Marla Talks Attendance

[Captain Kangaroo]

Getting students to the JAR.

[taxpayer]

I truly hope the JAR will be jammed for the remaining home games this season; every little bit helps to keep winning and I think the players would love to know their fellow students are supporting them. I was pretty surprised to see only 10% of the student body resides "on campus"; that's an unbelieveably low number isn't it?

Come on UA students jam the jar.

[zippyfan34]

Not students, but I'm brining my dad and in-laws for BG so there is 3 that we don't normally have. Everyone needs to make sure they invite people and get the place packed for the remaining games.

[johnnyzip84]

I truly hope the JAR will be jammed for the remaining home games this season; every little bit helps to keep winning and I think the players would love to know their fellow students are supporting them. I was pretty surprised to see only 10% of the student body resides "on campus"; that's an unbelieveably low number isn't it?

Come on UA students jam the jar.

That figure was based on "campus residence halls" according to the article. That probably refers to UA administered residence halls. If you include places like 22 Exchange and other private rentals, the number of students actually living on or near campus might be double that figure (just a guess)?

[Zipgrad01]

Some of comments below the article are ridiculous. Someone suggested that nobody goes to the games because there are no local players. Wow. This isn't high school. This is division 1 college basketball. Does Duke, UNC, Kentucky, etc... only have local players? Ridiculous. The arena isn't filled because the students all grow up Ohio State fans and they couldn't care less about Zips basketball. NE Ohio, including the Akron area, is oblivious to sports at UA. The community simply doesn't have an interest. The only thing that will change it is to continue winning. We need to make runs in the NCAA tourney. We need to do things that make us look relevant on the national scene. Only then will ALUMNI, except for a few idiots like us, raise their children as Akron fans and not OSU fans. We have a pathetic alumni base and we have for decades. This is the reason that the JAR is empty. Akron alums raise Buckeye children, not future Zips fans.

I guarantee if we had OSU playing BG tomorrow at the JAR our student section would be PACKED!

[Big Zip]

This is great article. I really enjoy reading articles in the ABJ that have information that hasn't already been shared on this site. I had no idea what had been going on relative to marketing for this team. I thought Brian Walsh had a refreshing attitude too...I don't have anything else to do besides basketball and school. It is a shame that Div. 1 athletes have to inform their fellow students they are Div. 1 and attendance is free. I just don't understand how you go to school and don't know these things. Even if you were raised an OSU fan your college is on a 16 game winning streak.

I used to love going to games when I was on campus and I was in school during the Coleman Crawford era. I remember how people filled the place up the night Gary Trent came to town (The Shaq of the MAC). Didn't even matter that we weren't very good.

The interesting thing about the soccer comparison is yes the soccer team makes the tournament ever year and won a national championship but it is still soccer. Is it the fact that Caleb openly coveted the student attendance while Keith openly ridicules the lack of support. I have to believe Keith's engagement with the fan base or lack thereof has an impact. Wasn't Caleb always buying Pizza? What about the fact that only "x" number of students can be close to the court? In soccer all of the student could be behind the net and Caleb made the effort to go to talk to them after the game. Did he even lead the "I Believe" cheer? I get it you're a Div. 1 basketball coach making $600K this probably seems demeaning and traditionally you don't have to do this in that role but this is Akron maybe that is exactly what you need to do. The question becomes why not follow Caleb's lead on this instead of being envious. Perhaps Caleb found the formula and Keith is just ignoring it.

[ZachTheZip]

The students are showing up this year.

[Captain Kangaroo]

The students are showing up this year.

Reminds me of a quote from Jason Taylor.

A former AD contacted Jason and asked him if he'd like to contribute to the Zips football program.

He replied "Sure. You know, no one's ever asked me before?"

I guess if you proactively ask the students to show up, some actually will?

[ksu sucks]

That figure was based on "campus residence halls" according to the article. That probably refers to UA administered residence halls. If you include places like 22 Exchange and other private rentals, the number of students actually living on or near campus might be double that figure (just a guess)?

Correct. According to University officials, there's about 11,000 students living near campus or in the residence halls. (~3,700 on campus and ~7000 near campus). Dayton has less than 9,000 undergrads total yet still has this kind of atmosphere.

It's an apathy problem, not a numbers problem.

Edit: BTW, when you take those numbers and divide by the number of FTE students you get ~54% "residents".

[ksu sucks]

The students are showing up this year.

I was thinking the same thing. The timing of this article is a bit off.

Marla complains about student attendance, but didn't the students break attendance records three times this season?

And the caption under the picture is misleading. We ended up drawing ~3500 vs a very bad CMU team on a Tuesday night. Perhaps Marla needs some perspective. EMU had vs 650 vs Akron two nights ago.

[akronad]

I was thinking the same thing. The timing of this article is a bit off.

Marla complains about student attendance, but didn't the students break attendance records three times this season?

And the caption under the picture is misleading. We ended up drawing ~3500 vs a very bad CMU team on a Tuesday night. Perhaps Marla needs some perspective. EMU had vs 650 vs Akron two nights ago.

True, but EMU has not won 20+ games the past 7 seasons. I know that back in the 70's when Wyatt Webb was coach and playing in Memorial Hall, students were lining up out side the hall well before the doors opened. the place was packed for most games. Would love to see that now at the JAR.

[Blue & Gold]

I split my undergraduate work between Walsh and Malone. When I was in school, both schools had great student support. But at small schools like Walsh & Malone, I was friends (or at least acquaintances) with most of the guys on the teams, so it made going to the games a lot of fun. Until Akron develops a culture where going to the games is a resident-student social event that's not to be missed, it's probably a very good idea to create as much interaction between the players and students as possible.

[Dr Z]

Perhaps Marla needs some perspective. EMU had vs 650 vs Akron two nights ago.

[ksu sucks]

True, but EMU has not won 20+ games the past 7 seasons. I know that back in the 70's when Wyatt Webb was coach and playing in Memorial Hall, students were lining up out side the hall well before the doors opened. the place was packed for most games. Would love to see that now at the JAR.

That CMU game would have also sold out Memorial hall(seats ~3,000).

I agree that this team deserves better attendance. So far, we are averaging 3,387. That's good enough for second in the MAC if I'm not mistaken. And things will only improve as the season progresses. Weekend games vs BG, Can't, and NDSU should draw well. There's only one weekend game left(a Tuesday vs Miami).

I'm actually rather optimistic about this years attendance(student and general).

[ksu sucks]

THINK BIGGER

Hey, you're preaching to the choir. Tell that to the other 10,000 students and the 195000 Akronites who aren't coming to the JAR.

We're already breaking student attendance and overall attendance records. The only team in the conference with better attendance is coming off a sweet 16 run. Perhaps if our team can replicate that we will see higher attendance next year.

If Marla would like a Lousville-esque experience, perhaps she could be first to donate towards our own tasty arena.

[scottditzen]

IS THAT LOGO ON CAMPUS OR DOWNTOWN???

:-)

[ZachTheZip]

IS THAT LOGO ON CAMPUS OR DOWNTOWN???

:-)

From left to right, I see stylized versions of the Chase tower, Quaker Square, FirstMerit tower, PNC Center, and the Goodyear Polymer Center (or possibly EJ Thomas Hall).

[infofan]

That CMU game would have also sold out Memorial hall(seats ~3,000).

I agree that this team deserves better attendance. So far, we are averaging 3,387. That's good enough for second in the MAC if I'm not mistaken. And things will only improve as the season progresses. Weekend games vs BG, Can't, and NDSU should draw well. There's only one weekend game left(a Tuesday vs Miami).

I'm actually rather optimistic about this years attendance(student and general).

Actually I believe were 3rd in attendance, behind Ohio U and Toledo. But Ohio averages about 6200 or so and Ill bet over half of that is students who get in free. The point being, our paid attendance is better than the Bobkitties. But they dont have to compete with the Cavs and the Monsters and High school sports. Toledo has a team thats not even eligible for the tounement yet they support them very well. Anyone know how they market their program?

[ksu sucks]

Toledo has a team thats not even eligible for the tounement yet they support them very well. Anyone know how they market their program?

Perhaps it's more about how they measure attendance. According to their reported attendance, Toledo is averaging ~4200 this season.

They claim there were almost 4,000 on hand to watch Toledo lose to Akron. Take a look at

and tell me if you see 4,000 people there. We shall dub this the 'Akron Football approach' to attendance.

[Dave in Green]

Basketball seating capacity at Savage Arena is 7.300. They may have had almost 4,000 paid attendance counting season ticketholder no-shows, but certainly not that many butts in seats.

[ZachTheZip]

I think they bundle the men's and women's season tickets, so they count as paid attendance for both, even if somebody only follows one of the teams.

[ZachTheZip]

Average attendance for Akron's OOC home games: 2,810

Average attendance for Akron's MAC home games: 4,058

Imagine it's the same case for most MAC schools that the conference games draw much better. If you look, Toledo only had three OOC home games, while Akron had seven. No MAC school really draws home games against a school with enough name cache to bring in a major crowd. So it stands that Akron's attendance numbers would be higher if we didn't have so many home games against no-name cupcakes. CSU, MTSU, and Princeton were great, but nobody cares about Coppin State or Texas Southern. If we're going to play those kinds of teams, do it on the road and don't ask for two or three return games. I don't want a two-for-one game where we get two years of uninteresting home games in exchange for an easy road victory.

[OU Dude]

Actually I believe were 3rd in attendance, behind Ohio U and Toledo. But Ohio averages about 6200 or so and Ill bet over half of that is students who get in free. The point being, our paid attendance is better than the Bobkitties. But they dont have to compete with the Cavs and the Monsters and High school sports. Toledo has a team thats not even eligible for the tounement yet they support them very well. Anyone know how they market their program?

I'm not sure your claim that Akron's paid attendance being higher than Ohio's is accurate. Ohio's avg attendance during winter break when the students were not on campus was 5,421, the lowest turnout was for Maryland-Eastern Shores on Dec. 22nd and that was 4,448. Ohio has a good student turnout but I think 3K+ might be a little high.

Ohio's attendance success is not a result of being in a rural area and not having other entertainment options though. A top 5 party school doesn't need a bball game to have a good time, if you know what I mean. If anything, Athens' rural setting is a challenge as very few alumni live within an hour radius and the local residents of Appalachia aren't exactly known for their disposable income and passion for supporting higher education.

Akron seems to be making good progress, the size of the JAR will actually be an advantage as it can fill up quickly and looks to be an intimidating environment when full. If there are any best practices to steal from Ohio I would suggest consolidating the student section and giving and the band them the entire lower level across from the team benches. Don't think of the students as taking good seats that you could charge money for, think of them as adding to the game day experience. A better atmosphere will attract more locals and alums than prime seating will.

It's a bummer the game in on a Wednesday but I hope a lot of Zips fans can make the trip to Athens, it should be another good game.

[ksu sucks]

No MAC school really draws home games against a school with enough name cache to bring in a major crowd. So it stands that Akron's attendance numbers would be higher if we didn't have so many home games against no-name cupcakes.

I agree. Dambrot said he was willing to switch to a Bracket busters road game in order to get better opponents. How about more OOC games on the road against tough competition? I'd rather watch us battle it out with the likes of St Mary's on ESPN 2/3 rather than see us smash Texas Southern at the JAR. Based on the attendance numbers, Joe Akron agrees with me.

[ksu sucks]

Ohio's avg attendance during winter break when the students were not on campus was 5,421, the lowest turnout was for Maryland-Eastern Shores on Dec. 22nd and that was 4,448.

During that winter break period, OhioU had ~4500 against Buffalo on a Saturday. That's ~1000 less than Akron had against the same team earlier this season.(in an arena twice as large, I might add)

Besides, OU is coming off a sweet 16 appearance. If they aren't averaging >5000 there's a problem.

Ohio's attendance success is not a result of being in a rural area and not having other entertainment options though. A top 5 party school doesn't need a bball game to have a good time, if you know what I mean.

Someone mentioned on the MAC boards that OU is giving free big-mac's to every student who goes to the game...or something of that nature. OU is innovative in attracting students to the game. Akron should learn from that(and we appear to be).

If there are any best practices to steal from Ohio I would suggest consolidating the student section and giving and the band them the entire lower level across from the team benches. Don't think of the students as taking good seats that you could charge money for, think of them as adding to the game day experience. A better atmosphere will attract more locals and alums than prime seating will.

This point has been discussed many times. The athletic department is simply not interested in this concept until student attendance "improves". I truly believe this is the biggest impediment to sustained student attendance.