If this game is an annual event, they need to rethink it, or put it in a place where the audience has a pulse.
If they want the stands packed AND keep it near the HOF, they need to:
- Make it a UConn game;
- Make the opponent a nearby team (Syracuse, Rutgers, maybe an Ivy League team...)
- Ensure that the schools include tix in the season ticket holder package for both teams.
Face it; UConn has the top fan base in the country over the past couple of decades. We'll put several thousand into that arena, and schools like Syracuse, RU, Princeton, Harvard...they'd put another couple in there at least. Add in the locals and you have your 9k.
BUT...that would make it another National Showcase for UConn, which would annoy the Haters. SO...IMO, you can either make this successful WITH UConn, or what it is today, without. It seems foolish to have this game 30 miles away from THE perennial power in WCBB and not take advantage of the proximity. That is, unless you don't care about attendance.