Attandance

[Clickclack]

I’ve been reading the attendance thread on the ‘aints board and was wondering. Does anyone know the attendance figures on average at the RACC over the last 3 or 4 years. I know it’s gone up every year, but I’m just wondering what the growth has been. Also any guesses as to how much the attendance will swell to this season?

[B9j2j6s]

For next season only can guess. I thought 3k this year was possible and was proven wrong, but I think 3k would be possible with sellouts for the Home Opener, BPG, and god willing AE Championship game. It will all come down to how much the community comes out and supports the team. I don't think students will be difficult to bring in, as long as the Athletic Department does some advertising on campus.

 

This years total according to my calculation was 2541.4.

 

As much as I hate to use the Aint's as a positive example I believe they are already selling season tickets. I think UA should do the same, wouldn't it be nice to see the headlines Season tickets for Basketball sold out, only student and individual tickets remain?

[Clickclack]

For next season only can guess.  I thought 3k this year was possible and was proven wrong, but I think 3k would be possible with sellouts for the Home Opener, BPG, and god willing AE Championship game.  It will all come down to how much the community comes out and supports the team.  I don't think students will be difficult to bring in, as long as the Athletic Department does some advertising on campus.   

 

This years total according to my calculation was 2541.4.

 

As much as I hate to use the Aint's as a positive example I believe they are already selling season tickets.  I think UA should do the same, wouldn't it be nice to see the headlines Season tickets for Basketball sold out, only student and individual tickets remain?

14020[/snapback]

 

 

This is one of those things you can’t take away from the ‘aints. They have been around and they know how to run the business side (tix, advertising) of college basketball. When I go to the Hanniford in Latham I see a big Siena poster in the window, I’ve also seen it in other places. I have never seen anything UA around town, possibly the only exception was around NCAA time. They should do more advertising and start selling season tix sooner. If Siena is indeed selling season tix already then good for them.

 

I think I remember reading somewhere that the attendance has been basically increasing by about 500+ people over the last 3 or 4 years.

[steve_gersztoff]

For next season only can guess.  I thought 3k this year was possible and was proven wrong, but I think 3k would be possible with sellouts for the Home Opener, BPG, and god willing AE Championship game.  It will all come down to how much the community comes out and supports the team.  I don't think students will be difficult to bring in, as long as the Athletic Department does some advertising on campus.   

 

This years total according to my calculation was 2541.4.

 

As much as I hate to use the Aint's as a positive example I believe they are already selling season tickets.  I think UA should do the same, wouldn't it be nice to see the headlines Season tickets for Basketball sold out, only student and individual tickets remain?

14020[/snapback]

 

 

This is one of those things you can’t take away from the ‘aints. They have been around and they know how to run the business side (tix, advertising) of college basketball. When I go to the Hanniford in Latham I see a big Siena poster in the window, I’ve also seen it in other places. I have never seen anything UA around town, possibly the only exception was around NCAA time. They should do more advertising and start selling season tix sooner. If Siena is indeed selling season tix already then good for them.

 

I think I remember reading somewhere that the attendance has been basically increasing by about 500+ people over the last 3 or 4 years.

14021[/snapback]

 

Per the AE site, we averaged 3011 per home game, second to Bingo. Anyone who attended the majority of last season's games knows we weren't close to 3011 per game in the RACC, and I think the 2500 estimate is much more accurate figure.

 

Also, the AE bases this figure on 14 home games-- not entirely sure how that's figured. My guess is the Siena game is counted as a homer, and that's based on the fact that our home attendance figures actually go down by 500 for conference play-- though I could very easily be wrong.

 

I know people who have been to 2 games over the last two years and are now talking season tickets. I bet a lot of people around here feel the same way.

 

Also, if the team starts out well (unlike last year) and has more home games while school is in session (also, unlike last year), its not unreasonable to think that attendance could jump by another 500, easily.

 

AE Team Stats

[GODANESGO]

That's because it counts one of our Coaches v. Cancer games as a home game when it was actually neutral...so you're right that the actual figure is a bit lower. The Albany stats page has the official figure of 2541.

[NYR]

Does anyone know how many season tickets holders there were last year? My guess is about 800?

[Dane Pound]

One of the things I find amusing about the Siena board is their discussion of the Albany-Siena game. It was just a couple of years ago many (not all) of them wanted to discontinue the series because Albany dragged their RPI down. Now they are looking for a big turnout for the game to meet their attendance goals. Funny how that's changed.

 

I'm hoping we can get some home games next year early in the season while the students are still in town. It seemed like it was February before they were around to turn out in force last year.

[B9j2j6s]

If we could increase that by a little more then half we could average 3,000 easy

[Dane96]

If we could increase that by a little more then half we could average 3,000 easy

14036[/snapback]

 

 

I am guessing season ticket holders will number in the 1200-1600 range this year.

 

If we do as well as last year....next year....look for that number to reach 2000-2200 for the 07-08 campaign.

[NYR]

If we could increase that by a little more then half we could average 3,000 easy

14036[/snapback]

 

 

I am guessing season ticket holders will number in the 1200-1600 range this year.

 

If we do as well as last year....next year....look for that number to reach 2000-2200 for the 07-08 campaign.

14039[/snapback]

 

Does that mean you agree with my number of 800? If 800 is the number to work off of I would guess 1000-1200 season ticket holders next year. It's hard to sell a season ticket when you can get 2 tickets for $7 with a Price Chopper card.

[UAalum72]

Previous years' attendance, from ncaa.org

Year--G---Total---Avg.

2001 13 14,919 1,148

2002 12 19,787 1,649 - includes 8,200 vs. Syracuse at Pepsi Arena

2003 14 16,353 1,168

2004 13 15,508 1,193

2005 11 21,395 1,945

2006---------------2,541

 

Depending on game dates, the school schedule, and how Albany plays (and to a lesser amount on who the opponents are) I'd hope for 3000+, which would probably mean 4-6 games with 4,000+ each and a base including walkup sales of over 2,000. Another AEast championship game would help.

[NYR]

We need the schedule makers to do a better job to help home attendance.

 

Here's a comparison of UA's December and January home schedule vs. Bing's.

 

December

 

Bing

Thurs - Dec 8 -Last day of Classes

Sat - Dec 10 - Brown (student and player friendly)

Sat - Dec 17 - North Fla. (student and player friendly)

Tues - Dec 20 - Finals End

UA

Thurs - Dec 8 -Last day of Classes

Sat - Dec 17 - Harvard (student and player friendly)

Sat - Dec 20 - Finals End

Sat - Dec 20 - Binghamton (potentially one of the biggest draws of the year but students are long gone.)

 

 

January

 

Bing

Mon - Jan 23 - Classes Begin

Wed - Jan 25 - Vermont

Sat - Jan 28 - Albany (1pm Sat. start allowing UA fans to travel plus first weekend students are back adding to the energy)

Plus 5 more home games totaling 7 during the spring semester

 

 

UA

Sun - Jan 22 - UNH (students moving in, could attend game if they prioritize their time)

Mon - Jan 23 - Classes Begin

Wed - Jan 25 - UMBC

Plus 3 more home game SBU, BU (BPG) and Vermont. Total of 4 during the spring semester.

 

 

I'm not sure who to blame for this. The spring semester home games are all conference games for both teams. I would have to blame the conference. Is it a AE priority to pad the attendance of Bing who is the conference leader? I actually might do this if I were the AE. Hopefully they see UA's attendance potential and give us a favorable home schedule next year.

[olddog71]

One of the ways we could boost our attendance total is to get home status for the Siena game. Why should we continually be the away team?

 

UAlbany has hosted games before at the Pepsi (or whatever it will be called), so there's no lack of precedence there.

 

I mean in the Syracuse series, we were the host team once for the five-games played, and that was the second worse multi-year contract we have signed. Why should we be the away team six times out of six? Siena certainly is no Syracuse.

 

Having 12,000 fans at that game would certainly raise the attendance average in one fell swoop. (And maybe if we charged less than $17 per seat, it might be a sellout.) Besides, I'm tired of going to those games and being stuck in one of the corners.

 

The point about scheduling more games when students are present at the campus is another legitimate point.

[SienaTony]

One of the ways we could boost our attendance total is to get home status for the Siena game. Why should we continually be the away team?

 

UAlbany has hosted games before at the Pepsi (or whatever it will be called), so there's no lack of precedence there.

 

I mean in the Syracuse series, we were the host team once for the five-games played, and that was the second worse multi-year contract we have signed. Why should we be the away team six times out of six? Siena certainly is no Syracuse.

 

Having 12,000 fans at that game would certainly raise the attendance average in one fell swoop. (And maybe if we charged less than $17 per seat, it might be a sellout.) Besides, I'm tired of going to those games and being stuck in one of the corners.

 

The point about scheduling more games when students are present at the campus is another legitimate point.

14044[/snapback]

 

 

UAlb as the home team at the Pepsi will never happen.. The Pepsi arena is Siena’s home court, so other than letting Ualb wear home whites, Siena will always be the home team

 

The Pepsi is the only venue in the capital district big enough to handle the crowd for any game that Siena is part of. Siena would never agree ( and rightfully so) to any local venue that could not accommodate Siena’s vast fan base. Why would you want to have a game where it couldn’t accommodate the crowd?

 

No personally I hope the game continues beyond the current contract (since Siena has won 3 of the first 4 ) and will be a strong favorite to make it 4 out of 5 next year.

[UAalum72]

$iena believes that as the (insert name here) Arena is their home, they're entitled to be the home team in the series every time. I think the only solution is for us to kick their ass a few times and build attendance to the point that we don't need them any more. Then we'd have the leverage to walk away unless we get some equity, and see if the 'aints are willing to lose the game and its attendance completely rather than share the market.

 

The new contract they signed with the arena gives them exclusive basketball rights for two days before and after any game they schedule, which means even if we wanted to play someone else there, they could force us to play it on a Tuesday or Wednesday, costing both us and the people of Albany county (the owners of the arena) revenue.