: NCAA Quarterfinal: UW Hosts BU

I think the crowd size discussion is probably a little overblown - Capacity at LaBahn is 2200 and announced attendance was more than 2000. I get that the announced number was likely padded a bit, but it's not as though there were gaping holes in the place. I think a big part is there were a lot more people standing around the top than I normally see. I don't know if it was down to people not being happy with the seat they were assigned, but ultimately I think we're talking that LaBahn was maybe 300 or so short of capacity, which isn't something I think deserves this kind of scrutiny.
They did send out the "few tickets left" email on Thursday or Friday and they don't do that until ticket sales have reached a certain number (say 80% of capacity or something like that).

 

[Nowheresville]

Re: NCAA Quarterfinal: UW Hosts BU

I don't think the issue is that the attendance made LaBahn look empty, because it was near capacity, and the announced figure seems reasonably accurate. To me, the issue is that - as was discussed in this threat last week - an NCAA QF always drew between 3,000-5,000 at the Kohl, and this year they only had 2,000 and didn't sell out LaBahn. Even in 2006, when they had to play the game in Middleton, they sold out 1500 seats, but those seats were gone by Monday morning. Even during the regular season this year, I don't remember a single game at LaBahn selling out, which is the first time I believe that has happened since the arena opened. So I guess, to me, the issue isn't so much that there was poor attendance, it's that its another big sign of a disappointing trend that has fewer people going to the games.

 

[Timothy A]

Re: NCAA Quarterfinal: UW Hosts BU

Thank you, Wisconsin fans, for avoiding any mention of what your men's basketball team (#1 seed in the West) might be expected to do to Harvard should Harvard (#13 in the same bracket) survive to advance to a match-up. Ouch!

I have Harvard meeting UW in the S16.

I think the time of day had something to do with it, which was probably dictated by the men's game that night. I think if it's at night it sells out.

It is sad that the gals are being driven over like a frog by an 18 wheeler by the men's bb story, but that is the destiny of a non-mainstream women's sport.

 

[Royale with Cheese]

Re: NCAA Quarterfinal: UW Hosts BU

I have Harvard meeting UW in the S16.

I think the time of day had something to do with it, which was probably dictated by the men's game that night. I think if it's at night it sells out.

It is sad that the gals are being driven over like a frog by an 18 wheeler by the men's bb story, but that is the destiny of a non-mainstream women's sport.

It is kind of funny that you guys are so disappointed in the crowd, I actually think it was a pretty big factor. Seemed like the badgers really fed off the crowd and BU definitely shrunk from it. I have not looked at the stats but I would guess that the BU underclass line was about as low on shots (although they got the late goal) as they have been all year and seemed like they were pinned deep much of the game. That line was a bit of the spark plug for BU (yes the 1st line drove the train) all year and they seemed unable to handle the hostile atmosphere even a little bit. Other than Ridder on the first weekend I don't know if they saw a 4 figure crowd and definitely not a loud one all year. The counting is a bit like the spelling at Minnesota, the only thing worse then not being able to stop it right away is when they have done it enough that its gets quieter. Kudos to Wisco and the WCHA that they can generate some atmosphere at the games, BU has its band (who seem to love womens hockey more than any other sport) and the wrestling team but are still about 1000 fans short of a real home ice advantage. Even though loosing sucks, short of playing for a gold medal most women will never get a chance to feel the love or hate of a big crowd.

 

[WiscDC]

Re: NCAA Quarterfinal: UW Hosts BU

I don't think the issue is that the attendance made LaBahn look empty, because it was near capacity, and the announced figure seems reasonably accurate. To me, the issue is that - as was discussed in this threat last week - an NCAA QF always drew between 3,000-5,000 at the Kohl, and this year they only had 2,000 and didn't sell out LaBahn. Even in 2006, when they had to play the game in Middleton, they sold out 1500 seats, but those seats were gone by Monday morning. Even during the regular season this year, I don't remember a single game at LaBahn selling out, which is the first time I believe that has happened since the arena opened. So I guess, to me, the issue isn't so much that there was poor attendance, it's that its another big sign of a disappointing trend that has fewer people going to the games.

That was the issue I had with the game not selling out - the atmosphere was great, but the fact that they couldn't sell the arena's worth of tickets at the same price as previous quarterfinal games is surprising.

As for sellouts during the regular season, there were actually quite a few - six, to be precise. Both games against Minnesota, the second game against Bemidji State, the first game against Clarkson, the second game against Minnesota-Duluth, and the second game against St. Cloud State.

According to the attendance figures, it's actually seven, but one of those was Thursday against Minnesota State, and I suppose enough students (free admission) came to make up for the eaten tickets that night. It certainly wasn't full, but it's possible each seat was accounted for, largely because of free tickets, so there wasn't much "selling" going on. (Unfortunately, most of the students who showed up seemed completely opposed to maximizing their enjoyment.)

 

[WiscDC]

Re: NCAA Quarterfinal: UW Hosts BU

It is kind of funny that you guys are so disappointed in the crowd, I actually think it was a pretty big factor. Seemed like the badgers really fed off the crowd and BU definitely shrunk from it. I have not looked at the stats but I would guess that the BU underclass line was about as low on shots (although they got the late goal) as they have been all year and seemed like they were pinned deep much of the game. That line was a bit of the spark plug for BU (yes the 1st line drove the train) all year and they seemed unable to handle the hostile atmosphere even a little bit. Other than Ridder on the first weekend I don't know if they saw a 4 figure crowd and definitely not a loud one all year. The counting is a bit like the spelling at Minnesota, the only thing worse then not being able to stop it right away is when they have done it enough that its gets quieter. Kudos to Wisco and the WCHA that they can generate some atmosphere at the games, BU has its band (who seem to love womens hockey more than any other sport) and the wrestling team but are still about 1000 fans short of a real home ice advantage. Even though loosing sucks, short of playing for a gold medal most women will never get a chance to feel the love or hate of a big crowd.

This is a big reason why they say Minnesota and Wisconsin "choose" rather than "recruit." It's not always the case, but we're pretty much guaranteed to have a handful of games at LaBahn per season in which the atmosphere, even without the band, is head and shoulders above most of the better minor pro and junior hockey atmospheres, because most of the fans feel a stronger attachment to the team and the school, even if it isn't the team they follow most closely.