Jump to content
SiouxSports.com Forum

2012-13 Basketball Attendance.....................


bincitysioux

Recommended Posts

This video was linked in the football forum.

It mentioned that season tickets for basketball were unusually ahead of pace compared to prior years.

So, I was just wondering what people's thoughts were on how attendance could or should be for this upcoming season in the Big Sky.

Last year, attendance was 2,045. That includes the 7,000+ that came for the NDSU game. That game will be in Fargo this year, so we don't get that one to pad the stats.

During the 4 year transition, the average has been 1,873.

So, do you say over or under 1,900?

I think if we are competetive, we can do 2,500+............................

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A lot of this will come down to, like with football, the students showing up to the games. If they come, then we can definitely get to 2500. If not, then expect a slight bump to aroud 2000. I wonder if they would do a game in the Ralph this year sometime with a big sky opponent.

Of course Im thinking of the glass half full, nothing wrong with that of course

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A lot of this will come down to, like with football, the students showing up to the games. If they come, then we can definitely get to 2500. If not, then expect a slight bump to aroud 2000. I wonder if they would do a game in the Ralph this year sometime with a big sky opponent.

Of course Im thinking of the glass half full, nothing wrong with that of course

Nothing wrong with that at all!

I hope they keep all games in the Sioux Center though. Someday, I think the interest may justify having a Big Sky game in the REA (Montana, Montana St., Weber) but for now, I think the atmosphere that the Sioux Center provides trumps what the REA could. I'd rather have 3,000 fans in the Betty for an important Big Sky game against Weber or Montana than 5,000 in the cavernous REA.................................

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i think that bball will see a big big jump in attendance.....partly because d1 bball isn't split like football (big/small fbs/fcs). one thing that bugs me about the betty is the how far the fans are from courtside...at hyslops guys inbounding the ball almost had to ask fans to move a little...now they are a good five to six fee back on the east and west and ten to 12 feet back on the north and south risers.....MOVE THEM UP

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Big Sky basketball isnt really known for it's attendance, the real exception is Weber State since Weber is a basketball school.

Here are the average attendance numbers for each Big Sky school last year.

1. Weber State- 6,770

2. Montana- 4,005

3. Montana State- 2,922

4. Southern Utah- 2,541

5. Eastern Washington- 2,286

6. Idaho State- 2,255

7. North Dakota- 2,045

8. Northern Colorado- 1,592

9. Portland State- 824

10. Sacramento State- 648

11. Northern Arizona- 646

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think there is real possibility for the marketing dept. to do some heavy marketing for some of the Big Sky opponents. Obviously the Montana schools have some familiarity but No. Colorado and Southern Utah will bring in good teams and are familiar to the area. And letting everyone know about Weber St. and the history they have is a great opportunity. The reason I love the Big Sky for our teams is the common opponents across all sports. Continuing to draw fans to see some of these teams vs. our volleyball and football teams can only help our men's and women's basketball teams. It will be a big change for what we had in the Great West.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Obviously the first impact on attendance was the transtition but do you think that no longer having men/women double headers is another reason? Those were a great night of sports entertainment now it just seems like half of an event. The good old days....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Obviously the first impact on attendance was the transtition but do you think that no longer having men/women double headers is another reason? Those were a great night of sports entertainment now it just seems like half of an event. The good old days....

Certainly, the transition was no fun. Its hard to get too excited about playing the Chicago States of the world for the 10th time of the season. But finally its over and we will have a schedule where we will begin to establish histories with the teams withinthe conference- that will help get fans young & old alike to begin to attach themselve's to these new opponents.

I definitely do not and will not miss doubleheaders. Its so much easier especially with a family, to dedicate 2& 1/2 hours to go to one game as opposed to 5 hours for 2 on a Thursday night. Now with with the men at home and the women on the road or vice versa I know that I can make my weekly rountine to include trips to The Betty every Thursday & Saturday. Maybe I'm showing my age but I'm a big fan in life of routine. If anything- I'm hoping this new set up for a schedule will help with attendance not hurt it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes I can see your point and I was single when doubleheaders were in style. Having the consistency of Thursday/Saturday games should help (and playing for a real conference championship - trip to the Big Dance won't hurt either.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

Some of the conference games will be worth looking into tickets. The non-conference schedule at home is embarrassing. Crown College and Presentation? Are you freakin kidding me!!!!! If I had DII season tickets and those were two of my home games I'd be pissed. Those games are totally unacceptable and better not ever happen again!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Some of the conference games will be worth looking into tickets. The non-conference schedule at home is embarrassing. Crown College and Presentation? Are you freakin kidding me!!!!! If I had DII season tickets and those were two of my home games I'd be pissed. Those games are totally unacceptable and better not ever happen again!!!

Pretty much all schools at our level of play have one or two non-DI's on the schedule. I'd expect we will have one or two of these type of games every year.

But I agree that the home portion of the non-conference schedule isn't very exciting.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know that our non-conference home games do not scream excitment, our biggest one could be a toss up between Bowling Green and Kansas City. Just have to take our lumps this year in the non-conferece. Next year will be more attractive with more than likely SDSU and NDSU coming here and whoever is our bracketbuster game will be home.

Im still sold on an average attendance between 2000 and 2500, once again depening on student turnout. Now of course if we stun KSU to start the year... :cool:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

The attendance for basketball has been quite disappointing......................

I thought affiliation with an established conference and a regular rotation of predominately Thursday-Saturday games would give attendance a healthy bump.

I hope as UND keeps winning attendance will rise.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The attendance for basketball has been quite disappointing......................

I thought affiliation with an established conference and a regular rotation of predominately Thursday-Saturday games would give attendance a healthy bump.

While I think both of those things will contribute to higher attendance in the long term, I never really expected a big bump in the first year. It takes people a little while to get settled into a routine, especially after 5 years of utter randomness when it came to basketball scheduling. When it comes to the Big Sky, it's a matter of our fans not knowing who these teams are yet. Those of us who are die hards and have been chomping at the bit to get out of the Great West and into a legitimate conference are very aware of which teams are good at which sports and which games should be in higher demand. The reality is that a big majority of our fans don't see any difference between Sac State, Weber State , or Idaho State. I'd be willing to bet that if, at the game on Thursday, you ask 20 random people who the top 2 teams in the Big Sky are 10 of them wouldn't be able to name both Weber State and Montana. We'll get there but it's going to take a few years for our more casual fans and Grand Forks as a whole to really become familiar with the Big Sky.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks in part to a bunch of free tickets, a bunch of local school kids and the Jazz Bear, Weber recorded thier largest crowd of the year last night, 8,758

What is the capacity of the DEE? I thought it looked rather sparsley populated on TV. Must be pretty big if there were close to 9,000 there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...