Isn't TV viewership part of the attendance equation?



http://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2015/03/...ed-by-acc/

From the link:

Quote:After a poor performance last year, the Big East championship sank even lower in its second year on FS1.

The Villanova/Xavier Big East Tournament championship game drew a 0.3 overnight rating on Fox Sports 1 Saturday night, down 40% from Providence/Creighton last year (0.5), and down 86% from Louisville/Syracuse on ESPN in 2013 (2.1).

The Wildcats’ win had a lower overnight than every college basketball telecast on CBS and ESPN over the weekend (12 telecasts). Overnights for ESPN2, ESPNU and NBCSN were not available.

The game was trounced head-to-head by the ACC championship game on ESPN (2.3) and also earned a substantially lower overnight than the championship of the American Athletic Conference — the ‘old’ Big East — the following day (1.3).

(03-15-2015 12:44 PM)TexanMark Wrote:  

(03-15-2015 06:15 AM)PIRATE TERP Wrote:  as far as possible venues ... and this may sound crazy ... but ... Greensboro NC ... ACC is gone for 5 yrs & the town is moaning over no BB Tournament .. they do put on a first class fanfest & games ... media is totally familiar with logistics etc ... would be interesting ... possible drawback -- over 20K seating -- but arena has upper deck curtain so lower bowl holds 10K +/- ... def potential for a great event ...

You really think ECU fans are going to fill a 23k seat arena? You would have at best 8-10k in the arena.

Dont bother Texan....1/2 these guys just realized yesterday that this conf is bush league and not any good. Those folks are babbling crazy talk because their little fantasy world just got rocked.

(03-15-2015 08:35 AM)Pony_Fan Wrote:  

(03-12-2015 06:35 PM)YNot Wrote:  Why in the world would you have the tournament hosted by LAST year's winner? I have a feeling that tournament attendance would have been much better in Dallas.

If advanced planning was the main concern, why not follow 90% of NCAA conferences and have the tournament at a neutral location? The AAC footprint has some excellent potential venues for the tourney (New York, Atlanta, Washington, DC - and less than neutral, but still good venues in New Orleans, Dallas, Orlando, etc.) - Hartford isn't a frontrunner.

big 12 has womens championship in Dallas. But AAC in the AAC would be good. New Orleans would be great, Nashville, DC, Atlanta.

Hey Pony, perhaps I misread this exchange are you suggesting that Nashville would be a good site for the conference tournament?

(03-16-2015 07:49 PM)oldtiger Wrote:  

(03-15-2015 08:35 AM)Pony_Fan Wrote:  

(03-12-2015 06:35 PM)YNot Wrote:  Why in the world would you have the tournament hosted by LAST year's winner? I have a feeling that tournament attendance would have been much better in Dallas.

If advanced planning was the main concern, why not follow 90% of NCAA conferences and have the tournament at a neutral location? The AAC footprint has some excellent potential venues for the tourney (New York, Atlanta, Washington, DC - and less than neutral, but still good venues in New Orleans, Dallas, Orlando, etc.) - Hartford isn't a frontrunner.

big 12 has womens championship in Dallas. But AAC in the AAC would be good. New Orleans would be great, Nashville, DC, Atlanta.

Hey Pony, perhaps I misread this exchange are you suggesting that Nashville would be a good site for the conference tournament?

In the absence of any response, I'll just state that I think that Nashville would be a terrible place to have the tournament. Nashville is a great destination location, but how many locals would anyone expect to attend.....or asked in a different way; how many teams in the AAC could even an avid Nashville sports fan name?

Just this fan's observation ......... the days of a conference like the AAC having huge traveling crowds for a championship basketball tournament are dwindling.

(03-18-2015 10:06 AM)oldtiger Wrote:  

(03-16-2015 07:49 PM)oldtiger Wrote:  

(03-15-2015 08:35 AM)Pony_Fan Wrote:  

(03-12-2015 06:35 PM)YNot Wrote:  Why in the world would you have the tournament hosted by LAST year's winner? I have a feeling that tournament attendance would have been much better in Dallas.

If advanced planning was the main concern, why not follow 90% of NCAA conferences and have the tournament at a neutral location? The AAC footprint has some excellent potential venues for the tourney (New York, Atlanta, Washington, DC - and less than neutral, but still good venues in New Orleans, Dallas, Orlando, etc.) - Hartford isn't a frontrunner.

big 12 has womens championship in Dallas. But AAC in the AAC would be good. New Orleans would be great, Nashville, DC, Atlanta.

Hey Pony, perhaps I misread this exchange are you suggesting that Nashville would be a good site for the conference tournament?

In the absence of any response, I'll just state that I think that Nashville would be a terrible place to have the tournament. Nashville is a great destination location, but how many locals would anyone expect to attend.....or asked in a different way; how many teams in the AAC could even an avid Nashville sports fan name?

Just this fan's observation ......... the days of a conference like the AAC having huge traveling crowds for a championship basketball tournament are dwindling.

Exactly. It needs to be placed in a top tourist destination in the footprint that is driving distance from the largest number of schools. That's going to be New Orleans. Tulanes Devlin Fieldhouse is old, historic, and was completely remodeled and restored a few years ago.

That's the best way to guarantee a great atmosphere at the tournament despite being a very spread out conference. Lots of people will head to New Orleans for a weekend and they would be willing to do it even if their team has a decent chance of being bounced in the first round. Plenty to do and see. The small arena will look and sound packed for tv with a small number of fans. The atmosphere will be great--even in the early rounds. If need be, we can move the finals (the semis as well if needed) to another arena to accommodate larger crowds. We need to understand the issues of being so spread out and plan our tournament in a way that makes it attractive and convenient to the most fan bases.

If you want any sort of "atmosphere," it needs to be in a smaller facility. The fans of the good teams are saving their cash for the NCAA tournament and everyone else will have little to no interest in attending because their team doesn't have much on the line from a realistic standpoint.

It's all TV driven, and much like college football, the experience in the stands matters far less in the current game.

(03-18-2015 10:19 AM)Attackcoog Wrote:  Exactly. It needs to be placed in a top tourist destination in the footprint that is driving dupistance from the largest number of schools. That's going to be New Orleans. Tulanes Devlin Fieldhouse is old, historic, and completely remodeled a few years ago.

You really want an arena that now seats less than 3,600 to host the conf championship?



You need locals to support the tourn, even at a minimal level...and Tulane is basically dead last in the conf in actual attendance so that may not be a good destination for said tourn.

(03-18-2015 10:22 AM)Clarence Iba Wrote:  If you want any sort of "atmosphere," it needs to be in a smaller facility. The fans of the good teams are saving their cash for the NCAA tournament and everyone else will have little to no interest in attending because their team doesn't have much on the line from a realistic standpoint.

It's all TV driven, and much like college football, the experience in the stands matters far less in the current game.

Yep, I had a choice, watch SMU at the AAC tourney or the NCAA tourney. I chose Louisville.

Friday's late games, Saturday and Sunday had pretty good attendance in Hartford and the Championship looked great on TV... I'm not sure any other place could have put on a better showing for the conference this year.

Though, I might even be in favor of Mohegan Sun Casino hosting the men and women - a neutral court of sorts - close to UConn and a strong basketball community, is a slightly smaller venue than XL Center so it'll look more full, the Casino offers amenities to fans beyond just basketball and nearby bars and restaurants, and provides a TITLE SPONSOR for extra $$$.

(03-18-2015 11:01 AM)IceJus10 Wrote:  Friday's late games, Saturday and Sunday had pretty good attendance in Hartford and the Championship looked great on TV... I'm not sure any other place could have put on a better showing for the conference this year.

Though, I might even be in favor of Mohegan Sun Casino hosting the men and women - a neutral court of sorts - close to UConn and a strong basketball community, is a slightly smaller venue than XL Center so it'll look more full, the Casino offers amenities to fans beyond just basketball and nearby bars and restaurants, and provides a TITLE SPONSOR for extra $$$.

That's not a bad idea...and their 9,500 seat basketball arena (much newer than Hartford's) would provide a good capacity, even for UCONN's game(s).

Mohegan Sun Arena




Somewhat similar to UCF's 9,400 seat arena but the conf wanted to play in the downtown NBA Arena (plus receive city guarantees) instead, even if its way too large for most, if not all games. (Hopefully they will curtain off their 3rd level which they do for many events).

If UCONN ever gets to host the event again, odds are 90% (or more) of all tix buyers will be from local UCONN fans...so its probably best just to have it where it can make the most $$$ (usually from local/city or casino guarantees).

(03-18-2015 10:23 AM)KnightLight Wrote:  

(03-18-2015 10:19 AM)Attackcoog Wrote:  Exactly. It needs to be placed in a top tourist destination in the footprint that is driving dupistance from the largest number of schools. That's going to be New Orleans. Tulanes Devlin Fieldhouse is old, historic, and completely remodeled a few years ago.

You really want an arena that now seats less than 3,600 to host the conf championship?



You need locals to support the tourn, even at a minimal level...and Tulane is basically dead last in the conf in actual attendance so that may not be a good destination for said tourn.

If not Memphis, you need a place that seats about 8-10k....hmm where would that be? The conference is too spread out to really get a huge drive-up crowd. Why spend your money on the AAC tourney if your team will make the NCAAs?