If Dawn is unhappy now Albany almost SOLD OUT

[Tonyc]

I expect very few SC fans attending the Albany Regional. I was told a while back that the tickets were almost all sold out with UConn fans scarfing them up. SC draws big and placing them in Albany imo will hurt revenues for the NCAA since UConn fans have already purchased almost all the tickets. With UConn and SC big draws which means big money for the NCAA I have to wonder why with NCAA revenues down would SC be placed in Albany. I do agree its the right choice for the teams but not the right choice for revenue. With that said it was a tuff decision because if SC was placed in LVille with LVille they both draw big time and placing SC anyplace else hurts revenue too. So the only place to place SC is Albany. Ok go figure that one out LOL

 

[ConnecticutBB]

I expect very few SC fans attending the Albany Regional. I was told a while back that the tickets were almost all sold out with UConn fans scarfing them up. SC draws big and placing them in Albany imo will hurt revenues for the NCAA since UConn fans have already purchased almost all the tickets. With UConn and SC big draws which means big money for the NCAA I have to wonder why with NCAA revenues down would SC be placed in Albany. I do agree its the right choice for the teams but not the right choice for revenue. With that said it was a tuff decision because if SC was placed in LVille with LVille they both draw big time and placing SC anyplace else hurts revenue too. So the only place to place SC is Albany. Ok go figure that one out LOL

Every venue in the past must always hold a limited amount of tickets for schools that are in the tournament..having said that in order to get the tickets you MUST get the tickets through the school..1st come 1st serve..top donors..season ticket holders...the rules may vary with each school.

 

[ConnecticutBB]

Perfect example of venues having to hold tickets... Quinnipiac University will be playing at Gampel...For those who don't know that is another Connecticut school that will want to bring there fans to the game...Gampel box office will tell you the venue is Sold Out...true except for the ticket allotment for the other schools in the tournament.

 

[Wbbfan1]

If So Carolina was sent to Lexington, I imagine most of those tickets were purchased by Louisville fans who also support their team. Maybe not to the degree of So Carolina fans, but for Big Games, Louisville fans show up for Games. No difference in Revenue for the NCAA regardless of where So Carolina was sent.

 

[ScarlettB]

Personally I think they should have put SC in Lexington. I can see Dawn's point. UConn fans always buy up the tickets in the closest regional in advance as they have a 99.99% chance that UConn will be placed in that regional and will get to the Sweet 16. All the other schools have to wait and see and then must either be able to get tickets through the school's allotment or they are pretty much out of luck. Your fans also usually have the luxury of being able to drive to the venue if they want rather than having to fly. I'm not saying that UConn doesn't deserve to play close to home year after year based on their body of work, just that other teams deserve some of the same consideration. They certainly could have sent SC there last year instead of Notre Dame and they could have sent them there this year and sent either Texas or Baylor to Albany. I know I would have liked to see UConn vs Texas part two.

 

[wallman]

It has to be difficult to reward everyone and if you lose games then it becomes even more difficult.

 

[bags27]

Seems like there are still tickets left for Storrs, at least. Just got this email:

 

[ctkaiser]

Perfect example of venues having to hold tickets... Quinnipiac University will be playing at Gampel...For those who don't know that is another Connecticut school that will want to bring there fans to the game...Gampel box office will tell you the venue is Sold Out...true except for the ticket allotment for the other schools in the tournament.

Gampel games not close to sold out.

 

[oldude]

Every venue in the past must always hold a limited amount of tickets for schools that are in the tournament..having said that in order to get the tickets you MUST get the tickets through the school..1st come 1st serve..top donors..season ticket holders...the rules may vary with each school.

I believe there’s only a few hundred tickets per school allocated. So if TUC holds 15,000 fans for basketball, 95%+ will be cheering for UConn.

 

[Gamecockfan77]

If So Carolina was sent to Lexington, I imagine most of those tickets were purchased by Louisville fans who also support their team. Maybe not to the degree of So Carolina fans, but for Big Games, Louisville fans show up for Games. No difference in Revenue for the NCAA regardless of where So Carolina was sent.

Rupp holds 23,000 folks. We'll see if it sells out. I'm guessing not. But maybe.

 

[ctkaiser]

The number of tickets they hold for schools doesn't seem to be nearly enough.

 

[oldude]

The number of tickets they hold for schools doesn't seem to be nearly enough.

It depends on the school. Last year at WBA in Bridgeport, UCLA & Oregon both struggled to fill their allotment (long way to come to watch your team get beaten by UConn). MD filled their allotment in a matter of hours.

 

[Vowelguy]

Rupp holds 23,000 folks. We'll see if it sells out. I'm guessing not. But maybe.

No way.

 

[PAHuskeyFan]

Gampel games not close to sold out.

I just checked UConn site and VIVID Seats...and there are a smattering of seats in upper decks, but in reality, not a whole lot of seats left... for Rounds 1 and 2. Interestingly seats through UConn appear to be for both days, but through VIVID you could purchase day 1 or day 2 tickets.

would love to go, but work requirements won't let me get free.

 

[DefenseBB]

Some facts to apply to theory:
2017 SC was #1 in the Stockton regional and drew 3,134 for the final and 4,500 vs. Quinnipiac (Lexington next closest where ND went) -snarky side note: maybe Q travels better than SC as more fans went to the Sweet 16 game than the final!
2016 SC was #1 in Sioux City regional (UConn in Bridgeport, ND in Lex, BU in Dallas) and drew 4,610 (loss to Syr) and 4,055 for final (Ok City or Lexington, Baylor/ND), maybe 550 fans of SC left after the Sweet 16 loss...
2015 SC was #1 in Greensboro region and drew 6,364 and 6,286 (that's hardly a huge following going there). SC averaged 12,293 at home that year.
2014 SC was #1 in Stanford region and drew 6,700 in sweet 16 game losing to North Carolina. (closest was Louisville where Tenn went as #1)

*2014 had schools as regional hosts (Stanford-6,700/6,145, Louisville-11,097/14,002, ND-8,774/8,774 and Nebraska all hosted-UConn went to Nebraska, 7,169 went to the final)

So a few things to ponder:
#1. The NCAA needs to rethink about having schools host the regionals as attendance is significantly higher on-site than at Neutral sites. The 2014 numbers dwarf the other regions from succeeding years, save where UConn is. Attendance is down almost 50% from 2014, that's significant and worth a lot of money.
2. Yes, SC seems to be sent out west a lot as 3 of the last 5 years prove. Not sure that's a conspiracy though as higher ranked teams stayed closer to home in those years.
3. No, the fans don't necessarily turn out as the one year they were close to home in 2015 in Greensboro (183 miles), they didn't draw as well plus North Carolina was in that regional so it really is a head scratcher why Greensboro was so poorly attended.
4. SC has drawn very well at home so hosting the on-site 1st two rounds is a bonanza for the NCAA. That said, the team is mixed on travel though to be fare, the distance in 2014, 2016 and 2017 was excessive. 2015 is the question mark for me as to why didn't more go to Greensboro.

I have made this point before and it worth repeating: Cities bid on the hosting, meaning a local school will work with a city to put in for hosting. In our case, both Albany and Bridgeport know that UConn will virtually be put there and guarantee great attendance, making money and worth the effort. Other regions have not faired that well doing this. As they don't know if they can sell out or make money at the venue. Call it the UConn phenomenon. This non-sell out reason is causing the NCAA to rethink about hosting the regions back on-campus. Before people get up in arms on that-virtually all the other sports do this-host regionals at the lowest seeded schools with the final fours at neutral sites.

Just some facts to ponder when we look at the stands and the vacant seats at virtually all the sites these coming weeks.

 

[ASweet3781]

With Louisville and Tennessee going to Lexington there was no need to put S Carolina there to sell tickets.

 

[DefenseBB]

No way.

@vowelguy is being kind as I would put "NO FREAKIN WAY!!!" Let's review:
2016 Lexington and Rupp hosted 3,349 fans went to the Elite 8 game and 8,509 went to the Sweet 16 game where ND lost to Stanford.
2017 Lexington and Rupp hosted and 2,527 went to the Elite 8 game 3,148 went to the Sweet 16 games (ND/OSU & Stanford/Texas)

Not exactly as swelling of fan support...

With Louisville and Tennessee going to Lexington there was no need to put S Carolina there to sell tickets.

Maybe this year will be different than past years with ND going as Louisville contingent may be "all in" but Tennessee will not be making it that far. Maybe the Baylor/Louisville game will drive people to go-I hope so!!!

 

[Gamecockfan77]

With Louisville and Tennessee going to Lexington there was no need to put S Carolina there to sell tickets.

Second time Tennessee has been to Lexington.

 

[bags27]

I dunno. I just got this email about tickets (I already have mine), and when I went on-line, it looked like lots left.

 

[skilz]

I'm not a huge fan of Dawn's, but I do understand her argument. At some point you would "hope" the NCAA would be fair to teams that have traveled far for years, and put them closer to home. SC is a higher ranked team than Tenn - seems SC should have been in Lexington!

 

[HuskyNan]

The grey areas below have no seats left. The light blue have a limited number of seats remaining. The red is because I clicked on one of the light blue sections to see what kind of message I got. I took this snip just now.

 

[HuskyNan]

Seats remaining in sections 218 and 220 are in green. I'm guesstimating 150-200 seats left just from clicking around the sections where seats are still available.

 

[ctkaiser]

It depends on the school. Last year at WBA in Bridgeport, UCLA & Oregon both struggled to fill their allotment (long way to come to watch your team get beaten by UConn). MD filled their allotment in a matter of hours.

In cases like that Maryland should have first shot at other schools extra tickets. I've often wondered why uconn couldn't reallocate tickets from visiting teams who do not use their allotment during regular season games. Prime seats behind the team bench going empty that could be used to reward season ticket holders with better seats, students, etc. Anything instead of having them go unused.

 

[oldude]

In cases like that Maryland should have first shot at other schools extra tickets. I've often wondered why uconn couldn't reallocate tickets from visiting teams who do not use their allotment during regular season games. Prime seats behind the team bench going empty that could be used to reward season ticket holders with better seats, students, etc. Anything instead of having them go unused.

I believe there’s a cutoff, afterwhich the tickets go on sale back to the public if a school doesn’t fill their allocation. Last year at WBA, every seat in the arena was full.

 

[WestCoastPup]

I know I would have liked to see UConn vs Texas part two.

You will, in the finals!
You heard it hear first.