Maryland WBB Fans Upset About Lack of Bridgeport Tickets

[jennyo70]

Sure tickets are available on secondary markets, but at a higher cost.

My question is why did Uconn get the opportunity to purchase 500 more tickets, and other fan bases not get that same opportunity?

 

[Vowelguy]

Sure tickets are available on secondary markets, but at a higher cost.

My question is why did Uconn get the opportunity to purchase 500 more tickets, and other fan bases not get that same opportunity?

My interpretation was that UConn acquired those tickets on its own - ie, through a ticket broker.

 

[UcMiami]

Hartford should of played host, could of easily sold the XL Center out, rather than limit it to 7K people in Bridgeport, anyways, can only hope for last minute tickets to be unused and put back on the market, but back to Albany next year.

Hartford would sell maybe a thousand tickets because Uconn would be playing in Lexington KY or somewhere else, because Uconn cannot play a regional game on a home court and Hartford is one of two home courts for Uconn. That is why Hartford stopped bidding to host NCAA games.

 

[UcMiami]

Sure tickets are available on secondary markets, but at a higher cost.

My question is why did Uconn get the opportunity to purchase 500 more tickets, and other fan bases not get that same opportunity?

They bought them before the bracket was announced because they have known since the SC win that they were going to play in Bridgeport as the #1 overall seed. (Even before they learned that driving distance was the committees overriding logic for seedings and locations.)

 

[HardHatGuy#2]

"Oregon told Miller their tickets were available for $265 each, plus an additional donation to the athletic department of $125."

I'd sure like to see a name, or an office at least where this information came from. Fit to print since they named the source Miller, not the University of Oregon.

 

[Bajan Best]

If having 17,000 fans in the Xfinity Center at College Park, Maryland didn't help you on December 29th, why make a fuss about not having enough Fan support at Bridgeport for this game? Fan support obviously isn't enough to get you the win..

Focus on preparing your team, deal with it... Schedule tougher opponents win games and get a better seeding Brenda, so that next year you and your fan base might be able to purchase tickets in advance, because they will know where you will be playing..

 

[FairView]

Could a turtle in Maryland make it to Bridgeport by Saturday? Would they take I-95 or go straight to the frigid Atlantic Ocean and swim to LI Sound?
I dont think they would be able to make it either way.

Even if they went their fastest and set new turtle speed records, they would still miss it by a hare.

 

[DefenseBB]

Ok, here's some numbers to assess before making blanket statements:
2015 NCAA Tourn attendance neutral site 10 sessions-8,900 per site
2016 NCAA Tourn attendance neutral site 10 sessionso-8,133 per site.
2015 West Reg Final Spokane -MD vs. Tenn 5,032
2015 South Reg Final Greensboro - SC vs. FSU 6,364
2015 East Reg Final Alabama- Dayton vs. UConn N/A
2016 East Reg Final Bridgeport- Tex vs. UConn 9,088
2016 south Reg Final Dallas- Bay vs. OSU 6,050
2016 Midwest Reg Final- Stan vs. Wash 3,349
2016 West Reg Final- Sioux City Syracuse vs. Tenn 4,055

Ave attendance is skewed by 37,530 attending Final Four in 2015
With 29,500 attending Final Four in 2016.
Using some math, Regional sites averaged
6,184 in 2015 and
6,479 in 2016.

The take away is Bridgeport has supported the Regional very well. The numbers for Albany weren't listed but my math can surmise it too had higher numbers than the others.

What does this mean? 2015 was disappointing with SC only getting 6,364 in Greensboro and Baylor disappointing last year with 6,050 in Dallas. Other sites were truly neutral and didn't draw well. It makes sense why neutral sites can't be used. Also that MD CAN'T complain given the general support that the regions get.

Only the Final Four sells out big arena's and shows that WCBB still has a ways to go for full public support when compared to Men's. That is not taking a swipe at anyone, just perspective for us fanatics to consider.

 

[OldAlum]

As a fan, though, I feel for those who couldn't get tickets (tho I think they can still get them through resellers). It wouldn't hurt to reserve more tickets for four teams. Once those teams are selected, they get a couple of days to sell them before they are available to others. Wont matter for the regions that don't sellout and will ensure each team has a chance at fan support in places like Bridgeport.

 

[oldude]

Ok, here's some numbers to assess before making blanket statements:
2015 NCAA Tourn attendance neutral site 10 sessions-8,900 per site
2016 NCAA Tourn attendance neutral site 10 sessionso-8,133 per site.
2015 West Reg Final Spokane -MD vs. Tenn 5,032
2015 South Reg Final Greensboro - SC vs. FSU 6,364
2015 East Reg Final Alabama- Dayton vs. UConn N/A
2016 East Reg Final Bridgeport- Tex vs. UConn 9,088
2016 south Reg Final Dallas- Bay vs. OSU 6,050
2016 Midwest Reg Final- Stan vs. Wash 3,349
2016 West Reg Final- Sioux City Syracuse vs. Tenn 4,055

Ave attendance is skewed by 37,530 attending Final Four in 2015
With 29,500 attending Final Four in 2016.
Using some math, Regional sites averaged
6,184 in 2015 and
6,479 in 2016.

The take away is Bridgeport has supported the Regional very well. The numbers for Albany weren't listed but my math can surmise it too had higher numbers than the others.

What does this mean? 2015 was disappointing with SC only getting 6,364 in Greensboro and Baylor disappointing last year with 6,050 in Dallas. Other sites were truly neutral and didn't draw well. It makes sense why neutral sites can't be used. Also that MD CAN'T complain given the general support that the regions get.

Only the Final Four sells out big arena's and shows that WCBB still has a ways to go for full public support when compared to Men's. That is not taking a swipe at anyone, just perspective for us fanatics to consider.

The Times Union Center in Albany seats around 15,500. I was at the regionals 2 years ago when they were played there. They had shut down the upper tier, but the lower tier was absolutely packed, so I'm figuring 8-9,000 fans or so.

 

[1-of-the-6]

I purchased 4 tickets to the Bridgeport regional back on Jan 2. If UConn had ended up anywhere else, I would have been screwed. Sorry, I just don't have any sympathy for a turtle fan without a ticket.

Really? You're trying to sell this analogy? Chances of UCONN going to Bridgeport were 99.9%.

 

[1-of-the-6]

If having 17,000 fans in the Xfinity Center at College Park, Maryland didn't help you on December 29th, why make a fuss about not having enough Fan support at Bridgeport for this game? Fan support obviously isn't enough to get you the win..

Focus on preparing your team, deal with it... Schedule tougher opponents win games and get a better seeding Brenda, so that next year you and your fan base might be able to purchase tickets in advance, because they will know where you will be playing..

If the shoe was on the other foot you'd be yelling that you got robbed. And you'd be right.

 

[UcMiami]

Based on the Uconn archives the attendance in Albany was: 8259 in S16 (TX) and 7686 in the E8 (Dayton). The first game was a 12 Noon start so Sat or Sun, and the second was 7PM so Mon or Tues.

And based on the Bridgeport numbers for the Stewart/Tuck/Jefferson class's last CT games they probably weren't actually expecting a sell-out at Bridgeport. If they had anticipated it maybe they would have reserved some more tickets for after the bracket announcement.

 

[Farney]

Based on the Uconn archives the attendance in Albany was: 8259 in S16 (TX) and 7686 in the E8 (Dayton). The first game was a 12 Noon start so Sat or Sun, and the second was 7PM so Mon or Tues.

Saturday and Monday

 

[sarals24]

Normally, there would be plenty of tickets available, but UConn figured their team would be in the Bridgeport region and so snapped them up. There's nothing wrong with that, at all. Because (and this is obviously a hypothetical) there was no guarantee that UConn would actually be sent there - it just made the most sense. So fans were taking a gamble in that sense. Maryland fans could have done the same thing. And if the normal allocation is 100, why would the NCAA change it?

Maryland's problem is that they weren't a 1 or 2 seed, and so they had much less control over where they were sent. If they had been a likely 1 seed, like UConn, they could have figured out their region earlier and bought tickets accordingly.

 

[1-of-the-6]

Normally, there would be plenty of tickets available, but UConn figured their team would be in the Bridgeport region and so snapped them up. There's nothing wrong with that, at all. Because (and this is obviously a hypothetical) there was no guarantee that UConn would actually be sent there - it just made the most sense. So fans were taking a gamble in that sense. Maryland fans could have done the same thing. And if the normal allocation is 100, why would the NCAA change it?

Maryland's problem is that they weren't a 1 or 2 seed, and so they had much less control over where they were sent. If they had been a likely 1 seed, like UConn, they could have figured out their region earlier and bought tickets accordingly.

Your second paragraph dispels the ridiculous argument that you put forth in the first. UCONN fans bought tickets early to the Bridgeport regional because the chances of their team going there were 99.9%. Not much of a gamble, if you ask me. Maryland's fans would have had to have been crazy to buy them in advance.

 

[oldude]

Really? You're trying to sell this analogy? Chances of UCONN going to Bridgeport were 99.9%.

So you're saying there's a chance the Huskies might not have ended up in Bridgeport?

 

[BroadwayVa]

They have a valid point. Perhaps Hartford should host the regionals instead of Bridgeport - Hartford seats 16,000 while it's only 7,800 in Bridgeport. It hardly seems fair that only 300 total seats were reserved for the other 3 teams in the regional, but the rest of the seats were sold out BEFORE the NCAA even announced the brackets.

I wonder how this plays out in the other regions---do the locals buy out the seating?? Seem a bit normal. Your point is well taken

about the 16000 plus XL center--but I think they had some issues in filling those seats, didn' t they?? 300 out of 7800 less than 5 percent set aside---you are right this does seem much too few--

 

[DefenseBB]

I wonder how this plays out in the other regions---do the locals buy out the seating?? Seem a bit normal. Your point is well taken
--

Broadway, really? I do all the hard work of researching the attendance and then you ask that question?

NO the locals DON'T BUY the other regions out. That's the whole point of this. Even in Dallas last year for Baylor attendance was poor. Greensboro SC where SC was did better but not as good as UConn in Bridgeport.

 

[jsloanjr]

Too bad MD fans were not too upset to go watch them play last week in College Park.........They had 14,000 empty seats ............

 

[BroadwayVa]

Broadway, really? I do all the hard work of researching the attendance and then you ask that question?

NO the locals DON'T BUY the other regions out. That's the whole point of this. Even in Dallas last year for Baylor attendance was poor. Greensboro SC where SC was did better but not as good as UConn in Bridgeport.

I appreciate your hard work--honestly, my wonder was about whether they were having ticket issues as MD is having in Bport.
Seems to me that, as bias as it may appear to MD, it is what it is---and dependent upon your belief where you will play---in big time games, ie. the sweet 16/elite 8--you have to be first to get a seat. As long as Uconn keeps winning---fans will follow---fans love winners--

 

[DefenseBB]

I guess we could do a little cruising on Stubhub and see...as Arnold once said "I'll be baaack!"....

 

[drweo]

As a fan, though, I feel for those who couldn't get tickets (tho I think they can still get them through resellers). It wouldn't hurt to reserve more tickets for four teams. Once those teams are selected, they get a couple of days to sell them before they are available to others. Wont matter for the regions that don't sellout and will ensure each team has a chance at fan support in places like Bridgeport.

This or another reasonable resolution to this situation would go a long way towards improving the situation in question. Because it is just a bit unfair to programs that do not know where they will be playing in regionals.

 

[UcMiami]

I wonder how this plays out in the other regions---do the locals buy out the seating?? Seem a bit normal. Your point is well taken about the 16000 plus XL center--but I think they had some issues in filling those seats, didn' t they?? 300 out of 7800 less than 5 percent set aside---you are right this does seem much too few--

FOR THE THIRD TIME IN THIS THREAD:
Hartford as a host site for a regional would sell maybe 2000 tickets, BECAUSE UCONN CAN NOT PLAY A REGIONAL IN HARTFORD based on the current rules for the women's NCAA tournament. So the issue of Hartford having a greater seating capacity is moot. When the rules changed to host schools for the first two rounds and neutral regional sites, Hartford stopped bidding for tournament games because it would have been a disaster for them, unless they decided to not host Uconn regular season games. It was at that point that Albany stepped in and Bridgeport renewed their bidding.

 

[oldude]

FOR THE THIRD TIME IN THIS THREAD:
Hartford as a host site for a regional would sell maybe 2000 tickets, BECAUSE UCONN CAN NOT PLAY A REGIONAL IN HARTFORD based on the current rules for the women's NCAA tournament. So the issue of Hartford having a greater seating capacity is moot. When the rules changed to host schools for the first two rounds and neutral regional sites, Hartford stopped bidding for tournament games because it would have been a disaster for them, unless they decided to not host Uconn regular season games. It was at that point that Albany stepped in and Bridgeport renewed their bidding.

Easy UcM. Bunch of old guys on this forum subject to senior moments. Most of us have difficulty remembering if we ate breakfast today.