I’d like to, but I don’t think they published that data. You might be able to get some if you FOIA, but I’m not sure how detailed they kept track of it. The data the past three years has been public to stem criticism of the university overselling student tickets and then reselling the unclaimed tickets (to show that no students are getting screwed by the system).
It’s because there’s absolutely nothing else to do in Nebraska.
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“Having stuff to do” doesn’t stop Wisconsin fans from showing up. Nor does it prevent Texas fans, Florida fans, Pittsburgh fans, and Oregon fans from going. There’s so many examples of football schools that have professional sports around and are in decent sized cities that the excuse is silly at best.
It was a joke. Can we now get back to the same tired argument about recruiting?
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If we look at most of the Big Ten with the exception of Michigan, Maryland, and Minnesota, their basketball/football teams are the only shows in town. There is nothing else to cheer on in Lincoln, West Lafayette, State College, Champaign, etc.
Michigan State has all the Detroit teams. Indiana and Purdue both have the Indianapolis teams. Penn State fans have 2 options in Pittsburgh and Philly teams, although those are farther away. Madison to Milwaukee is just a bit farther than Ann Arbor to Detroit. Champaign to Chicago is similar to Penn State’s situation. 2 hours away but far from having “nothing else close to them.” Obviously Rutgers has the numerous New York teams to compete with. Northwestern is the most obvious, I don’t know HOW you didn’t include them in your original comment, and lastly, OSU has the Cleveland teams nearby.
Iowa and Nebraska are the only ones you can say truly have NOBODY to compete with.
One thing I would agree with is that in states without any pro teams, like Nebraska, it tends to instill a sense of loyalty to the school and programs. They view it as their pro team and everyone supports it. That could explain the rabid fan support in places like Iowa and Nebraska.
You made my point with your geographic examples. People generally aren’t driving two-three hours for a mid week game.
Congrats on making this board unreadable, almost single handedly.
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I don’t think that the pro teams have much to do with it. It has to do with hoops tradition for the Indiana schools. They are “basketball schools.” They fill their arenas w/o regard to the quality of the team in a given year. We remain a football school where fans show up when we’re winning, and even then there are lots of empty seats for all but the marquee games. This was the case during the Fab5 era as well as the 1980’s when we put great talent n the floor and won a NCAA title.
In terms of locale, it’s more the distance to drive to the games than the distance to the nearest city. Many Michigan fans live in the Detroit suburbs. Driving in during rush hour on a week night is a bear. Getting to a 7 p.m. game is tough. 9 p.m. games mean you don’t get home until well after midnight. Or you can watch it on TV. MSU fans overwhelmingly live in the Lansing area. Not many season ticket holders live in the Detroit area. And 15 years of winning at a high level has built their fan base. Before that, Breslin had lots of empty seats. Nebraska fans come from the Lincoln area.
IDK how NW, OSU, Illinois, Penn State or Rutgers add anything to your point. Their attendance, actual fannies in the seats, sucks. And Rutgers and NW arenas are tiny, yet they don’t fill them. For some games there are more opposing teams’ fans than their own.
First, let’s just be blunt and say that the failure to support the team is in part just on the fans; they stink for not showing up.
But that said, there are things you can do to build attention, and to build fan spirit and noise; we need sustained attention to this issue and filling the lower bowl with kids is clearly part of the solution. Rebuilding Crisler has been helpful; filling the darned stadium needs to be a serious goal.
Don’t know how it works, but I know many people here in Tallahassee grumble that FSU does not make it easier and cheaper for employees to get to games. They are often some of the strongest and most loyal fans, and getting them into games helps show you’re not just about elitism–alums and kids–but care about all the people who make the place run and keep it clean. Seems to me that you could build a lot of grateful loyalty by getting word out about cheap or free tickets to personnel the night before a low-attendance game. . . Home field advantage is big in hoops, like most sports; getting bodies in seats is going to pay added benefits.
Interesting to (side)note that MSU struggles to get bodies in seats for FOOTBALL games.
Is attendance that bad? I’ve never been to a game. On tv the crowed always seems packed and the maize rage looks hyped. Definitely need to get the kids down near the court. This ad has to get his head out the rear. Kids have to be on the court and tickets cheAp.
I assumed are atmosphere was top notch.apparently not,maybe that’s why we’re not getting some recruits. Feel like their really taking a back seat to football. No one wants to hoop at a football school. Time to get on the court and sold out.
Why on earth would you cite Oregon and Florida when discussing fans that go to games? Both of those schools struggle with attendance more than Michigan does.
http://www.gatorsports.com/article/20121221/ARTICLES/121229949
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Also, it’s not like Florida fans really have much else, Gainesville is terrible.
I’ve seen games this year on TV where both of their respective stadiums were filled to the brim. That’s more than we can say for any game.
Read the links I posted and stop citing anecdotes. Thanks.
Oregon:
"The Ducks averaged just 6,209 fans per home this season, ranking
seventh in the Pac-12. It was the lowest figure since 1992 when an
average of 5,819 fans attended games at McArthur Court. With Matthew
Knight Arena’s capacity coming in at 12,364, the Ducks filled just 50.2
percent of the stadium on average – ranking 163rd in NCAA Division I
men’s basketball. Oregon’s average attendance in 2013-14 was 7,782.
This all came during a season that saw Oregon achieve surprising
success. Oregon made its third consecutive NCAA Tournament after
finishing second in the Pac-12, but the team was plagued by
off-the-court issues prior to the season and returned a roster with few
familiar names."
Florida:
"But even against marquee opponents like Wisconsin and
Marquette earlier this season, Florida men’s basketball hasn’t been a
hot ticket. Coming off back-to-back Elite Eight seasons, the Gators have
averaged 8,914 fans through six home dates in the 12,000-seat O’Connell
Center.
Those numbers account for paid attendance, not
actual fans in the seats. Obtained through an open records request,
Florida’s average turnstile count for its first five home dates was
4,998. Florida had more than 6,000 fans in stands for both Marquette
(6,534) and Wisconsin (6,305). UF’s low turnstile count was Nov. 20
against Savannah State (3,095).
I don’t disagree with the premise about Michigan having disappointing attendance, but citing Oregon and Florida as teams with better attendance is misguided.
Florida’s attendance issues is regularly criticized by the SEC fans on the national board. That’s the reason I had to take a double-take when reading a post citing Florida’s attendance as some sort of good thing.
Congrats on pulling up an article from 2012 and one from last year when I said this year. Thanks. So helpful. Especially after I specifically noted a full stadium when I saw them play LSU this year. Oregon looks terrible at attendance this year, so I’ll concede that point, but they were v. However, you are completely focusing on a red herring that has little to do with the original point of the thread and your hostile nature is getting very old.
