Crowd estimate for Basketball Senior Night.

[CrazyCajun]

Baseball prices are similar so I don’t buy that as the reason support has waned. Fact that no at large bids available is probably a factor as Express has said. It is that way everywhere in the south for mid majors. However it is disappointing that this special team will never get a crowd of 6000 to see them. I will say this. People going to games recently are putting passion into their support. Also many are still following either online or on radio.

That’s 2 different crowds. Casual fan doesn’t know or care about auto bids. Casual fan doesn’t even really realize how good they are. There are only so many die hard fans, if you want to grow attendance you have to reach the casual fan that just wants to go to an event for entertainment or take the family somewhere. You can’t think of everyone as an alumnus or someone who travels to every road Game Or doesn’t miss a rebounders meeting. That’s not who will grow attendance.

[CajunProud]

7 years of apathy and 2 things I think are killing attendance and both have to do with cost...concession prices and closing the upper deck no longer allows people to buy cheap
Seats.

Seeing your post made me reflect on this issue. I would definitely agree that apathy and cost are big factors in attendance numbers. I believe the apathy is due to a couple of factors: 1) only one NCAA tournament appearance in Marlin’s tenure; and, 2) Sunbelt conference. As far as Marlin, I would equate him to Bustle and Hud in the sense that they were the right coaches at the right time, but not the coaches to get UL to the level that we believe we should be. I like Marlin as a person and am very happy for him and the team for the tremendous season they are having, but let’s be honest, this is a very weak conference and in the chances that the team has had to get quality wins, they have been not only beat, but blown out. If they were to get in the NCAA’s and win a game or two, I would say that Marlin deserves another couple of years, but if they don’t, I would like to see another coach at the helm.

As far as (2), as stated above, the Sunbelt is extremely weak as a whole and has been for some time. Nobody wants to see those teams come to the dome.

On a personal note, I do not like watching games at the dome. I know they have made recent changes to make it a more intimate experience, and those changes are great, but it still doesn’t match the feel and intensity that Blackham had. If the university ever had the money, I would prefer a new stadium where Blackham now sits with the same capacity and intimacy.

As you stated, I think money/cost is a big factor as well. The oilfield has not returned and entertainment dollars are on the short side for a lot of people.

Having said all of the above, I hope this team goes far in post season and I’m very proud of them for what they have accomplished thus far.

[cjntgr]

That's news to me and i follow every athletic account. One of our best teams ever and attendance never really increased. We have had higher attended games in recent years Before they closed the top with extremely mediocre teams. For a family of 4 to drop $40 just to get in and the little ones barely pay attention i think has turned a segment of people away. We can either look at things that have changed or just chalk it up to "people don't care anymore" attendance has gone down since the upgrade and new rules even with a 26-4 conference champion that is the most fun to watch since 2005.

Tickets are half price. I was under the impression a few weeks ago that you had to buy the last 4 games in order to get them at half price. I wish they would advertise this more.

[Cajunsmike]

That’s 2 different crowds. Casual fan doesn’t know or care about auto bids. Casual fan doesn’t even really realize how good they are. There are only so many die hard fans, if you want to grow attendance you have to reach the casual fan that just wants to go to an event for entertainment or take the family somewhere. You can’t think of everyone as an alumnus or someone who travels to every road Game Or doesn’t miss a rebounders meeting. That’s not who will grow attendance.

No argument there. How do we get that casual fan interested again?

[CajunProud]

Tickets are half price. I was under the impression a few weeks ago that you had to buy the last 4 games in order to get them at half price. I wish they would advertise this more.

I think this is an issue as well. I understand that college athletics is an arms race, and to compete/grow the program, it takes a lot of money, and I’m fine with increased ticket/concession prices to accomplish the ultimate goal. However, if I’m going to pay significantly more money to go to the games, I fully expect a better product on the field/court/diamond. I also expect better service from UL. As of now, we still “USL” it on way too many things, like advertising for games, etc.

[CrazyCajun]

No argument there. How do we get that casual fan interested again?

I think to start, they need to revisit the closed upper deck and take a hard look at concession prices. The upper deck is similar to the hill at football games IMO in regards to the young ones. Offer a family pack or something. People can say what they do to avoid high prices at concessions but i can imagine trying to get 4-10 year olds to sit still for 2 hours and constantly telling them they can’t get anything from the concession isn’t very fun for a parent, do they just don’t go. There has to be a middle ground. The current arrangement is pricing a lot of people out of the equation. Which is fine if that’s what they want to do but then I think they should be prepared to have mediocre attendance that will never get above 4500-5000 outside of perfect scenarios.

[Turbine]

There isnt the marketing for this game like there was for that game

Fear the Beard was HUGE as far as total community involvement was concerned.

Shows the power of a slogan.

[Cajunsmike]

I think to start, they need to revisit the closed upper deck and take a hard look at concession prices. The upper deck is similar to the hill at football games IMO in regards to the young ones. Offer a family pack or something. People can say what they do to avoid high prices at concessions but i can imagine trying to get 4-10 year olds to sit still for 2 hours and constantly telling them they can’t get anything from the concession isn’t very fun for a parent, do they just don’t go. There has to be a middle ground. The current arrangement is pricing a lot of people out of the equation. Which is fine if that’s what they want to do but then I think they should be prepared to have mediocre attendance that will never get above 4500-5000 outside of perfect scenarios.

Good suggestions there. However, I was told that the UL administration has no impact on concession pricing. They need to figure out a way to have some influence however. A basketball crowd is not the same as people at a concert. Agree it is affecting us.

[GeauxCajuns]

Good suggestions there. However, I was told that the UL administration has no impact on concession pricing. They need to figure out a way to have some influence however. A basketball crowd is not the same as people at a concert. Agree it is affecting us.

agreed, a big name concert in a certain genre doesnt happen in the cajundome 13-15 times in a 5 month period. most of these fans are repeat customers so concessions should be more reasonably priced.

[talktomewillis]

People who don't want to go to the games will make excuses. Parking, concessions, 300 level seats, other costs, whatever.

It's basketball. And, this year, it's pretty damn entertaining.

[Ragin' Caleb]

People who don't want to go to the games will make excuses. Parking, concessions, 300 level seats, other costs, whatever.

It's basketball. And, this year, it's pretty damn entertaining.

yup. anyone who hasn't that in the area just doesn't want to. It really isn't that expensive and UL has been more than accomodating

[CrazyCajun]

yup. anyone who hasn't that in the area just doesn't want to. It really isn't that expensive and UL has been more than accomodating

“Isn’t that expensive” is relative to the person/family. Not complaining, i go to as many games as i can. I think the ticket prices going up while simultaneously outrageous concession prices coupled with the economy has a bigger impact than everyone wants to believe. Imagine if we were our usual 3rd or 4th place in the West mediocre team how bad attendance would be.