Attendance and Atmosphere

[Techster]

 

[gte447f]

Ouch. Our attendance is painfull. Worst in the ACC before the expansion teams join. Also worse than the worst in the other p5/6 conferences. But, I’m sure there are myriad good reasons (excuses) why it’s perfectly normal. You know, like traffic, school nights, 9pm tip offs, dogwood festival, lousy professional teams that are more entertaining and cheaper (not).

 

[AUFC]

Ouch. Our attendance is painfull. Worst in the ACC before the expansion teams join. Also worse than the worst in the other p5/6 conferences. But, I’m sure there are myriad good reasons (excuses) why it’s perfectly normal. You know, like traffic, school nights, 9pm tip offs, dogwood festival, lousy professional teams that are more entertaining and cheaper (not).

The seating chart for tonight is abhorrent. Going to be 3,000 people there but the conditions are right for a good student turnout (though GTAA really screwed up the giveaway/incentive for tonight). If you zoom in on that bar chart, you'll find the lowest attendance in every conference are the programs that play in major cities. College towns do the best. Auburn games are just built differently and show you the art of the possible for McCamish. There is simply nothing else to do in that region on your average Tuesday night or Saturday afternoon so everybody goes to the game.

 

[leatherneckjacket]

Ouch. Our attendance is painfull. Worst in the ACC before the expansion teams join. Also worse than the worst in the other p5/6 conferences. But, I’m sure there are myriad good reasons (excuses) why it’s perfectly normal. You know, like traffic, school nights, 9pm tip offs, dogwood festival, lousy professional teams that are more entertaining and cheaper (not).

Twelve years of suck, the ongoing CTO, and the worst record in the ACC will have an impact on attendance.

 

[Connell62]

View attachment 15500

The seating chart for tonight is abhorrent. Going to be 3,000 people there but the conditions are right for a good student turnout (though GTAA really screwed up the giveaway/incentive for tonight). If you zoom in on that bar chart, you'll find the lowest attendance in every conference are the programs that play in major cities. College towns do the best. Auburn games are just built differently and show you the art of the possible for McCamish. There is simply nothing else to do in that region on your average Tuesday night or Saturday afternoon so everybody goes to the game.

It's always going to be tough for 9PM, especially when you consider that many GT fans are older.

Just like any other sport, build a consistent winner, and the fans will return. Personally, I thought the crowd Saturday was really good.

When they gave us something to cheer about, we were loud. They got a standing O on their way off the court at the end of the first half.

 

[LargeFO]

It's always going to be tough for 9PM, especially when you consider that many GT fans are older.

Just like any other sport, build a consistent winner, and the fans will return. Personally, I thought the crowd Saturday was really good.

When they gave us something to cheer about, we were loud. They got a standing O on their way off the court at the end of the first half.

Weeknight 9 is a hard pull. I don't get why games start after 8 EST. I mean, I know, TV deals, but it's silly. A niner is an auto midnight or later for me to attend.

 

[gte447f]

It's always going to be tough for 9PM, especially when you consider that many GT fans are older.

Just like any other sport, build a consistent winner, and the fans will return. Personally, I thought the crowd Saturday was really good.

When they gave us something to cheer about, we were loud. They got a standing O on their way off the court at the end of the first half.

I also thought the crowd Saturday for BC was good. Much better than normal so far, except for Duke of course. I was surprised when I the checked the box score and it was only around 5k. I thought it was more. Then I was bummed for the loss, for multiple reasons, but for one because I knew it would result in an immediate downturn in attendance, when I think a win could have brought a lot of those folks back for the next game.

 

[gte447f]

Weeknight 9 is a hard pull. I don't get why games start after 8 EST. I mean, I know, TV deals, but it's silly. A niner is an auto midnight or later for me to attend.

I hear you on the 9pm tip offs, but every team deals with that. It doesn’t factor into why GT attendance sucks so bad.

 

[awbuzz]

Weeknight 9 is a hard pull. I don't get why games start after 8 EST. I mean, I know, TV deals, but it's silly. A niner is an auto midnight or later for me to attend.

+1
Plus sometimes being out of town.
But the 9 PM game times are a killer for me too.

 

[Peacone36]

Interesting article from Matt Norlander. The multi-use facilities (Carrier Dome) don't provide the same atmosphere as the smaller basketball only venues do. I think GT has a real advantage here because when McCamish is packed and the guys are playing well, that place rocks. When I was living in NC I went to some NC State games and sure its loud but not really intimate. We have to find a way to get our student body interested, make GT games an event. That may well come with our improved NIL situation which should lead to winning games. If that happens the fans will come and if we can show a thumping home court advantage that should equate to some consistency with both recruits and protecting our home court.


Venue Size

 

[gte447f]

Interesting article from Matt Norlander. The multi-use facilities (Carrier Dome) don't provide the same atmosphere as the smaller basketball only venues do. I think GT has a real advantage here because when McCamish is packed and the guys are playing well, that place rocks. When I was living in NC I went to some NC State games and sure its loud but not really intimate. We have to find a way to get our student body interested, make GT games an event. That may well come with our improved NIL situation which should lead to winning games. If that happens the fans will come and if we can show a thumping home court advantage that should equate to some consistency with both recruits and protecting our home court.


Venue Size

Agree with everything you said except that the students aren’t the problem in McCamish, it’s the fans buying tickets, or lack there of, that’s the problem.

 

[Connell62]

Agree with everything you said except that the students aren’t the problem in McCamish, it’s the fans buying tickets, or lack there of, that’s the problem.

Disagree... Student turnout is abysmal unless there is a giveaway of some sort or a big name opponent.

 

[AUFC]

Agree with everything you said except that the students aren’t the problem in McCamish, it’s the fans buying tickets, or lack there of, that’s the problem.

Students could be more engaged for sure. They are fantastic at football games but they just kind of stand there watching for basketball. ND had really good attendance and was an overflow game but they were silent the whole game. We have great potential as Peacone points out and it would absolutely turn into success on the court (case in point: UCF beat Kansas last night; that never happens if the game is at Phog or neutral site).

The BC game was okay. I can't remember the last time the crowd stood and made noise to build a run like the 11-0 one at the end of the first half, which was cool. I've mentioned this before and my seat neighbor agrees - GT needs to sell those rows behind the bench to diehards -- all the energy dissipates from there.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

Students could be more engaged for sure. They are fantastic at football games but they just kind of stand there watching for basketball. ND had really good attendance and was an overflow game but they were silent the whole game. We have great potential as Peacone points out and it would absolutely turn into success on the court (case in point: UCF beat Kansas last night; that never happens if the game is at Phog or neutral site).

The BC game was okay. I can't remember the last time the crowd stood and made noise to build a run like the 11-0 one at the end of the first half, which was cool. I've mentioned this before and my seat neighbor agrees - GT needs to sell those rows behind the bench to diehards -- all the energy dissipates from there.

Dissipates or dispenses?

Out of curiosity does anyone know how many seats are reserved for students?

 

[AUFC]

Dissipates or dispenses?

Out of curiosity does anyone know how many seats are reserved for students?

Dispenses - good call.

I think there are 200 courtside seats and 700 seats in Section 113.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

Dispenses - good call.

I think there are 200 courtside seats and 700 seats in Section 113.

Thanks!

Would you say those are more than half full? 3/4 full? Just wondering how off student attendance is that people are seeing? I guess I missed it.

 

[AUFC]

Thanks!

Would you say those are more than half full? 3/4 full? Just wondering how off student attendance is that people are seeing? I guess I missed it.

Depends on the game. During non-conf (non winter break), we filled up courtside every game with virtually nobody but the band in 113. So far in our 3 ACC home games, we've had full courtside and full 113 (BC game was a little sparser). I think Duke and ND both had students overflowing into sections 112 and 114.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

Depends on the game. During non-conf (non winter break), we filled up courtside every game with virtually nobody but the band in 113. So far in our 3 ACC home games, we've had full courtside and full 113 (BC game was a little sparser). I think Duke and ND both had students overflowing into sections 112 and 114.

So student attendance is not the problem. That was my sense but was willing to be corrected.

 

[gte447f]

Depends on the game. During non-conf (non winter break), we filled up courtside every game with virtually nobody but the band in 113. So far in our 3 ACC home games, we've had full courtside and full 113 (BC game was a little sparser). I think Duke and ND both had students overflowing into sections 112 and 114.

So student attendance is not the problem. That was my sense but was willing to be corrected.

That is correct. Student attendance is not the problem, especially relative to fan attendance. Same goes for engagement. Of course the students could be more engaged, but relative to most of the other fans, they are riotous. Hell, they stand for the entire game. Most other fans don’t stand for 1 minute during the entire game.

 

[HurricaneJacket]

As bad as MBB can be, WBB is often worse, yet the team is 12-4 (3-1 ACC) and tickets are cheap. Come to all games!