Attendance Prediction Contest

[UA_MA_2000]

The Box Score for the game, released by UAlbany, stated that last night's game was the "2nd largest home regular season crowd in Siena Men's Basketball history."

 

Seems to me like it's a game that should continue. Why not take the game off Siena's home schedule, open up the ticket office to the general public (perhaps with each school's season ticket holders getting a few days in advance to purchase tickets (but on a first come, first serve basis), or just split the arena half and half. Reasonable minds should be able to accomodate this game and give the public (the fans and supporters of each school) what they want and have enjoyed!

[saints73]

I think it will still be a Siena dominated crowd. To me, 65 to 70% of last nights crowd was routing for Siena. Granted, most of them were sitting on their hands for a majority of the game, but it was still a pro-Siena crowd overall.

 

I was actually surprised that the Albany student section wasn't larger. I will say, however, that the Albany students were very loud and made it appear that there was a 50/50 split.

[UA_MA_2000]

I think it will still be a Siena dominated crowd. To me, 65 to 70% of last nights crowd was routing for Siena. Granted, most of them were sitting on their hands for a majority of the game, but it was still a pro-Siena crowd overall.

 

I was actually surprised that the Albany student section wasn't larger. I will say, however, that the Albany students were very loud and made it appear that there was a 50/50 split.

 

 

Assuming arguendo that the crowd was 65 to 70% pro-Siena, that fact alone neither obviates UAlbany's desire nor sufficiently refutes its argument for an equitable ticket-sales scheme. Indeed, UAlbany simply wants the opportunity to purchase better seats and have players' parents, etc., have the opportunity to sit behind the visitor's bench, for example.

 

In my view, the number of the remaining fans who are pro-Siena doesn't really enter into the equation until Siena officials discuss potential loss of enhanced profits from a game with attendance like the one last night.

 

In the event that the ticket sales to the Siena vs. UA are opened up to the general public at large, an arrangement could be made where Siena and UAlbany split the proceeds 50-50, which still seems reasonable to me because 1/2 of last night's attendance would give Siena proceeds for about 6,600 fans, which is not too shabby for a typical Siena home game.

 

And let's not forget --- even if Siena has to make profits on this game, and Siena season ticket holders all don't get the seats that they are used to --- this game has an enormous impact on local businesses and restaurants. It would be a shame to abandon the game, given a thoughtful consideration of the economical impact on downtown Albany if nothing else.

[bob87]

I was actually surprised that the Albany student section wasn't larger. I will say, however, that the Albany students were very loud and made it appear that there was a 50/50 split.

 

Albany sold out its allotment of tickets early in the week. If and when Albany gets a fair and ample allotment of tickets you will see an even bigger Albany student section.

[saints73]

Was there a demand for more student tickets? It appears that Siena approached local businesses to purchase more tickets for the demand of it's student body. Could Albany have done the same?

[Clickclack]

saints,

 

Thats a good question...I've been wondering myself as to why SEFCU or a similar group didn't step in and by 1K tickets for this game and give away on campus.

[bob87]

saints,

 

Thats a good question...I've been wondering myself as to why SEFCU or a similar group didn't step in and by 1K tickets for this game and give away on campus.

 

 

I think they did that in the past with the conference championship game played at home in 05-06. I think the AE typically charges $10 for student tickets for the championship game and the sponsors picked that up in 05-06 and those sponsors were recognized at the time.

I don't know the exact demand for tickets for the Siena game, but obviously with the Albany allotment being sold out, the supply was less than the demand.

 

Really what incentive did Albany have to approach local business to add even more money to the competitors pockets. Only Siena could go to the sponsors and ask for tickets to be purchased in exchange for "sponsorship" at the game.

[GODANESGO]

Some student tix were made available starting Monday (11/26) with the rest starting on Tuesday (12/27). All (in the multiple hundreds) were gone by COB on Wednesday. Students were also required to pay $5 per 'student' ticket with the rest of the cost being covered by the respective office selling them. Demand was just fine.

 

Not sure how many more UAlbany students we should have expected when the whole student section was packed/sold-out with many more in the regular seats UAlbany had packed behind the hoop. Only other option for UAlbany students to get tix was to purchase them through the TUC with all the $ going to Siena.