UConn Home Attendance - The Truth

[KnightBridgeAZ]

In a thread below, 2 estimable BY members started throwing numbers all over the place and trying to decide if UConn home attendance has declined since 2004 & 2008 OR if attendance is UP, especially from last year (the 2 opposing views). I have no horse in this race - from my viewpoint, attendance at UConn games is better than almost anywhere.

Although there are all kinds of qualifiers, I compared regular season Gampel attendance per game in 2004, 2008, 2011 and this year. The same for the Hartford Civic Center / XL Center in those years. All numbers are from the UConn WBB web site and compared for accuracy to the NCAA site.

Gampel: 2004, 100% sold out, average 10,167
- 2008, 2 sell-outs, average 9,565
- 2011, 2 sell-outs, average 8,465
- this season, 1 sell-out, average 7,500, rising to 7,742 if the last game sells out
XL: 2004, 100% sold out, average 16,294
- 2008, no sell outs, average 12,799
- 2011, 2 sell outs, average 13,358
- this season, 1 sell-out, average 11,039 rising to 11,409 if the last game sells out

For the same period, NCAA WBB Division I attendance (average) rose from 2004 (1,617) to 2008 (1,694). In 2011, average was 1,642.

 

[EricLA]

you want the truth? you can't handle the truth!!

 

[alexrgct]

I don't worry too much about attendance being down from 2004. That's like the NBA wringing its hands about ratings being down from 1998 (Jordan's last season as a championship player).

I see this season's drop from recent times being the result of there being too many crappy games and not enough interesting ones, as well as there not being a galvanizing star player on this team like Maya Moore. But seriously, what games from 2011-12 were really intriguing?

• Stanford
• A&M
• Notre Dame (2/27)

That's pretty much it.

Clunker games from this season (teams with some combination of no brand, little to no chance of making the NCAAs, and/or little to no inherent history/interest for other reasons for UConn fans):

• Holy Cross
• Pacific
• Farleigh Dickinson
• Buffalo
• Dayton
• Towson
• Fairfield
• Providence
• USF

Meanwhile, 2010-11 had a much better home slate:

• Baylor
• Florida State (win #89 in a row)
• Duke
• DePaul
• Oklahoma
• Notre Dame

And the clunkers:

• Holy Cross
• Howard
• Leheigh
• Sacred Heart
• Villanova
• Pitt
• Seton Hall

Now, that's not to say that there aren't things UConn should be doing to increase attendance, but next season promises to have some more intriguing games. At minimum, there will be Maryland, Baylor, Duke, and Notre Dame, with the possibility of Louisville and DePaul being good. And there will be fewer games total and fewer clunkers. Additionally, the next couple of seasons are going to be interesting in terms of just how good UConn projects to be- there may be more star power.

Of note is that one of the total clunkers from this season, USF, featured a terrific crowd by virtue of simply being at XL at 1:00 on a Saturday afternoon. There is an obvious lesson to be learned from that.

 

[DaddyChoc]

I don't worry too much about attendance being down from 2004. That's like the NBA wringing its hands about ratings being down from 1998 (Jordan's last season as a championship player).

I see this season's drop from recent times being the result of there being too many crappy games and not enough interesting ones, as well as there not being a galvanizing star player on this team like Maya Moore. But seriously, what games from 2011-12 were really intriguing?

• Stanford
• A&M
• Notre Dame (2/27)
• BAYLOR

That's pretty much it.


Clunker games from this season (teams with some combination of no brand, little to no chance of making the NCAAs, and/or little to no inherent history/interest for other reasons for UConn fans):

• Holy Cross
• Pacific
• Farleigh Dickinson
• Buffalo
• Dayton
• Towson
• Fairfield
• Providence
• USF

Meanwhile, 2010-11 had a much better home slate:

• Baylor
• Florida State (win #89 in a row)
• Duke
• DePaul
• Oklahoma
• Notre Dame

And the clunkers:

• Holy Cross
• Howard
• Leheigh
• Sacred Heart
• Villanova
• Pitt
• Seton Hall

Now, that's not to say that there aren't things UConn should be doing to increase attendance, but next season promises to have some more intriguing games. At minimum, there will be Maryland, Baylor, Duke, and Notre Dame, with the possibility of Louisville and DePaul being good. And there will be fewer games total and fewer clunkers. Additionally, the next couple of seasons are going to be interesting in terms of just how good UConn projects to be- there may be more star power.


Of note is that one of the total clunkers from this season, USF, featured a terrific crowd by virtue of simply being at XL at 1:00 on a Saturday afternoon. There is an obvious lesson to be learned from that.

 

[alexrgct]

Baylor was not a home game this season.

 

[DaddyChoc]

Baylor was not a home game this season.

ooooops

 

[UcMiami]

Good numbers from the OP and good analysis from Alex - when setting up home and home series it is a bit of a crap shoot projecting out. We seem to be in a little boom/bust cycle with them at the moment as most of the interesting games were on the road this year and will be home next year.
The 'tournament' we ran for the last three years was pretty pathetic in terms of competition and I am glad it has not been renewed. It added home games, but at the expense of quality.

 

[ThisJustIn]

In another arena I proposed an idea: Have the Top 25 examine the non "Top Six" conferences and ponder playing the top team -- especially if they're a top team in a season NOT full of seniors.

I know travel costs are an issue, but to build the game AND build interest AND possible have a new blood/nice match up, wouldn't it be nice to play Bowling Green, Green Bay, Fresno State, UTEP, FGCU, Middle Tennessee, Marist, the Bonnies (perfect example of having to look at the roster and guess the future). You never know what stories may come out of such games (I loved playing Vermont when Courtney and May were there -- and I think fans enjoyed their excellence and overall grit of the team.)

 

[vtcwbuff]

" . . .the result of there being too many crappy games and not enough interesting ones, "

I agree. All one has to do is look at the attendance numbers for individual cupcake games. They probably average >25% less than the season average. The dismal (by XL Center standards) attendance (7703) at the Towson game shows that lopsided contests against overmatched opponents just don't interest many fans. Not when they can DVR and watch it in the comfort of their own home. I think it's obvious that fans are saving their UConn game dollars for the games that they find entertaining.

I'm curious how revenues have been affected. IIRC last years total home attendance numbers may have been the highest in the NCAA. Total attendance has increased as UConn added home games to their schedule for the last 3-4 years. I don't know if that was driven by scheduling or by the desire to make up for declining ticket sales - or maybe both.

 

[Bestiarius]

I went to the Fairleigh Dickinson game this year at Gampel. Students were on break and the place was quite empty. Yet, no seats were available for sale that the half time T shirts could reach. The arena Gezpatcho made sure those enticing empty seats near the court remained empty. Surely, the administration could come up with some creative way to resell the empty seats. The HDTV option has become very enticing.

 

[huskybill]

I don't agree with ThisJustin. Not that I won't like those games she proposes much better than the cupcake games we have now. I don't think that they would bring much of an increase in attendance. They haven't in the past. Games like that just followed the average attendance of the year.But they would be better games. BTW, Alex, I thought Georgetown would be an intriguing game because of how tough they played us last year.

 

[alexrgct]

I don't agree with ThisJustin. Not that I won't like those games she proposes much better than the cupcake games we have now. I don't think that they would bring much of an increase in attendance. They haven't in the past. Games like that just followed the average attendance of the year.But they would be better games. BTW, Alex, I thought Georgetown would be an intriguing game because of how tough they played us last year.

Well, a lot of people agreed with you because attendance was excellent for that game...but I expected it to be intolerable. I attended one of those three games last season (BET QFs), and it was painful. Figured it would be a game we'd find a way to win by 10+, but it would be torturous to watch. The actual result made me much happier.

 

[Icebear]

I don't agree with ThisJustin. Not that I won't like those games she proposes much better than the cupcake games we have now. I don't think that they would bring much of an increase in attendance. They haven't in the past. Games like that just followed the average attendance of the year.But they would be better games. BTW, Alex, I thought Georgetown would be an intriguing game because of how tough they played us last year.

The cupcakes TJI proposes leave a funny taste in your mouth HB.

 

[speedoo]

Well, a lot of people agreed with you because attendance was excellent for that game...but I expected it to be intolerable. I attended one of those three games last season (BET QFs), and it was painful. Figured it would be a game we'd find a way to win by 10+, but it would be torturous to watch. The actual result made me much happier.

Playing Georgetown will be a lot more tolerable after Crawford leaves. I hope this is her last year.

 

[DobbsRover2]

" . . .the result of there being too many crappy games and not enough interesting ones, "

I agree. All one has to do is look at the attendance numbers for individual cupcake games. They probably average >25% less than the season average. The dismal (by XL Center standards) attendance (7703) at the Towson game shows that lopsided contests against overmatched opponents just don't interest many fans. Not when they can DVR and watch it in the comfort of their own home. I think it's obvious that fans are saving their UConn game dollars for the games that they find entertaining.

I'm curious how revenues have been affected. IIRC last years total home attendance numbers may have been the highest in the NCAA. Total attendance has increased as UConn added home games to their schedule for the last 3-4 years. I don't know if that was driven by scheduling or by the desire to make up for declining ticket sales - or maybe both.

It is a good point about the increasing number of home vs away games in recent years. Going back to the first year of annual stats 2000-01, there is an an almost equal number of home and away games. But in recent years the ratio has skewed to almost 2 to 1 in favor of home games, which is also true of some other successful big schools. Basketball has moved in tandem with football to schedule and pay off a lot of weaker teams if it ensures more home games and greater revenue. Though for a school like UConn, it means that the overall attendance for all games is rising greatly, it also weakens the urge to pack it in for home games partly because of game fatigue for contests that are no longer as special and opponents who don't have the same drawing power. A Towson game at XLS is a waste, and you could argue that having Providence there was also wrong.

So in trying to get a handle on attendance figures there are many factors: number of home\away games, venue sizes, opponents' quality level, weather, special star attractions (DT), existence of streaks, competitive drama, ticket costs, media competition for eyeballs, etc.

But the bottom line for most colleges is money. Teasing out numbers for the UConn women is not easy. The semi-famous Indy Star comparative database for college athletic budgets for 2004-05 listed the team with $4.2M in ticket sales, $5.5M, in revenue, and $1.48M in profit. For 2010-2011, revenues were listed as $10.4M in revenues with a $3.8M profit. I couldn't find in EADA or any recent UConn doc what the ticket sales figure was for last year, but 7 years ago it accounted for 75% of the revenues, which would point to a ticket figure of around $7.5M for 2010-11. The last year I can find ticket revenues for was four years ago when it was $2.7M for only 16 home games (22 last year). Still it seems with jacked up ticket prices (at some cost to attendance) and pretty good attendance stats, the UConn women have more than doubled profitability from 7 years ago. Very possibly the ticket sales were less than $7.5M and some of the revenue increase was based on higher media rights earnings, but it shouldn't be too far off.

So all things considered, no matter how the attendance figures are presented, the UConn women's basketball program has been getting ever more profitable, which should mean more clout. When you attend a UConn game, just remember that you should value the people sitting around you a lot more than you did 7 years ago because they're worth a lot more to the Husky piggy bank.

 

[vtcwbuff]

For me GT is just Rutgers in a different colored uniform. I do think that there are a lot of teams around that could generate more fan interest than what wew saw at the start of the year.

TJI - I've been a UVM fan since Inglese was there. I don't think they would be a good opponent right now. The program really took a dive after the Greeks left and Coach Dawley bolted for UMass - a really dumb move IMO. Her record there is 13-43!

 

[RockyMTblue2]

I believe we need at least a quadruple graph of seat price, meteorology, pretzel price and average age of UCWBB fan plotted on an underlay of the DOW and the CPI.