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  • Re: Average Men's Attendance

    Originally posted by ericredaxe View Post
    Box score listing attendance at BU of 3293... so a tad over 50% full... not good at all.

    Not to mention, candidly, I think Agganis pads the attendance numbers sometimes as compared to what your eyes tell you when you are at the game.
    My theory is they count the "sold" season tickets. So, if 50% don't show they are counted anyway. See my post on the BU thread, but no way were there more than 2,200 there last night.

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    • Re: Average Men's Attendance

      Originally posted by Drew S. View Post
      I think that might be one of those things you use as a reason, but isn't the real reason.
      And that's not the point. The question is not people that "used to [make] it to the games," the question is why don't the people who are "that age" NOW go? Why aren't younger people replacing those people? Those people can't go forever. For any business to be sustainable, they need to cultivate new customers. From what I saw last night, just about everyone there was over 40 (except for 108 and 118 - the "end zone" student sections - one of which was basically empty).

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      • Re: Average Men's Attendance

        Originally posted by chickod View Post
        And that's not the point. The question is not people that "used to [make] it to the games," the question is why don't the people who are "that age" NOW go? Why aren't younger people replacing those people? Those people can't go forever. For any business to be sustainable, they need to cultivate new customers. From what I saw last night, just about everyone there was over 40 (except for 108 and 118 - the "end zone" student sections - one of which was basically empty).
        I think there are a variety of reasons why. The first and most obvious is they have a lot more options. I'm sure there was a time when a lot of people came sports fans by default because of lack of other options.

        One thing I would be interested to know is how much a person's experience playing and watching sports as a kid effects how much they like sports as an adult. I was ridiculously lucky that I had great experiences at every level with both playing and watching when I was a kid and now as an adult I'm still sports mad. For kids now there isn't as much opportunity for the kids who don't have a lot of promise when they're young and at the other end sports are taken way too serious for the kids who are good. The specialization is horrible too, and I think it takes a lot of joy out of sports for most kids.

        As far as attending games, the experience for kids now must be completely different than when I was a kid. I remember when I was a kid how beautiful Fenway was(there wasn't an advertisement on every square inch) and how much fun it was to go to games. They didn't have loud music, flashing lights, and non stop advertising. Phones have obviously taken a lot of the excitement out of games and there is nothing teams can do about that. Maybe if you made it so phones wouldn't work everyone would be better off.

        The last thing is financial considerations. Housing and student loans really hurt the under 40 crowd and I'm sure that rules out going for a lot of people. Aren't tickets at BU $30 or so then you have to pay $20 for parking? You can take the T but that isn't exactly a bargain anymore if you don't have a pass.

        There is obviously a lot of things athletic departments can't control, but if they make it affordable and fun I'm sure it would make a difference. Momentum can go a long way too.
        Originally posted by BobbyBrady
        Crosby probably wouldn't even be on BC's top two lines next year

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        • Re: Average Men's Attendance

          Originally posted by Drew S. View Post
          I think there are a variety of reasons why. The first and most obvious is they have a lot more options. I'm sure there was a time when a lot of people came sports fans by default because of lack of other options.
          I'm curious as to what the options now for younger people are? Are there new and exciting things teens (or slightly older or slightly younger people) are doing that had not been invented when I was a young high school lad looking for fun? Being a year or two beyond my teens I'm not sure what they are doing now that I didn't have the opportunity to do.

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          • Re: Average Men's Attendance

            Originally posted by WeAreNDHockey View Post
            I'm curious as to what the options now for younger people are? Are there new and exciting things teens (or slightly older or slightly younger people) are doing that had not been invented when I was a young high school lad looking for fun? Being a year or two beyond my teens I'm not sure what they are doing now that I didn't have the opportunity to do.
            I don't think its a case of the options today necessarily being more exciting than playing or watching sports. It's more a case of them begin easier and cheaper. It doesn't take much effort to sit at home and play on your phone/tablet/computer and also doesn't really cost any money. Human beings by nature are fairly lazy creatures.

            I thought of something else that maybe hurts attendance. Are there people who want to go but can't find someone else who wants to go? I know there are times I've asked around for various games and haven't been able to find anymore who wants to go. I honestly don't mind going by myself but know I'm probably in the minority.
            Originally posted by BobbyBrady
            Crosby probably wouldn't even be on BC's top two lines next year

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            • Re: Average Men's Attendance

              For gopher fans it’s becoming an issue of cost of season tickets. Mine are $830 a pop and they are the second-lowest package in the arena.

              You can usually find good deals on the street but even then, for a family of four you are probably dropping at a minimum of $80-$100 a game if you buy on the streets.
              Code:
              As of 9/21/10:         As of 9/13/10:
              College Hockey 6       College Football 0
              BTHC 4                 WCHA FC:  1
              Originally posted by SanTropez
              May your paint thinner run dry and the fleas of a thousand camels infest your dead deer.
              Originally posted by bigblue_dl
              I don't even know how to classify magic vagina smoke babies..
              Originally posted by Kepler
              When the giraffes start building radio telescopes they can join too.
              He's probably going to be a superstar but that man has more baggage than North West

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              • Re: Average Men's Attendance

                Originally posted by chickod View Post
                And that's not the point. The question is not people that "used to [make] it to the games," the question is why don't the people who are "that age" NOW go? Why aren't younger people replacing those people? Those people can't go forever. For any business to be sustainable, they need to cultivate new customers. From what I saw last night, just about everyone there was over 40 (except for 108 and 118 - the "end zone" student sections - one of which was basically empty).
                A good point about BU, and perhaps other schools, doing a bad job of cultivating a fun environment for the students. BU and Agganis went so over the top with security measures over the past decade for the student sections that it zapped the fun out of the experience. I'm not saying cracking down on vulgar language was a bad thing, but they went miles beyond that.

                Some examples:
                - Having security guards positioned at the bottom of the sections whose sole job it was to stand looking at the students reading mouths to pick out anyone who might be swearing. No such guards were stationed in any other sections.
                - Manually reading every poster at the arena entrance AND the student section entrance. No sign containing ANY reference to the opposing team or player in any capacity or that could be perceived as even the slightest bit negative was allowed. You couldn't make an "I Love Jerry York" sign. You couldn't make a "That was a bad call" sign. I even got flack back in my days for a sign that said "FAIL".
                - Stationing security guards at the top and bottom of all stairways of student sections on guard for ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. This in addition to the aforementioned mouth-readers. No such guards were stationed in any other sections.
                - Extreme ticket-checking measures at the top of each student section. I'd heard accounts of guards not letting students into one section entrance if their seat was on the opposite side of that same section. Why? Who knows.

                This created an atmosphere of needless scrutiny, feeling that one minor misstep or off-color word spoken to your friend would lead to expulsion from the arena, and that you couldn't go have fun on a weekend night with your friends cheering for your school. I'm not advocating that you can only have fun swearing and making a drunken fool of yourself - that rightfully was taken out. But if I can't jump up and down yelling at the opposing goalie telling him how hilarious it was that he just got five-holed, or make a sign ribbing Northeastern for having won nothing (at the time) of any relevance in decades, we've gone way too far. There are probably other reasons why the student experience has fallen off the map at BU and elsewhere, but the school and the arena have done an absolutely horrific job fostering a fun environment that still falls within the bounds of decency.

                I was chatting with a friend from college recently who told me she remembers that going to hockey games as a student was her way of releasing the stress of school from that week. You could go there and have a blast with your friends, and get away from the pressures of academics. She didn't have to do that by showing up and acting like a drunken hooligan dropping f-bombs every five seconds, instead just by being with your friends, watching a fun sport, jumping around, yelling and screaming, and having a great time without fear of being suspended from BU for yelling at ref or telling the goalie that he sucked. They might've pregamed a couple of beers before going over, but that wasn't a necessary component of the experience and didn't lead to anything outside the bounds of decency. THAT experience has been sucked out of Agganis fully and completely over the years and it's crying shame that the kids who go there now don't have the opportunity to experience that. If you were a part of the Dog Pound in the mid-2000s when it was at its most recent peak, you'd be thrown out of the arena for 75% of the stuff we used to do - none of which involved any vulgarity.

                tl;dr - get the unnecessary f-ing swearing police out of student sections, make the atmosphere conducive to having fun, and make being a student hockey fan fun again
                Last edited by brassbonanza; 11-04-2017, 01:21 PM.
                ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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                • Re: Average Men's Attendance

                  It's not just college hockey, of course. Attendance is down in minor professional leagues too.

                  My theory is that sports fans can now sit at home and watch top-level pro sports from the comfort of their own homes instead of going to a college or minor pro game in person. And this is exacerbated for winter sports.


                  Powers &8^]

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                  • Re: Average Men's Attendance

                    Originally posted by Drew S. View Post
                    I don't think its a case of the options today necessarily being more exciting than playing or watching sports. It's more a case of them begin easier and cheaper. It doesn't take much effort to sit at home and play on your phone/tablet/computer and also doesn't really cost any money. Human beings by nature are fairly lazy creatures.
                    I wonder if the individual ticket price has priced out the young alum crowd. I know that BU has a good deal on season tickets for a young alum, but I don't think they have a young alum individual game price. For someone 2 years out of college with an entry level job and student loans the $30+ ticket price may be prohibitive (especially if you add in $10 parking and a couple of $9 beers).


                    Originally posted by Drew S. View Post
                    I thought of something else that maybe hurts attendance. Are there people who want to go but can't find someone else who wants to go? I know there are times I've asked around for various games and haven't been able to find anymore who wants to go. I honestly don't mind going by myself but know I'm probably in the minority.
                    Perhaps this could be a bit of a factor. I mean, ever tried to give away college hockey tickets? You would think you were trying to get someone to help you move instead of giving them tickets to a game.

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                    • Re: Average Men's Attendance

                      Originally posted by ericredaxe View Post
                      I wonder if the individual ticket price has priced out the young alum crowd. I know that BU has a good deal on season tickets for a young alum, but I don't think they have a young alum individual game price. For someone 2 years out of college with an entry level job and student loans the $30+ ticket price may be prohibitive (especially if you add in $10 parking and a couple of $9 beers).
                      Yeah, the young alumni season ticket price is excellent, $219 for the season which comes out to about $12/game. And they consider young alumni to be anyone who's graduated in the past 10 yeasr. But you're right there's no YA price for individual games, and unless you walk up and buy a ticket, it comes out to $32.55 for one ticket to tonight's game. Face value is $23, plus another $8.55 in TM fees. Ridiculous.
                      ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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                      • Re: Average Men's Attendance

                        Gophers football did the new alumni pricing and it was a hit. We still have our tickets.
                        Code:
                        As of 9/21/10:         As of 9/13/10:
                        College Hockey 6       College Football 0
                        BTHC 4                 WCHA FC:  1
                        Originally posted by SanTropez
                        May your paint thinner run dry and the fleas of a thousand camels infest your dead deer.
                        Originally posted by bigblue_dl
                        I don't even know how to classify magic vagina smoke babies..
                        Originally posted by Kepler
                        When the giraffes start building radio telescopes they can join too.
                        He's probably going to be a superstar but that man has more baggage than North West

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                        • Re: Average Men's Attendance

                          I think one of the main reasons for lower attendance across the board is the recent advernt of internet streaming of games’. major game changer
                          YALE HOCKEY
                          2013 National Champions

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                          • Originally posted by LTsatch View Post
                            I think one of the main reasons for lower attendance across the board is the recent advernt of internet streaming of games’. major game changer
                            ..this is a valid point. Attendance was always up & down @ NU with some exceptional sellouts.. but now, at Northeastern.. they stream all home gms for free.. & in HD. Pretty good stream too.

                            When one doesnt want to drive in to the city.. cant beat the NU HD. (hate to admit it)
                            GO NU HOCKEY
                            Always bullish on the future.
                            We don't always win Hockey East or the Beanpot (#trilogy).. but when we do.. we are the Champions

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                            • Re: Average Men's Attendance

                              I disagree. Again, I’m going to point to the Gophers so hear me out.

                              The gophers have been on TV for years, decades. Every game. We’ve been on slightly fewer broadcasts in years and they still see shrinking attendance. I’m just not sure it’s an availability thing.

                              I think it really has to do with more of a generational thing where it’s not a priority. This is a mistake that was made 20 years ago. College sports becoming a commodity instead of an event. Sell tickets instead of get fans in seats.
                              Code:
                              As of 9/21/10:         As of 9/13/10:
                              College Hockey 6       College Football 0
                              BTHC 4                 WCHA FC:  1
                              Originally posted by SanTropez
                              May your paint thinner run dry and the fleas of a thousand camels infest your dead deer.
                              Originally posted by bigblue_dl
                              I don't even know how to classify magic vagina smoke babies..
                              Originally posted by Kepler
                              When the giraffes start building radio telescopes they can join too.
                              He's probably going to be a superstar but that man has more baggage than North West

                              Comment


                              • Originally posted by northeastern View Post
                                ..this is a valid point. Attendance was always up & down @ NU with some exceptional sellouts.. but now, at Northeastern.. they stream all home gms for free.. & in HD. Pretty good stream too.

                                When one doesnt want to drive in to the city.. cant beat the NU HD. (hate to admit it)
                                Could be part of it, especially when dealing with ever increasing traffic issues in Boston.

                                Not sure if you were following but tonight’s BU/NU game at Agganis drew 3897 (under 2/3 full)... and that is a game against a crosstown rivalry-ish team that usually brings a good handful of fans.
                                Last edited by ericredaxe; 11-04-2017, 10:13 PM.

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