Swish: The drawing power of visiting teams - UConn analyzed

[pap49cba]

Looks at four teams: UConn, ND, Stanford and Tennessee

And the winner is.... LINK

 

[meyers7]

As expected.

 

[watanabe]

... and the writer asks why TN and UC aren't playing each other...
Good question but easily answered if you know anything about it. When the show is finally scheduled, it should be in the biggest venue possible and on pay tv. Kinda like Maryweather and Pacquio, Ali and Fraser... .

 

[ChicagoGG]

It's the UConn women's world and we are lucky to live in it.....

 

[UcMiami]

Interesting but a couple of thoughts:
1. Stanford gets a little messed up because the Uconn home weighting number with multiple venues is always a problem when looking at attendance numbers - you would need to look at average home attendance for the specified venue to get the real number.
2. Tenn gets a bonus because they have two away games in their home state - two of the three biggest bounces they get in the listed stats.
3. Using raw numbers for the final analysis probably overstates the drawing power because a single game with a high volume and high draw drowns out the effects of games in smaller venues. For Uconn 1/3 of the total draw is represented by the MD game that was in a big venue with some strong promotion. Likewise Middle TN for Tenn.

 

[DobbsRover2]

I don't know, it's an interesting question, but the list of caveats about the stats listed at top (especially the one about whether the home team normally gets high attendance) makes the whole analysis a bit sketchy. And though I'm not sure if the case is true for any of the 36 or so home teams in the tables, there are schools like UConn with multiple home venues, and for any analyses of UConn home attendance stats (applicable here for Stanford), you always need to factor in how many games were at Gampel versus XL versus now Bridgeport, because the XL and Bridgeport games can double the attendance.

But yeah, UConn certainly is the highest drawing visiting team. ND does get screwed a bit because its travel sites are averaging around 4,000 while UConn, UTenn, and Stanford are in the 3,400-3,000 range. That means it's a little harder for the visiting team to boost attendance. ND especially gets penalized for playing at UTenn with 12,800, the only road site that averages more than 10,000 claimed spectators, while Stanford gets hit for playing at UConn with its 9300 average, and UConn also gets a lesser shaft for the Baylor game at a site that averages 8300. UTenn's relatively good-looking drawing power in the study is greatly helped by the fact they played at no place averaging more than 5800.

To give this study a lot more credibility, you would need to factor in whether there is a limited ceiling on how much a site's attendance can be boosted over its average, as ability to boost attendance at UTenn, UConn, and Baylor is limited, while at a small school or at MD, the chance for boosting attendance is huge. One of the most interesting comparisons is for MD and Duke, as UConn pulled in 15,300 and 9,300 there, and ND pulled in 7,600 and 7,000. That says a lot.

What I really love about articles is when they make those daring, no-one-else-will-say-it statements like the one about UConn: "Might be the best team of the 21st century (so far), and this year's team is outstanding. " Sheer courage there.

 

[UcMiami]

What I really love about articles is when they make those daring, no-one-else-will-say-it statements like the one about UConn: "Might be the best team of the 21st century (so far), and this year's team is outstanding. " Sheer courage there.

You'll notice they weren't really going too far out onto that limb as they were very carefully to insert the word 'might' at the beginning.
Otherwise I might agree with you!

 

[jennyo70]

I'd like to see Louisville numbers IRT this. The Schimmels draw a huge following throughout the country. After the Oklahoma WNIT game preseason, the Schimmels stayed in the arena for an hour after the game signing autographs, before the OK staff asked Louisville to leave.
The lines were so long, they moved it outside, and they were there 3 more hours, until they signed for every fan there. We see many a press release about this, on a lot of the away games.

 

[phil sampieri]

Looks at four teams: UConn, ND, Stanford and Tennessee

And the winner is.... LINK

And this proves that UConn womens Basketball is bad for Women's Basketball, Right ? Not
Send this to Lynn Dunn

 

[DobbsRover2]

I'd like to see Louisville numbers IRT this. The Schimmels draw a huge following throughout the country. After the Oklahoma WNIT game preseason, the Schimmels stayed in the arena for an hour after the game signing autographs, before the OK staff asked Louisville to leave.
The lines were so long, they moved it outside, and they were there 3 more hours, until they signed for every fan there. We see many a press release about this, on a lot of the away games.

As one of the top 5 teams (how come Duke isn't also thrown into the mix), that would be nice, but I think it would be better for Louisville for this type of analysis to wait until next year when they are in the ACC. In the AAC, UConn has been averaging anywhere from 2 to 5 times as many fans than Louisville at similar venues like Temple, UCF, and Rutgers. The Cards' average for away games is 2768, which is about 300 less than Stanford, the lowest of the 4 study teams. Two of Lville's OOC away games were against in-state rivals KY and WKY, so like the UTenn situation that also brings in the question of whether the higher attendance then is due to the state rivalry factor or the Cardinals' reputation.

Next year though it will be interesting to see whether gigantic ACC crowds turn out for the Cardinal games. And Louisville of course has nice 8000+ home attendance that is only about 400 a game behind UConn, and they pulled in over 10000 for Memphis while UConn only got 8000, though it was a weekend game at YUM and a weekday game at the XL.

 

[DobbsRover2]

You'll notice they weren't really going too far out onto that limb as they were very carefully to insert the word 'might' at the beginning.
Otherwise I might agree with you!

It's the power of "might," and I truly believe that Mighty Mouse was the baddest superhero dude ever, at least from a then 4-year-old's point of view.

 

[Icebear]

It's the power of "might," and I truly believe that Mighty Mouse was the baddest superhero dude ever, at least from a then 4-year-old's point of view.

As a 4 year old I had a Mighty Mouse costume for Halloween. I ran out the back door and jumped off the back porch finding myself swiftly grounded on the macadam. I was sure I would be able to fly.

 

[DobbsRover2]

As a 4 year old I had a Mighty Mouse costume for Halloween. I ran out the back door and jumped off the back porch finding myself swiftly grounded on the macadam. I was sure I would be able to fly.

When I got a lot older my favorite superhero was DTwoman. After watching her on TV, I ran off to the hoops area and let fly with a 3/4 court shot thinking that it would fly just like hers. It didn't, and I then had to punch a can of Orange Crush.

 

[jsloanjr]

UCONN will always be the biggest draw for visiting teams. People see UCONN on National TV every week and when they get c\a chance to see them in their backyard, they pack the house......The Circus is coming to town soon........UCONN has 4 road games left this season. USF, Houston, SMU and Louisville.........Check this out after all the games
Average home Attendance: USF..2500, Houston...750........SMU..1000.......Louisville......8000........

 

[arty155]

As a 4 year old I had a Mighty Mouse costume for Halloween. I ran out the back door and jumped off the back porch finding myself swiftly grounded on the macadam. I was sure I would be able to fly.

-Never, never buy a costume sold by Oil Can Harry.

 

[Geno-ista]

I'd like to see Louisville numbers IRT this. The Schimmels draw a huge following throughout the country. After the Oklahoma WNIT game preseason, the Schimmels stayed in the arena for an hour after the game signing autographs, before the OK staff asked Louisville to leave.
The lines were so long, they moved it outside, and they were there 3 more hours, until they signed for every fan there. We see many a press release about this, on a lot of the away games.

I will bet that was because of a huge Native American population in Oklahoma- which I have a lot of "reservations" about!

 

[Icebear]

I will bet that was because of a huge Native American population in Oklahoma- which I have a lot of "reservations" about!

Ssssssss!!!

 

[cohenzone]

It's the power of "might," and I truly believe that Mighty Mouse was the baddest superhero dude ever, at least from a then 4-year-old's point of view.

Ya gotta love any mouse that lives in an operatic environment. If only the mice in my basement would fly around in colorful costumes and sing opera, I could sell tickets and make some mad money instead of having to spend money on an exterminator.

BTW, for the youngsters here, yes there was also a Supermouse, but the little rodent was no where near the "away" draw that Mighty Mouse was, because Mighty Mouse can save the day.

 

[Jim]

I'd be interested in seeing whether attendance rises on home games after UCONN comes to town. I suspect folks come out to see UCONN, but discover they like going to WCBB games and come back for more.

 

[Jim]

I'd like to see Louisville numbers IRT this. The Schimmels draw a huge following throughout the country. After the Oklahoma WNIT game preseason, the Schimmels stayed in the arena for an hour after the game signing autographs, before the OK staff asked Louisville to leave.
The lines were so long, they moved it outside, and they were there 3 more hours, until they signed for every fan there. We see many a press release about this, on a lot of the away games.

Does that mean when the Schimmels play in the AAC tournament at Mohegan Sun that Louisville will be considered the home team?

 

[MilfordHusky]

As a 4 year old I had a Mighty Mouse costume for Halloween. I ran out the back door and jumped off the back porch finding myself swiftly grounded on the macadam. I was sure I would be able to fly.

I'd say you were a macadamia nut.

 

[Zorro]

A big part of UT's attraction this year might be the real possibility of the home team beating them.

 

[triaddukefan]

To give this study a lot more credibility, you would need to factor in whether there is a limited ceiling on how much a site's attendance can be boosted over its average, as ability to boost attendance at UTenn, UConn, and Baylor is limited, while at a small school or at MD, the chance for boosting attendance is huge. One of the most interesting comparisons is for MD and Duke, as UConn pulled in 15,300 and 9,300 there, and ND pulled in 7,600 and 7,000. That says a lot.
.

One thing to consider with regards to the crowds in Durham in terms of comparing UCONN and ND. In December... it was a battle of unbeatens.. 1 vs 2........ Duke fans were full of hope and optimism.... well sorta... but anyway. If Duke would have emerged victorious in that game... or at least had a competitive game that wasnt decided until the final seconds.. there is no doubt that the attendance for the ND game would have been greater than 7,000. If Duke was still undefeated going into the ND game... i think the game would have sold out... or at least cracked the 8,500 barrier. Even if Duke had a close loss to UCONN.... i feel the attendance for ND would have surpassed 8,000.

 

[Icebear]

IF...