WCBB Attendance

[vtcwbuff]

The NCAA has posted last years attendance numbers on their web SITE.

UConn attendance dropped from an average of 9,168 in 2012 to 8,977 in 2013. They dropped from 4th to 6th in average attendance. That continues a trend that started after Taurasi left. Overall attendance at UConn WCBB games has dropped more than 30% since 2004 when the team averaged 12, 826.

No surprise that UT attendance also dropped but what was surprising was the size of the decrease. Average attendance for UT dropped more than 20% from 2012. Some of that is due to inflated attendance during Summitt's farewell season. UT did remain at the top for average attendance. They were the only team to average in five digits (11, 390).

 

[meyers7]

The NCAA has posted last years attendance numbers on their web SITE.

UConn attendance dropped from an average of 9,168 in 2012 to 8,977 in 2013. They dropped from 4th to 6th in average attendance. That continues a trend that started after Taurasi left. Overall attendance at UConn WCBB games has dropped more than 30% since 2004 when the team averaged 12, 826.

No surprise that UT attendance also dropped but what was surprising was the size of the decrease. Average attendance for UT dropped more than 20% from 2012. Some of that is due to inflated attendance during Summitt's farewell season. UT did remain at the top for average attendance. They were the only team to average in five digits (11, 390).

I blame Obama or Bush (or Putin). Depending on your political leanings.

 

[John Glass]

I blame Obama or Bush (or Putin). Depending on your political leanings.

2004

Gas was $ 2.00, unemployment 5.5, and there are fewer people with full time jobs now. You can joke about the economy, however the fact is, there is much less disposable income for sporting events.

 

[Outside Shot]

Some interesting stuff in there. As much as people want to portray the ACC as the glamour league for women's basketball, it finished 5th in attendance. Duke and UNC are often presented as if they have a big following, just like their men's programs, but that simply isn't true.

Granted, many places are giving away tons of tickets, but still impressed with a place like Iowa State that never seems to have "great" teams, but gets people in the arena.

 

[Icebear]

Some interesting stuff in there. As much as people want to portray the ACC as the glamour league for women's basketball, it finished 5th in attendance. Duke and UNC are often presented as if they have a big following, just like their men's programs, but that simply isn't true.

Granted, many places are giving away tons of tickets, but still impressed with a place like Iowa State that never seems to have "great" teams, but gets people in the arena.

It is better than watching the snow drift.

 

[meyers7]

2004

Gas was $ 2.00, unemployment 5.5, and there are fewer people with full time jobs now. You can joke about the economy, however the fact is, there is much less disposable income for sporting events.

Agreed.

 

[UcMiami]

It would be very interesting to see those numbers based on ticket revenue as I believe Uconn ticket prices are the top of the NCAA. And Iowa is another state with no pro teams like CT so perhaps easier to build a following for college teams.

 

[Icebear]

It would be very interesting to see those numbers based on ticket revenue as I believe Uconn ticket prices are the top of the NCAA. And Iowa is another state with no pro teams like CT so perhaps easier to build a following for college teams.

It is not like there are no pro teams within a hour or two of anywhere in the state. In fact there are probably more pro teams within two hours of CT than anywhere in the country.

1/Giants, 2/Jets, 3/Pats, 4/Yankees, 5/Mets, 6/Red Sox, 7/Knicks, 8/Nets, 9/Celts, 10/Rangers, 11/Islanders, 12/Bruins, among major sports.

How serious are those fans in support of their teams? Go into a CT sports bar and say the Yankees or the Red Sox suck. Let us know how you fared.

 

[VAUConnFan]

Some interesting stuff in there. As much as people want to portray the ACC as the glamour league for women's basketball, it finished 5th in attendance. Duke and UNC are often presented as if they have a big following, just like their men's programs, but that simply isn't true.

Granted, many places are giving away tons of tickets, but still impressed with a place like Iowa State that never seems to have "great" teams, but gets people in the arena.

The state of Iowa has always been a hotbed for women's basketball; At all levels.

 

[triaddukefan]

I'm extremely impressed with Hampton.... 32nd on the list. 5 private schools in the top 20.... just 9 in the top 50. No surprise that the ACC is 5th. 1) More private institutions than the other BCS leagues.... 2) its public institutions are typically smaller than those of the other BCS leagues 3) Of the 12 schools.... 7 of them are located in metro areas greater than 2.0 million... and an 8th in a metro area of greater than 1.5 million. This can go either way... a greater population to draw fans from or much more competition for the entertainment dollar.

Some interesting stuff in there. As much as people want to portray the ACC as the glamour league for women's basketball, it finished 5th in attendance. Duke and UNC are often presented as if they have a big following, just like their men's programs, but that simply isn't true.
.

Yet despite the lowly regular season attendance figures... the ACC tournament is usually 1 or 2nd when it comes to attendance every year.... For example.... in the 2012 Big East final between UCONN and ND ... in Hartford... the attendance was 9,227. The attendance in the 2012 ACC Final between Maryland and Ga Tech in Greensboro was 9,122. Mind you that was the year which both Duke and UNC were eliminated by dinner time Friday. That attendance figure was impressive to me. Hopefully Louisville and ND's arrival will help offset Maryland's departure in terms of fan attendance. I dont expect much from Pitt or Syracuse.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Iowa State is perfectly respectable. They play competitive games and their style is attractive.

As triad says, the ACC tourney is great draw. And in being down there for a variety of WBB events there is a lot of conference pride and respect. Not really the same vibe as the Big East.

 

[VAMike23]

The state of Iowa has always been a hotbed for women's basketball; At all levels.

As an Iowa native and Iowa State alum, I agree with this statement and also with the poster who averred that college teams get more focus due to the lack of pro teams in-state.

Both points are, IMO, true. A similar dynamic exists in many other states that have few/no in-state pro teams. CT is on the other end of the spectrum with its proximity to both New England and greater NYC markets.

 

[vtcwbuff]

Delaware was 22nd on the attendance list last year. I wonder where they will be post Delle Donne.

 

[CamrnCrz1974]

A few points for discussion and Boneyard commentary...

Calculating Attendance
A lot of the analysis of attendance figures is difficult because there is no uniform policy for calculating attendance.

For example, some schools only count "paid attendance," which includes every ticket paid for, whether used or unused. Some schools count bodies in the stands, whether through paid tickets or giveaways. Other schools add how many tickets were sold to how many tickets were given away to reach the attendance figure, irrespective of the number of people actually in the stands.

Without any uniform means/method of calculation, it truly is the proverbial "comparing apples to oranges." Except it is more aking to "comparing apples to oranages to pears to nectarines."

Arena Capacity
Looking at the list, I noticed the following:

18. Duke 4,958
19. Iowa 4,567
20. Stanford 4,284

On paper, it appears as if Duke averaged more than 700 fans per game than Stanford, which the Blue Devils did.

Putting aside issues as to the calculation of attendance, the NCAA's link does not provide the requsite context for these numbers - namely, arena capacity.

Stanford's Maples Pavilion has a capacity of 7,329. With attendance of 4,284, this means that the arena was filled to 58.45 percent of capacity for Stanford women's basketball games.

Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium has a capacity of 9,314. With attendance of 4,958, this means that the arena was filled to 53.23 percent of capacity for Duke women's basketball games.

So while Duke had the higher attendance figure, Stanford had a greater percentage of "per capacity attendance."

One or Two Games Can Skew Attendance Figures
Finally, I wanted to address how one game can significantly impact season attendance.
Looking at the list, here was the top ACC team (in terms of attendance) from last year (last year's ACC, which would not include Notre Dame):

17. Maryland 5,114 (16 home games)
The capacity of the Comcast Center is 17, 950. With attendance of 5,114, this means that the arena was filled to 28.49 percent of capacity for Maryland women's basketball games.
The attendance for the Duke-Maryland game, however, was 15,853. Take away the Duke game, and Marylands' attendance average drops to 4,398 for the other 15 home games.

 

[jsloanjr]

Icebear, Great post...We have Boston and NYC within 2 hours competing for CT $$$$$$.....Plus, how many UCONN WCBB fans in 2004 are no longer with us or are too old to attend games? UCONN has a great older fan base and needs different perks to make it easier to get to games......Free parking, food packages and lower level seats.

UCONN men and Women have the highest ticket revenue.

 

[John Glass]

17. Maryland 5,114 (16 home games)
The capacity of the Comcast Center is 17, 950. With attendance of 5,114, this means that the arena was filled to 28.49 percent of capacity for Maryland women's basketball games.
The attendance for the Duke-Maryland game, however, was 15,853. Take away the Duke game, and Marylands' attendance average drops to 4,398 for the other 15 home games.

The actual attendance at Maryland is about 50% of the announced attendance. Maryland has a season ticket system where boosters buy WBB season tickets to get points good for premier MBB / football seating . The majority of the "season tickets" are never used, or used for one or two games.

I have attended games where you can count the number of fans, and the announced attendance is 4,000.

 

[UcMiami]

Icebear, Great post...We have Boston and NYC within 2 hours competing for CT .....Plus, how many UCONN WCBB fans in 2004 are no longer with us or are too old to attend games? UCONN has a great older fan base and needs different perks to make it easier to get to games......Free parking, food packages and lower level seats.

UCONN men and Women have the highest ticket revenue.

Uconn also has every home game broadcast in HD (and has had them broadcast for a long time) so the incentive to attend games to watch 'our women' is lessened by the option of sitting at home and watching. And while we do have a pro sport split personality in CT between Boston and NY/NJ teams, actually traveling to watch those games is a bit more complicated - so the going out to a sporting event dollars are more likely to be spent locally. And Uconn also provides neutral ground for the friendships that are split between NYC and Boston.

 

[Aj]

Not everyone had a 50 inch HD TV back in 04. The uconn women had the highest ratings last year on SNY over mens CBB