Attendance problem for MBB?
It looks like only single seats are available when I was going to buy tickets for Saturday's game, so Saturday might be a sellout.
But so far through 17 home games, we've had 0 sellouts. Not even the game against MSU sold out. In fact, it was the lowest-attended MSU game since the 70s.
What is contributing to this? Even in horrendous seasons we sold out at least a couple games.
If Saturday fails to draw an announced sellout, it will be the first time since the 1998-99 Brian Ellerbe season.
Here are the attendance figures so far-
| Date | Opponent | Result | Attendance |
| 11/11 | Howard | W 76-58 | 10,094 |
| 11/13 | IUPUI | W 77-65 | 10,812 |
| 11/26 | Mount St. Mary's | W 64-47 | 9,410 |
| 11/30 | Virginia Tech | L 70-73 | 9,981 |
| 12/3 | Kennesaw State | W 82-55 | 10,687 |
| 12/6 | Texas | W 53-50 | 10,613 |
| 12/13 | Central Arkansas | W 97-53 | 9,486 |
| 12/17 | UMES | W 98-49 | 12,020 |
| 12/22 | Furman | W 68-62 | 10,634 |
| 1/4 | Penn State | W 72-69 | 11,385 |
| 1/7 | Maryland | L 70-77 | 11,527 |
| 1/14 | Nebraska | W 91-85 | 11,145 |
| 1/21 | Illinois | W 66-57 | 12,234 |
| 1/26 | Indiana | W 90-60 | 11,267 |
| 2/4 | Ohio State | L 66-70 | 12,196 |
| 2/7 | Michigan State | W 86-57 | 11,864 |
| 2/16 | Wisconsin | W 64-58 | 12,128 |
February 21st, 2017 at 11:42 AM ^
It would be interesting to see the % of income of a sporting event today vs. prior decades. I woul assume it's much more expensive today, it feels like it, but that would be the test.
February 21st, 2017 at 12:02 PM ^
behind that statement/sentiment, but I think that's complete bullshit. But kind of funny.
February 21st, 2017 at 9:21 AM ^
But this post is regarding Michigan Basketball. College basketball is by far the shortest of the major televised sporting events running approximately 2 hours. That's the length of a feature length film.
MLB has a problem. College football has a problem. College basketball does not have a problem with length of games.
February 21st, 2017 at 10:13 AM ^
this is part of the strategy but basketball has the continual fouls at the end of the game. I always thought that was annoying and some rule change could prevent this. Yes, I know the strategy helped extend the Minny game the other day but that doesn't mean I have to like it.
February 21st, 2017 at 1:36 PM ^
College basketball has a problem with how long the last 2-3 minutes of a half last. If you talk to people who aren't big fans this is damn near the first comment you usually here. Each team uses all of its remaining timeouts, often after every possession.
Then there is the issue of the review. They seem to review everything at the end of halfs. College basketball has the -worst- replay system. It takes 3-4 minutes to review anything. The announcers pretty much always have the right call figured out after about 25 seconds but the refs just stay there huddled over a tiny monitor watching lord knows what. They need to cap how long a review can take. Give them 60 seconds. That is enough time to watch every replay multiple times over. If they can't figure it out in that time stick with the call on the court.
February 22nd, 2017 at 2:05 AM ^
to have a booth review done quickly like in football. Those are brutal.
February 21st, 2017 at 8:03 PM ^
Yes but they need to do away with free throw. They're just not entertaining. Not that everything has to be but 20 per team and the # of intentional fouls in the last minutes unless it's a blowout, then factor in tv timeouts every 4 minutes plus team timeouts and halftime, makes it unwatchable live. It's more of a pace of the game than time commitment issue.
February 21st, 2017 at 9:44 AM ^
Don't know why that double posted...
February 21st, 2017 at 9:42 AM ^
So this isn't directed at you but the article in general: OF COURSE they would blame millenials. That's the go to isn't it? The simple fact of the matter is that since inflation went up on everything (including tickets to sports events) and pay didn't follow it, people simply can't afford to go to games! I count myself lucky if I get to A Michigan game a year, and I'm not even in that demographic.
As far as TV goes, anybody that's watched any game of any sport in the last couple of years can tell you the problem: too many damn commercials. Scenario: NFL game, it's getting down to the end of the 1st half, the team with the ball calls a time out so you go to commercial, then you come back and they run a couple plays then it's the two-minute warning, so another commercial. Then, they score a TD on the very next play, so you get the PAT then you go to commercial, then they kick off to the other team, and we cut to commercial, then they run a play and get a chunk so they take a time out and you have another commercial, etc...
February 21st, 2017 at 10:34 AM ^
February 21st, 2017 at 11:51 AM ^
seem to undermine that argument. College hoops is pretty reliably a 2-hour affair unless the game goes to overtime.
Seems to me that if they win more games, more people will come.
February 21st, 2017 at 8:43 AM ^
Students on Spring Break this weekend. Will need some noice help from the faithful.
February 21st, 2017 at 9:14 AM ^
February 21st, 2017 at 8:43 AM ^
I really can't stand advertising it's more annoying than people who do the speed limit in the far left lane on a highway.
February 21st, 2017 at 10:38 AM ^
I'm sorry but I have to disagree. At least you can change the channel during the commercials. There's nothing you can do to make the unaware selfish idiot in the passing lane get over. It's true torture.
February 21st, 2017 at 11:16 AM ^
Honk during daylight. High beam at night.
February 21st, 2017 at 4:06 PM ^
February 21st, 2017 at 8:45 AM ^
More and more people prefer to stay at home and watch. Plus, when the team isn't very good, less people attend. That is how it is with most sports everywhere.
February 21st, 2017 at 8:50 AM ^
February 21st, 2017 at 9:50 AM ^
February 21st, 2017 at 10:02 AM ^
regardless, whomever did it deserves max kudos.
February 21st, 2017 at 8:52 AM ^
TV schedules are also hurting attendance. The MSU game was on a Tuesday with a 9:00 PM start. Hard for people that work to go to a mid week game that starts that late.
February 21st, 2017 at 10:20 AM ^
I have no idea why two EST teams have to play at 9.
February 22nd, 2017 at 2:10 AM ^
allows them to stack a 7pm game and a 9pm game for optimal viewership.
February 21st, 2017 at 8:54 AM ^
The 9pm games are games that my parents will skip unless it is a major game. It has them considering giving up their tickets. They have been season ticket holders at UM for over 30 years.
February 21st, 2017 at 8:54 AM ^
February 21st, 2017 at 8:55 AM ^
February 21st, 2017 at 8:56 AM ^
Basketball starts when football is ending. They overlap for a month or two.
February 21st, 2017 at 9:51 AM ^
February 21st, 2017 at 10:01 AM ^
But for MSU, it's about 3-9 weeks. Sorry, I had to.
February 21st, 2017 at 10:22 AM ^
February 21st, 2017 at 8:55 AM ^
But this has been a problem for Michigan basketball since I was a young man. Has all this stuff about spring break, ticket prices, lack of interest affected schools like Kansas, Kentucky, Duke, MSU, Baylor, Gonzaga, Oregon, and shit this year, Northwestern? I've watched a ton of college basketball Big Ten or no, and I've seen plenty of packed arenas.
Sadly, it's a culture thing at Michigan. Basketball has always been second fiddle and has only sold out and had big crowds when the team was at the pinnacle or in the biggest of games. But even then, I remember games last season against big competition where there were large sections missing.
It's just a general lack of passion for the Michigan basketball program. This is nothing new or surprising.
February 21st, 2017 at 9:05 AM ^
also think it is the case that there is nothing particularly novel about Crisler that elevates the experience to something more than just the game. There are a lot of other arenas, particularly in the BIG actually, that have a "mystique" about them that Crisler just doesn't have. There is nothing particularly interesting about going to game there. If anything, before the renovations, it was kind of like the dark basement that you weren't quite sure was safe and that, in and of itself, was at least interesting. Now it is just rows and seats, rows and seats, rows and seats. I think that is kind part of the equation as well.
February 21st, 2017 at 9:11 AM ^
Yeah. The grand entrance is beautiful and they did a great job, but something is missing.
It's almost too clean. Same thing with Yost, but they completely neutered that place. No one is afraid to play at Yost anymore.
I wonder what would've happened if we had kept basketball at Yost Field House and just renovated the place and built hockey an arena on Crisler's land. Although Yost Field House was not exactly a great venue back then. There were pigeons and bats that used to fly around during games.
February 21st, 2017 at 9:39 AM ^
you want me to come watch a live basketball game, seeing the players have to play through the fear of repeated pigeon or bat attacks would be one sure way to get me there.
February 21st, 2017 at 9:56 AM ^
hockey team recently is part of why no one is scared to play there now.
You used to know the student section was gonna be on you all game and you were basically playing a minor league NHL team. Made for a tough place to play. Team, student section and the arena have all been neutered.
February 21st, 2017 at 10:00 AM ^
The student section is a joke now since the renovation.
The put the parents in the freaking middle of them. The entire East side of Yost used to be the student section. And they used to be on the glass.
February 21st, 2017 at 10:29 AM ^
why it looked so weird. Not having the students on the glass is a huge change. Yost is for sure a different place. It's clean and shiny, and the students do a coordinated dance and can watch stuff on a huge jumbotron because...welll...stuff. I feel very luck y to have been to Yost in it's hayday. I still remember chanting at Cheesman all game (and getting a deserved grin response with his 4-1 win over us) while right up on the glass. All the organic cheers that would pop up based on a player's name or a certain event. It felt like ours. Now it feels like some coorporation's version of ours. I know half of it is nostalgia from my 5 years at UofM, but I htink that's only half.
Basketball has gotten way better though. During my 5 Elerbe years, the few games I attended, all the students were in the upper deck with the floor seats scattered with a few rich alum. Glad that got corrected after I left with Amaker.
February 21st, 2017 at 8:21 PM ^
Yeah and you might not know this but that includes a couple years they moved the band on top of a pedestal in the opposite corner, due to overflow of student sales. And back in the late 90s the students were also in one of the endzones behind the goal
Post renovation isn't the # of seats available though so much as it's no longer "cool" as students to go to Yost. Back in 01-02 i would be at the cafeteria in west quad and overhear random talk about the game and getting there early for the best seats. The renovations didn't help, but prices went way up in mid 2000s (same reason only a few hundred of us bought regional tickets - $65 for 2 games was steep), and fewer and fewer students came from in state (it's now 50/50). Californians aren't usually into hockey
Other reasons: some sucks years for the team, total lack of hitting compared to back then, less common participation in the sport growing up
February 21st, 2017 at 10:14 AM ^
I was a student at UofM from 1962-1966, so I got to see Cazzie and his teammates play at Yost quite often. It was a wonderful place to watch a game. For you young guys, think hockey at Yost but with bigger crowds and louder (because mostly students). Yost was old and dingy like the Palestra or Williams Arena and had a unique atmosphere (temproary seating on 2 x 6s behind the BB goals, raised floor over indoor track, exposed steel girders, poor lighting, etc.) No frills whatsoever. You went there strictly to see basketball. I believe playing at Yost was a true home court advantage. I would have to think the current team would play better basketball and have a better record if UofM still played there.
But, UofM and sports in general have gone the way of bigger, 'better', glitzier, modern venues to improve the 'entertainment' experience. I say too bad. You can get that anywhere, but there was only one Yost Fieldhouse. See JUB's last book.
February 21st, 2017 at 8:23 PM ^
I looked on the site randomly the other day and saw the average ticket is like $30 now and they've got "luxury" seating with all-you-can eat blahblah. Totally not what made Yost great. The admin in their greed has ruined it
February 21st, 2017 at 10:46 AM ^
I don't know about Crisler but the sound is different at Yost. It used to have an echo, almost like the steel was rattling with the fans. Ever since the renovations it's just not the same.
February 21st, 2017 at 9:17 AM ^
It's a very nice building, clean, nice to look at. But damnit there's no soul lol.
That and the team is horrible, but who's counting?
February 21st, 2017 at 10:04 AM ^
February 21st, 2017 at 10:40 AM ^
and that statement should tell you everything you need to know about being a Lions fan.
February 21st, 2017 at 10:28 AM ^
Duke, UK, Kansas, Gonzaga are 'basketball' schools. I know OSU has been having attendance issues with their basketball team too.
February 22nd, 2017 at 2:18 AM ^
is as bad as it's been in a long time, so understandable they'd be having attendance issues, but I agree that all those schools listed are either basketball schools (whose fans don't spend a bunch of time and money on football season) or they're having historically good seasons (Oregon, NW).
February 21st, 2017 at 9:03 AM ^