ESPN's Katz says Creighton a "wise choice"

[Bluejay]

As a Creighton fan, I find Katz's comments interesting.

Obviously, the attendance numbers are eye-popping. This season Creighton is averaging 17,000 people a game (yes, you read that correctly). I suspect the game tonight against unranked Illinois St will pull in over 18,000. The attendance numbers are not unique to this year however; the Jays have been top 10 nationally in attendance long before Doug McDermott donned a Creighton uni. I know that last year, the Jays were 6th nationally in attendance. All of these numbers were logged while playing a Missouri Valley schedule, with few games against big BCS schools.

When I read above about Richmond and VCU fans bickering about 5,000-7,000 people in attendance, it really puts it all into perspective. Creighton's attendance is 2 to 3 times higher than those schools! I also think the comments stating that "if we played Georgetown and other big east schools, our numbers would be better" are a bit pathetic. That only means that people are coming out to see your opponents, not you! The novelty of seeing a new team will wear off after they come to your yard a few times. Richmond and VCU are currently in the A10 and people still aren't coming out regularly to see them in large numbers.

Let's explore the impact of Creighton's attendance. It was announced a couple of weeks ago that Creighton has already presold 4,038 all session passes to the MVC conference tournament. At roughly $125 per, that amounts to approximately $500K directly into the conference's coffers just from Creighton fans. (It is probably worth pointing out that these figures don't even include the Creighton fans that will buy single session tickets to all of Creighton's tourney games, which should be a couple of thousand more. ) While I wouldn't expect Creighton fans to travel in the same numbers to NYC, I do firmly believe that if the new conference tourney were to ever rotate to Chicago, Creighton would bring a similar contingent. Those are real dollars that would be redistributed to conference members based on whatever criteria the conference decides to put in place.

[Bostonspider]

"Richmond is averaging 4955 fans at home this year". Not sure where you got that number from. UR is averaging 5,824 fans so far this year, and has averaged 7,568 in their conference games.

[CFA Jay]

"Richmond is averaging 4955 fans at home this year". Not sure where you got that number from. UR is averaging 5,824 fans so far this year, and has averaged 7,568 in their conference games.

Congrats!

[Eight Legger]

Congrats to Creighton. Obviously they are able to do something that few programs anywhere in the nation do in terms of filling an arena with that many people regularly. That said, I am sure that Creighton competes with far fewer other potential distractions in Omaha than most East Coast schools in larger markets do.I am guessing Nebraska is a far less-transient area than larger East Coast cities.

Here in Richmond, we are an hour from UVA, 3 hours from Va. Tech, and 2 hours from Georgetown, George Mason, George Washington, U of Maryland and 2 hours from ODU. Needless to say, this is a highly college-educated region, and so a majority of the people who live in town have ties to other colleges – not to UR or VCU, though many certainly do have ties to our schools as well. I suspect in Omaha, there is a much higher percentage of people with direct ties to Creighton, which also is the only game in town. Richmond also is about 20 spots higher on the TV market list than Omaha.

And it's fair to point out that since 2004, UR is 2-3 in the NCAA tournament and Creighton is 1-3.

[Bluejay]

Here in Richmond, we are an hour from UVA, 3 hours from Va. Tech, and 2 hours from Georgetown, George Mason, George Washington, U of Maryland and 2 hours from ODU. Needless to say, this is a highly college-educated region, and so a majority of the people who live in town have ties to other colleges – not to UR or VCU, though many certainly do have ties to our schools as well. I suspect in Omaha, there is a much higher percentage of people with direct ties to Creighton, which also is the only game in town. Richmond also is about 20 spots higher on the TV market list than Omaha.

I know many on the east coast have a hard time grasping that there are other things here in Omaha, but that is, in fact, the case. Within 45 minutes away is the big state university, Nebraska, which, despite having a bad basketball program, still draws decent attendance figures and has a large, loyal fanbase. Just a touch over two hours away is Iowa State, Drake is two hours away and Kansas City is three hours away. Northern Iowa is not too far away either. Oh yeah, we also have another newly minted D1 school right here within our city borders (UNO). It is true that there are no pro sports here, but that makes everyone in the area even a bigger college sports fan. Creighton fans travel and in good numbers.

And it's fair to point out that since 2004, UR is 2-3 in the NCAA tournament and Creighton is 1-3.

You've got us there; that one extra win looks like a pretty significant difference! Maybe if we get our struggles of the last few games worked out, we can equal that number this year.

[XU85]

Congrats to Creighton. Obviously they are able to do something that few programs anywhere in the nation do in terms of filling an arena with that many people regularly. That said, I am sure that Creighton competes with far fewer other potential distractions in Omaha than most East Coast schools in larger markets do.I am guessing Nebraska is a far less-transient area than larger East Coast cities.

Here in Richmond, we are an hour from UVA, 3 hours from Va. Tech, and 2 hours from Georgetown, George Mason, George Washington, U of Maryland and 2 hours from ODU. Needless to say, this is a highly college-educated region, and so a majority of the people who live in town have ties to other colleges – not to UR or VCU, though many certainly do have ties to our schools as well. I suspect in Omaha, there is a much higher percentage of people with direct ties to Creighton, which also is the only game in town. Richmond also is about 20 spots higher on the TV market list than Omaha.

And it's fair to point out that since 2004, UR is 2-3 in the NCAA tournament and Creighton is 1-3.

I certainly think your point has validity, but pointing to other nearby colleges sounds like a cop out. X is 10 minutes from University of Cincinnati. Within a 2 hour drive in no particular order is: Ohio State, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, University of Dayton, Butler, and Miami University. Using your 3-hour criterion would allow for the inclusion of Indiana University, Purdue, Notre Dame, and Ohio University just to name a few.

Win consistently and they will come!

[Jet915]

Creighton is Omaha's team period. Creighton is a small school, about 3-4K undergrads and 3-4k graduate students. We are definitely attracting more than just Creighton alumni. Omaha in general though is a college sports town. The College World Series gets great support here, so does the men's NCAA tournament (sells out compared to other locations), we also attract national figure skating, olympic swimming trials here that get great support. That being said, attracting 17K fans to games against Evansville, Bradley, Indiana State etc is pretty impressive.

[Eight Legger]

This started as a discussion about how and why Creighton draws 18k a game. I guess my point was just that Richmond is the state capital and as such attracts a ton of educated business types here to live – most of whom graduated from somewhere else, including many of the great in-state schools we have in Virginia. They already have allegiances to other colleges that play D1 sports.

Given the tiny size of our student body (2,800), it's just reality that more people in Richmond have a connection to other schools than to UR. I'd venture that the percentage of college grads in this area is higher than in Omaha. If it were lower, there would be a better chance of harvesting fans from among the 'casual observers' crowd that didn't already have a collegiate allegiance.

That said, we've drawn more than 8k four games in a row, and I do agree that winning consistently helps draw fans. Butler is proof of that.

[QueRico]

Obviously there are around 325 D1 programs that are envious of Creighton's attendance.
Other universities w/in 2 or 3 hours aren't going to have nearly the effect that professional teams will.
This is what the C7 have to deal with. The Boston teams draw in Providence, putting all 7 teams in competition w/ an NBA team.
Not to mention the NFL & NHL in most of the cities.

[Natty]

When I read above about Richmond and VCU fans bickering about 5,000-7,000 people in attendance, it really puts it all into perspective. Creighton's attendance is 2 to 3 times higher than those schools! I also think the comments stating that "if we played Georgetown and other big east schools, our numbers would be better" are a bit pathetic. That only means that people are coming out to see your opponents, not you! The novelty of seeing a new team will wear off after they come to your yard a few times. Richmond and VCU are currently in the A10 and people still aren't coming out regularly to see them in large numbers.

Whoa...you forgot to do your research on this one before you posted.

Yes, VCU is averaging "only" 7,963 fans per game (that's more than Butler BTW)...but that's because THERE ARE NO MORE SEATS TO SELL. VCU has sold out their last 31 home games, and that's a streak that predates their Final 4 run. VCU also has a season-ticket wait list, so there's a long line of people who WANT to see VCU...but CAN'T.

Also...an article you might enjoy reading: http://www.vcuramnation.com/2013/02/ram ... t-as-well/

To paraphrase, VCU has sold 69% more tickets to their away games in the A-10 than those teams are averaging on the season. That's a LEGIT bump for those teams... and it's also No.1 in the Atlantic 10 right now (although to be fair, Butler has played in front of pretty much all sellouts against good teams who have packed their venues most of the year, so they'd probably be tops if they had played VCU schedule). Moral of the story however is that you are COMPLETELY wrong, not only do VCU fans want to see VCU, but so do fans of other teams, and the numbers are there to prove it.