A very good piece by Chris Elsberry in the CT POST on a topic that has been discussed here for years and years, especially at every new basketball season - getting more fans, especially students to the WBA:
The task is daunting. The goal? How to put more people -- especially more students -- in the seats of the Webster Bank Arena for Fairfield University men's basketball games. And how to get more fans to come to campus to support things like women's basketball, men's and women's soccer and lacrosse, along with baseball and softball, just to name a few. But it was a task that Pete Kirschner desperately wanted to take on. And on April 1, that task started in earnest. Kirschner, the new Associate Athletics Director for Marketing and Communications at Fairfield, has spent the past six weeks getting the lay of the land, as it were speaking with representatives from the student government, speaking with leaders of the "Stags in the Stands" and speaking with students in general. He's seeing what can be done to try to change the mentality of the fan base on campus and get disinterested fans interested in sports again.
"It's certainly an interesting challenge," said Kirschner, who was the Senior Director for Marketing at Georgetown for the last four years before coming to Fairfield. "Our game plan is really to enhance our product. From our perspective, we need to take our game presentation to the next level. I think the biggest thing is the `engagement' factor. We need to create an `atmosphere.'".....
So Kirschner made it a priority to get involved, to try to get the student body more actively involved in supporting their sports programs, especially men's basketball....
And at the Arena, Fairfield is hoping to create a family-friendly atmosphere through different promotions, including the creation of a "Little Stags Club," where kids can interact with Lucas the Stag mascot, pose for pictures, get their face painted, and be a part of several other concourse promotions.
"That's a good way to engage the younger audience in the community," Kirschner said. "Our core (fan) base is mature and we want to engage that younger group. We're going to be putting together some family fun packs. We'll have commuter packs. We have a lot of assets in that area in the Arena that we can push. It's just a matter of figuring out how and when."....
The record setting 25 losses and the Stags' overall losing records (7-25)(4-16) last season has hurt fan support, interest and ultimately attendance in Bridgeport which just adds to the attendance problems but getting the students "more actively involved" and "create a family-friendly atmosphere" are the goals for next season. Hopefully the University will provide a budget with the necessary marketing and promotion funding to try to achieve that but at the end of the day Stag Basketball is still MAAC Basketball and it is hard to get the fans (other than the long suffering die-hards) interested, excited and willing to pay the current WBA prices for tickets, parking, concessions to watch Monmouth, Rider, Canisius and Niagara no matter how good SJ gets the program. Stag MAAC Basketball is the product that is being sold at the WBA and it is an "entertainment option" for the local community and they determine it's value to themselves. The local community are not long standing and faithful "subway alumni" for the University.
With the recent hire of Wally Halas as VP of University Advancement, hopefully a new era of coordination and cooperation between Athletics, Alumni Relations and Development will result in more of our fellow alumni being connected/reconnected with Stag Basketball and the University if everyone is on the same page and with the same goal. IMO, the greatest potential increase in attendance and support at the WBA will not come from the local community but from our fellow alumni and the students (future alumni) who already have a connection and a vested interest in Fairfield University. IMO, our fellow alumni and current students should be the marketing campaign's target audience and the highest priority. The key is to connect with the thousands of alumni within driving distance of the arena and then get them to the games at the WBA, Alumni Hall and back to campus for all the other Stag athletic programs.
Over the last five seasons, an "atmosphere" was sorely lacking at the WBA. Despite winning seasons in four of the last five years, three consecutive 20-plus win campaigns, and four straight postseason appearances, Fairfield averaged just 2,285 fans a game. And over the last three years, that season average has fallen from 2,239 in 2011-12 to 1,703 in 2013-14. In fact, over the last three seasons, out of 43 home dates, just five times has Fairfield drawn more than 3,000.....
As Chris Elsberry has shown in his article, attendance in the last three seasons has had a steady decline with 2013-14 setting the lowest home attendance record in Bridgeport and one of the lowest ever in the history of the men's basketball program. Excluding Siena, most MAAC teams including the top 3 teams only average 1,700 to 1,900 fans at home. While I don't think that it is reasonable to expect Stag Basketball to ever draw the numbers that Siena historically draws in Albany's Capital District market, Fairfield should always have the next highest attendance in the MAAC and far from the rest of the league. The first season at the AHY in 2001-02, attendance averaged 2,949 and with a "consistently" winning program playing "exciting" basketball and with some name OOC games that should be the goal to at least get back to. Anything less than that should be unacceptable to those in charge. In addition, the University should never fall behind Quinnipiac in home attendance, especially in the state of Connecticut.
Stag fans have proven they will show up if there's some excitement going on. I still remember the packed house for the Iona game in Cooley's last year....
claver, 4,094 fans were at the WBA on February 4, 2011 for the Iona game that was broadcast nationally on ESPNU. Ed Cooley's last year as head coach in 2010-11, Stag Basketball (25-8)(13-5) averaged a record high 2,959 fans at home including hosting a NIT Second Round game at the WBA against Kent State.
Post by redseastag on May 17, 2014 11:28:07 GMT -5
We need a reasonable goal for attendance, specifically with the students. With around 4000 students, is 10% of the school a reasonable goal? Maybe 5% and only 200 kids for when we play Monmouth, rider, and other games no one seems to care about?
When Ed Cooley returned to the WBA with his PC team on November 14, 2011, the record was set for the largest regular season home crowd in the history of Stag Basketball with 6,375 fans at the game. (Stags lost 72-80).
The 2003 NIT First Round game hosted by Fairfield against BC had a Stag record 6,585 fans at the postseason home game. (TOT's Stags lost 78-90).
UCONN men's and women's basketball sold out the WBA this past January with a record 9,274 fans at both WBA games.
FU73 wrote: ...In addition, the University should never fall behind Quinnipiac in home attendance, especially in the state of Connecticut.
Let's see: 1. Quinnipiac has an on campus arena. 2. There is no parking fee for attending a game at Quinnipiac. and 3. Last season, Quinnipiac had a much better won-loss record than Fairfield.
With those 3 situations --- I don't think Fairfield will have better attendance than Quinnipiac.
With those 3 situations --- I don't think Fairfield will have better attendance than Quinnipiac....
76, The Stags have always had better home attendance than Quinnipiac except for this season. Hopefully this is an anomaly due to the Stags' (7-25) record this past season? The Stag Men's Basketball program needs to at the top of the MAAC in home attendance right behind Siena and always ahead of Quinnipiac, especially in the state of Connecticut.
Quinnipiac's TD Bank Sports Center opened in January 2007 with the first full season in 2008-09.
This has been covered a million times. The ONLY way to draw if you're Fairfield is to go to the NCAA"s. Win the MAAC Tournament 2 out of 3 years and see what happens to attendance. Its been 18 years and it doesn't matter how many regular season games you win. 20 years without a trip to the NCAA's is fast approaching.
People have short memories. I remember a lot of empty seats in the student section("red sea") at alumni hall. The home games of a few years ago in the CIT tournament are a perfect examples of student apathy for on-campus hoop games. That will not change until you become a consistent winner appearing in the NCAA as Sobro indicated. You cannot go 7-25 and then complain about attendance. The games must become an event for the fickle students. Even then you would be lucky to average 4K fans consistently for most home games. Lets be realistic, at which home games can you expect to draw 4K? Perhaps Iona, Manhattan, Sacred heart, Siena(their fans travel). Nobody is rushing the turnstiles to get a ticket for SPC, Canisus, Monmouth and even Quinnipiac. QU fans do not travel and they face the same student apathy as we do even with a beautiful on-campus arena.
One way to jump-start local interest is to sign a big time local recruit, e.g. someone like a Luckett, Chris Smith, Gomes, or Chukwu.
It ain't happening in the MAAC. We keep deluding ourselves like we are a powerhouse program playing in a powerhouse conference. Note to the delusional, we are a weak program in as mediocre midmajor conference...yawn go the top recruits!!!
People will show for big games, we have proven that. But the vast majority of our home games are not big games. Monmouth, SPC, Marist, a couple PL teams, Rider, etc are nothing to write home about. Even the bigger games against Manhattan, Iona, Siena are barely drawing above the others. It is very difficult for mid-majors to get big teams to play in their house, we know this. But the best way to get fans to show up, is win and win alot. We havent done that.
