NCAA Attendance

In the grand scheme of things does it REALLY matter?

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Originally Posted by MKE_GoldenEagleFan

In the grand scheme of things does it REALLY matter?

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Exactly. It's a nice thing to talk about, but that's about it.

Seriously? Yes it does matter. Not only is it something you pitch to recruits and their parents, it is something that you pitch to sponsors and advertisers. How many ads/commercials do you see playing on the Jumbotron at games? or playing on the scrolling boards by the bench or between upper & lower decks? All of those are ads sold by MU/Nelligan/Leerfield, and in every single one of those presentations they bring up attendance, top 10/20 national attendance. It makes a difference.

Also look at perception around the nation. Does anyone outside of MU's diehard fan base know about this? Will anyone that sees MU drop out of their spot think, "No, that's not right, they played a game at The AL."

Look at Creighton - Prior to their coming to the Big East, they were often talked about on this board because of their huge fan base/ticket sales. Any naysayer out there that sees that can say, "Look, MU did not make the tourney and their ticket sales dropped".

It does matter, it matters a lot, in a lot of different ways.

If anyone would take a moment to think this through, average attendance means nothing in college.

MU draws more than Duke every single season. So are there more Marquette fans than Duke? Of course not.
Does Syracuse have an inherent advantage due to their stadium? Of course.

So it is nice to tell players, families and sponsors, but is quite meaningless other than that.

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Originally Posted by IrwinFletcher

If anyone would take a moment to think this through, average attendance means nothing in college.

MU draws more than Duke every single season. So are there more Marquette fans than Duke? Of course not.
Does Syracuse have an inherent advantage due to their stadium? Of course.

So it is nice to tell players, families and sponsors, but is quite meaningless other than that.

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So if MU was averaging 3,000 - 5,000 in attendance back when the Big East was looking at bringing in the CUSA teams, including MU, it wouldn't have mattered to the BE decision makers when it came time to give MU a thumbs up or a thumbs or is it a negative when it comes to recruiting for DePaul when recruits see an environment like a morgue when going to a home game for DePaul? So when MU was on their recent longest (at the time) home winning streak in the nation, MU's large crowds didn't play at least a small part in it? If there was lethargic support as far as attendance goes, would a coach like Wojo even given MU a second thought? Doesn't larger attendance translate into more revenue and resources for MU and the b-ball program that we are all crazy about?

I just don't get the throw away attitude on the importance of putting fannies in seats in this thread - it is HUGELY important and always will be. I'm not talking about the anomaly this past year with game at the AL, just in general.

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Originally Posted by The Reptile

The NCAA has a rule book almost as thick as the tax code. No doubt the rules can be interpreted different ways by different people. That's what happens in any bureaucracy.

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And Philly Cream Cheese on a bagel is a meal. Or was...I think they finally changed that.

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Originally Posted by Jim Ganzer, "IWB"

Seriously? Yes it does matter. Not only is it something you pitch to recruits and their parents, it is something that you pitch to sponsors and advertisers. How many ads/commercials do you see playing on the Jumbotron at games? or playing on the scrolling boards by the bench or between upper & lower decks? All of those are ads sold by MU/Nelligan/Leerfield, and in every single one of those presentations they bring up attendance, top 10/20 national attendance. It makes a difference.

Also look at perception around the nation. Does anyone outside of MU's diehard fan base know about this? Will anyone that sees MU drop out of their spot think, "No, that's not right, they played a game at The AL."

Look at Creighton - Prior to their coming to the Big East, they were often talked about on this board because of their huge fan base/ticket sales. Any naysayer out there that sees that can say, "Look, MU did not make the tourney and their ticket sales dropped".

It does matter, it matters a lot, in a lot of different ways.

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Yeah, folks like Sultan talk big and throw a lot of dust in the air to discombobulate things. Things like this do matter, not so so much because of absolute stats but more so in terms of real support. Recruits will notice empty stands whether in person or by being alerted to that fact. Sultan, you can do better than this.

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Originally Posted by CaribouJim

So if MU was averaging 3,000 - 5,000 in attendance back when the Big East was looking at bringing in the CUSA teams, including MU, it wouldn't have mattered to the BE decision makers when it came time to give MU a thumbs up or a thumbs or is it a negative when it comes to recruiting for DePaul when recruits see an environment like a morgue when going to a home game for DePaul? So when MU was on their recent longest (at the time) home winning streak in the nation, MU's large crowds didn't play at least a small part in it? If there was lethargic support as far as attendance goes, would a coach like Wojo even given MU a second thought? Doesn't larger attendance translate into more revenue and resources for MU and the b-ball program that we are all crazy about?

I just don't get the throw away attitude on the importance of putting fannies in seats in this thread - it is HUGELY important and always will be. I'm not talking about the anomaly this past year with game at the AL, just in general.

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If MU was averaging 3K-5K in attendance, they would have been bad. Doesn't matter how big their stadium is.

All I am saying is that average attendance in college basketball has a direct correlation to size of stadium. That is it. Nothing more.

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Originally Posted by Nukem2

Yeah, folks like Sultan talk big and throw a lot of dust in the air to discombobulate things. Things like this do matter, not so so much because of absolute stats but more so in terms of real support. Recruits will notice empty stands whether in person or by being alerted to that fact. Sultan, you can do better than this.

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Having butts in the seats matters. Having a great atmosphere matters. I agree that these are hugely important for recruiting, for fans and for team performance.

Falling out of the top 20 in attendance for a year because they had to play a game at the Al doesn't matter. It's just a statistical anomoly that can be explained away.

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Originally Posted by BLT

And Philly Cream Cheese on a bagel is a meal. Or was...I think they finally changed that.

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That all changed last year when the NCAA allowed all student athletes to be given 3 meals per day. There continues to be the "training table" during the season, as well.