The NCAA attendance figures came out yesterday. Here's how the HL breaks down.
Wright St = 4,355
Valpo = 3,572
UIC = 3,166
Oakland = 3,097
Green Bay = 3,029
Milwaukee = 2,667
Northern Ky = 2,296
Detroit = 2,121
YSU = 2,013
CSU = 1,911
www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2016-06-07/mens-basketball-attendance-tops-32-million-10th-straight-year (http://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2016-06-07/mens-basketball-attendance-tops-32-million-10th-straight-year)
Valpo is a tough place to play when it's packed. Ask the NIT guys.
That's pretty impressive considering the population of our little Mayberry town.
Quote from: oklahomamick on June 10, 2016, 07:58:10 AMValpo = 3,572
Which includes all home games, but not the NIT MSG games (or other "neutral" or road games).
Horizon in 13th as a conference.
Not bad for Valpo, hopefully can grow a bit next season, or by a good step if we start well.
Overall, a little disappointing that 3,500 can be second in conference.
Interesting that UIC, with a dismal record, outdrew both GB and UWM, which had winning records and GB is the only game in that town.
Also interesting that in its first year in the HL (which should have been an exciting thing for fans) NKU's fairly new 9,000 seat, on campus arena pulled in only ~2,300 per game.
Begs the question of whether upgrading our facilities will make a difference in increased attendance, no? Perhaps our #2 slot in conference attendance is one reason little has been done to upgrade the ARC (i.e., if it ain't broke, why fit it????) Just throwing that out..........
I bet if we black topped it and add some LED's we would increase attendance. :lol: :lol: :lol:
Quote from: agibson on June 10, 2016, 09:49:12 AM
Quote from: oklahomamick on June 10, 2016, 07:58:10 AMValpo = 3,572
Which includes all home games, but not the NIT MSG games (or other "neutral" or road games).
Horizon in 13th as a conference.
Not bad for Valpo, hopefully can grow a bit next season, or by a good step if we start well.
Overall, a little disappointing that 3,500 can be second in conference.
Well consider that 3,500 is a much higher percentage of seats being occupied than Wright State's number. So by percentage, our gym is the most full of any horizon league team each game.
Quote from: DMvalpo18 on June 10, 2016, 11:21:12 AMWell consider that 3,500 is a much higher percentage of seats being occupied than Wright State's number. So by percentage, our gym is the most full of any horizon league team each game.
Maybe Oakland beats us on percentage of seats. But, their numbers probably include some non-O'Rena "home" games, so a little hard to say.
We probably look OK in "attendance / population of home town". Not sure about "attendance / population of media market" or similar.
Quote from: oklahomamick on June 10, 2016, 07:58:10 AM
The NCAA attendance figures came out yesterday. Here's how the HL breaks down.
Wright St = 4,355
Valpo = 3,572
UIC = 3,166
Oakland = 3,097
Green Bay = 3,029
Milwaukee = 2,667
Northern Ky = 2,296
Detroit = 2,121
YSU = 2,013
CSU = 1,911
www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2016-06-07/mens-basketball-attendance-tops-32-million-10th-straight-year (http://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2016-06-07/mens-basketball-attendance-tops-32-million-10th-straight-year)
Valpo is a tough place to play when it's packed. Ask the NIT guys.
Wright St 4355 10449 41.68%
Valpo 3572 5000 71.44%
UIC 3166 6958 45.50%
Oakland 3097 4005 77.33%
Green Bay 3029 9729 31.13%
Milwaukee 2667 10783 24.73%
No Ky 2296 9400 24.43%
Detroit 2121 8295 25.57%
YSU 2013 6300 31.95%
CSU 1911 13610 14.04%
I wonder what the story is for the O'Rena. Oakland lists it, at least some places (websites, game notes, etc.), at 3,000. Wikipedia has 4,005 on their basketball team entry, but 3,000 on the arena entry. And, they obviously exceed 3,000 for some games.
Interesting. So I guess we are just behind Oakland then.
Ticket sales are what other conferences probably care most about, so stadium capacity and capacity utilization are important stats. But let's also consider the "enthusiasm factor" -- that is how much support the teams drum up. That must be a factor. I've included a list of schools that show average attendance against student body population. Of course, non-student/staff support (surrounding community) is significant, but it's harder to measure. This is a starting point, at least.
attend. students %
Wright St 4,355 17,074 26%
Valpo 3,572 4,500 79%
UIC 3,166 27,580 11%
Oakland 3,097 20,519 15%
Green Bay 3,029 6,549 46%
Milwaukee 2,667 30,502 9%
Northern Ky 2,296 15,405 15%
Detroit 2,121 5,700 37%
YSU 2,013 15,058 13%
CSU 1,911 16,418 12%
Quote from: Vale O. Paradise on June 10, 2016, 02:07:14 PMValpo 3572 5000 71.44%
Commuter campus, commuter campus, commuter campus
The institutions who we are grouped with and compete against athletically (don't think we compete academically as most in the HL are research universities not liberal arts?) have a lot of adults seeking degrees. Most adults are there to earn the degree and often have a family at home. They are not as interested in the campus experience. I would bet we have a higher percentage of our students involved in Greek live and clubs than our HL partners. Valpo ranked #1 in one poll for community service. Also, a higher percentage of our students are athletes and they often support eachother. All these variables are reasons for a higher participation % by valpo students attending bball games when compared to other HL schools.
And to be fair, not all of the 3500 fans in the stands are students.