Small crowd

[pap49cba]

Rich Elliott ‏@elliottctpost 2h
Today's crowd at GP (4,627) was smallest home crowd for #UConn since it drew 4,165 vs. Providence in BE semis 3/6/94. #bleedblue #ncaaWFF

 

[huskyharry]

Ironically, that is close to what used to be the capacity of the old field house

 

[CTBballfan243]

Sounds like smart consumers. Why would you want to waste your money or time watching what amounted to a UCONN practice? A 68 point win isn't very entertaining. They should eliminate 1/2 the teams from the womens tournament.

 

[Adios]

People don't attend the playoffs as well as the regular season, for whatever reasons.

 

[alexrgct]

People don't attend the playoffs as well as the regular season, for whatever reasons.

And the reasons are...

-Price. It's generally more expensive, a lot more so for students.

-In November, people *might* show up for Idaho. In March? Not so much.

-It's always in Storrs. In Hartford, you'd stand a better chance of getting 7,000 or so.

-The proliferation of ESPN3. If the women's tourney interests you, you can watch more games, and more competitive games, if you stay home.

-The BET, Storrs, and Bridgeport somewhat cannabalize one another. Not everyone prioritizes WBB so much that they'll attend all three. And of the three, Storrs has the least interesting matchups and is the most remote.

-Expectations are lower for this team. In 2009, I was part of throng of 9,000+ who watched UConn dismantle Vermont. But that was an undefeated team, the overwhelming favorite to win it all, and the first championship team Uconn had fielded in a while. And the regionals were in Trenton. But bottom line, people felt like they were watching something special and historic. Watching a very good but not great team obliterate a completely overmatched opponent is less of a draw.

 

[DaddyChoc]

I would have went if it was in Hartford.... traffic/driving, chairbacks and parking stops me from going to Gampel.

it was the perfect time of the day also... Saturday at 1:30pm and people still didnt show up. Im sure ticket prices played a large part also

 

[ed4ourgirls]

Looked like a pretty sparse crowd in Lubbock for the Texas Tech/USF
game. The Lady Raiders are usually well supported.

I wonder if the students being on spring break was a factor.

 

[wes33]

At Duke season tickets include the first two rounds in Cameron and our students come free.

 

[RadyLady]

Had the game been in Hartford I would have gone. Certainly it was early enough to enable me to get back to New York City at a reasonable houre

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[huskybill]

And the reasons are...

-Price. It's generally more expensive, a lot more so for students.

-In November, people *might* show up for Idaho. In March? Not so much.

-It's always in Storrs. In Hartford, you'd stand a better chance of getting 7,000 or so.

-The proliferation of ESPN3. If the women's tourney interests you, you can watch more games, and more competitive games, if you stay home.

-The BET, Storrs, and Bridgeport somewhat cannabalize one another. Not everyone prioritizes WBB so much that they'll attend all three. And of the three, Storrs has the least interesting matchups and is the most remote.

-Expectations are lower for this team. In 2009, I was part of throng of 9,000+ who watched UConn dismantle Vermont. But that was an undefeated team, the overwhelming favorite to win it all, and the first championship team Uconn had fielded in a while. And the regionals were in Trenton. But bottom line, people felt like they were watching something special and historic. Watching a very good but not great team obliterate a completely overmatched opponent is less of a draw.

In otherwords you're a front runner. A 29-4 team isn't good enough for you. I liked your before game answer better...life is too short. I thought there was something drastically wrong with you. Now I find that you're just spoiled.

 

[huskybill]

Looked like a pretty sparse crowd in Lubbock for the Texas Tech/USF
game. The Lady Raiders are usually well supported.

I wonder if the students being on spring break was a factor.

Sorry, Texas Tech drew 6062. Only 4627 went to the UConn game.

 

[Waquoit]

-The proliferation of ESPN3. If the women's tourney interests you, you can watch more games, and more competitive games, if you stay home.

I can't believe ESPN 3 kept one WBB fan in the Hartford area from buying a ticket.

 

[huskybill]

There were 8 doubleheaders yesterday. UConn was 6th in attendance (4627). We beat out College Park (4058) and Columbus (2256). A & M drew (7215) , Utenn (6833) , Texas Tech (6062), Gonzaga (5674) , and Colorado (5347). Guess these teams have fewer spoiled fans than we do.

 

[huskybill]

Sounds like smart consumers. Why would you want to waste your money or time watching what amounted to a UCONN practice? A 68 point win isn't very entertaining. They should eliminate 1/2 the teams from the womens tournament.

But the first game was entertaining and very close.

 

[MilfordHusky]

I enjoyed it--even with the cost of the ticket, parking, rental car, flight, and hotel room. Living in DC, I was excited to finally get to a game this season.

Yeah, it was Idaho, but Idaho qualified for the tourney. They are not Seton Hall or Providence. In my view, it was important for the team to start the third season on the right foot, and I wanted to support them. They needed to put the God-awful ND loss behind them and show that they could play better. Offensively, they were crisp: over 60% shooting, several players hit threes, 28 assists to 6 TOs. The underclassmen got established and everyone was looking for their shot.

The last time I was in Gampel was for Maya's Senior Night, when she destroyed 'Cuse singlehandedly. The kid wearing #23 last night looked a lot like Maya. Kaleena was on a different level than everyone else.

The Idaho coach said he couldn't believe that ND beat use 3x. He couldn't believe that anyone could beat us 3x. The team that played yesterday really looks like a contender.

 

[Atross]

Sounds like smart consumers. Why would you want to waste your money or time watching what amounted to a UCONN practice? A 68 point win isn't very entertaining. They should eliminate 1/2 the teams from the womens tournament.

I tend to agree. Somehow the tournament needs tweaking or change. Should the good teams play each other earlier? Should the field be the top 64? Should it be an Olympic style tournament where teams are part of Groups A,B,C D etc with some round robin possibilities until a championship round that is single elimination?

 

[zls44]

Watching a very good but not great team obliterate a completely overmatched opponent is less of a draw.

Good not great...LMAO

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

I enjoyed it--even with the cost of the ticket, parking, rental car, flight, and hotel room. Living in DC, I was excited to finally get to a game this season.

Yeah, it was Idaho, but Idaho qualified for the tourney. They are not Seton Hall or Providence. In my view, it was important for the team to start the third season on the right foot, and I wanted to support them. They needed to put the God-awful ND loss behind them and show that they could play better. Offensively, they were crisp: over 60% shooting, several players hit threes, 28 assists to 6 TOs. The underclassmen got established and everyone was looking for their shot.

The last time I was in Gampel was for Maya's Senior Night, when she destroyed 'Cuse singlehandedly. The kid wearing #23 last night looked a lot like Maya. Kaleena was on a different level than everyone else.

The Idaho coach said he couldn't believe that ND beat use 3x. He couldn't believe that anyone could beat us 3x. The team that played yesterday really looks like a contender.

Having nothing to do with your point (I agree with attending, never missed an RU NCAA game), I would say that comparing Idaho to Seton Hall and Providence is risky. Their coach is an up and comer, but quite frankly, they are not ready for prime time. Meh team in a terrible conference. Seton Hall and Providence could take them, almost certainly.

 

[huskybill]

I tend to agree. Somehow the tournament needs tweaking or change. Should the good teams play each other earlier? Should the field be the top 64? Should it be an Olympic style tournament where teams are part of Groups A,B,C D etc with some round robin possibilities until a championship round that is single elimination?

But even under your changes, UConn would be playing a bad team during round robin. And as to yesterday's doubleheader, the first game was close and entertaining as a 8/9 game usually is.

 

[ASweet3781]

I went yesterday. First time I was in Gampel since 2009. I was struck first by the ceiling. It appears pieces of the ceiling are rusting and coming apart. No maintenance? Gampel is showing its age. Thankfully I had a seat with a chair back but the benches gotta be a detractor.

I was also struck by the age of the crowd. If you think attendance was small yesterday I hope we gain some new fans to replace the ones in my section in 5 years or so because I think the average age in my section was about 80. I think its great seniors have embraced the team. But where are the young people with their parents? What else is there to do on a Saturday afternoon?

But I think someone above nailed a big part of it. You cannot have the Big East Tournament in Hartford every single year for a decade and not expect it to impact the NCAA hosting. I have sat through all 5 days of the BET. At the end of it, I never wanted to go watch another game live in person again. It was exhausting. It wears you out. Add in the regional being in Bridgeport and that's just too much basketball for people to go pay money and watch in a months time.

I also think the gameday experience leaves a lot to be desired for UConn. I thought Idaho and Vanderbilt had better sounding pep bands and much more engaging cheerleaders. UConn's are fine but boring. Stuff like that can matter when you have to sit there all day. You want to be entertained not just by the team.

 

[EricLA]

It will be interesting to see how well Bridgeport is attended.

 

[Cheddie]

Another reason perhaps for slow sales - unless I read the ticket marketing wrong, you needed to buy tickets for three games, and we had a conflict Monday evening. Chose not to buy tickets for three games, only to see one.

 

[Ozzie Nelson]

I went yesterday. First time I was in Gampel since 2009. I was struck first by the ceiling. It appears pieces of the ceiling are rusting and coming apart. No maintenance? Gampel is showing its age. Thankfully I had a seat with a chair back but the benches gotta be a detractor.

I was also struck by the age of the crowd. If you think attendance was small yesterday I hope we gain some new fans to replace the ones in my section in 5 years or so because I think the average age in my section was about 80. I think its great seniors have embraced the team. But where are the young people with their parents? What else is there to do on a Saturday afternoon?

But I think someone above nailed a big part of it. You cannot have the Big East Tournament in Hartford every single year for a decade and not expect it to impact the NCAA hosting. I have sat through all 5 days of the BET. At the end of it, I never wanted to go watch another game live in person again. It was exhausting. It wears you out. Add in the regional being in Bridgeport and that's just too much basketball for people to go pay money and watch in a months time.

I also think the gameday experience leaves a lot to be desired for UConn. I thought Idaho and Vanderbilt had better sounding pep bands and much more engaging cheerleaders. UConn's are fine but boring. Stuff like that can matter when you have to sit there all day. You want to be entertained not just by the team.

The game, and the way UCONN women play, is more than enough for me. I guess I am behind the times.

 

[ASweet3781]

Another reason perhaps for slow sales - unless I read the ticket marketing wrong, you needed to buy tickets for three games, and we had a conflict Monday evening. Chose not to buy tickets for three games, only to see one.

I bought my ticket yesterday at Gampel. I did not have to buy all 3 games.

 

[phil sampieri]

It will be interesting to see how well Bridgeport is attended.

Better competition-Fairfield county fans who don't like the trek to Gampel = bigger turnout