Dooley
Done with U-con athletics
- Joined
- Oct 7, 2012
- Messages
- 9,963
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In a season that we barely beat a FCS opponent at home by a measly field goal, refused to call any passing plays in a little rain because of a horrendous OL, can't move the ball against some of the nation's worst defenses, have lost all of its top players due to injuries (Cochran, Jones and Davis), and are cycling a 4-deep depth chart at nearly every position to seemingly prepare for 2015, UCONN fans represented VERY well last night.
The announced attendance was a few ticks over 27K. Yes, that's not a good figure in itself. Yes, that is the smallest announced crowd ever at Yankee Stadium. Yes, that still fell some 3K short of the second-to-last smallest announced crowd at Yankee Stadium (2012 RU vs Army...which, incidentally, RU was 7-1 heading into that game). But the crowd last night was very pro-UCONN. I would say, at the very least, it was 60/40 in favor of UCONN. 60% of 27,000 is 16,200. Whether or not my 60/40 crowd split is pin-point accurate doesn't matter. What matters is that nobody with a rational set of eyes and ears could dispute the fact that UCONN delivered a good number of fans to Yankee Stadium. Probably around 15K.
In interviews, Jim Delany has said that he knew that attendance would swell at Rutgers and Maryland once those two schools began playing a B1G schedule. He has said that he knew that the combination of playing against B1G programs with steep histories and huge fanbases would generate increased exposure and buzz to help pack the stadiums at RU and MD.
How do those comments apply to UCONN? If nothing else, UCONN showed that it can sell at least the same amount of tickets as Rutgers (often regarded as the #1 followed football program in NYC) in a season that NOTHING has gone right on the field. UCONN fans spent double/triple/quadruple (or more) their normal gameday expenses that they would to go to a game at the Rent to watch what? A couple of miserable 2-6 teams battle it out in an irrelevant meaningless game. Now can you imagine, in THE SAME SEASON, how many UCONN fans would have made the trip to Yankee Stadium to watch someone like, say, Notre Dame? Ohio State? Penn State? Now imagine how many UCONN fans would have made the trip IN A GOOD SEASON. The number of UCONN fans at Yankee Stadium could very easily approach 30+K. In a good season (or, at least, in a season that we are not this God awful) playing against another good team? 30+K. Easy.
I am, in no way, saying that what happened ON THE FIELD last night was anything but p1ss poor. It was embarrassing. It was everything we have all come to expect from this year's team: a decent effort but a team that could not execute properly when it needed to and a bunch of baffling coaching decisions. But sports are cyclical. At some point (hopefully soon), UCONN football will be competitive again. When that day comes, UCONN football could be a very big draw in NYC. So what I am saying is that what happened IN THE STANDS was incredibly positive for UCONN's brand. Remember, CR is all about (and only about) making money. UCONN being able to sell that many tickets to a meaningless game between two very bad teams should intrigue someone like Jim Delany who is no dummy and understands that his collection of B1G programs and fanbases could do the same thing with UCONN that it did with Rutgers and Maryland: sell tickets, create buzz and, most importantly, make money.
If UCONN can continue to build its brand (it couldn't have been a coincidence that it purchased some advertising space in yesterday's New York Times on the same day as their first game at Yankee Stadium), build on its AAU resume, maintain its spot amongst the elite basketball programs in the country, and, hopefully one day, become a bit more competitive on the football field, then it clearly demonstrated last night that there IS interest in UCONN football in New York City...even in a sh1tstorm season like this one.
The announced attendance was a few ticks over 27K. Yes, that's not a good figure in itself. Yes, that is the smallest announced crowd ever at Yankee Stadium. Yes, that still fell some 3K short of the second-to-last smallest announced crowd at Yankee Stadium (2012 RU vs Army...which, incidentally, RU was 7-1 heading into that game). But the crowd last night was very pro-UCONN. I would say, at the very least, it was 60/40 in favor of UCONN. 60% of 27,000 is 16,200. Whether or not my 60/40 crowd split is pin-point accurate doesn't matter. What matters is that nobody with a rational set of eyes and ears could dispute the fact that UCONN delivered a good number of fans to Yankee Stadium. Probably around 15K.
In interviews, Jim Delany has said that he knew that attendance would swell at Rutgers and Maryland once those two schools began playing a B1G schedule. He has said that he knew that the combination of playing against B1G programs with steep histories and huge fanbases would generate increased exposure and buzz to help pack the stadiums at RU and MD.
How do those comments apply to UCONN? If nothing else, UCONN showed that it can sell at least the same amount of tickets as Rutgers (often regarded as the #1 followed football program in NYC) in a season that NOTHING has gone right on the field. UCONN fans spent double/triple/quadruple (or more) their normal gameday expenses that they would to go to a game at the Rent to watch what? A couple of miserable 2-6 teams battle it out in an irrelevant meaningless game. Now can you imagine, in THE SAME SEASON, how many UCONN fans would have made the trip to Yankee Stadium to watch someone like, say, Notre Dame? Ohio State? Penn State? Now imagine how many UCONN fans would have made the trip IN A GOOD SEASON. The number of UCONN fans at Yankee Stadium could very easily approach 30+K. In a good season (or, at least, in a season that we are not this God awful) playing against another good team? 30+K. Easy.
I am, in no way, saying that what happened ON THE FIELD last night was anything but p1ss poor. It was embarrassing. It was everything we have all come to expect from this year's team: a decent effort but a team that could not execute properly when it needed to and a bunch of baffling coaching decisions. But sports are cyclical. At some point (hopefully soon), UCONN football will be competitive again. When that day comes, UCONN football could be a very big draw in NYC. So what I am saying is that what happened IN THE STANDS was incredibly positive for UCONN's brand. Remember, CR is all about (and only about) making money. UCONN being able to sell that many tickets to a meaningless game between two very bad teams should intrigue someone like Jim Delany who is no dummy and understands that his collection of B1G programs and fanbases could do the same thing with UCONN that it did with Rutgers and Maryland: sell tickets, create buzz and, most importantly, make money.
If UCONN can continue to build its brand (it couldn't have been a coincidence that it purchased some advertising space in yesterday's New York Times on the same day as their first game at Yankee Stadium), build on its AAU resume, maintain its spot amongst the elite basketball programs in the country, and, hopefully one day, become a bit more competitive on the football field, then it clearly demonstrated last night that there IS interest in UCONN football in New York City...even in a sh1tstorm season like this one.