The CAA has an average attendance of 2,326. In 2006-2007, the CAA had an average attendance of 3,580, and even if you take out the top three attendances from GMU, ODU, and VCU, the average was still 2,620, which is 12.6 percent higher than it is now.

(12-21-2016 08:53 AM)EvanJ Wrote:  The CAA has an average attendance of 2,326. In 2006-2007, the CAA had an average attendance of 3,580, and even if you take out the top three attendances from GMU, ODU, and VCU, the average was still 2,620, which is 12.6 percent higher than it is now.

There very well may be a decline, but i wouldn't put stock into 2016-17 numbers now. Wait until seasons end. Those numbers are definitely negatively effected thus far by school being out of session.

I would also say there are teams that just happened to be in a dry spell now that were 3-5 years ago so naturally attendance has dropped some. Likewise certain teams always had inflated numbers due to the ability for visiting fans to travel to. VCU, ODU and Mason (for a few years), traveled well. So taking them out of the picture not only hurt the overall numbers from their home games, but also took butts away in visiting gyms/arenas. I do not think there really is that much of a difference, honestly.

This time of year home games consist of teams nobody has heard of as well as very few home games period. Conference play is more meaningful in general, especially as the year unfolds and teams find themselves in contention for a CAA title, or facing a conference leader. Our name brand opponents are all on the road, with the exception of CofC this year as well.

Besides UNCW, there is no clear cut top 4. Which means we could see some teams pop up for contention that didn't expect it. UNCW/CofC games should be very well attended, and both schools have a good fan base. Towson has a big enough fan base that a good year could fill the stands. W&M also has the tools to contend and usually has good crowds.

The real question, as usual, is can the northern schools gain some crowds if they are in contention? Hofstra and NU look like they could still be a factor despite the loss of talent. Drexel is surprising so far...will the fans show up?

Probably the biggest loss in attendance will be JMU. They have one of the larger fan bases, but their team is a train wreck right now.

UNCW just had a selllout last night

(12-21-2016 11:37 AM)solohawks Wrote:  UNCW just had a selllout last night

I don't think anyone but our local doldrum questions UNCW's ability to draw a crowd.

Its unfortunate our biggest draw is non competitive and played a week before Christmas. But from an administrative prospective, we make more money on this game when the students are gone because there are much less free tickets to give out.

(12-21-2016 10:06 AM)82hawk Wrote:  Drexel is surprising so far...will the fans show up?

The answer to that is yes but probably not this year. Rebuilding the fans interest takes time and won't happen in year 1. Spiker is hitting all of the right buttons with students and alumni to get them back. I think he will be successful, but with it being a tough year for this team I think it will still be a struggle. Keep in mind our max attendance will still pull down the conference average as we only seat 2500 (plus a few seats). It is not like the old CAA where the top teams arenas sat 7-10K. What is even worse is we are not even the smallest place to play in the conference anymore (I think that is Elon).

(12-21-2016 11:58 AM)dan10 Wrote:  

(12-21-2016 10:06 AM)82hawk Wrote:  Drexel is surprising so far...will the fans show up?

The answer to that is yes but probably not this year. Rebuilding the fans interest takes time and won't happen in year 1. Spiker is hitting all of the right buttons with students and alumni to get them back. I think he will be successful, but with it being a tough year for this team I think it will still be a struggle. Keep in mind our max attendance will still pull down the conference average as we only seat 2500 (plus a few seats). It is not like the old CAA where the top teams arenas sat 7-10K. What is even worse is we are not even the smallest place to play in the conference anymore (I think that is Elon).

any chance at a bigger place for you guys or is that a never going to happen item?

(12-21-2016 11:58 AM)dan10 Wrote:  

(12-21-2016 10:06 AM)82hawk Wrote:  Drexel is surprising so far...will the fans show up?

The answer to that is yes but probably not this year. Rebuilding the fans interest takes time and won't happen in year 1. Spiker is hitting all of the right buttons with students and alumni to get them back. I think he will be successful, but with it being a tough year for this team I think it will still be a struggle. Keep in mind our max attendance will still pull down the conference average as we only seat 2500 (plus a few seats). It is not like the old CAA where the top teams arenas sat 7-10K. What is even worse is we are not even the smallest place to play in the conference anymore (I think that is Elon).

I went to Elon season before last to see UNCW. That gym is so small it couldn't pass for the smallest level of high school gyms! Isn't NU small too?

(12-21-2016 11:59 AM)solohawks Wrote:  

(12-21-2016 11:58 AM)dan10 Wrote:  

(12-21-2016 10:06 AM)82hawk Wrote:  Drexel is surprising so far...will the fans show up?

The answer to that is yes but probably not this year. Rebuilding the fans interest takes time and won't happen in year 1. Spiker is hitting all of the right buttons with students and alumni to get them back. I think he will be successful, but with it being a tough year for this team I think it will still be a struggle. Keep in mind our max attendance will still pull down the conference average as we only seat 2500 (plus a few seats). It is not like the old CAA where the top teams arenas sat 7-10K. What is even worse is we are not even the smallest place to play in the conference anymore (I think that is Elon).

any chance at a bigger place for you guys or is that a never going to happen item?

I will say it will happen but won't be for a very long time. We had our hopes up for a slightly larger place with the Armory project, but just as that started to get off the ground it got shut down due to the building not truly being safe (it was already an old building). For the time being we will keep renovating what we have and keep polishing that turd.

In their defense, they have done a great job in the past 3 years or so upgrading it. It now has all corners closed (removing that small time gym feel), they upgraded all of the locker rooms, added general facilities (concessions, bathrooms on the same level, air conditioning etc) and also swapped out many bleachers for comfortable chair backs. There is still a long way to go, but if it gets rocking again with the students (like it was in 2012 or earlier) it will be an incredibly tough place to play.

CofC's attendance is bound to go up if the team continues to do well. Our biggest crowd is 4,178 for The Citadel in the season opener, but included a few hundred Bulldogs fans. We drew 4,325 for the Wake Forest game in the Classic, but that included the large number of Villanova fans who were there for the finals and weren't there at the beginning.

Our home conference schedule though is heavily front-loaded. 5 of our first 8 conference games are at home. The first two are before students come back (1/11).

Charlestonians in all sports tend to be front running fans. If our team is competing for a high spot in the CAA, the fans will come. When Goudelock and Bobby Cremins were here, we'd be within a few hundred of a sell-out almost every game.

The conference tournament attendance will also be determined by how well we do in the regular season. The last year CofC was good heading into the conference tourney held in North Charleston (2007), our midweek sessions would do 4-6K, then even higher (closer to 7K) for the semis. The finals against Steph Curry and Davidson drew 8,009.

If we finish in the top third of the CAA, those crowds or something like them will be there in March.

Attendance at sporting events is down as a whole and has trending that way for a few years now. I think it continue downward for a while-most kids these days could care less about sports in general and will not pay to see it for sure. UNCW should see an increase but who knows with todays crowd what that might look like. I went to a Lakers game in LA-not close to a sellout.

(12-21-2016 12:32 PM)jumpinmullet Wrote:  I went to a Lakers game in LA-not close to a sellout.

You should have gone to a Clippers game instead. Much better product these days.

(12-21-2016 11:59 AM)solohawks Wrote:  

(12-21-2016 11:58 AM)dan10 Wrote:  

(12-21-2016 10:06 AM)82hawk Wrote:  Drexel is surprising so far...will the fans show up?

The answer to that is yes but probably not this year. Rebuilding the fans interest takes time and won't happen in year 1. Spiker is hitting all of the right buttons with students and alumni to get them back. I think he will be successful, but with it being a tough year for this team I think it will still be a struggle. Keep in mind our max attendance will still pull down the conference average as we only seat 2500 (plus a few seats). It is not like the old CAA where the top teams arenas sat 7-10K. What is even worse is we are not even the smallest place to play in the conference anymore (I think that is Elon).

any chance at a bigger place for you guys or is that a never going to happen item?

I don't think that's ever going to happen Solo. Adding on to what Dan10 said, the only way it could happen is if interest in the program becomes so high that season tickets are sold out for years and students are camping out for tickets. Based on historical figures, that's never going to happen. Philadelphia is a big time sports city, and even Drexel alumni think that the CAA is too small-time for most to even bother. 2,500 is just the right size for Drexel's fan base. And they're doing a really nice job with the renovations and they're far from finished. I don't think that anyone can really call the place a crappy high school gym anymore.

(12-21-2016 01:05 PM)J.B. Wrote:  

(12-21-2016 11:59 AM)solohawks Wrote:  

(12-21-2016 11:58 AM)dan10 Wrote:  

(12-21-2016 10:06 AM)82hawk Wrote:  Drexel is surprising so far...will the fans show up?

The answer to that is yes but probably not this year. Rebuilding the fans interest takes time and won't happen in year 1. Spiker is hitting all of the right buttons with students and alumni to get them back. I think he will be successful, but with it being a tough year for this team I think it will still be a struggle. Keep in mind our max attendance will still pull down the conference average as we only seat 2500 (plus a few seats). It is not like the old CAA where the top teams arenas sat 7-10K. What is even worse is we are not even the smallest place to play in the conference anymore (I think that is Elon).

any chance at a bigger place for you guys or is that a never going to happen item?

I don't think that's ever going to happen Solo. Adding on to what Dan10 said, the only way it could happen is if interest in the program becomes so high that season tickets are sold out for years and students are camping out for tickets. Based on historical figures, that's never going to happen. Philadelphia is a big time sports city, and even Drexel alumni think that the CAA is too small-time for most to even bother. 2,500 is just the right size for Drexel's fan base. And they're doing a really nice job with the renovations and they're far from finished. I don't think that anyone can really call the place a crappy high school gym anymore.

It's a shame too, considering most Philly sports product has been junk! Except Nova.

http://www.thetimesnews.com/sports/20160...-new-arena

Elon could be moving into a 5400 seat auditorium very soon. Check it out.

(12-21-2016 01:34 PM)82hawk Wrote:  http://www.thetimesnews.com/sports/20160...-new-arena

Elon could be moving into a 5400 seat auditorium very soon. Check it out.

Interesting, i couldn't get from the article whether it's happening. OR being talked about.

(12-21-2016 12:34 PM)Seahawk Nation 08 Wrote:  

(12-21-2016 12:32 PM)jumpinmullet Wrote:  I went to a Lakers game in LA-not close to a sellout.

You should have gone to a Clippers game instead. Much better product these days.

Haha-yea no doubt about that! I grew up as a Sixers fan so I don't like either team but the tickets were on my brother in law.

http://www.greensboro.com/blogs/the_syll...58293.html

A more definitive statement on the Elon coliseum