What Do You Think Are The Biggest Factors For Attendance?

[stever20]

I think one factor that is important, but not liked, is the opponent. Some opponents bring a lot of fans.

[whiteandblue77]

Top Three Factors:
1. Winning
2. Winning
3. Winning

[Edrick]

1. Few competing sources of sports entertainment in the area
2. Winning
3. Playing competitive teams
4. Nice venue

#1 is most important and its not even close. Its also why people are absolutely crazy by completely average programs like Ole Miss in states like Mississippi, which are virtual deserts for entertainment sources. All you need is a pulse to get those people with the unsatisfied demand.

[whiteandblue77]

1. Few competing sources of sports entertainment in the area
2. Winning
3. Playing competitive teams
4. Nice venue

#1 is most important and its not even close. Its also why people are absolutely crazy by completely average programs like Ole Miss in states like Mississippi, which are virtual deserts for entertainment sources. All you need is a pulse to get those people with the unsatisfied demand.

I assume this is hurled at Creighton and that's part of our unique situation: having a stranglehold on a metropolitan area of 1 mil. Totally fair assessment. But not really true in our case, as we barely drew 2K in the 90s when we were LOSING. Altman came and got us WINNING, then fans started to fill the Civic Auditorium, a 10k arena built in the '50s that was putrid, smelled of rotten beer from the previous night's rodeo or monster truck show, prolly had urine splashed on the concrete from decades ago... hideous. It was winning and filling that monstrocity that led to city leaders getting together to build the Clink (previously Quest center).

I do agree that our top 10 national attendance numbers do reflect we are the only game in town, but, do you really think if DePaul had Villanova's success on the court their current arena would be empty? Villanova doesn't seem to whine about the Sixers being in town, nor Butler with the Pacers. Also, there are PLENTY of empty arena's in college towns across the country, where there is zero other options for any entertainment.

[DeadHeadHoya]

Winning has probably the most to do with it lets be real. The reason Georgetown and St Johns games have been so empty is because the teams have sucked

[ChelseaFriar]

PC does "okay" with attendance, largely supported by RI residents who may not have gone to PC. A big challenge for PC is that they only have 4,000 undergrads (and therefore not a huge alumni base), and a large majority of them end up moving to Boston, NYC and elsewhere for jobs when the graduate.

[FenwayFriar]

Agree with what has been said so far. Another thing that negatively affects PC is that New England is so pro-sports focused. College basketball (or football) is simply not talked about with the average sports fan around here for the most part. College sports talk is completely nonexistent on Boston sports radio/tv (which is what Providence gets). The only time PC has been mentioned on Boston sports talk was during the NBA draft with Dunn because the Celtics were interested. This time of the year around here it's all Patriots, Patriots, Patriots. So the average fan just isn't thinking about going to a PC vs. Wagner game. Once the NFL season is over and top Big East opponents roll in, excitement will pick up going into March Madness and before NHL/NBA playoffs have started and before the Red Sox season. But as an example, Sox spring training will get 100x more coverage than March Madness.

Question for the Creighton folks- since they are the only non-pro sports city (with Providence being basically an extension on Boston)- how important are pro sports to the average fan in Omaha? If important, who do most root for? What's spoken on sports radio/tv mostly? I would imagine college football but honestly curious what the scene is like out there.

[whiteandblue77]

Question for the Creighton folks- since they are the only non-pro sports city (with Providence being basically an extension on Boston)- how important are pro sports to the average fan in Omaha? If important, who do most root for? What's spoken on sports radio/tv mostly? I would imagine college football but honestly curious what the scene is like out there.

Great question! Husker Football is obsessed over 24/7/365, other than that the Cubs and Bulls are huge, as well as the Royals, mostly due to their more recent success. It's a huge NFL town and the fun part is there's no "specific" team but the Broncos and Bears (moreso in the 80s) are all celebrated... Chiefs not so much, Ironically, but lots of people like the Rock Chalk Jayhawk b-ball, as Lawrence is where large portions of Omaha kids go to college.

I should mention that Omaha is a very cultural city that has an incredible music scene and restaurant culture, as well as film and museums and art shows, so when I hear Fox or ESPN announcers saying Omaha is a "Basketball Town" I just laugh, because as I mentioned before if the Jays aren't winning Omaha could give a flying f--- about Creighton Basketball. Luckily Mac righted the ship quickly because there was the cost of a mass exodus if they had any more seasons like the year after Dougie left.

[CPJays]

For Pro in Omaha a ton of Royals and Cubs "fans" coming out of the woodwork the last two years. Always been a strong Cubs fan base here though, the new owners have a huge Omaha connection by founding TD Ameritrade and the kids that run the franchise having grown up in Omaha. NFL lots of Broncos, Packers and Chiefs fans. NBA there is no notable base.

Really Omaha likes to pride itself on being an amateur/niche sports market, come host your event here and we will show up. Creighton, College World Series, Olympic Swim Trials(which was peanuts until Omaha turned it into an 8 day spectacle), NCAA basketball/volleyball/wrestling hosting. People here like our events and really support them well. Heck US Olympic curling is even setting up shop here and the international horse jumping championship picked Omaha over London and Beijing for 2017. Give us something unique to do and it is supported.

At the end of the day Nebraska football is still king here though. They haven't won anything since the Y2K bug, but still get a TON of coverage and a lot of people still plan their Saturdays around games. I wish Omaha had more of an influx of population from the region to give us a more diverse fan base across the board.

[Gopher+RamFan]

When I say homogeneous I mean Creighton is presumably 80%+ white students who were born here, have parents who were born here, grandparents who were born here, and have pretty common backgrounds mostly centered in the midwest. PC is the same but more focused in the northeast. I know I felt more connected to Marist (which had a student body much more similar to where I grew up) than St. John's in terms of school culture. Everyone has their preferences and I'm not one to judge either way, but my point is that there are communication, values, and cultural breakdowns when your student body is very diverse. Growing up in this country, college basketball is a big deal if you go to a big name basketball school. The less assimilated you are, the less likely you are to embrace college hoops IMO. From my experiences as well (again not all, don't want to stereotype) but strictly anecdotal, the international students seem more focused on their academics and then going home. They don't seem to "stick around" as much for basketball games so I guess that's part of what I was trying to say bluejaybuff.

Gotcha - thanks for clarifying.

For the record, CU is 72-74% white, depending on the year.

Thanks for yours as well...this is our breakdown:

0.2% American Indian/Alaskan Native
14.8% Asian
14.8% Black/African-American
13.6% Hispanic/Latino
4.1% Multi-race (not Hispanic/Latino)
0.4% Native Hawaiian/ Pacific Islander
42.8% White
9.3% Unknown

When 10% are "unknown" you know it's truly diverse I should have done this study while in grad school. I also think it's funny that in our commercial that airs during games on FS1, they don't show one white male student. That speaks volumes regarding what populations we are trying to attract if you can read between the lines...might be unintentional like a Freudian slip of sorts, but when marketing a big university I'm sure some planning went into it. I know some of this stuff is uncomfortable, but it's very interesting. I'm a psychologist after all so I'm always looking for reasons why things happen/don't happen!

Pretty much the same profile as VCU but my analysis is different. I've met so many fans of varying backgrounds who became connected and given school pride through the basketball program. This is a constant and basketball has unified the student population and made it stronger. Of course VCU has been on a consistently successful trajectory and that is a massive factor. I'd wager if SJU were to start winning regularly you'd get those fans with no background in college sports.

A first generation immigrant had season tickets next to my company's seats last year. He was from India and went to VCU's medical school. Before he got to campus he did not understand the idea of college athletics. These days he has front row seats and brings his entire family. They do not miss a game. Sports is something most people can understand visually and is a great bridge culturally to connect people of different backgrounds.