Forum › Forum › Lehigh Sports › Lehigh Men’s Basketball › Attendance Prediction
This topic contains 8 replies, has 6 voices, and was last updated by RichH 11 years, 11 months ago.
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October 16, 2012 at 3:54 pm #7108
I know everyone is getting geared up for the season. The press that Lehigh has been getting both nationally and locally has been great. And it seems like the AD is making a real push to get the word out about tickets (Midnight Madness, social media, numerous articles on lehighsports.com). We have discussed the attendance issue to death on this board, and come up with a number of very legitimate suggestions. Now we have a senior laden team with a potential NBA draft pick coming off a program altering win the season before. How does everyone see attendance this year?
For perspective, below are the home attendance #’s for the past 6 seasons:
11-12: 1,332
10-11: 931
09-10: 1,285
08-09: 1,235
07-08: 1,254
06-07: 1,362I would love to say that I think the team will average 2K+ this season, but I think a much more likely scenario is somewhere in the 1,700 range. I sincerely hope that that is a conservative prediction that ends up being blown out of the water.
What are everyone else’s thoughts?
October 16, 2012 at 6:51 pm #7109My initial reaction is about 1,600-1,700. I would have predicted higher if there were better quality opponents. As of now, Bucknell and Lafayette may be the only big draws. Does anyone have a report on Midnight Madness? Was it well attended? Ultimately students will determine whether we get closer to 2,000.
October 16, 2012 at 10:08 pm #7112MM decent lively crowd, but only lower level. #?
October 16, 2012 at 10:34 pm #7113Student turnout is key and sadly enough I’m not convinced they’re ready to come. That is, unless we advance under NIT to play in Madison Square Garden. Then, all bets are off. Without that, there’s little to excite the masses with six OOC games “over the mountain” featuring two yet unnamed “also-rans” from the NIT and four previously scheduled non-descript/low ranking opponents: FDU, Fordham, Bryant, and Muhlenberg. To make matters worse, the Bryant and Muhlenberg games take place over Semester Break as does the first game in PL Conference play, Holy Cross. After that, we host 6 other PL games – two of which (Bucknell and Lafayette) will be carried live over CBS Sports Network – giving student still another reason to stay home – leaving only games against Colgate, American, Navy and Army. It’s sad, but I can’t see us breaking the 2000 average attendance figure in 2012-13 unless we do advance to MSG over the Thanksgiving Holiday and play the likes of a Virginia, Kansas State or Michigan. Then, you could see a groundswell of interest and support building within the community and student body. Without that, I’ll go with a 1700 average figure this year.
October 17, 2012 at 8:13 pm #7127I’m hopeful, but realistic. OOC, I think we average about 1,000 for Bryant, FDU and Muhlenberg (unless the Mules’ fans travel well, ha ha), probably more like 1,400 for Fordham. In the PL, we average 1,500. I consider myself fairly diehard and I can’t motivate to go to Bryant, FDU or Muhlenberg.
October 19, 2012 at 5:26 am #7177Well don’t get me started on this. What happened to team support, win or lose? Well, in my day, that being many days ago, you supported your school, win or lose. The administration needs to hire a marketing firm for Lehigh. How quickly the students have forgotten the NCAA win over Duke. Both LU and BU are hot teams, the season is probably going to be better or equal to last year. The talent is there.
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This reply was modified 12 years, 4 months ago by
norcalfan.
March 19, 2013 at 4:28 pm #9861Circling back to this thread. Final attendance average for the season (assuming no CBI home games) is 1,795. That represents a 32% increase over last season, and a 48% increase over the average of the past 5 years. A significant upgrade which we can assume would have been higher had CJ been healthy for PL play and kept the team in the title hunt for longer. Overall, it was a nice uptick even if us hardcore fans would always prefer more. The question becomes what the team can do to sustain (and continue to increase) attendance moving forward. Hoping guys like Chuku and Whitfield can put an exciting and athletic product on the court to bring out the fans.
March 19, 2013 at 6:14 pm #9863I think we slide back to the 1200-1300 level next season, unless the team starts winning. If team starts strong, we should be north of 1,500. But, whereas I was likely to travel anywhere to see them play the last few seasons, this new group will need to prove something. Next year is a big year for the program, and if we lose our coach, we are going to be going in with a lot of question marks.
March 19, 2013 at 8:03 pm #9866LU will be entertaining next yr. Very athletic. Think we’ll see more up tempo O. Slow start but once team gels think we’ll see upwards of 1500.
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