The attendance question

[srw]

Ok guys.... We all said this would be the issue that speaks volumes about the program.

I believe that Mini-season packages must have been awful in order to reach these numbers.

I think that other than ISU there is a good chance that we will not reach 10k for the year.

There is a real cost to the way the attendance and the team is playing.

Its going to get worse, we all know that. You will see way less buts in the seats come Feb.

To be fair:
I have always believed KK and crew boosted the attendance figures in an unreal way. If the new group isnt doing that, then it is theoretically possible that the drop off money wise isnt as severe as I believe it to be

 

[dogsrus]

As you said...get used to it. Attendnace is going to be bad for a VARIETY of reasons. Until things change its going to stay like this and, like you said, get worse.

You must hit bottom sometimes to improve. We need change...wether its the prefered change ON the court or some other kind of change.

It won't be promotions or anything else. It has to be the performance ON the court.

How that happens will be or IS the question.

Go Braves.....

 

[ph]

There is a very real decrease in attendance due to the economy. And there is a very real decrease in attendance due to our team's play.
Now the economy could present some opportunities (ie go to a BU game instead of a more expensive pro game) but we are not good enough for that crowd. I also think there has been a very real reduction on marketing, promotions and seating deals,( thus lower attendance, but perhaps same or higher net revenues?).

I do not believe the team can be singled out as the only reason. A significant factor but not the only one, any talk needs to include all reasons...

 

[real fan]

Ok guys.... We all said this would be the issue that speaks volumes about the program.

I believe that Mini-season packages must have been awful in order to reach these numbers.

I think that other than ISU there is a good chance that we will not reach 10k for the year.

There is a real cost to the way the attendance and the team is playing.

Its going to get worse, we all know that. You will see way less buts in the seats come Feb.

To be fair:
I have always believed KK and crew boosted the attendance figures in an unreal way. If the new group isnt doing that, then it is theoretically possible that the drop off money wise isnt as severe as I believe it to be

KK never boosted the attendance, if you go to the games you should have noticed by now the lack of butts in the seats more this season then since Les took over as coach, you need to win in order to put 10 to 11000 fans in the arena, there are so many no shows this season because of the teams performance that corporate sponsors cannot even give away free tickets because people do not want them.

 

[squirrelgotdead]

KK never boosted the attendance, if you go to the games you should have noticed by now the lack of butts in the seats more this season then since Les took over as coach, you need to win in order to put 10 to 11000 fans in the arena, there are so many no shows this season because of the teams performance that corporate sponsors cannot even give away free tickets because people do not want them.

Of course he did. Corporate held tickets have always gone largely unused in many seasons.

SRW is right, especially when you see how quickly attendance numbers grew from the end of the Albeck Era and year 4 of the Molinari Era. When Molinari's teams started to decline, so did the actual attendance. Yet the numbers do not accurately reflect that drop off as BU always continued ranking among the nation's leaders in attendance. While BU still drew legitimately well, there was some artificial inflation.

Just the way there is now because season tickets are being counted every game, even though we've probably only had that actual number maybe 2 times this year.

 

[dogsrus]

And someone always tries to argue that Tickets sold is whats importaint.....that maybe the single biggest joke ever perpetuated on ANYBODY close to the BU program.

Lets sell 11,400 tickets but who cares if no one shows up. YIKES.


We need a full arena........it can happen. I have seen it. We just need an "easy" button.

 

[Da Coach]

Please, be realistic. There are hundreds of D1 schools that would kill for the revenue Bradley gets from its ticket sales. There are several in the MVC. Even with attendance down, Bradley still draws more fans than any other MVC school other than Creighton and Wichita (which has always been the case).

What you pretend is a "joke" is factual. Just ask any college AD what is important. #1 is ticket sales and revenue.

 

[AZ BU Fan]

I would think "butts in the seats" is a leading indicator of future ticket sales....corporate and individual....More butts....corporations buy more tickets to give away to employees and customers as the team is doing well and the tickets have increasing "value"....Less butts....corporations buy fewer tickets to give away to employees and customers since they have less value as an incentive since the product isn't very good.

 

[theBUer]

The ISU (Red) game will be a barometer. If you don't sell this thing out (or at least 10k), then the higher-ups will hear the fans loud and clear. A rivalry game, no less.

 

[tornado]

Newsflash...
Wichita State is the top team in the MVC and everyone here would love to be where they are right now...
but........they failed to sell out every single one of their non-conference games, even though their season ticket base is close to 10,000 -- almost their full arena!!
Their average attendance right now is down...are they bad??

Likewise, Creighton drew over 17,000 for some games last year and had better than 16,500 NUMEROUS times in the past couple years...BUT ---
so far this year, they are averaging way under that, & haven't drawn even close to that and have drawn in the 13,000's for the first time since they played a D-II team in 2007!!! Are they bad??

At Redbird Arena the avg. attendance is off by 2000...last year's numbers were 42.2% BETTER!!!! that's an enormous drop!!

Da Coach is right -- attendance is down a lot just about everywhere...

 

[JMM28]

Newsflash...

t -- attendance is down a lot just about everywhere...

That doesn't make it acceptable.

Just like the 10 cars speeding down a highway...the one guy that gets stopped says "But I was just keeping up with traffic". Who gets the ticket?

 

[BuB]

Does Bradley or Civic Center announce the actual attendance? We know the ticket sold figure.

 

[shaunguth]

That doesn't make it acceptable.

Just like the 10 cars speeding down a highway...the one guy that gets stopped says "But I was just keeping up with traffic". Who gets the ticket?

Would never have guessed the "I don't care about other teams" line would be used in this thread. :roll:

 

[cpacmel]

Newsflash...
Wichita State is the top team in the MVC and everyone here would love to be where they are right now...
but........they failed to sell out every single one of their non-conference games, even though their season ticket base is close to 10,000 -- almost their full arena!!
Their average attendance right now is down...are they bad??

I don't think the Shockers #'s are down from last year.

 

[Buesch N Chips]

That doesn't make it acceptable.

Are you kidding me? The economy is supposed to affect everyone except us?

"MAYBE THE LAWS OF PHYSICS CEASE TO EXIST ON YOUR STOVE!"

 

[ancona flash]

Folks, the economy was (and I realize this is somewhat debatable) actually worse last year at this time wasn't it? That is a minor issue - still an issue - but a minor one. Our attendance figures revolve directly around wins and losses and perceived excitement around the team. It's true of any sports team, pro or college. Even the Cubs are seeing it. You can only suck for so long before people don't give a rip.

Look at the 3 teams named in this post having down #'s.

WSU- I don't have WSU's exact numbers, but if they have almost 10K in season tix holders, they have some pretty serious interest. I find it hard to believe that they are down from a year ago. No facts to base that on, just hard to believe.

Creighton- A .500-ish season last year and Altman leaving, not surprising they've dropped. Again, directly resulting from lower on court performance.

ISU- Have you seen them play? Go from a couple NIT seasons (NCAA bubble a few years back) to now, when they will battle with us for the toilet bowl. Hammered by over 30 to UNLV, losing to Ohio U.......of course they are going to drop in attendance.

Fact is, there has been a steady decrease in interest in Bradley basketball in the past 2-3 years and the snowball is growing and increasing in forward speed with each game this year. The casual fan in Peoria could care less.

I've been a JL apologist for years, and always a diehard BU fan, I hate it that we have so many empty seats. But it's the truth.

 

[electricmayhem]

Koch (WSU) shows their capacity at 10,506, which they hit for just about every conference home game. This year, they show a higher average because they played Tulsa at the InTrust Bank Arena, and drew better than 14,000. Take that game out, and assume they would have drawn 10,506 at Koch, and the numbers are about the same as last year.

 

[Braved10]

There is a very real decrease in attendance due to the economy. And there is a very real decrease in attendance due to our team's play.
Now the economy could present some opportunities (ie go to a BU game instead of a more expensive pro game) but we are not good enough for that crowd. I also think there has been a very real reduction on marketing, promotions and seating deals,( thus lower attendance, but perhaps same or higher net revenues?).

I do not believe the team can be singled out as the only reason. A significant factor but not the only one, any talk needs to include all reasons...

Do the math: don't you have to assume less tickets sold means less revenue and thus less money for advertising, promotions and halftime entertainment. Cant imagine the AD would cut an advertising budget if they had the money. I would like to know how many of the regular contributors here even go to the games or would go if you lived in town. You cant expect free tickets- no school does that and if they do they are probably losing money. All I know is that if there were more people there the games would be a more exciting atmosphere regardless.

 

[ph]

Cutting marketing when you want to make more money does not make much sense. (Marketing should mean more sales). Now its possible the marketing team was doing a poor job and the cut was merited..but I'm not sure.

There used to be a few 1/2 price admission deals advertised in past seasons, but not last season, and not yet in this season. I went a few more times a year due to those deals. Full price tickets are hard for a family.

I think the whole marketing deal is odd. The season is how many months old, and its only been in the last week that I've seen/heard "I am a brave" TV and radio ads. We know that phrase was the slogan months ago so why take so long to execute?

 

[Big Mike]

I would also like to see BU making an effort like the Rivermen....:idea:targeting large groups, half price to Vetrans upper bowl..churches , grade schools...anything. When the product on the floor isn't bringing in the masses, something else has to step in! Food specials might also work but we need to get some fans in the arena! I know one thing...if the seat is empty there will be no money spent....if someone is in the seat maybe you get some back by concession sales! :wink: