Poor fan showing at Gampel

[HuskiesFourLife]

Arizona was the only game that had the atmosphere I have come to expect from UConn fans. And tonight it was pretty shocking to see all the empty seats. Saturday night? 24-2 team, #6 ranked. Something has changed. Maybe it’s social media. Feels like they are not really following the team like they used to. Very disappointing. I still had fun but it’s just not the same

 

[Dogammit]

The fan base stinks. It’s not just Gampel, I have gone to the last three final fours and we have never even filled the student section, the 2024 one was particularly embarrassing. I probably had a dozen Purdue fans ask what was up with the fan base. Hurley has tried to sell the fan base as being one of the best but it’s simply not true. As passionate as Hurley is, it could be the one thing that UNC or other powerhouse school has that could convince him to leave….how embarrassing, another coach says, “what up with your fan base”. See you in Hartford for the St John’s game.

 

[TerryBoyz]

to be fair, they did renege on the “forever” seats promise. I’m not privy to the data but maybe they lost more hardcore fans than expected.

 

[pepband99]

Hurley saying the same in his presser. I don’t know what the problem is. Spoiled fanbase. A bunch of empty seats and yet ticket prices never dipped below 70-80 bucks on the secondary market. Quickly losing any semblance of a home court advantage.

That was Dan's polite answer.

The correct answer could have easily been "Hey Ed, try not to come in here with a crappy team again"

 

[John]

to be fair, they did renege on the “forever” seats promise. I’m not privy to the data but maybe they lost more hardcore fans than expected.

They complain about fan passion, but openly treat us like two-legged ATMs, especially lately.

 

[ValleyGuy]

I’ve been complaining about the crowds for the last two years. Students wait for Hurley to tell them to cheer. They don’t understand the flow of the game at all. It’s lifeless in there

 

[willie99]

Valentines Day
Saturday night
Uninspiring opposition
And I don't like getting home near midnight

I went to dinner, but gave my tickets away. If this was St John's, I'm there

 

[Rashadsmask]

to be fair, they did renege on the “forever” seats promise. I’m not privy to the data but maybe they lost more hardcore fans than expected.

This is part of the problem. The reseating process did some real damage.

 

[Uconn77Duke74]

The student tickets should not be 100% free. Add a nominal cost, like $5-10 and only studnets who really want to go will buy them.
What is hapenning now is kids are logging in, getting their free ticket in case they want to go and then not going. Students tickets are also currently non transferable even between students. makes no sense.

 

[metsfan2323]

Hope the misguided fans who believe we need to build an on-campus football stadium read this thread.

 

[UCLJ0211]

As others have said, this had more to do with it being Saturday night on Valentine’s Day than anything else. The casuals were all fighting for tables at Cheesecake Factory instead of watching UConn play Georgetown.

 

[uconnyankee]

Academics aren’t inherently better they’re just grabbing more international and out of state students because it’s more profitable. These kids don’t care about UConn athletics.

Academics/Intl students is a bit of a reach. Duke/Cameron would have similar struggles but they don’t.
CT has always been a front-runner crowd prone to apathy.

Frustrating, but that’s reality.

 

[yungdowork]

It feels like every time the crowd has actually rose to the moment this year, the opposing team would immediately hit a silencer three or draw a foul. It’s like a hex

This was killing my section for sure. KJ Lewis must have personally sat the fans down about 4 or 5 times, and the refs had at least another few

 

[freshler40]

This is deflection by Dan.

Georgetown stinks. It's 8pm on Valentine's Day. Outside of St. John's and Nova, the league is not good this year and doesn't move the needle.

When we played a very good team, Arizona, it was a great crowd. The crowds in Boston and NYC were pretty great.

This is a problem nationwide unless it's an elite matchup.

We can see the indifference of fans in many sports, coming in late, leaving early, etc. The current financial structure may also be a turnoff for some as the spread between what the top college sports pay and what most students have at this stage of their lives has been growing a lot. When you add in the transfer, one and done players, lack of home-grown players, fan loyalty may suffer.

The above doesn't address the growing list of distractions. The college game has moved to being a big business. Just look at the number of supporting staff sitting with the players. TV, streaming and deals to grow the brand seem to greet us every year.

In any case, we are blessed to have a great team/s gathered to compete at this top level by the best coaches in the business.

 

[huskyjawz]

Is any basketball fan really concerned about Valentines Day? When it's a week night, then people complain about getting up for work. Now it's Saturday night...

 

[JustbrewitMan]

I’ve been complaining about the crowds for the last two years. Students wait for Hurley to tell them to cheer. They don’t understand the flow of the game at all. It’s lifeless in there

There seems to be a larger and larger contingent of the student section that are just there for the chance to get on TV but other than that, do nothing.

The Banana kids, the PAC-Man outfit kids, etc. Don’t get me wrong, it’s fun to bring personality to the crowd, but you need to do more than act like a crazy fan for the 5sec the camera is on you (then check social media the rest of the game to look for the likes you get from the clip you posted to TikTok/IG/Snap)

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

They're reaping what they sewed.

The fans who were passionate about the team have been given the middle finger for far too long.

 

[navery12]

Is any basketball fan really concerned about Valentines Day? When it's a week night, then people complain about getting up for work. Now it's Saturday night...

Yes, some people love their spouse along with loving UConn basketball

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

Hurley should have asked Ed why only 3,000 people are in the stands at Georgetown games

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

Hurley should have asked Ed why only 3,000 people are in the stands at Georgetown games

That answer is obvious to everyone.

Georgetown is and has been irrelevant for decades. Cooley only went there to escape an embarrassing personal scandal, not to make an honest attempt to revive a moribund program.

 

[drayenob]

Even though he's not wrong, wtf is it of Ed Cooley's business? First lecturing the fan base about how arrogant and spoiled we are and then commenting on the crowd? Maybe he should pay more attention to his 40-51 overall record at gtown?

 

[pepband99]

It's like everyone is forgetting that Ed feels his #1 job is to needle opposing fanbases, instead of actually fielding the best team.

 

[upstater]

NIL and the student fees are causing a disconnect.

This won't be a problem down south. But it will corrode college sports slowly. You'll see it.

 

[UCan3]

It’s brutal this season. The student section that’s across from the main student section is a big issue. Those should be released at face value to other fans that would actually go and cheer and stay the whole game.
Agree with the poster above. I no longer have season tickets because of where I live (2 hrs away), but I look at the secondary market most games to see if making the trip makes sense. This game would’ve been 100 bucks a pop for a mediocre seat, yet it seemed like the place was half full. Makes no sense.

Well, Georgetown shouldn’t be commenting on anyone’s attendance. I’m sorry.

And it was a three-day weekend, which I’m sure someone has said somewhere in this discussion where a lot of kids go home.

But I looked for tickets, and I was looking at $350-500 for 2 crappy tickets for this game.

And I’m not sure if I’m alone in this, but I’ve kind of had it. And it’s not just UConn basketball, but this whole economy we have where it just seems like you’ve got to spend an arm or two to do things which used to be attainable. Not all of us have this type of money.

Red Sox game same thing - no, I don’t want to pay $60 to park my car. I used to pay $60 to stay at a hotel for the night going back a few years ago.

And the tipping point for me was this weekend where I was going to get some egg salad to go with a croissant for dinner at a Coop. It was literally the smallest amount of egg salad in a tiny container (with no croissant) for 7 dollars. Yes, me and the cashier had a good laugh - no, I didn’t buy it.

Sorry this touches a nerve, but this is not a UConn issue. Maybe the secondary selling of tickets needs to be finally looked at because it’s ridiculous.

But a few open seats say nothing about UConn fans in my opinion - at least not the ones that are trying to make their mortgage every month, pay rent, or raise a family. The economy is the worst I’ve seen it for average income folks or lower in my existence on this planet - sure, it’s been worse at some point in history, but not since I’ve been here.

 

[Nicklo28]

I believe there is a rabid UConn fan base. But a lot do not attend games because they have been priced out. The lower bowl is too expensive for the real fans.