I see on a lot of message boards from mid-major teams that attendance is an issue for their teams. Student sections are becoming sparsely populated and the excitement is waning.

I will have to say that in spite of the challenges that Belmont faces with several D1 teams nearby and all the other competition for the entertainment dollar in a large metro area, we are bolding our own. Since the 09-10 season, we have had steady increases in attendance. Here are the figures for the last few years.

09-10 1,486
10-11 1,802
11-12 2,023
12-13 2,734
13-14 3,200 (to date)

I realize the games so far this year include VCU and Lipscum. I am hoping that we have some decent attendance for Murray State and Austin Peay, but some of the others may not have great excitement attached to them. TSU usually brings a lot of fans, but their fans are really disappointed this year and aren’t even attending their own home games.

Even though Belmont had a basketball history with the NAIA, there hasn’t been a long D1 tradition. However, the athletic marketing department seems to be doing some things right in slowly developing a larger fan base.

What are your thoughts?