Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol XXV: There's Hope! Or whatever...
Judging by the comments....just promoting Mark Johnson to the mens coach will fix everything.
Baggott is correct...there needs to be an increased emphasis on getting more students to the games for two reasons....first the immediate improvement of the atmosphere in the present and second they are potential future season ticketholders if they are exposed to the product and endoctronated into the culture of Badger hockey.
I've said it before on this board (and in my season ticket holder survey), and I'll say it again -- Badger hockey sells itself. I have a friend who had never been exposed to much hockey, and went to her first hockey game opening night against CC this past season. Many empty seats were visible, but there were times when I could barely hear myself think, and she came back several times after. I've seen so many students get into the Badger Hockey experience (to varying degrees) simply by getting exposed. And I'm just talking about the past two seasons. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see more promotion of hockey to students. They've tried
heavily to get more students to come to the basketball games with all sorts of reward programs. If you go to many UW basketball games, you can see how variable our student section is. Personally, I think just a little hype can go a long way when it comes to viewing each weekend series as a big "event." Random people talking about it the week leading up does wonders for enthusiasm at 6 PM the night of a game, especially a Big Ten game. With student hockey tickets selling out for years and then not selling out the past two years, I can't help but think that will add to the effort.
Being from the DC area, I saw firsthand what happened to the
Washington Capitals in the 2007-08 season. The team started winning more. Local newspapers and the like started talking about them. Random people thought, "hmm, we have a winning team, let me try this out." Those random people kept tuning in on TV and coming back to the Verizon Center, and everything compounded from there. The Capitals were terrible for years, and everyone knew it, and DC had (and while it's tougher to compare the two now, it still does have) a small hockey presence compared to Madison. There are many incoming students who are huge sports fans, but know little to nothing of college hockey. Getting them on board would do wonders for the reasons you said.
Personally, I don't obsess over opponents when Wisconsin is playing, but I understand that's just me. Maybe tons of people weren't hyped for NMU opening weekend in 2011-12 (and the empty seats showed it), but those two games were two of the most raucous atmosphere's I've experienced at a sporting event. And I was at
this game.
From the article:
2. Love, love, love the students. Entice them with gifts — say, a pregame raffle for a commemorative Blake Geoffrion sweater (you must be present to win) — and as many discounts as necessary to get them and keep them onboard.
I feel feel pretty loved. I love them even more. But I want more of my classmates to experience the love.
3. Make the games more interactive. Give fans video access of the dressing room before the players come on the ice. Put a mike on a player during warm-ups.
Some more compelling behind-the-scenes stuff like we see for football would be great.
Things of this nature, perhaps? But in the form of short-ish things to put on Youtube. Make sure you make the videos LISTED, athletic department. Whoever is running the youtube account hasn't exactly gotten the hang of that.
4. Embrace the culture. Pick three stars of the game. Play the Canadian national anthem.
I'm on board with the three stars thing, but the Canadian national anthem? College hockey is distinctly American! USA hockey! The battle between CHL and NCAA routes! All that good stuff.
5. Embrace the legacy. Have replica sweaters of past greats on sale or have a drawing for one each home game. Have former players do scoreboard videos about their time at UW. Show highlights from the past that would help a new generation of fans appreciate their rooting roots.
C'mon, athletic department. I
know you have all kinds of old footage, but I can barely find any of it on the internet. "Embracing the legacy" ingrains a sense of legitimacy in the minds of people. It helps support that as a part of our athletic department's identity.
When it comes to spectator sports, it's the chicken and the egg. I've seen fans comment and say they might not go to as many games because of dwindling attendance and atmosphere. But it only gets worse if they don't go! I'm not saying it's their
duty to stay, but it's a perfect illustration of what happens in cases like this. The opposite is true as well (see my mention of the Washington Capitals above). Better crowds and atmosphere makes the whole experience more compelling...leading to bigger crowds. From what I understand, Michigan State has been greatly improving attendance in the last couple of years and has gotten Munn to resemble the "good old days." A couple of years ago, it would have appeared those days were gone, but
games like this indicate otherwise. (Yeah, that was the best of the year, not average.) Most fans that aren't going now but did in the past didn't magically lose any and all interest in UW hockey.
This post ended up pretty long, so I'll just say I especially agree with the points made about students.
