Attendance a Priority

By Tristan Hobbes

The Boston University athletics department has had a shadow cast over them for a long time. That shadow is the men’s hockey team. While the Terriers men’s icers have garnered the national spotlight and the fans, the rest of the winter sports at BU have succeeded without much fanfare.

Case in point came this past season. The men’s hockey team had an up and down season after winning the National Championship in 2009. Still, more than 5,000 fans came and watched a struggling team night after night. As the men’s team struggled, the women’s hockey team was putting together a record breaking season in just their fifth year as a program. The average attendance was 232 fans a game for a team that finished 17-9-12 and lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Even the men’s and women’s basketball teams couldn’t draw a strong fan base. BU men’s cagers average an America East low 1,122 fans this season and were helped enormously by four games at Agganis Arena that drew over 1,000 fans. Women’s basketball was second to last with an average of 395 fans in America East.

This is something that has caught the attention of the athletics department and led by Dan Satter, the Associate Athletic Director for Marketing Communications, are trying to change it.

“We are continuing to increase it [attendance],” Satter said. “It is a long term process. We are taking steps in the right direction.”

Those steps were evident at most every home game this year and even began in the offseason. Prior to the season fans had the chance to purchase a ticket package for $199 that offered tickets to men’s and women’s basketball games as well as t-shirts and apparel. The athletics department spent hours “smiling and dialing” anyone that had purchased a ticket to a BU athletic event.

“Our priority was attendance and to have people experience BU basketball,” Satter said.

With the cold calling also came incentives for students to attend games. This began last year with a Terrier rewards program that allows students to earn points when they attend home games. These points translate into free gifts and a grand prize for those in the top 40. Other promotions included apparel giveaways, free water bottles, autograph sessions and a chili-fest at a women’s hockey game.

The athletics department has always kept in mind the fact that they must serve various groups of people.

“The chili-fest captured more students,” Satter said. “We are trying to better focus our marketing.”

One of the main attractions this past winter was the addition of head men’s basketball coach Pat Chambers. Chambers brought new air into the program and also a high level of excitement. He was the perfect coach to usher in a new era of Terriers basketball that will look to fill Agganis Arena.

“It [Agganis] sells itself,” Satter said.

That it does, but the bigger venue still did not draw the crowds many hoped for. It is a long process and with the continued success of these winter sports and the continued efforts of the athletics department attendance will be sure to increase all around.

No Show

As the winter sports season winds down playoff games are being played and seniors are being honored.  You would expect a higher attendance at games during these final few weeks.  That's was not the case Sunday at Case/Walter Brown.

In a 2pm tip-off, the women's basketball team was playing their final regular season home game and honoring their senior class.  A sparse crowd of 379 witnessed BU women's basketball for the final time this season.

An hour later and a level below, the puck dropped as the Terriers and Boston College battled in a Hockey East quarterfinal contest.  In also the final game of the year for the Terriers at Walter Brown, 281 fans made their way out to support the third-seeded Terriers.

A total of 660 fans witnessed the women's hockey and basketball teams farewell for the 2010 season. 

*** 1,007 fans attended the final regular season home game for the men's basketball team on Saturday at Case Gymnasium. 

Attendance Figures for the Winter Sports

Boston University boasts four major winter sports teams. Men's hockey is obviously the top draw having won five national championships, most recently in 2009. Left in the shadows is women's hockey and men's and women's basketball.

The Terriers men's hockey team plays in Agganis Arena which holds 6,150, while the other three teams play in Case Gymnasium and Walter Brown Arena that seat much less.

Men's hockey regularly sells out Agganis Arena while the other three teams rarely play in front of crowds of 700 or more.

This season the men's basketball team is trying to bring up its fan base and has played six games at Agganis Arena. Even then the team has failed to draw a significant crowd.

Despite the struggles of the men's hockey team, they are just 14-13-3 on the year, fans still flock to watch them play. Meanwhile, the other three winter sports all boast better records than the men's hockey but still cannot attract a good crowd.

The largest crowd the women's hockey team has played in front of came today against Maine. There were 391 in attendance for senior day.

The biggest crowd to see a women's basketball game was 489 at Case and 798 in there only game at Agganis Arena.

The men's basketball home opener drew the largest non-hockey crowd of 2,149 at Agganis Arena but only 968 made it to Agganis to see the Terriers take America East powerhouse Vermont to the buzzer only to fall short by a point.
Here are the attendance numbers through February 21st.

Men's Hockey:

Home Dates: 15
Total Attendance: 82078
Average: 5,472

Men's Basketball:

Home Dates: 12
Total Attendance: 11903
Average: 992

Agganis Arena Games: 6
Total Attendance: 8460
Average: 1410

Case Gym Dates: 6
Total Attendance: 3443
Average: 574

Women's Basketball:

Home Dates: 9
Total Attendance: 3171
Average: 352

Women's Hockey:

Home Dates: 15
Total Attendance: 3426
Average: 228