Basketball Season Tickets

[zeppelincajun]

Does anyone know the number of basketball season tickets sold in comparison to last year?

Just going off of context clues: our lowest attended game last year was 2,475. Both home games so far this year have been below that mark with 1,849 being the low. Through 2 games, we are averaging over 1,000 fans less than through the first 2 last year. My guess would be that season tickets are down by a couple hundred at least. Can someone confirm or have information to deny this?

If this is the case, what does lowered season ticket sales after a tournament appearance say about the health of our program and fanbase?

My guess as to the reason for the difference in numbers is a lowered expectation for this year’s squad. Last year’s team was expected to compete for a conference title and had star power with Brown. Many here, myself included, aren’t expecting much from this year’s team and think we will follow the Bob Marlin coached trend of not being ready to contend again for several years. IMO this is a big part of the reason interest in our basketball program continues to wane. Knowing to only expect high results every few years is not a recipe for a dialed in fanbase. It’s been said plenty of times that these guys play hard, and that isn’t the reason for lack of interest. Im sure it isn’t. However, playing hard isn’t gonna be a big draw for the casual fans either. Ive never had some walk up to me and say, “I really wanna go see xyz team play this year. I’ve heard they really try hard.”

Hopefully this year’s squad can buck the trend and compete for a top 2 spot in the league. If we start doing that on a consistent basis, I could see more interest. If it’s another 4th to 5th place finish, I anticipate the dip to continue.

[ULvictory]

It’s a pattern with this regime. Compete for one year and then be mediocre for the next 4-5 years. Wash, rinse, repeat.

The way to get people more interested is to compete for the conference title consistently every few years, and beat teams more on your level than not. A prime example would be this current schedule that we have. I’d rather lose a competitive game against Wright State or Toledo than to beat Dillard by 100 while the close fans stick their chests out and celebrate that kind of win. Those games don’t make you better. As long as we compete with our peers and consistently compete within the conference outside of once every 5 years or not just when the coach’s job is on the line, you’ll see interest come back.

[jaxmc1023]

We are playing for a decent seed in the conference tournament, in the hopes of winning an auto-berth to March Madness, where we will play REAAAALLLLL hard but come up just short... then whatever players got us to that point will either go to the NBA or the portal

How many times can you watch that same movie?

Meanwhile all of the basketball talk I hear around town is about the missing star player on LSU's women's bball team

[ULvictory]

Bump.

The number I heard with season tickets for this season was 1,100.

[Cajunsmike]

It’s a pattern with this regime. Compete for one year and then be mediocre for the next 4-5 years. Wash, rinse, repeat.

The way to get people more interested is to compete for the conference title consistently every few years, and beat teams more on your level than not. A prime example would be this current schedule that we have. I’d rather lose a competitive game against Wright State or Toledo than to beat Dillard by 100 while the close fans stick their chests out and celebrate that kind of win. Those games don’t make you better. As long as we compete with our peers and consistently compete within the conference outside of once every 5 years or not just when the coach’s job is on the line, you’ll see interest come back.

None of the regular fans are bragging about the victories over the non D1 schools. Benefit of these is significant playing time for the second unit which hopefully helps them be prepared when they are needed in conference play. Coaches were disappointed in the second half performance last night and so were the regular fans. Energy seemed to be lacking. It will be interesting to see support level in remaining games as we have no non D1 games remaining. I know scheduling is difficult and Dome availability in December was a factor this season due to boxing tournament. However I would do my best to not have consecutive non D1 games on the home schedule in future years.

[ULvictory]

None of the regular fans are bragging about the victories over the non D1 schools. Benefit of these is significant playing time for the second unit which hopefully helps them be prepared when they are needed in conference play. Coaches were disappointed in the second half performance last night and so were the regular fans. Energy seemed to be lacking. It will be interesting to see support level in remaining games as we have no non D1 games remaining. I know scheduling is difficult and Dome availability in December was a factor this season due to boxing tournament. However I would do my best to not have consecutive non D1 games on the home schedule in future years.

Simple solution: continue to compete for the Sun Belt title. We have a long enough track record of really competing once every 4-5 years. Close that gap, and more people may show interest. For now, it's concerning to see that we barely have over 1,000 season tickets coming off a NCAA Tournament appearance.

[cajun4life]

Simple solution: continue to compete for the Sun Belt title. We have a long enough track record of really competing once every 4-5 years. Close that gap, and more people may show interest. For now, it's concerning to see that we barely have over 1,000 season tickets coming off a NCAA Tournament appearance.

Whose fault is that?

[facelessjonmoon]

Simple solution: continue to compete for the Sun Belt title. We have a long enough track record of really competing once every 4-5 years. Close that gap, and more people may show interest. For now, it's concerning to see that we barely have over 1,000 season tickets coming off a NCAA Tournament appearance.

If we had a team expected to go back to the tourney this season, I wonder how much of an effect it would have had on ticket sales?

[ULvictory]

If we had a team expected to go back to the tourney this season, I wonder how much of an effect it would have had on ticket sales?

I think it would take more than just this season to change minds. We have seen this one too many times: one good year followed by 3-4 years of mediocrity. I’m hoping this team can break that cycle. They look like they’re good enough to do it.

[JMV JustMyView]

Bump.

The number I heard with season tickets for this season was 1,100.

Ouch. Wasn't it 1,800 last season?

[moorecajun]

I think it would take more than just this season to change minds. We have seen this one too many times: one good year followed by 3-4 years of mediocrity. I’m hoping this team can break that cycle. They look like they’re good enough to do it.

I agree with you. This year's team has depth and talent and they seem to be blending in well with whatever the lineup is. They are exciting to watch, similar to last year's team.

I think people will show up to watch an exciting team, we will see. I also don't remember well attended games until the new year, too many other things going on.

[ZoomZoom]

7.14% or 1 out of 14 is everyone’s chances of making the dance. Little things can gain a few points.

Then again, it all comes down to who is hot at tournament time, like App a few years back. Horrible regular season, got hot in March.

[CajunNation]

... I know scheduling is difficult and Dome availability in December was a factor this season due to boxing tournament...

I've had it with the Cajundome. Once the stadium is done, we need to focus like a laser on REBUILDING Blackham.

[Cajunsmike]

I wonder if Dome will become even more difficult to work with once we drop the TicketMaster account. No idea if this is accurate but I have been told some of those TicketMaster fees go to the Dome.

[Cajunsmike]

7.14% or 1 out of 14 is everyone’s chances of making the dance. Little things can gain a few points.

Then again, it all comes down to who is hot at tournament time, like App a few years back. Horrible regular season, got hot in March.

At the beginning of last season, the odds of us going to the tournament 2 consecutive years was approximately one half of one percent. At this stage, you throw out what happened last year in a statistics perspective. Therefore we are back at 7 percent. That alone makes it understandable why some are skeptical we can win the tournament again. Still it illustrates why pre conference is to prepare for conference, conference season is to attempt to get a top four seed, and tournament time is when people want to be playing at their peak.