KeaneyBlue - The URI Basketball Forum

Not a bad crowd considering all the circumstances???

2017-18 season to date attendance average is 5,516. It was 4,527 through seven games last year. 22% increase over LY.

RHODE ISLAND HOME ATTENDANCE 2017-18 YTD
OPPONENT | ATTENDANCE | TO DATE | AVERAGE
UNC-Asheville | 6,367 | 6,367 | 6,367
Holy Cross | 4,309 | 10,676 | 5,338
Brown | 4,485 | 15,161 | 5,054
Providence | 7,959 | 23,120 | 5,780
Charleston | 5,761 | 28,881 | 5,776
Iona | 4,381 | 33,262 | 5,544
Florida Gulf Coast | 5,347 | 38,609 | 5,516


RHODE ISLAND HOME ATTENDANCE 2016-17
OPPONENT | ATTENDANCE | TO DATE | AVERAGE
Dartmouth | 6,052 | 6,052 | 6,052
Marist | 4,021 | 10,073 | 5,037
Brown | 5,630 | 15,703 | 5,234
Belmont | 4,626 | 20,329 | 5,082
Old Dominion | 4,250 | 24,579 | 4,916
Holy Cross | 3,537 | 28,116 | 4,686
William & Mary | 3,570 | 31,686 | 4,527
St. Joe's | 3,880 | 35,566 | 4,446
La Salle | 3,753 | 39,319 | 4,369
UMass | 6,202 | 45,521 | 4,552
St. Bonaventure | 6,757 | 52,278 | 4,753
George Washington | 5,190 | 57,468 | 4,789
Dayton | 7,394 | 64,862 | 4,989
Fordham | 3,791 | 68,653 | 4,904
VCU | 6,845 | 75,498 | 5,033
Davidson | 7,263 | 82,761 | 5,173

The average is about 1000 higher than last year for the OOC schedule. Obviously, the PC game helps that average a lot, but we're definitely trending in the right direction. No games under 4000 ( five total last year) and I don't expect to see any of those this year. I took a peek at the GMU game this Saturday and it already looks like a big crowd. Once the students get back, I think we're playing to near sellouts the rest of the way. This is great news, especially if we want to keep our coach and keep the momentum going and get to where we want to be, a perennial top 20 program playing to sellout crowds almost every night. Like I said, definitely trending in that direction.

Very solid attendance tonight, great job Rhody nation

RF1 wrote:2017-18 season to date attendance average is 5,516. It was 4,527 through seven games last year. 22% increase over LY.

If you project out a 22% increase for the entire season, would be 6,311 for the year. Obviously that's not likely to happen because you have games last year like Dayton, VCU and Davidson where a 22% increase is not mathematically possible.

One sign will be the games while students are on break. Last year conference games during break drew 3800 and 3700. I would think you'd see much better than that this year, although this year you get an extra game (and two extra games if you count UMass, but while that game is played before classes restart, it is the Saturday before classes start on Monday and it is UMass - my guess is student will be out in force, especially if we don't lose between now and then).

We may not get to 6300 but 6000 is a real possibility!!!

Entering tonight at 6pm (earliest possible to enter) I felt the amount of people to be more than I expected. I heard one yellow coat guy at the turnstiles say light traffic on thr roads was enabling people to be earlier.

Upon entering I talked to some of the yellow coat staff and asked what size crowd they expected tonight and they said pretty small, about 4,000.
So I was surprised as I saw the RC fill up more and more and more. It felt like more than 4,000 so seems the 5,300 surprised the yellow coat staff as well.

Pleasant surprise. Not many students.

[img][/img]

I'll be interested to see if we hit or beat our average guess (roughly 5700). They say wisdom of the crowd is typically correct. Mean is skewed a bit downwards by our "Debbie Downers." 5800's was far and away the most popular choice. Interesting way to measure whether this year's Rams meet or exceed expectations of the Keaney Blue faithful.

at 5624 right now, keeps going up

need to average ~6400 for the remaining games to average 6k for the year

Really impressive attendance number today way to represent Rhody nation !!

Attendance through eight games is listed below. I added columns to the right to compare the game to date average to last year. URI is now drawing an average of 5,624, an increase of 1,178 (26.5%) over LY.


RHODE ISLAND HOME ATTENDANCE 2017-18 YTD
OPPONENT | ATTENDANCE | TO DATE | AVERAGE | LY AVG | DIFF | %
UNC-Asheville | 6,367 | 6,367 | 6,367 | 6,052 | 315 | 5.2%
Holy Cross | 4,309 | 10,676 | 5,338 | 5,037 | 302 | 6.0%
Brown | 4,485 | 15,161 | 5,054 | 5,234 | (181) | -3.5%
Providence | 7,959 | 23,120 | 5,780 | 5,082 | 698 | 13.7%
Charleston | 5,761 | 28,881 | 5,776 | 4,916 | 860 | 17.5%
Iona | 4,381 | 33,262 | 5,544 | 4,686 | 858 | 18.3%
Florida Gulf Coast | 5,347 | 38,609 | 5,516 | 4,527 | 989 | 21.8%
George Mason | 6,383 | 44,992 | 5,624 | 4,446 | 1,178 | 26.5%

twisted3829 wrote:at 5624 right now, keeps going up

need to average ~6400 for the remaining games to average 6k for the year

For perspective, URI averaged 5,899 in its last eight home games last year. This number was however kept down due to two sub 4k games versus LaSalle and Fordham (both of which ended up being horrible losses). If low LY numbers like that can be avoided and this year's increased attendance trend is factored in, the 6k goal is within reach.

RHODE ISLAND HOME ATTENDANCE 2016-17
OPPONENT | ATTENDANCE | TO DATE | AVERAGE
Dartmouth | 6,052 | 6,052 | 6,052
Marist | 4,021 | 10,073 | 5,037
Brown | 5,630 | 15,703 | 5,234
Belmont | 4,626 | 20,329 | 5,082
Old Dominion | 4,250 | 24,579 | 4,916
Holy Cross | 3,537 | 28,116 | 4,686
William & Mary | 3,570 | 31,686 | 4,527
St. Joe's | 3,880 | 35,566 | 4,446
La Salle | 3,753 | 39,319 | 4,369
UMass | 6,202 | 45,521 | 4,552
St. Bonaventure | 6,757 | 52,278 | 4,753
George Washington | 5,190 | 57,468 | 4,789
Dayton | 7,394 | 64,862 | 4,989
Fordham | 3,791 | 68,653 | 4,904
VCU | 6,845 | 75,498 | 5,033
Davidson | 7,263 | 82,761 | 5,173

1,000 more fans per game x 16 home games x $20 average price per ticket = $320,000 extra dollars into the program over last year. Not too shabby. Extra in concessions too.

It's crazy looking at the time period from 12/6 thru 1/12 last year, average attendance was 3798 over 5 games. That's rough. Note that this time period kicked off starting the first game after the loss at Providence and ended with the game immediately following the heartbreaking loss at Dayton and before students came back to campus for second semester.

This season, during the same stretch we will play five games again, and again this stretch started immediately following the PC game and will end before students are back on campus. With four games played and one more to come, we've averaged 5468 and already drew more in these four than we did last year during those five games last season.

This comparative improvement from last year of 44% is even more pronounced than the 26.5% year-over-year increase for the season (which includes the PC sellout). I'm personally stunned by the turnout while students are home for break. I think the evidence is mounting that the PC win really does resonate, along with beating a Seton Hall team on Thanksgiving that people in this area know about.

This is just fantastic. Got to keep DH happy with attendance

He said it himself...getting to be like an event... and with the right packages, they could draw on the road, too...

Wait...I thought beating PC didn't mean anything as far as attendance is concerned?

I've been saying for years now that beating the friars is a component to sustained attendance improvement.....a component....not the be all ...

We need to keep winning and go to the tournament again this year.....two more components....

A slow steady build soon 6 k and over will be the avg

I'm guessing the LaSalle game won't have great attendance, maybe 4000. But I think every game after that will have between 6500 and sellout crowds. The only other one that might not be great is UMass, which is on a Wednesday night before the students get back. All the rest of the games will either have the students back or will be a part of a mini-plan. Several will be both.

Billyboy78 wrote:I'm guessing the LaSalle game won't have great attendance, maybe 4000. But I think every game after that will have between 6500 and sellout crowds. The only other one that might not be great is UMass, which is on a Wednesday night before the students get back. All the rest of the games will either have the students back or will be a part of a mini-plan. Several will be both.

UMass always draws well though.

I agree about LaSalle. Hope I’m wrong.

I think we can get over 5 k for LaSalle !!

I think we get 6000 for LaSalle. It’s a big game for us, bigger than the George Mason game

ramster wrote:I think we get 6000 for LaSalle. It’s a big game for us, bigger than the George Mason game

But it's on a Wednesday night and not part of a mini-plan. The green dots say otherwise.

Billyboy78 wrote:

ramster wrote:I think we get 6000 for LaSalle. It’s a big game for us, bigger than the George Mason game

But it's on a Wednesday night and not part of a mini-plan. The green dots say otherwise.

Good point.
But it’s really a better game than the George Mason game
They have the “be a student” ticket offer of 2 for $18 and you get to sit right down behind the basket in great seats if you get there early. Plus the crazy 4 tickets, 4 popcorns and 4 drinks for only $60. Two great promotions - congrats marketing!!
So it will be interesting to see how those two promos do for turnout without the mini plan promos.
I think we will be well over the 4000 you mention but we will see. 4000 to me would be pretty disappointing. I’m sticking with 6000 plus

My best guess for attendance at the LaSalle game is that the number is likely to be in between the numbers for the last two midweek games of Iona (4,381) and FGCU (5,347). I think FGCU got a bump because it was during school break (pre college aged) and more local families attended. That is not the case this week as the kids went back and parents won't have them out on a school night. If my guess is right, it will still be far better than the LaSalle game last year (3,753) which was also a weeknight 2nd league game during semester break.

I'm just hopeful LaSalle is at least 5300. Weekday vs crappy opponent and no help from students or mini plans.

LaSalle's not crappy .... at least not as cappy as Mason. I just hope our fans realize that.

Oh yeah Lasalle can play...We saw what happened last year if we don't show up against them. They embarrassed us last time they came to the Ryan Center.

Dan Hurley Record with LaSalle
2/24/2013 65-72 L Home
1/15/2014 62-72 L Away
1/22/2015 59-47 W Away
2/28/2015 59-56 W Away
1/16/2016 73-62 W Home
2/6/2016 79-62 W Away
1/12/2017 75-87 L Home
2/21/2017 67-56 W Away

I would not call LaSalle "crappy". This is the same as posters who called Iona, Charleston and FGSU all cupcakes. Iona and Charleston were very tough games, both of which we could have lost. FGSU we played phenomenally, possibly the best game of the season, even including Seton Hall.
Only St Bonaventure, VCU, Dayton and Davidson have better expected season ending RPIs in the A10 than LaSalle
We have played LaSalle in the Ryan Center 3 times under Dan Hurley and lost 2 of the 3.

Saying LaSalle is a crappy team just seems to be saying fans need not turn out, team should win this game handily and there is little chance of a loss.
RPI has URI 11.7 point favorites with 85% chance to win. I think the 11.7 points is too high and the 85% chance of a URI win is too high. But I would not be surprised if this turns out to be a January barnburner. Not at all with a Dr John Giannini Coached Team and with URI Famous alum Pappy Owens in charge.
Expected RPI Rank
27.8 Rhode Island
37.6 St. Bonaventure
101.4 VCU
120.3 Dayton
128.9 Davidson
129.2 La Salle
154.7 George Washington
171.4 Saint Joseph's
195.5 Saint Louis
200.6 Massachusetts
224.7 Duquesne
226.6 Richmond
243.6 George Mason
263.1 Fordham

I'll be happy with 5,000 tomorrow. There seemed to be a lot of families with kids at George Mason which we will not have on a weekday night with school back in session (not at URI). Hopefully the expected "heat wave" will get more fans out of the house and attend the game.

ramster wrote:Dan Hurley Record with LaSalle
2/24/2013 65-72 L Home
1/15/2014 62-72 L Away
1/22/2015 59-47 W Away
2/28/2015 59-56 W Away
1/16/2016 73-62 W Home
2/6/2016 79-62 W Away
1/12/2017 75-87 L Home
2/21/2017 67-56 W Away

I would not call LaSalle "crappy". This is the same as posters who called Iona, Charleston and FGSU all cupcakes. Iona and Charleston were very tough games, both of which we could have lost. FGSU we played phenomenally, possibly the best game of the season, even including Seton Hall.
Only St Bonaventure, VCU, Dayton and Davidson have better expected season ending RPIs in the A10 than LaSalle
We have played LaSalle in the Ryan Center 3 times under Dan Hurley and lost 2 of the 3.

ramster - the 1/22/15 game was played at the Ryan. hurley is 2-2 against La Salle at home.

To your larger point, I agree that La Salle is not crappy. But I do think that this is the perception - they just aren't an exciting opponent for the average fan as basketball consumers. Most people in attendance at the URI/PC game, for example, have never heard of the RPI and definitely do not know whether a team from out of state is #60 or #120 or #313. Just the way it is. I'm hopeful for a good turnout, but I would consider that anywhere in the high 4000s low 5000s. It isn't going to approach Saturday's turnout.

TruePoint wrote:

ramster wrote:Dan Hurley Record with LaSalle
2/24/2013 65-72 L Home
1/15/2014 62-72 L Away
1/22/2015 59-47 W Away
2/28/2015 59-56 W Away
1/16/2016 73-62 W Home
2/6/2016 79-62 W Away
1/12/2017 75-87 L Home
2/21/2017 67-56 W Away

I would not call LaSalle "crappy". This is the same as posters who called Iona, Charleston and FGSU all cupcakes. Iona and Charleston were very tough games, both of which we could have lost. FGSU we played phenomenally, possibly the best game of the season, even including Seton Hall.
Only St Bonaventure, VCU, Dayton and Davidson have better expected season ending RPIs in the A10 than LaSalle
We have played LaSalle in the Ryan Center 3 times under Dan Hurley and lost 2 of the 3.

ramster - the 1/22/15 game was played at the Ryan. hurley is 2-2 against La Salle at home.

To your larger point, I agree that La Salle is not crappy. But I do think that this is the perception - they just aren't an exciting opponent for the average fan as basketball consumers. Most people in attendance at the URI/PC game, for example, have never heard of the RPI and definitely do not know whether a team from out of state is #60 or #120 or #313. Just the way it is. I'm hopeful for a good turnout, but I would consider that anywhere in the high 4000s low 5000s. It isn't going to approach Saturday's turnout.

2013 was Hurley's first, undermanned squad. 2016 was no EC. Last year was the let down game. With our health we should win assuming standard effort

TruePoint wrote:

ramster wrote:Dan Hurley Record with LaSalle
2/24/2013 65-72 L Home
1/15/2014 62-72 L Away
1/22/2015 59-47 W Away
2/28/2015 59-56 W Away
1/16/2016 73-62 W Home
2/6/2016 79-62 W Away
1/12/2017 75-87 L Home
2/21/2017 67-56 W Away

I would not call LaSalle "crappy". This is the same as posters who called Iona, Charleston and FGSU all cupcakes. Iona and Charleston were very tough games, both of which we could have lost. FGSU we played phenomenally, possibly the best game of the season, even including Seton Hall.
Only St Bonaventure, VCU, Dayton and Davidson have better expected season ending RPIs in the A10 than LaSalle
We have played LaSalle in the Ryan Center 3 times under Dan Hurley and lost 2 of the 3.

ramster - the 1/22/15 game was played at the Ryan. hurley is 2-2 against La Salle at home.

To your larger point, I agree that La Salle is not crappy. But I do think that this is the perception - they just aren't an exciting opponent for the average fan as basketball consumers. Most people in attendance at the URI/PC game, for example, have never heard of the RPI and definitely do not know whether a team from out of state is #60 or #120 or #313. Just the way it is. I'm hopeful for a good turnout, but I would consider that anywhere in the high 4000s low 5000s. It isn't going to approach Saturday's turnout.

TP,
Makes sense to not have two away games the same year, but I took the info straight out of the URI Basketball Archive Record Book PDF File. So URI has it wrong in the permanent record archives.

2/15/2005 63-73 L H
1/18/2006 71-68 W A
1/3/2007 69-66 W H
3/1/2008 91-85 W A
1/31/2009 98-88 (OT) W H
2/2/2010 90-83 W A
1/22/2011 75-76 L H
1/21/2012 66-80 L A
2/24/2013 65-72 L H
1/15/2014 62-72 L A
1/22/2015 59-47 W A
2/28/2015 59-56 W A
1/16/2016 73-62 W H
2/6/2016 79-62 W A
1/12/2017 75-87 L H
2/21/2017 67-56 W A

RF1 wrote:My best guess for attendance at the LaSalle game is that the number is likely to be in between the numbers for the last two midweek games of Iona (4,381) and FGCU (5,347). I think FGCU got a bump because it was during school break (pre college aged) and more local families attended. That is not the case this week as the kids went back and parents won't have them out on a school night. If my guess is right, it will still be far better than the LaSalle game last year (3,753) which was also a weeknight 2nd league game during semester break.

it is likely that schools and most businesses will be closed tomorrow given the storm forecast. It is supposed to snow all through the daylight hours making getting to and back from places a difficult prospect. I would therefore think you will see closings across the board. With parents and kids having Thursday off, we may see more of them tonight then first anticipated.

Tonight's game versus a non high profile team on a weeknight during semester break will be a good harbinger for future attendance. It is games like these where Rhody has not drawn well (see LY numbers of less than 4k for first two home games) in the past. If this game gets a crowd above 5k, the possibility of reaching a full season average of 6k or better looks well within reach. URI will have just three more weeknight (M-TH) games left on the schedule (UMass, Richmond, St Joe's) with the other four all on weekends (Friday nights or Saturdays) which typically draw better.

4500 not bad all things considered weather no students mid week .

reef wrote:4500 not bad all things considered weather no students mid week .

Thanks, getting over to every game...trying to go to some twice, just to bump the numbers...

2017-18 season to date attendance average is 5,505. Tracking 26% over LY.

RHODE ISLAND HOME ATTENDANCE 2017-18 YTD
OPPONENT | ATTENDANCE | TO DATE | AVERAGE | LY AVG | DIFF | %
UNC-Asheville | 6,367 | 6,367 | 6,367 | 6,052 | 315 | 5.2%
Holy Cross | 4,309 | 10,676 | 5,338 | 5,037 | 302 | 6.0%
Brown | 4,485 | 15,161 | 5,054 | 5,234 | (181) | -3.5%
Providence | 7,959 | 23,120 | 5,780 | 5,082 | 698 | 13.7%
Charleston | 5,761 | 28,881 | 5,776 | 4,916 | 860 | 17.5%
Iona | 4,381 | 33,262 | 5,544 | 4,686 | 858 | 18.3%
Florida Gulf Coast | 5,347 | 38,609 | 5,516 | 4,527 | 989 | 21.8%
George Mason | 6,383 | 44,992 | 5,624 | 4,446 | 1,178 | 26.5%
LaSalle | 4,549 | 49,541 | 5,505 | 4,369 | 1,136 | 26.0%




RHODE ISLAND HOME ATTENDANCE 2016-17
OPPONENT | ATTENDANCE | TO DATE | AVERAGE
Dartmouth | 6,052 | 6,052 | 6,052
Marist | 4,021 | 10,073 | 5,037
Brown | 5,630 | 15,703 | 5,234
Belmont | 4,626 | 20,329 | 5,082
Old Dominion | 4,250 | 24,579 | 4,916
Holy Cross | 3,537 | 28,116 | 4,686
William & Mary | 3,570 | 31,686 | 4,527
St. Joe's | 3,880 | 35,566 | 4,446
La Salle | 3,753 | 39,319 | 4,369
UMass | 6,202 | 45,521 | 4,552
St. Bonaventure | 6,757 | 52,278 | 4,753
George Washington | 5,190 | 57,468 | 4,789
Dayton | 7,394 | 64,862 | 4,989
Fordham | 3,791 | 68,653 | 4,904
VCU | 6,845 | 75,498 | 5,033
Davidson | 7,263 | 82,761 | 5,173

Have we ever had a sellout when the students weren't on campus? If not, I'm predicting that St. Bonaventure will be the first one. That would be a great accomplishment for this program.

No, we have never had a sellout. The largest crowd for a game when students were on break was the 12/31/05 game against Boston College which drew 7,087. There have been many intersession games that have drawn 6000+ crowds for teams like Temple, Xavier, UMass, etc.

Billyboy78 wrote:Have we ever had a sellout when the students weren't on campus? If not, I'm predicting that St. Bonaventure will be the first one. That would be a great accomplishment for this program.

I think the odd start time might prevent a true sellout, but should continue the trend of greatly outpacing previous years’ attendance during break.

I actually love that start time, especially with the NFL playoffs at 4:30 and 8:00. I would think it would be a great starting time for families and groups such as youth basketball teams. Anyway, that game is still 9 days away and there are less than 1000 seats left.

Billy, I agree that the start time is excellent given the date and the NFL schedule. Still, it is abnormal so that could have an impact. It is definitely the best they could have done - if they played at 4PM the place would be a ghost town.

Billyboy78 wrote:I actually love that start time, especially with the NFL playoffs at 4:30 and 8:00. I would think it would be a great starting time for families and groups such as youth basketball teams. Anyway, that game is still 9 days away and there are less than 1000 seats left.

I love the start time also. If we can get 6300 for George Mason on a Saturday I would think that a sell out for St Bonaventure is definitely in the works. I'd be disappointed with anything less than 7200. Games don't get much bigger than this. This is the year we need to win the A10 Regular Season and do so in such a strong fashion that even if we stumble and go out in the Semi-Finals of the A10 Tournament we still get the NCAA bid.
So a win at home vs Bonnies is a must.

not sure if i'll get to the bonnies game and i'm not happy about it. i work at gillette and with the game that day it could be tough

I love the start time also can't wait !!!

Very good sized crowd of 7,082 for an early Saturday morning game during semester break. Have averaged 6,005 for the three league games during break. Season average now at 5,662, an increase of 24.4% over LY.

RHODE ISLAND HOME ATTENDANCE 2017-18 YTD
OPPONENT | ATTENDANCE | TO DATE | AVERAGE | LY AVG | DIFF | %
UNC-Asheville | 6,367 | 6,367 | 6,367 | 6,052 | 315 | 5.2%
Holy Cross | 4,309 | 10,676 | 5,338 | 5,037 | 302 | 6.0%
Brown | 4,485 | 15,161 | 5,054 | 5,234 | (181) | -3.5%
Providence | 7,959 | 23,120 | 5,780 | 5,082 | 698 | 13.7%
Charleston | 5,761 | 28,881 | 5,776 | 4,916 | 860 | 17.5%
Iona | 4,381 | 33,262 | 5,544 | 4,686 | 858 | 18.3%
Florida Gulf Coast | 5,347 | 38,609 | 5,516 | 4,527 | 989 | 21.8%
George Mason | 6,383 | 44,992 | 5,624 | 4,446 | 1,178 | 26.5%
LaSalle | 4,549 | 49,541 | 5,505 | 4,369 | 1,136 | 26.0%
St. Bonaventure | 7,082 | 56,623 | 5,662 | 4,552 | 1,110 | 24.4%


RHODE ISLAND HOME ATTENDANCE 2016-17
OPPONENT | ATTENDANCE | TO DATE | AVERAGE
Dartmouth | 6,052 | 6,052 | 6,052
Marist | 4,021 | 10,073 | 5,037
Brown | 5,630 | 15,703 | 5,234
Belmont | 4,626 | 20,329 | 5,082
Old Dominion | 4,250 | 24,579 | 4,916
Holy Cross | 3,537 | 28,116 | 4,686
William & Mary | 3,570 | 31,686 | 4,527
St. Joe's | 3,880 | 35,566 | 4,446
La Salle | 3,753 | 39,319 | 4,369
UMass | 6,202 | 45,521 | 4,552
St. Bonaventure | 6,757 | 52,278 | 4,753
George Washington | 5,190 | 57,468 | 4,789
Dayton | 7,394 | 64,862 | 4,989
Fordham | 3,791 | 68,653 | 4,904
VCU | 6,845 | 75,498 | 5,033
Davidson | 7,263 | 82,761 | 5,173

For those that like to think in shekels, this attendance increase translates into a cool $150k addition to the coffers of URI Athletics.

What is the average cost of a ticket?