BE vs AAC Attendance

[VAHuskyFan]

Average BB home attendance for 2018:

Big Ten: 12,197
SEC: 11,628
ACC: 10,773
Big 12: 10,376
Big East: 10,371
Pac 12: 7,747
American: 5,569

Big East attendance is the same as the Big 12’s, essentially the same as the ACC’s, and 2,500+ higher than the Pac 12’s. (The BE tournament is tops in the nation in attendance/session).

UConn averaged 7,829 for BB last year, down from over 10k in 2014-2016. That put us third in the AAC. We would have been tenth in the Big East, ahead of only Depaul. That’s the degree to which Big East fans support their teams. Dead, empty arenas for road games will be a thing of the past.

It’s worth noting that total FB attendance across P5 schools is 2.1x BB attendance. That’s one reason why football is generally seen as being so much more valuable than BB. The AAC was no exception: total FB attendance last year was 1.9x the total BB attendance (2.1M vs 1.1M).

But the average Big East BB team actually outdrew the average AAC FB team in 2018 (185k per team for BE BB vs 181k per team for AAC FB). That’s either a mark of how much interest there is in Big East basketball, or just how little interest there is in AAC football.

I think our FB program will do better as an independent than it could in the AAC. Our move to the Big East in basketball is going to widen the gap between the BE and AAC in basketball and cement the Big East’s place as one of the top basketball conferences in the country.

 

[Towney007]

When you consider that where we'd have fallen on the Big East attendance list and the more details are becoming more clear as to the Big East, our deals in the AAC - the more it blows my mind that we stuck it out as long as we have.

 

[AuRevoirAAC]

As far as I'm concerned, the past 7 years never happened.

Except for that month where we beat the piss out of Phil Martelli, Jay Wright, Fred Hoiberg, Tom Izzo, Billy Donovan, and John Calipari. We'll keep that.

 

[VAHuskyFan]

Big East Average Attendance (2018):

Creighton: 17,000 (#5 nationally)
Marquette: 12,323 (#26 nationally)
Villanova: 11,828 (#30 nationally)
Xavier: 10,475
Providence: 9,547
St. John’s: 9,134
Georgetown: 8,591
Butler: 8,554
Seton Hall: 8,456
Depaul: 6,147

AAC Average BB Attendance (2018)

Wich St.: 10,787
Cinci: 9,273
UConn: 7,829
SMU: 6,659
Temple: 6,324
Memphis: 6,225
UCF: 4,635
Tulsa: 4,517
Houston: 3,661
ECU: 3,363
USF: 2,569
Tulane: 1,610

 

[Towney007]

Excited that Seton Hall outdrew us last year.

 

[BFieldHusky]

Based on ticket sales in the last couple of days, I think our attendance will be in between Marquette and Creighton going forward.

 

[Kenny11]

Wow. Creighton really impressive.

 

[polycom]

Based on ticket sales in the last couple of days, I think our attendance will be in between Marquette and Creighton going forward.

Wait really? There is that much energy? If this is the case then AD Dave failed us. They should've made this move years ago... If they knew they were going to go cheap on a FB HC what was the point of not trying to move back to the BE then? This is executive malpractice.

 

[VAHuskyFan]

Based on ticket sales in the last couple of days, I think our attendance will be in between Marquette and Creighton going forward.

That would be awesome. But keep in mind UConn being in the Big East isn’t exactly going to hurt anyone else’s ticket sales, so those other numbers aren’t static.

I think this is a rising tide raises all ships situation. I would not be surprised if the Big East moves into third amongst all basketball conferences in average attendance once we join, ahead of the ACC, Big 12, and Pac 12.

 

[BFieldHusky]

Wait really? There is that much energy? If this is the case then AD Dave failed us. They should've made this move years ago... If they knew they were going to go cheap on a FB HC what was the point of not trying to move back to the BE then? This is executive malpractice.

Waited to see what the new TV contract was gonna be in the American. Once they saw...they bailed.

 

[Lefty2one]

I didn't have the numbers but I mentioned this shortly after the news was announced that we'd be heading back to the Big East.

Naysayers were crapping on the BE, saying "enjoy traveling Butler, Creighton, and Marquette".

Those three schools:
Creighton: 17,000
Marquette: 12,323
Butler: 8,554

Compare that to the three worst schools we had to travel to the AAC:
ECU: 3,363
USF: 2,569
Tulane: 1,610

Just a bit of an improvement. It's a trip, but at least it's to a school that cares about hoops with great fanbases and atmospheres.

 

[VAHuskyFan]

I didn't have the numbers but I mentioned this shortly after the news was announced that we'd be heading back to the Big East.

Naysayers were crapping on the BE, saying "enjoy traveling Butler, Creighton, and Marquette".

Those three schools:
Creighton: 17,000
Marquette: 12,323
Butler: 8,554

Compare that to the three worst schools we had to travel to the AAC:
ECU: 3,363
USF: 2,569
Tulane: 1,610

Just a bit of an improvement. It's a trip, but at least it's to a school that cares about hoops with great fanbases and atmospheres.

If there were basketball games being played simultaneously at Creighton, Tulsa, Houston, ECU, USF, and Tulane, there would be more fans at the Creighton game than at the other five games combined.

 

[LIUCHusky]

Based on ticket sales in the last couple of days, I think our attendance will be in between Marquette and Creighton going forward.

That will be pretty hard to do when you consider half of our games are played in a 10,000 seat arena and the other half in a 15,000 seat arena. We will have to sell out every game to average 12,500.

 

[VAHuskyFan]

That will be pretty hard to do when you consider half of our games are played in a 10,000 seat arena and the other half in a 15,000 seat arena. We will have to sell out every game to average 12,500.

Gampel capacity: 10,167
Civic Center capacity (BB): 16,294

If we sold out every game, we’d average 13,230 with a 50/50 split. I agree beating Marquette in attendance will be tough. But even if we “just” got back to 10k average, that would be a 27% improvement over 2018 and put us in the top half of BE attendance.

 

[Exit 4]

I'd just like to see us move from 7800 to 9800 this year and then perhaps 11k in 2020.

 

[LIUCHusky]

Gampel capacity: 10,167
Civic Center capacity (BB): 16,294

If we sold out every game, we’d average 13,230 with a 50/50 split. I agree beating Marquette in attendance will be tough. But even if we “just” got back to 10k average, that would be a 27% improvement over 2018 and put us in the top half of BE attendance.

The civic capacity is no longer 16,294 for basketball. It is closer to 15,000 today.

 

[Uconn77Duke74]

The new seat license fees definitely aren't going to help attendance next year. Possibly the year after.

 

[Guapo]

Amazing how ignorant some were on here regarding Creighton

 

[ConnZag3]

I second this response. Been there twice and the crowd definitely has brought it both times. It's probably comparable to playing a road game at the YUM! in Louisville.

 

[MU in MKE]

Based on ticket sales in the last couple of days, I think our attendance will be in between Marquette and Creighton going forward.

This would be impressive, especially since MU is back up to an average of 15,600 fans this past year because of a new arena and a program that is finally nearing the end of their slow drudge out of program rebuilding from when Buzz Williams gutted it.

 

[VAHuskyFan]

The civic capacity is no longer 16,294 for basketball. It is closer to 15,000 today.

I did not know this. The Hartford Courant, ESPN, etc. continued to list capacity as 16k through this past season. When did they get rid of 1,200 seats? Genuinely curious as this is the first I’ve heard of it.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

I did not know this. The Hartford Courant, ESPN, etc. continued to list capacity as 16k through this past season. When did they get rid of 1,200 seats? Genuinely curious as this is the first I’ve heard of it.

A couple years ago they added bar seating and a bar area.

 

[Zissou]

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