The Trend In Attendance (2012/2013 edition)

[Mr. Nielsen]

The figures show me that attendance is steadily decreasing each successive year of Buzz' tenure even though his miracle working has increased each successive year of his tenure.

It cost alot more to attend a college basketball than about 5 years ago.

[keefe]

It cost alot more to attend a college basketball than about 5 years ago.

Sneak in beer

[MUMonster03]

Averaging a Bradley Center sell-out plus a few thousand more is insane. Its hard to imagine selling out the BC for an OOC cupcake...

When you look at the top 26 list, only 4 are private schools (SU, MU, BYU and Vandy).
Syracuse - a school that draws most of its students from large metro areas in the NE which means most move back when they graduate. Their teams are largely supported by non-alum locals.
Vandy - they draw students from all over but primarily the mid-atlantic and southeast. They, too, get a lot of non-alum, local support.
BYU - Im guessing most Mormons are already in the state of Utah. Its almost like a public school in that regard.
MU - We draw roughly 65% of our students from Wisconsin and Illinois (Chicagoland area) so our alums tend to stick close to campus. I think we rely less on non alum locals than the other private schools on the list.

Creighton is also private. Not sure how their student body is comprised though.

[Tugg Speedman]

Creighton is also private. Not sure how their student body is comprised though.

students at Creighton get into the games for free

[Golden Avalanche]

By suggesting Buzz is the problem is to also suggest he is the problem for falling national attendance.  Most think the problem with national attendance is the weak economy.  So, did you just blame Buzz for the housing/financial crisis?

Holy crap, have you taken clownish to a whole new level.

Read again what I wrote. Or don't and let me translate for the simple minded: attendance numbers are down even as Buzz impresses more and more each year with what he achieves.

That's all I took out of your "research".

[mu_hilltopper]

I'd be curious to see the season ticket holder figures. 

On the plus side, the product in the building, on the court has improved year after year for the past decade.  On the minus side, the past few years has seen some serious price/donation increases.

Often the extra bodies in the building is due to the fluctuating numbers in the suites, since each boxholder gets X tickets (10?) but has the option to purchase 10 (20?) more on game by game basis.

I'd be curious to know how many suites are owned year by year .. and if they are buying extras.

[NersEllenson]

The figures show me that attendance is steadily decreasing each successive year of Buzz' tenure even though his miracle working has increased each successive year of his tenure.

Yet the results of Buzz's 4 years are the best 4 year period in MU basketball history...economy plays a part you know...as our highest attended year - Buzz's first, incidentally - 16,239 only ranked 14th in the country...and we then ranked 10th, 10th, 11th and 13th with declining attendance...off about 1,000 per game from the aforementioned high in 2008.

Lots of competition for people's eyeballs these days.  Thank God we haven't seen a paltry dip to 11,965 and 21st place 1 year removed from a Final Four appearance as we produced in the non-recessionary year of 2005.

[GGGG]

Yet the results of Buzz's 4 years are the best 4 year period in MU basketball history...

Good lord.  Learn your history.  1974-77.

[keefe]

Good lord.  Learn your history.  1974-77.

I'm sure he meant in terms of attendance.

[Pakuni]

Having all the home games are on local TV will hurt attendance.

Is that you, Bill Wirtz?

[GGGG]

I'm sure he meant in terms of attendance.

Ah....my bad.  Makes sense.

[MU82]

I don't think that's true, though I have heard the argument for years.  Hard to prove one way or the other, but one specific example is the Blackhawks.  Bill Wirtz believed in that theory.  Since the Hawks put their home games on TV, attendance has gone up (but so has the quality of the product).  Many factors go into this, but I think that the flip side argu,net is better:  local tv generates interest/excitement, leading to more fans wanting to attend the games.

Agree with you, Legs. Study after study over many years by many leagues in many sports supports your argument. On TV = good!

[Goose]

Ners

I knew what you meant. You know your stuff.

[nathanziarek]

Super Bowl....TWO words, not one.   

Great. Now MUScoop owes the NFL licensing fees.

[NersEllenson]

Good lord.  Learn your history.  1974-77.

Though you find me an idiot much of the time....come on Sultan...I'm not that big of idiot!  Thanks for the retraction.

[keefe]

did you just blame Buzz for the housing/financial crisis?

No, I think we all know the housing market collapse is a direct result of the Clinton policy of loosening credit because Hillary believed, "home ownership in America is a right and not a privilege..." I have spent most of my life in societies where people SAVE 25% of their gross household income EVERY year. In the States many households run double digit deficits in spending while at the same time depleting home equity in order to finance the vacation to Cabo (ugh) or to get a new German automobile.

I spent the night in a Buddhist monastery in Mustang Nepal. I asked the monk if I could help set up things for the night and he looked at me with bemusement and said, "we are set up for the night." Myself and a Brit colleague had Nunatak sleeping bags and Patagonia layers and were concerned about staying warm at 14,000'. The monks had a simple silk wrap. Nothing else. The monk said to me the next morning as we drank yak butter tea and had goat yogurt with Tibetan bread that, "the longer you stay in the Himalaya you will realize that less is more. Things are clutter that distract the soul."  Three weeks later I was back in the States in the depths of the Christmas frenzy. I parked in the Nordstrom's garage at Bellevue Square and waded into the insanity. I sat on a bench and watched but saw no joy. People pushing and shoving and spending ridiculous sums on designer labeled items. I watched a bourgeois type struggle over what style of Gucci loafer would make his day perfect and calculated that the same $500 given over to the Nordstrom family could have fed 300 orphans daal bhat and basmati rice for 6 weeks. Or could have allowed us to rent a Dornier 220 to fly a Medecins Sans Frontiers team to Jomsom to inoculate hundreds of children gathered from around the region in the most basic antigens. I watched as the Gucci man strode out of Nordstrom's and into the throngs of Bellevue Square and reflected on how he is made happy by a pair of shoes. And that really made no sense in any way. But the words of the Rinpoche in Lo Monthang did. Enlightenment is a journey and it is revealed in the most subtle yet elegant ways.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Yet the results of Buzz's 4 years are the best 4 year period in MU basketball history...

What...?        Sorry, don't agree.  Al sold the place out all the time.  The attendance today is driven by the fact we have a bigger building, but we played at capacity for many years in a row.

[NersEllenson]

What...?        Sorry, don't agree.  Al sold the place out all the time.  The attendance today is driven by the fact we have a bigger building, but we played at capacity for many years in a row.

Come on Chicos...no sh$t...having a bigger building leads to more capacity and higher attendance!  I'm just gonna go out on a limb and say Crean and Buzz would have sold out the MECCA every year, other than maybe Crean's first 2 years rescuing the program from the disaster of Mike Deane.

I do wonder if Al could have sold out the Bradley Center playing an Independent schedule back in the day....I heard it was the toughest ticket in town back then...

[keefe]

Come on Chicos...no sh$t...having a bigger building leads to more capacity and higher attendance!  I'm just gonna go out on a limb and say Crean and Buzz would have sold out the MECCA every year, other than maybe Crean's first 2 years rescuing the program from the disaster of Mike Deane.

I do wonder if Al could have sold out the Bradley Center playing an Independent schedule back in the day....I heard it was the toughest ticket in town back then...

Arena was always filled. Even for the St Leo's on Stetsons. We used to camp out for tix. For two weeks between the Union and Lalumiere. I don't know if kids would do that today. Not a judgment - just a question

[dgies9156]

I do wonder if Al could have sold out the Bradley Center playing an Independent schedule back in the day....I heard it was the toughest ticket in town back then...

It was. If you didn't camp out, you had better have hoped you won a ticket lottery.

Would Al have sold out the BC? Who knows, but it would have been a great deal of fun to watch him try!

[Tugg Speedman]

Arena was always filled. Even for the St Leo's on Stetsons. We used to camp out for tix. For two weeks between the Union and Lalumiere. I don't know if kids would do that today. Not a judgment - just a question

Student section today is 3,600 which is almost 50% of the undergrad enrollment.  With that many tickets in circulation, we will never know.  

That said, my guess is yes in the 21st century style.  No longer are we limited to forcing people to stand in front of a box office for tickets.  Today they would be banging away online from their dorm room.  Camping out for something is from a bygone era ... like asking kids from the 1970s if they would still go to dance marathons.

It was. If you didn't camp out, you had better have hoped you won a ticket lottery.

Would Al have sold out the BC? Who knows, but it would have been a great deal of fun to watch him try!

MU averages 15,000+ in attendance.  Less the 3,600 student section, MU gets 11,500 to 12,000 (roughly) of non-students to go to each game.  This is more than the size of the entire Arena.

Could Al have generate that much excitement off campus?  Al's teams were often top 5 and even #1.  Today's teams are often ranked between 10 and 25.  This difference matters in attendance plus ...

* TV was free and severally limited versus the cable bills today which siphons dollars
* The Brewers have Miller park that siphons sporting dollars versus last place teams in County Stadium
* The Packers played in Milwaukee which siphoned sporting dollars.
* The NBA is significantly more popular now than in the 1970s, which siphons sporting dollars.
* The Badgers were the worst team in the B10 in the 1970s and siphoned no Milwaukee dollars for sports.

If Al put teams ranked 10 to 25 on the floor, he too would have averaged 15,000+.  If Buzz manages to get top 5 and even #1 teams to put on the floor, he will sell-out.

[bradley center bat]

Just think this, the upper deck at the Bradley Center has more seats than the MECCA holds all together.

[Marquette_g]

Damn it, I was hoping that this article was about Lawrence Blackledge being at the game.

[Goose]

Could Al have filled the BC? He could have sold out Miller Park for certain games and BC every night. He and MU were bigger than anybody other than the Packers in Milwaukee area. I remember conversations back then on how many tickets could MU sell if they had more room. No question at all that Al sells out BC size arena every game back in the day.

[ChicosBailBonds]

College football attendance just released.  Down from last year's all-time high, but still third highest in history.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/8936389/college-football-attendance-slightly-record-2011-ncaa-says