Forum › Forum › Lehigh Sports › Lehigh Men’s Basketball › College Basketball Spending › Reply To: College Basketball Spending
If there’s been a meaningful dropoff in football attendance, I can’t really speak to that. But I do have thoughts on hoops – and I think it’s really all about the product. The culture needs to be built, and that takes time. I was lucky enough to get to Lehigh at the end of our last big “peak” in hoops, the P&Q era. There was a decent amount of excitement on campus at that time, as I recall. A bunch of guys from my fraternity were making road trips to the ECC tourney, and we were “into it”. Not like a major hoops school, but it was tangible. But there was then a significant dropoff in “the product” – made more difficult by the ECC to PL move, I’m sure. ECC was pretty decent at that time, as I recall, and the PL was, of course, an unknown.
I guess my point would be that we have to build the hoops culture. I think the past few years have been a great start – but another dropoff is certainly a risk in my mind. The % increase in attendance over these past few years makes the point, to me. Success builds the culture, and that can then sustain itself. If the excitement takes hold, I think that contributes to continuing success, more exposure, and more excitement. I just hope we can continue to build on the recent success…