On any given year outside of AKRON VS. KENT in Cleveland... who would your finals matchup be to grab the most viewers, have the best crowd etc?

From my experience the top 3 teams for driving attendance are:

1) Akron
2) Kent
3) Ohio

For this reason I feel an Akron - Ohio match would generate the most attendance after an Akron - Kent match-up. Ohio probably has the 3rd largest MAC alumni presence in northeast Ohio and they have a large, loyal fan base.

I’d say Akron-Buffalo. UB has always brought great crowds to Cleveland and I think this game usually brings a great crowd to the arena on a Saturday night for a championship

(02-17-2020 08:09 AM)BullBoy Wrote:  I’d say Akron-Buffalo. UB has always brought great crowds to Cleveland and I think this game usually brings a great crowd to the arena on a Saturday night for a championship

That feels the most MACtiony. Two lakeside, rust belt cities... Both are basketball schools first.
I ommitted Miami vs. OU, but I suppose a battle for the bricks would draw decent too.

I pulled some numbers since its a slow day at work today. I went back to 2010 as that's when ESPN stopped listing attendance in their box scores. I was able to find the 2010 numbers from the Ohio site via some creative google searching. Also the MAC only reported the Semi-finals as a whole day attendance not a per game attendance. I know there are a lot of other variables surrounding these numbers but thought some might find it interesting. (Note the MAC did the double / triple byes from 2012 to 2015 so some teams knew they were in the semis for a week before the games.)

Finals
2019 - Buffalo over BG - 7813
2018 - Buffalo over Toledo - 5633
2017 - Kent over Akron - 10376
2016 - Buffalo over Akron - 6719
2015 - Buffalo over CMU - 5266
2014 - WMU over Toledo - 5278
2013 - Akron over Ohio - 12102
2012 - Ohio over Akron - 10301
2011 - Akron over Kent - 8926
2010 - Ohio over Akron - 9533

Semi-Finals
2019 - NIU / BG / Buffalo / CMU = 6044
2018 - Toledo / EMU / Buffalo / Kent = 4625
2017 - Kent / Ohio / Akron / Ball St. = 6065
2016 - Buffalo / Ohio / Akron / BG = 6427
2015 - Buffalo / Akron / CMU / Toledo = 6027
2014 - Toledo / EMU / WMU / Akron = 6318
2013 - Ohio / WMU / Akron / Kent = 10324
2012 - Ohio / Buffalo / Akron / Kent = 8513
2011 - Kent / Ball St. / Akron / WMU = 6174
2010 - Ohio / Miami / Akron / WMU = 5089

Since I already had the numebrs in Excel, it was pretty easy to break it out by team / round. (Again I understand there are a lot of caveats.)

Finals
Team - Appearances - Avg. Attendance
Akron - 6 - 9660
BG - 1 - 7813
Buffalo - 4 - 6358
CMU - 1 - 5266
Kent - 2 - 9651
Ohio - 3 - 10645
Toledo - 2 - 5456
WMU - 1 - 5278


Semis-Finals
Team - Appearances - Avg. Attendance
Akron - 8 - 6867
Ball St. - 2 - 6120
BG - 2 - 6236
Buffalo - 5 - 6327
CMU - 2 - 6036
EMU - 2 - 5472
Kent - 5 - 7140
Miami - 1 - 5089
NIU - 1 - 6044
Ohio - 5 - 7284
Toledo - 3 - 5657
WMU - 4 - 6976

Toledos appearances were vs. WMU and UB without the MACpoy. So i understsnd our lack of numbers.