Average Home Attendance

[EXpatriot13]

If you are going to make that argument, then it doesn't make any sense having the discussion without discussing the local markets and competing entertainment, etc.

But that wasn't what the thread was about. The talk was about total and average attendance numbers. That is not impacted by the capacity of the arenas except for schools that are hitting max capacity. It is a pretty simple concept.

We average 3k fans in a 10k seat arena. Does that put us mid-pack in A10? Sure, if you blindly look at those numbers. Peel back literally one layer further and it tells a god awful story. Nobody (not saying you do) should think being mid-pack based on 3k avg. attendance is a good thing or a good indicator which was my original point.

We’re going to have to agree to disagree on this one. Much respect, sir.

 

[psyclone]

From NCAA for 2022:
average across 350 Div 1 teams: 4,204 per game

see p.2 http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/m_basketball_RB/2023/Attend.pdf

 

[Old Ram]

We average 3k fans in a 10k seat arena. Does that put us mid-pack in A10? Sure, if you blindly look at those numbers. Peel back literally one layer further and it tells a god awful story. Nobody (not saying you do) should think being mid-pack based on 3k avg. attendance is a good thing or a good indicator which was my original point.

We’re going to have to agree to disagree on this one. Much respect, sir.

I believe a more telling statistic would be enrollment numbers vs attendance.

Davidson has about 2,000 student and St. Bonaventure isn’t much larger. Mason is pushing 40,000.

 

[GMUgemini]

I believe a more telling statistic would be enrollment numbers vs attendance.

Davidson has about 2,000 student and St. Bonaventure isn’t much larger. Mason is pushing 40,000.

Feels like that only matters when comparing student attendance figures, not overall attendance.

I think we can all agree our attendance is probably 60-100% too low right now and not enough fans who are passionate about, a, college basketball but, b, Mason basketball specifically.

All these arguments about enrollment and percentage of capacity are secondary to the fist problem.

 

[Old Ram]

Feels like that only matters when comparing student attendance figures, not overall attendance.

I think we can all agree our attendance is probably 60-100% too low right now and not enough fans who are passionate about, a, college basketball but, b, Mason basketball specifically.

All these arguments about enrollment and percentage of capacity are secondary to the fist problem.

I believe it impacts both student attendance as well as overall attendance due to the number of subsequent alumni of each university. It gives us a better idea of a total potential fanbase.

Regardless, winning helps immensely.

 

[Pablo]

I believe a more telling statistic would be enrollment numbers vs attendance.

Davidson has about 2,000 student and St. Bonaventure isn’t much larger. Mason is pushing 40,000.

Another small A10 school is Richmond - https://richmondspiders.com/news/2023/3/21/mens-basketball-mens-basketball-registers-highest-attendance-among-smaller-d-i-schools.aspx#:~:text=RICHMOND, Va.,school's undergraduate enrollment of 3,164.

"RICHMOND, Va. — An average crowd of 6,285 fans attended Richmond Men's Basketball home games in 2022-23, nearly double the school's undergraduate enrollment of 3,164. For the second straight season, Richmond was the smallest school in Division I to average at least 6,000 fans, narrowly edging out Siena (undergrad enrollment of 3,498).

Attendance at Spider Men's Basketball home games this season increased by 3.5 percent over 2021-22 (6,072), spurred by five sellout crowds, the most in any season since 2017-18."

"Among its Atlantic 10 peers, Richmond ranked fourth in attendance, trailing Dayton, vcu and Saint Louis. Richmond's crowd size during the season represented 87.3 percent of the capacity of the 7,201-seat Robins Center, a figure that ranked third in the A-10 and 22nd across Division I."

 

[undertherock]

Build a perennial winner and this won't be a problem

 

[nchocola]

1) Win
2) lower concession prices
3) Build a new arena. It’s extremely dated.

 

[GMU_Polevaulter]

1) Win
2) lower concession prices
3) Build a new arena. It’s extremely dated.

I would also add promote the games to the local area at outrageous prices. UofR is on the local Richmond radio stations running ads promoting all kind of deals - $20 for 2 games, $10 for game, hot dog and soda are just examples. Very active all season in their marketing and promo's.

 

[Jack Strop]

Nah, you all are off base. Build a Gold Room where the walls don't implode during half-time and the fans will come to party in droves.

 

[gmubrian]

From NCAA for 2022:
average across 350 Div 1 teams: 4,204 per game

see p.2 http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/m_basketball_RB/2023/Attend.pdf

But, what is the average percentage of capacity? I am told that is what matters.

 

[Patriot8]

But, what is the average percentage of capacity? I am told that is what matters.

I think the percentage of capacity is more of an atmosphere/visual metric. Having 5000 fans in a 10000 seat arena isn’t nearly as attractive as 5000 fans in a 5500 seat arena.

 

[EXpatriot13]

But, what is the average percentage of capacity? I am told that is what matters.

Not letting it go, huh? Nice.

We shouldn’t give a s*** about our 3k average attendance being mid-pack in the A10 this season, while our team plays in front of a 2/3+ empty arena. It’s not a good indicator on where we’re at attendance wise, which we all know is horrible. That was my original point.

Now back to more pressing matters….I still can’t believe popcorn costs $10 at EBA.

 

[MasonSAE4]

https://atlantic10.com/stats.aspx?path=mbball&year=2023#misc

​

Attendance​

Index	Team	G	Total ATT.	Home ATT.	Home AVG/G
1	Dayton	10	88499	53628	13,407.0
2	vcu	11	52011	49432	6,179.0
3	Richmond	11	48985	25436	5,087.0
4	Rhode Island	11	49261	23638	3,939.0
5	St. Bonaventure	10	31791	19379	3,875.0
6	Saint Louis	14	44275	32570	3,618.0
7	George Mason	11	42530	21334	3,047.0
8	UMass	8	23534	17468	2,911.0
9	Loyola Chicago	12	21672	18850	2,692.0
10	Davidson	11	29908	14859	2,476.0
11	Saint Joseph's	11	58461	14188	2,026.0
12	Duquesne	10	31423	11675	1,945.0
13	La Salle	11	31079	10120	1,686.0
14	Fordham	11	22672	9428	1,571.0
15	George Washington	11	22560	10671	1,524.0

Lol you all are missing the point. This chart is almost exactly how I would rank "venues I would want to watch a game at". Better place, better attendance. Not perfect but honestly it's pretty close.

 

[TweederGMU]

Seems we have beaten this topic up so may times over the years. Really boils down to a few elements. The school needs to build loyalty and get students excited about sports and our flagship team - Mens Basketball from the beginning. Send them a shirt in the mail and a flyer/brochure on our history of mens basketball and info on the student fan section and platoon or whatever it is called now...as soon as they sign to come to mason.

60% of our students are commuters.... they go to school and go home and most likely work. Plus it's a different age where these students would rather game, be on a computer, or be on their phones or socialize somewhere else. Also, no knock on the school and area but we are a very diverse school where a lot of the students don't care about basketball in general.... soccer or other sports may be a bigger priority or interest. How do we get them to like bball - educate them and build a sense of pride and loyalty around our bball program.

I think the average male from 30 years old to 60-70... our life growing up revolved around sports and great sports teams and individuals. Kids these days are in the digital era where e-sports and gaming is huge. They didn't have a Michael Jordan to be entertained with nor a Christian Laettner epic half court shot or go through the Fab 5 era. Teams in the 80s and 90s and early 2000s were really magical and helped draw the average fan in to sports and basketball in general.

Building a sense of loyalty and sports comraderie is a challenge and it starts at the beginning. Make them feel apart of the school and community and teach them about our bball history.

Not sure if lowering concession prices would help get people there.... all other factors mentioned seem to play a major role. Outside of students... families who return home from work from 5-6pm daily.... do they see the value in packing up the family to battle traffic for a 2 hour event on a week night? Especially if they live 20-45 mins away. Plus during our season time there are many other events in the DC area that can pull attention away from games. Holidays, winter weather, seasonal travel, etc. It's hard to get people involved on a consistent basis, especially when they are just an average fan.

 

[Pablo]

Not sure if lowering concession prices would help get people there.... all other factors mentioned seem to play a major role. Outside of students... families who return home from work from 5-6pm daily.... do they see the value in packing up the family to battle traffic for a 2 hour event on a week night? Especially if they live 20-45 mins away. Plus during our season time there are many other events in the DC area that can pull attention away from games. Holidays, winter weather, seasonal travel, etc. It's hard to get people involved on a consistent basis, especially when they are just an average fan.

Interestingly, Mason changed the tip-off for weeknight games from 7:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. many years ago to accommodate young families. I've been to some games at Davidson. The Belk Arena doesn't have a lot of parking, and many of the fans who live in the town just walk from home. This is one of the advantages of living in a true college town.

 

[GMUgemini]

You’re pretty off base about sports, Tweeder. This generation, especially of boys, are just as obsessed and maybe even more so now that they can bet on the games (sports betting is pretty much the only thing you hear them talking about around campus).

People don’t go to games because it’s not fun and it’s not fun for a variety of reasons, many of them are in the control of the AD to change tomorrow if they so wish.

 

[FlPatriot]

DMV has over 2.4 mm residents, if the AD expends marketing dollars and the team can win 70% of their games that place would be full for every game.

Spend the money and you’ll fill the arena…it’s not difficult.

 

[TweederGMU]

You’re pretty off base about sports, Tweeder. This generation, especially of boys, are just as obsessed and maybe even more so now that they can bet on the games (sports betting is pretty much the only thing you hear them talking about around campus).

People don’t go to games because it’s not fun and it’s not fun for a variety of reasons, many of them are in the control of the AD to change tomorrow if they so wish.

I respect your opinion but not all boys like sports. Have lots of friends kids ranging from ages that don't care to attend GTown, GMU, UMD games even with free tickets because they would rather game or do another computer activity.

The sports betting does help but how is that relevant to getting people to live sports.... that even counter acts getting them to live games as they can just watch it on their screen multiple screen options and then go watch another game on their screen and then cash out or go find other sports betting options.

 

[jessej]

DMV has over 2.4 mm residents, if the AD expends marketing dollars and the team can win 70% of their games that place would be full for every game.

Spend the money and you’ll fill the arena…it’s not difficult.

Long range - extend the orange line to Eagle Bank or somewhere on campus or to the mall across the street