Big East Men's Basketball 14-15 Attendance

[XUOHTX]

Thought this attendance info (https://trove.com/a/2014-15-Big-East-Mens-Basketball-attendance-figures-released.2Rt1i?nocrawl=1&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=sns&utm_campaign=hosted) was interesting.

Here (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-IQC7vMR4UBPhma9N7eQdq96poGgGO-npNFLES4I-W0/edit?usp=docslist_api) is the same info with capacities and fill rates. Spoiler, we win.

[xu82]

Some of these gyms are just too big. Less than half full must be a lousy experience. It sure makes us look great in comparison.

[EastCoastXman]

Seton Hall pulls the curtain on the upper deck and it has never been opened since they moved to Pru Center so their capacity is less than 10,000. They did see an improvement in attendance this year. The real disappointment is Georgetown. Muskies proving their Flagship Status.

[coasterville95]

Thing about stats is, are they truly reflective of the situation.

In the excel document you linked to, for example - it looks like it gives the MSG capacity for the St. Johns Red Storm, how many games were played at MSG and how many at Carnessca. I think it only fair to use a weighted average as the Carnesca games will lower their total season capacity. Isn't Villanova in a similar situation, where they play home games at multiple venues.

I am reminded, however of the quote in the article about the Cintas Center renovation project, something about how they COULD expand the seating into a full 360 for about 15,000 seats, but would you rather walk into a packed house every night, or a large arena that is packed for the big games, but is otherwise half empty.

[Mrs. Garrett]

DePAul's numbers are seriously inflated. They set aside a significant number of tickets for students that go unused. I would be surprised if they even got 2,000 fans to most games. Any decent crowds they get are when their opponent travels well.

I went to the X game this year. There were maybe 5,000 fans there and an overwhelming majority number were X fans.

[drudy23]

Butler is surprisingly low. Creighton gets it done.

[X-band '01]

Creighton and Marquette are real impressive when you consider that their seasons were worse than what their fans are used to. I can only imagine what attendance Xavier would get when they inevitably have a subpar season.

Even Villanova only played about 2 or 3 games at Wells Fargo Arena - Syracuse, St. John's and I think Georgetown. I suspect the only games they'll ever play there are old-school Big East rivals.

St. John's plays everyone in the Big East at the Garden (except for Seton Hall).

[GoMuskies]

I can only imagine what attendance Xavier would get when they inevitably have a subpar season.

Based on 1995-96 (Xavier's last losing season), I'll guess we'd average about 8,871 fans.

http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/m_basketball_RB/Reports/attend/1996.pdf

[THRILLHOUSE]

Based on 1995-96 (Xavier's last losing season), I'll guess we'd average about 8,871 fans.

http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/m_basketball_RB/Reports/attend/1996.pdf

That was also X's first season in the A10.

[GoMuskies]

Indeed it was.

[xudash]

Butler is surprisingly low. Creighton gets it done.

Actually, there numbers aren't surprising at all. I get that your point is about their Tournament success compared to how they do filling seats. But the larger issue with them is that they've always seemed to have a comparatively anemic fan base.

[Titanxman04]

I always thought that in order to host NCAA tournament games, you need to have a capacity of at least 13k. Is that still the case and a possible reason to expand Cintas?

[GoMuskies]

You certainly couldn't host at 10k. But even with a bigger arena there's really no reason for Xavier to WANT to host an NCAA Tournament regional, and Xavier's location away from lodging and dining would not make it a very good potential host.

[X-band '01]

Providence is going to be hosting a regional at the Dunkin Donuts Center this upcoming season; their capacity is listed at 12,400 in the above spreadsheet.

[GoMuskies]

We get one in Wichita in 2018 at the downtown Intrust Bank Arena. 15,004 is capacity. People were concerned that it was too small for the NCAA Tournament for a while (and generally too big for most events that it hosts), but we finally get one in '18.

[muskienick]

Thing about stats is, are they truly reflective of the situation.

In the excel document you linked to, for example - it looks like it gives the MSG capacity for the St. Johns Red Storm, how many games were played at MSG and how many at Carnessca. I think it only fair to use a weighted average as the Carnesca games will lower their total season capacity. Isn't Villanova in a similar situation, where they play home games at multiple venues.

I am reminded, however of the quote in the article about the Cintas Center renovation project, something about how they COULD expand the seating into a full 360 for about 15,000 seats, but would you rather walk into a packed house every night, or a large arena that is packed for the big games, but is otherwise half empty.

Why would Xavier's attendance drop to 7,500 (i.e. your "half-empty" amount) for non-elite games just because the bowl was completed to bring the total maximum attendance to 15,000 (which I think is inflated)? If we now average almost 10,000 for all games, including the buy games, what would cause our attendance to fall if the Cintas had a larger capacity? Or was that "half-empty" comment just a bit of hyperbole?

[drudy23]

I may be wrong, but do we have the following in the city to even need to expand the Cintas Center? The large percentage of casual fans in the city are UC fans (which is fine, don't want them). We have a dedicated group of die hards, but I don't think we could draw a consistent 13-14k, unless we went on a run like Butler had a few years ago. My guess is alot of research went into the final capacity decision for Cintas.

[Xavier]

Why would Xavier's attendance drop to 7,500 (i.e. your "half-empty" amount) for non-elite games just because the bowl was completed to bring the total maximum attendance to 15,000 (which I think is inflated)? If we now average almost 10,000 for all games, including the buy games, what would cause our attendance to fall if the Cintas had a larger capacity? Or was that "half-empty" comment just a bit of hyperbole?

The link was only conference games I think, which even at 9,990 or whatever it was listed I think was a bit inflated. (At first I thought it was absolutely inflated, however when I realized it was only conference games I thought it was possible. Maybe) If you put in non conference games the number would go down for sure.

Tickets sold I can see that number being right. Actual folks who walked in the doors? I'd think it's a little high at that point.

[xu82]

I may be wrong, but do we have the following in the city to even need to expand the Cintas Center? The large percentage of casual fans in the city are UC fans (which is fine, don't want them). We have a dedicated group of die hards, but I don't think we could draw a consistent 13-14k, unless we went on a run like Butler had a few years ago. My guess is alot of research went into the final capacity decision for Cintas.

I'd rather have a scarcity of tickets and make the game experience special. These 40-60% full arenas would be a big step down in the game experience. Unles you know you can average 90% plus, don't even think about it. Diamonds and lobster aren't rare, but they are special because the market isn't flooded with them. I'd stick to that model.

[Chalmers0]

The link was only conference games I think, which even at 9,990 or whatever it was listed I think was a bit inflated. (At first I thought it was absolutely inflated, however when I realized it was only conference games I thought it was possible. Maybe) If you put in non conference games the number would go down for sure.

Tickets sold I can see that number being right. Actual folks who walked in the doors? I'd think it's a little high at that point.

That is absolutely tickets sold, plenty of empty seats on week night games this year

[Xville]

I'd rather have a scarcity of tickets and make the game experience special. These 40-60% full arenas would be a big step down in the game experience. Unles you know you can average 90% plus, don't even think about it. Diamonds and lobster aren't rare, but they are special because the market isn't flooded with them. I'd stick to that model.

If cintas expanded to 12-13k, non conference scheduling would have to be better. It's been pretty lame in my opinion since we joined the big east. People would show up to a mid week game against a good big 5 team, they don't show up to a game against gardner Webb or against some other no name team that we have been playing in the non conference at home lately. And yes I realize we played decent teams like sfa and Murray state last year, but like it or not that doesn't draw the average fan to come to the cintas.

[sgarcia]

Under no circumstances should they add seats to the 'Tas. That's just my opinion. Renovate and do whatever else you want just don't add more seats.

[Cheesehead]

I have always thought the student section is really small when compared to other schools. I wish the lower bowl was more complete. They really wasted some space there.

[xubrew]

I always thought that in order to host NCAA tournament games, you need to have a capacity of at least 13k. Is that still the case and a possible reason to expand Cintas?

The minimum capacity used to be 13,500, but I believe they lowered it to 12,000 for this upcoming season. It will likely stay that way moving forward.

Attendance figures are ridiculous because there are three ways you're allowed to count it. One is to guess how many people you think are there (I'm serious). One is to count the tickets distributed. And the last and what should be the only one that is allowed, is to use a turnstile count. I mean, call me crazy, but I think attendance should only factor in how many people actually attended.

[coasterville95]

Ok, here is the exact quote:
"“We’re fortunate to have the fan support that we have,” Christopher said. “But I’d rather have a 10,000-seat facility that’s full all the time than a 15,000- to 20,000-seat facility that’s less than capacity a lot of the time.”"

So, yeah half-full is a bit of hyperbole, but I think you managed to get the meaning.