|
|
Post by mkehoops on Jan 23, 2017 20:15:49 GMT -6
Paid attendance was 641. Average thru 8 games is 1,247. Last season for 13 home games was 2,667. "We" have a major problem that needs to be fixed. Attendance is certainly a serious issue but let's not act like it's unique to this year. Attendance has been on a steady decline for at least the last 5-6 years. 2,667 fans per game is nothing to be proud. No reason why this program can't consistently draw 5k. There is a serious lack of resources in the marketing department for these games. There also seems like there is no cohesive plan to get people in the stands. The athletic department does your run of the mill promotions but nothing that is unique. Most of the giveaways/promotions are not "promoted" at all. You can't even find them on the website. While I'm ranting... what's with all of the concession stands closed up every game? I get that no one is there and there is not much demand. However, what type of impression does this give to a first time attendee?? Most of the games I have been to 3/4 of the concession stands are closed. At the very least close the ones on the end zones and open the ones in the main concourse. At the last few games they have only had one stand in each end zone open. Also, promote the bar that is behind the ATI club (underneath the stands). That place is awesome. Great place to grab a few drinks at halftime and catch up with other fans. Until Sunday's game I had no idea that it was even open. We do have Valpo and GB left on the schedule. Those should help bump up the average attendance a bit. Need to do a better job of getting large groups of people to attend. Give away as many free tickets as possible. Just get people in the seats to create some type of atmosphere. Easiest way to get butts in the seats? Keep on winning. Two in a row is a good start... let's keep it rolling. |
|
|
|
Post by MKEPanthers45 on Jan 23, 2017 20:54:55 GMT -6
Paid attendance was 641. Average thru 8 games is 1,247. Last season for 13 home games was 2,667. "We" have a major problem that needs to be fixed. Attendance is certainly a serious issue but let's not act like it's unique to this year. Attendance has been on a steady decline for at least the last 5-6 years. 2,667 fans per game is nothing to be proud. No reason why this program can't consistently draw 5k. There is a serious lack of resources in the marketing department for these games. There also seems like there is no cohesive plan to get people in the stands. The athletic department does your run of the mill promotions but nothing that is unique. Most of the giveaways/promotions are not "promoted" at all. You can't even find them on the website. While I'm ranting... what's with all of the concession stands closed up every game? I get that no one is there and there is not much demand. However, what type of impression does this give to a first time attendee?? Most of the games I have been to 3/4 of the concession stands are closed. At the very least close the ones on the end zones and open the ones in the main concourse. At the last few games they have only had one stand in each end zone open. Also, promote the bar that is behind the ATI club (underneath the stands). That place is awesome. Great place to grab a few drinks at halftime and catch up with other fans. Until Sunday's game I had no idea that it was even open. We do have Valpo and GB left on the schedule. Those should help bump up the average attendance a bit. Need to do a better job of getting large groups of people to attend. Give away as many free tickets as possible. Just get people in the seats to create some type of atmosphere. Easiest way to get butts in the seats? Keep on winning. Two in a row is a good start... let's keep it rolling. I had no clue about that bar behind the ATI club until my friend took me back there during an Admirals game last week. That place is awesome. Need to market all of these things better But yes, simple solution to fixing attendance for the most part is winning. |
|
|
|
Post by Pounce Needs Pals on Jan 24, 2017 12:23:54 GMT -6
In fairness, that bar wasn't open to Panther events until the NKY game.
|
|
|
|
Post by MKEPanthers45 on Jan 24, 2017 18:27:36 GMT -6
In fairness, that bar wasn't open to Panther events until the NKY game. I had no clue it was even there during Admirals games either. Other then one sign that I can remember and an announcement they don't exactly advertise it too much. Which they really should because it is a great place to grab a beer during breaks. |
|
|
|
Post by A Statement By SHAUN on Jan 25, 2017 6:03:05 GMT -6
The low attendance numbers are simply due to the fact that the leadership at this University doesn't give a crap about sports. The problem has been around much longer than the current AD. Consider this: my first year at UWM was Rob Jeter's second year as head coach. I had absolutely no idea that we even had a basketball team, let alone one that just went to the NCAA tournament two years in a row. Contrast that with Madison. I've only been there a handful of times, but the message is crystal clear: sports is what we do. From the consistent branding, to a huge picture in the union that shows 7 muscular,shirtless bros with the letters BADGERS painted on their chests partying at a football game. I think the frustration that many panther fans feel- including those on this board and those on the other - is that with a couple of easy changes and some wins, we could have an awesome program and easily average 5k a year in attendance.
|
|
|
|
Post by kingsteve on Jan 25, 2017 9:55:02 GMT -6
So many things but in recent past talk about shooting ourselves in the foot:
<Move back to the Klotsche under Geiger - how the heck was this allowed to happen if administration gave two cents about athletics
<We get some momentum back and then BAM, the academic snafu..nice going Jeter...he was dead man walking at that point for sure...he can make all the excuses he wants and he kind of did and corrected the situation but too late...buck stopped there and he never really admitted that fact...just said hey, happened to UConn too. I know more than a few long time season ticket holders that dropped at that point.
<Totally mishandling by Amanda Braun of coaching situation....that being said it was time, Rob was a stiff, quirky guy and the crown was never worn comfortably and his promotional skills were non existent...but horrible handling and not honorable....Amanda Braun also seems to have no personality and minimal marketing/relational skills...do give her credit for making the change but not how it was handled and going back to the Arena and naming rights...just hope despite current situation the university for once stays the course and guts out this tough time, keep naming rights and keep moving forward with view on a consistent longer term approach rather than the history of back and forth...
|
|
|
|
Post by PantherU on Jan 25, 2017 12:32:14 GMT -6
Yes, Jeter was not a salesman in the Pearl sense that brought many of us to the program in the first place. Yes, Jeter was not the second coming of John Wooden, and there were many years where we were good but not good enough to satisfy the fan base. We get some momentum back and then BAM, the academic snafu..nice going Jeter...he was dead man walking at that point for sure...he can make all the excuses he wants and he kind of did and corrected the situation but too late...buck stopped there and he never really admitted that fact...just said hey, happened to UConn too. I know more than a few long time season ticket holders that dropped at that point. But I will not, will not, will not accept placing the blame for the APR ban on Jeter's shoulders. If at the end of this any of you believe the information I'm sharing is accurate and you still want to place the blame for this on Jeter, then you need to think about whether or not your dislike for me and Jeter is clouding your judgment (that last bit isn't for you, King! I know we're buds). The information in here comes from the document discussed by Bill Michaels on his show, and the NCAA's official report on the APR ban. First off, the foundation for the APR ban lays not with Amanda but her predecessors. Rick Costello eliminated academic tutoring labs inside the department and had the ROTC move into those offices. This was a financial decision in direct conflict with the university and department's mission. Second, oversight for men's hoops academics came under the purview of the compliance director at the time. He'll come up again in here. This was another Costello decision. One of the first directives Andy Geiger had when he took office was to ban the men's basketball staff from having any involvement in the academics of his team. These moves laid the groundwork for the APR f***-up. The coaching staff's jobs depend on student-athletes doing well in school. UWM is not a school where academic books are cooked. Players who didn't perform academically were moved out (Flowers/Johnson for example), so there's precedent set by Jeter's staff that they don't do anything to cut corners for players in the classroom. I personally saw a classmate on the team fail Chip MacKenzie's basketball coaching class and complain about not getting the free ride he wasn't promised but expected in the class. In short, Geiger made a stupid move by Costello worse by banning the coaches from involvement in their players' progress in school. As for the ban, the NCAA's official finding was that this was an administrative error, that paperwork was not filed. The compliance office made the mistakes. The current compliance officer was hired in fall 2013, and found what the NCAA would later call "malpractice" by the former compliance officer. The NCAA outlined the problems after: the compliance officer was informed of problems with APR score. That person then reported to the staff that academics were fine and ahead of schedule for APR. Upon their departure, there was no compliance officer until the beginning of October. I've heard a couple different end dates for the old compliance officer, with the earliest being June and latest being early August. In any case, the department had no compliance officer for most of August and all of September. The employee with extensive experience in compliance was Amanda Braun. The new and current compliance officer began their job in the beginning of October 2013. Among their first duties was checking the academic health of all programs. They discovered the problem and reported it to Braun; the two then shared the findings with the men's basketball staff. The previous compliance officer had not submitted multiple appeals directed to their office. These were easily winnable appeals, such as one player who finished eligibility in the previous couple years counting against the APR for not graduating despite playing pro in Europe. For obvious reasons I'm not going to share his name publicly. This is just one of several examples I'm privy to, and I've been told there are others. There would have been no need to appeal had the former compliance officer filed correct paperwork in the first place. But that person's failure to perform those duties cost the basketball program. The coaching staff may have been able to connect the dots and get on it in time, but as I said before Andy Geiger had banned them from involvement in academics. This wasn't Jeter's fault. It also wasn't Braun's fault. |
|
|
|
Post by kingsteve on Jan 25, 2017 16:47:03 GMT -6
Jimmy
Thank you for this information . Based on the above I retract my statement on Rob. Hard to have "the buck stops here' if one is not even allowed input. Under the above scenario it appears Rob showed great restraint. I will say this about him, he put up with a lot and kept his feelings remarkably restrained especially under the circumstances of the frustrations he must have had. Man, the things that keep coming out that went on with the administration and especially past Athletic Directors post Haidet borders on the surreal.
|
|
|
|
Post by Pantherholic on Jan 25, 2017 19:23:20 GMT -6
The YSU attendance was a perfect storm of terrible timing: bad year, crappy opponent, & timeliness of incredibly important Packers game. I applaud Lavall for joking with those of us sitting courtside about having the game go into OT. Had the NFC game been the later of the two games, I think attendance would've been at least average for the season.
The APR ban should've only killed momentum for '14-'15 and nothing else. With Arians coming off his redshirt & after beating both Bucky & Goldy, what do we do? Underwhelm in conference play and finish 5th. There's always a good showing of students at the beginning of the season and within a few non-conference games, they're gone until next season. That's not a Braun, Costello, Geiger, Koonce or Haidet problem. That's a putting out a crap product problem. How many seasons was the non-conference schedule irrelevant because of our record? This fanbase is fickle enough already and inconsistent & underwhelming seasons won't improve that even with world class marketing.
|
|
|
|
Post by Pounce Needs Pals on Jan 26, 2017 15:40:09 GMT -6
|
|
|
|
Post by pantherwalleye on Jan 26, 2017 19:22:51 GMT -6
As far as attendance gos...Ive been going to games since the late 80s. The venue flip flopped from the klotsche to Panther Arena (MECCA) from then to throughout the 90s. My dad, bro, and I were 3 out of the LITERALLY 6 to 12 fans at some games. We beat Bucky at one point and drew some crowds with the late 80s early 90s roster but they werent in the 1000s.....so the overall trend is upward. Im not pointing anyone out but just stating the trend line is positive as far as attendance and looking at the long term trends may bring some insight to posters on this board.
|
|
|
|
Post by kingsteve on Jan 27, 2017 8:28:15 GMT -6
I find it absolutely amazing that UWM athletic department has not had an event/ticket coordinator since before the start of the basketball season....
|
|
|
|
Post by Pounce Needs Pals on Jan 27, 2017 8:39:58 GMT -6
I find it absolutely amazing that UWM athletic department has not had an event/ticket coordinator since before the start of the basketball season.... They brought many in, but it didn't work out to make a hire that they felt could do the job. Sounds like they knew this year would stink for attendance, so save on the payroll and get a hire for the summer to focus on 2017-18. |
|
|
|
Post by kingsteve on Jan 27, 2017 15:00:07 GMT -6
my suspicion is they would not pay enough
|
|
