The crowd Saturday was horrible...
- Thread starter dawgstudent
- Start date
It's definitely hurt. I know a ton of students went home for the weekend, which we never would have done on a home hoops weekend.
It was a late arriving crowd, I saw lots of people arriving around halftime. By the end of he game the lower bowl was fairly full.
It was a late arriving crowd, I saw lots of people arriving around halftime. By the end of he game the lower bowl was fairly full.
Unfortunately it's a number
of factors.
SEC Network is a major factor.
Fair-weather fans are a major factor.
Being ****** for 5 years is a factor.
Having said all that, it is still mind-blowing (to me) that between Starkville/Colubus/West Point/Philly/other close-by-towns, we can't fill it with 9000 people.
Throw in the fact that this team is currently playing the best basketball in years, and I just don't know what to say.
of factors.
SEC Network is a major factor.
Fair-weather fans are a major factor.
Being ****** for 5 years is a factor.
Having said all that, it is still mind-blowing (to me) that between Starkville/Colubus/West Point/Philly/other close-by-towns, we can't fill it with 9000 people.
Throw in the fact that this team is currently playing the best basketball in years, and I just don't know what to say.
I don’t see why the SECN would impact student attendance. Splitting up the student section was a bad move.
No, baseball still has good attendance even with all games televised. Just a lot of people have not gotten behind the team yet.
The more we win, the more we can chip away at it.
We had such a horrible schedule early and lots of close games with those horrible opponents, I think it turned people off from the get go.
It’s imperative we avoid that next year...need to get some decent teams in the hump so fans can get behind them early.
We had such a horrible schedule early and lots of close games with those horrible opponents, I think it turned people off from the get go.
It’s imperative we avoid that next year...need to get some decent teams in the hump so fans can get behind them early.
Students will always be the driving factor behind crowd atmosphere, it is as simple as that. No matter the sport.
Students made the Left Field Lounge.
Students made the Ricks Rowdies.
It is slightly lesser in football, but they still make up a huge portion of the electricity a stadium generates, and when they leave at halftime, it drains.
You want to fix the atmosphere, go directly to the students, and entice them back.
Students made the Left Field Lounge.
Students made the Ricks Rowdies.
It is slightly lesser in football, but they still make up a huge portion of the electricity a stadium generates, and when they leave at halftime, it drains.
You want to fix the atmosphere, go directly to the students, and entice them back.
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I feel like the women’s sellout will impact the Alabama game. I wouldn’t think fans wanna go back to back, even though Tuesday is HUGE for the men.
Baseball is a different animal.
Students (or anyone) can come out and tailgate/drink beer/etc. during games.
Students (or anyone) can come out and tailgate/drink beer/etc. during games.
Are you sure it works that way? I know that you get points for buying season tickets, but don't you get more points for donating the money directly? In other words a $500 donation is worth more BC points than a $500 season ticket. Or at least I thought so...
I am expecting that we will have a smaller crowd for the Alabama game. I was one of the ones who thought Saturday's game would be 75% full, and the stadium wasn't. I can't see tomorrow's game matching Saturday's crowd, considering it is a week day, and the fan base will be somewhat fatigued thanks to Sunday night Super Bowl, and Monday night women's game against USCe. I do anticipate the student crowd will be better for tomorrow night, but that's about where my optimism ends for the crowd.
Students have shown up on a more consistent basis over the past couple years than season ticket-holders. The students haven't and continue not to be the problem.
I think the five year thing is the biggest one. It ceased being fun during that time and when people stopped going, the new habit became not going. It's hard to turn something like that around overnight.
I think another contributing factor is we don't play flashy basketball. We're near the top in defensive efficiency, but we play at a moderate tempo and we don't make a bunch of threes every night, and those are things fans like to see. It's like the old saying - defense wins championships but offense sells tickets.
I think another contributing factor is we don't play flashy basketball. We're near the top in defensive efficiency, but we play at a moderate tempo and we don't make a bunch of threes every night, and those are things fans like to see. It's like the old saying - defense wins championships but offense sells tickets.
Baseball is a good example because of similar doldrums. It took Cohen into year 5(3rd of winning) before the fan base really started to come back...
If this team keeps winning, people are going to jump on board in a hurry with basketball.
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I really expected 7K Saturday. I saw someone I knew at lunch in Starkville on Saturday and he said this was his first basketball game in 10 years. That made me think we might even get 8k.
Tuesday night is up to the students. The local crowd is what it is, and the Jackson crowd won't come like they did on Saturday, although being at 6 will help. If we are going to have a decent looking and decent sounding crowd tomorrow night, the students have to carry the mail.
That reminds me of another factor. The schedule now makes it more difficult. In the old days, there was one midweek game on Tuesday, then everyone else on Wednesday almost always at 7. I understand you can't televise them all if everyone plays at the same time, but now you never know if you are going to be on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday at 6, 7 or 8. I'm not able to be a regular attender, but not having a consistent schedule would make it a challenge to be there a lot because I have other things in my life that ARE consistent. Saturday is what it is as far as start times go, but it seems like they range from 11 am - 8 pm as well.
That reminds me of another factor. The schedule now makes it more difficult. In the old days, there was one midweek game on Tuesday, then everyone else on Wednesday almost always at 7. I understand you can't televise them all if everyone plays at the same time, but now you never know if you are going to be on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday at 6, 7 or 8. I'm not able to be a regular attender, but not having a consistent schedule would make it a challenge to be there a lot because I have other things in my life that ARE consistent. Saturday is what it is as far as start times go, but it seems like they range from 11 am - 8 pm as well.
I think to a great extent, the women's success has hurt attendance at the men's games, both students and regular fans. Perhaps people can only go to one or the other, and they choose the exciting women. If the 3-day hotel minimum stay that was rumored is true, then that had a big negative impact too.
From watching on television Saturday, the attendance actually looked pretty good and was loud. On TV, it's so dark in the upper reaches that you can't tell if anybody's in the seat at all. It's actually that way in the lower level with the dark maroon seats and not much lighting.
If the men continue to do well and show the effort they have lately, attendance will probably pick up.
From watching on television Saturday, the attendance actually looked pretty good and was loud. On TV, it's so dark in the upper reaches that you can't tell if anybody's in the seat at all. It's actually that way in the lower level with the dark maroon seats and not much lighting.
If the men continue to do well and show the effort they have lately, attendance will probably pick up.
Problem is, nowhere near all of them care a bit about basketball. Football is much more popular.
I bet Starkville High is getting decent crowds at their games. Seems to me the University and Starkville areas are somewhat working against each other not with each other.
The announced attendance was 7,775. I know how those numbers get fudged from time to time in some places, but if they were gonna fudge the numbers they might as well count all the season ticket holders who bought tickets plus students, which would easily be over 9000 or so. Many have said it was still the best home game crowd of the year, which is somewhat impressive given the timing of the women’s game on Monday. BTW, I’m super pumped about how well the women’s team is doing, but that Monday game is a killer and could not come at a worse time for the Men’s schedule. It is going to have a severe adverse effect on not one but two men’s games. Think about how big the UGA game crowd would have been if the women had their game in the usual Sunday timeslot?
You can list logical reasons all day, but the biggest thing is the product. They say winner cures everything, but it takes a little more these days. People need to have a player to identify with. This team doesn’t have that guy yet.
Back in 2013, we played for the NC in baseball, but many of the games that season were boring as hell. I went to almost every home game, and it was obvious many fans had gotten really tired of small ball. It was hard to watch at times. We had Hunter Renfroe, though. It was always worth going just to see him. That’s what the basketball team lacks now. It needs a face people can get behind.
Back in 2013, we played for the NC in baseball, but many of the games that season were boring as hell. I went to almost every home game, and it was obvious many fans had gotten really tired of small ball. It was hard to watch at times. We had Hunter Renfroe, though. It was always worth going just to see him. That’s what the basketball team lacks now. It needs a face people can get behind.
Mincing words, but that ain't extremely rural in MS. Now if you had said Choctaw, Montgomery and Webster then I'm on board.
I think you hit the nail on the head with this paragraph. It’s also worth noting that even though this is probably the best team we have had in 8 years, this team has still had a couple of kick in the nuts games (OM, Auburn) that have almost totally stifled any sort of enthusiasm that developed until just recently. Couple that with a terrible, unappealing nonconference schedule that never drew in folks at the beginning, and it’s a perfect recipe for a very skeptical fanbase to be in place even now.
I look back to the 2001-2002 season when we were in a very similar situation as we are now. It was year 4 of Stans and he had yet to get us back in the big dance. We played a ridiculously easy nonconference schedule in which we only lost one game to Cincinnati (sound familiar?). Then, we host at Top 10 UK team in one of the first SEC games in early January. We get down 21-2, and somehow come back to win in OT after a Mario Austin 3 at the regulation buzzer tied it up. It was that signature win that packed the house for the rest of the season. We haven’t had a win like that in many, many years to serve as the lynch pin for fan excitement to rev back up again. This year is no exception.
Irregardless of leading
at 1/2, I can't say losing to AU was a "kick in the nuts" game.
They're 21-2 and ranked 11.
We should be happy to have been leading at any point, vs them.
at 1/2, I can't say losing to AU was a "kick in the nuts" game.
They're 21-2 and ranked 11.
We should be happy to have been leading at any point, vs them.
There are people buying season tickets who apparently have no plans to ever come back on a consistent basis. I know people that buy tickets every year, but they've been giving them away for about the last 8 years. Once they lost interest, it appears they'll never get it back.
I’d consider any game with a blown double digit lead in the second half to be pretty devastating to the psyche of both our team and the fanbase as a whole. Both OM and Auburn were exactly that. If we took care of business in those two, we’d be sitting pretty at 18-4 and 7-3 in the league. As it relates to fan excitement, we’d have a win over our biggest rival and a signature win over a Top 15 team. That would be enough to get us back to near capacity crowds, starting probably with the Mizzou game. But, we couldn’t stand prosperity.
I guess with me, it's
about context.
I see us being in it with the best team in the SEC and a top 10 team (essentially), for a 1/2 as a positive sign as to our talent and what we are capable of when we play well.
about context.
I see us being in it with the best team in the SEC and a top 10 team (essentially), for a 1/2 as a positive sign as to our talent and what we are capable of when we play well.
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