[Pain Touches] Marquette attendance second best in Big East

[PaintTouches]

Marquette dipped to 15th in the country in per-game attendance in 2012-'13, but how does that compare to the rest of the Big East?

http://painttouches.com/2013/08/14/marquette-attendance-second-best-in-big-east/

[Abode4life]

Marquette dipped to 15th in the country in per-game attendance in 2012-'13, but how does that compare to the rest of the Big East?

http://painttouches.com/2013/08/14/marquette-attendance-second-best-in-big-east/

Did you also by chance look at % sold out for each team?  Obviously Creighton plays in a big stadium, but I can't imagine Hinkle field house seats 18000 and I don't know about Xavier at all.

[Galway Eagle]

Did you also by chance look at % sold out for each team?  Obviously Creighton plays in a big stadium, but I can't imagine Hinkle field house seats 18000 and I don't know about Xavier at all.

Cintas center is 10,25

Hinkle field house is 10,000

Century Link Center 18,560

[GooooMarquette]

I'm surprised Georgetown's numbers are so low.  They play in a 20,000+ seat NBA arena in a big city, had a solid season led by a lottery pick...and averaged under 11,000 per home game?  And they're our "flagship" program?

When was the last time MU's numbers were that low? 

[bilsu]

I believe the so called 414 recruits will be the biggest reason for any attendance increase. Local players are going to bring in family in friends to watch. Out of state recruits like Dawson and JJJ will have very little effect on attendance.

[Galway Eagle]

I'm surprised Georgetown's numbers are so low.  They play in a 20,000+ seat NBA arena in a big city, had a solid season led by a lottery pick...and averaged under 11,000 per home game?  And they're our "flagship" program?

When was the last time MU's numbers were that low? 

My understanding is that they don't play every game in the Verizon Center only big games. 

[frozena pizza]

I'm surprised Georgetown's numbers are so low.  They play in a 20,000+ seat NBA arena in a big city, had a solid season led by a lottery pick...and averaged under 11,000 per home game?  And they're our "flagship" program?

When was the last time MU's numbers were that low? 

Been to many Georgetown games and their fan base is surprisingly weak.  I saw them play Syracuse at the Verizon when both teams were ranked in the top 10 - tickets were easy to get and the place was at least half orange.  Even when they played Marquette I'd say 30%-40% the crowd was pulling for MU.  They are going to really struggle to fill that arena with fewer marquee games on the schedule.

[frozena pizza]

My understanding is that they don't play every game in the Verizon Center only big games. 

Pretty sure they are all at Verizon.

[chapman]

Pretty sure they are all at Verizon.

They are.  Last time we it was brought up the fans attributed low attendance to traffic and parking issues and their annual tournament choke jobs, among other things.

[Groin_pull]

Pretty sure they are all at Verizon.

The Big East has a few teams that struggle to fill their arenas. Georgetown, Seton Hall, DePaul, St Johns. As far as MU, I'm not sure how their attendance is determined, but I've seen pictures of a half-full BC...only to read that their attendance that day was 14,000+.

Must be tickets sold...not actually fannies in the seats, right?

[GooooMarquette]

The Big East has a few teams that struggle to fill their arenas. Georgetown, Seton Hall, DePaul, St Johns. As far as MU, I'm not sure how their attendance is determined, but I've seen pictures of a half-full BC...only to read that their attendance that day was 14,000+.

Must be tickets sold...not actually fannies in the seats, right?

I believe most teams go by tickets sold, as opposed to butts in seats. 

Agree with the list of other BE schools that struggle to fill seats...but Georgetown is the only one on your list that has had any significant success of late.  SJU is showing signs of life but still hasn't had great results, and Seton Hall and DePaul have generally been bad lately.  Georgetown was Big East co-champ last year and has had several generally good seasons.  No excuse for such bad numbers IMHO.

Oh, and SJU, Seton Hall and DePaul fans aren't claiming their schools are the "flagship" of the new conference....

[Coleman]

Overall trend for MU is troubling.

Has gone down every single year since 2007-2008 - every year of the Buzz era (not blaming this on Buzz - just framing the time span)

This despite 2 straight Sweet 16s and an Elite 8 appearance.

You can blame the first couple years on the recession, but its still trending down. What gives?

[GooooMarquette]

Overall trend for MU is troubling.

Has gone down every single year since 2007-2008 - every year of the Buzz era (not blaming this on Buzz - just framing the time span)

This despite 2 straight Sweet 16s and an Elite 8 appearance.

You can blame the first couple years on the recession, but its still trending down. What gives?

I honestly think the availability of nearly every game on TV has been a bad thing for in-person attendance.  I live several hours' away so usually try to sell most of the weeknight games.  A few years ago, I could usually sell most- even non-conference - and often for face value or something close.  The last couple of seasons, it's hard to give tickets away for anything but a marquee opponent.

That said, MU's recent news about the drive for new season ticket holders sounds promising.  Hope it isn't offset by older ticket holders giving them up....

[Groin_pull]

Overall trend for MU is troubling.

Has gone down every single year since 2007-2008 - every year of the Buzz era (not blaming this on Buzz - just framing the time span)

This despite 2 straight Sweet 16s and an Elite 8 appearance.

You can blame the first couple years on the recession, but its still trending down. What gives?

I think you're seeing this in both college hoops and in college football. Both sports have seen attendance drop. Seems like today's students just aren't as interested in going to games. I've never really heard why. What do students say? Too expensive? Too boring?
Too much of a time commitment?

[MuMark]

MU would have been 4th in the Big 10 and 5th in the new ACC.

Not bad for a private school with about 10000 students.....

[Windyplayer]

I believe the so called 414 recruits will be the biggest reason for any attendance increase. Local players are going to bring in family in friends to watch. Out of state recruits like Dawson and JJJ will have very little effect on attendance.

Eh, can we really expect 2,000 more fans on average based on family and friends. That's a little far-fetched.

[Aughnanure]

Overall trend for MU is troubling.

Has gone down every single year since 2007-2008 - every year of the Buzz era (not blaming this on Buzz - just framing the time span)

This despite 2 straight Sweet 16s and an Elite 8 appearance.

You can blame the first couple years on the recession, but its still trending down. What gives?

I remember some big economic things happening after that season. I believe attendance in all sports overall has been down.

That being said, Georgetown students simply are the worst. yeah, its not super easy getting there (maybe you should've taken that metro stop GTown), but its isn't THAT hard. Georgetown doesn't bus its students to the arena for the games like we do, but there's plenty of ways they can get there.

[Detfan23]

Wow I didn't think it could get worse than DePaul.  Of course I guess they get a boost when Marquette comes to town 

[Coleman]

I remember some big economic things happening after that season. I believe attendance in all sports overall has been down.

Yeah - and I said I know the recession happened. But then it ended. And we are still losing attendance year over year.

[Groin_pull]

I remember some big economic things happening after that season. I believe attendance in all sports overall has been down.

That being said, Georgetown students simply are the worst. yeah, its not super easy getting there (maybe you should've taken that metro stop GTown), but its isn't THAT hard. Georgetown doesn't bus its students to the arena for the games like we do, but there's plenty of ways they can get there.

Goes back to my earlier comment. Seems that today's students don't care as much as earlier generations. Attendance is dropping in both college football and basketball.

[Galway Eagle]

Pretty sure they are all at Verizon.

Maybe I was thinking of Villanova or SJU. 

[Galway Eagle]

Goes back to my earlier comment. Seems that today's students don't care as much as earlier generations. Attendance is dropping in both college football and basketball.

As a 5th year senior I can say we care more than ever but games are more fun with pregame parties and lesser alcohol restrictions.  And in the 6 years I have been coming up here for games and stuff pregame parties have diminished, and the student section has chilled out because of the amount of sober people. Also Those who are would be nuts fans at games show up halfway through the games or say they'd rather watch it on TV because they don't have to pay outrageous amounts for a beer.

[1881]

I'm sure Creighton's new scoreboard isn't going to hurt attendance numbers at the CenturyLink Center this season.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQOFFLnQVBA

[Aughnanure]

I'm sure Creighton's new scoreboard isn't going to hurt attendance numbers at the CenturyLink Center this season.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQOFFLnQVBA

No one shows up for a new scoreboard. Sometimes I wish they would just do away with all the stupid bells and whistles that go one during every break/tv timeout.

[Aughnanure]

Yeah - and I said I know the recession happened. But then it ended. And we are still losing attendance year over year.

Ended? According to who?

Damage still lingers for a long time. The economy literally lost TRILLIONS of dollars. You don't get that back with a few "not bad" years.