Attendance- Perspective

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Attendance- Perspective

Unread post by CT Rhody »

With Cooley and the media taking shots at URI’s attendance figures coming off an NCAA apperance, I thought I’d post some perspective for us.

Besides PC barely getting over 4K when opponents not in the top 30 nationally come to town and Uconn struggling mightily at the gate as well. You might think that a final four apperence would solve the attendance issue for these local teams. But check this out..





URI season ticket base has had double digit increases back to back years now with a near 20% increase this year alone. Dan is building this fan base and program brick by brick. Sustained success will continue to grow the season ticket base, I hope he has the patience to see this thing out because everything he is doing is working. The fan base is growing, not to auto sell-outs that some unrealistic outsiders expect but it’s growing at a rapid double digit increase year over year. As a coach, that must make you happy that progress is being made.
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Re: Attendance- Perspective

Unread post by RhowdyRam02 »

Where are you getting that information from? According to gorhody.com in 2015-16 the average attendance was 4718 and last year it was 4930. That would only be a 4-5% increase in attendance
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Re: Attendance- Perspective

Unread post by Da_Process_Survivor »

RhowdyRam02 wrote:Where are you getting that information from? According to gorhody.com in 2015-16 the average attendance was 4718 and last year it was 4930. That would only be a 4-5% increase in attendance
First line says season tickets
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Re: Attendance- Perspective

Unread post by RhowdyRam02 »

I understand the first line says season tickets, but I'm wondering where he got the information from because a double digit increase in season tickets doesn't seem to line up with the actual attendance numbers
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Re: Attendance- Perspective

Unread post by Billyboy78 »

Is there any place we can find numbers such as season tickets and mini-plans sold for a certain year?
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Re: Attendance- Perspective

Unread post by RhowdyRam02 »

This is an article from gorhody.com from October 10th. As of this article we had sold somewhere between 2700 and 2800 full season tickets and 1000 mini plans. They don't mention percentage increases. Based on the wording where they talk about the mini plans being a program record it would seem the full season package isn't a record
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Re: Attendance- Perspective

Unread post by bigappleram »

Also for perspective, Rhody fans greatly outnumbered Seton Hall fans in Brooklyn even though 1 of those schools is based 4 hours away vs 30 minutes.
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Re: Attendance- Perspective

Unread post by section(105) »

RhowdyRam02 wrote:I understand the first line says season tickets, but I'm wondering where he got the information from because a double digit increase in season tickets doesn't seem to line up with the actual attendance numbers
.......people hold season tickets then are no shows......?
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Re: Attendance- Perspective

Unread post by CT Rhody »

RhowdyRam02 wrote:Where are you getting that information from? According to gorhody.com in 2015-16 the average attendance was 4718 and last year it was 4930. That would only be a 4-5% increase in attendance
This has been well documented from the ticket department. Also discussed on Dan’s radio show that this year saw a 15%-20% season ticket increase over last year. Mini plans were also a record but they never mentioned what % increase that was year over year.

With Alabama, Neveda, and potentially one more nationally ranked program coming in non-conference for next season, hopefully we can continue this growth year over year.
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Re: Attendance- Perspective

Unread post by RhowdyRam02 »

section(105) wrote:
RhowdyRam02 wrote:I understand the first line says season tickets, but I'm wondering where he got the information from because a double digit increase in season tickets doesn't seem to line up with the actual attendance numbers
.......people hold season tickets then are no shows......?
If the ticket is sold it's counted towards attendance whether you go or not
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Re: Attendance- Perspective

Unread post by Da_Process_Survivor »

RhowdyRam02 wrote:I understand the first line says season tickets, but I'm wondering where he got the information from because a double digit increase in season tickets doesn't seem to line up with the actual attendance numbers
It does with simple logic. Season ticket increases will lower walk up sales. More season tickets isn't a 1 to 1 relationship to attendance increases
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Re: Attendance- Perspective

Unread post by Obadiah »

Here is an interesting Ryan stat on attendance and the sample definition covers regular season games, no post season and only games included in the full season ticket subscription base: In the 15 year history of the arena's 250+ games, only two games had attendance below 3000, both of which occurred in Baron's last season - Maine and Cleveland State. In Hurley's first season there was another below 3000 crowd, but that was the St. Bona snowstorm game.

As a benchmark, this season UMass has already had three games below 3000 and has had a combined 9 over the previous two seasons.
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Re: Attendance- Perspective

Unread post by rjsuperfly66 »

CT Rhody wrote:
Besides PC barely getting over 4K when opponents not in the top 30 nationally come to town and Uconn struggling mightily at the gate as well.
Just out of curiosity, where was this number fabricated from?
Since we are dealing with the here and now, PC has played 1 Top 30 team at home this season, Minnesota, and they drew 10,214.
Their other home games have been against Belmont, Boston College, Rider, and Brown.
Their attendance in those games has been 6,857, 10,806, 7,255, and 6,087.
That would be an average attendance of ...... 7,751 people.
I too have a problem with PC's attendance, but can we at least hang out in a world of reality and not blantantly forge data to prove a point?
And just for giggles ... 2017 numbers...
Vermont, Grambling St., St. Francis, New Hampshire, Brown, UMASS, Wagner, Maine, Georgetown, Seton Hall, St. John's, Marquette, and DePaul. Removes home games against URI, Villanova, Xavier, Creighton, and Butler.
Average attendance ... 7,453.
Hmmmmm..... I guess I didn't learn in school where we round ~7,500 down to 4K :lol: :lol: :lol:
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Re: Attendance- Perspective

Unread post by NYGFan_Section208 »

7500 does NOT fit in with the attendance woe discussion, therefore, it had to be "adjusted" :lol: :lol:

The question isn't "if" there will be complaints about the COC attendance this Saturday, but 'when' they will first here appear. (Along with, "and you could see the disappointment in Hurls' face as he looked around during the anthem") Prior to tip-off? during the game? right after the game? Next day?
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Re: Attendance- Perspective

Unread post by RhowdyRam02 »

rjsuperfly66 wrote:
CT Rhody wrote:
Besides PC barely getting over 4K when opponents not in the top 30 nationally come to town and Uconn struggling mightily at the gate as well.
Just out of curiosity, where was this number fabricated from?
Since we are dealing with the here and now, PC has played 1 Top 30 team at home this season, Minnesota, and they drew 10,214.
Their other home games have been against Belmont, Boston College, Rider, and Brown.
Their attendance in those games has been 6,857, 10,806, 7,255, and 6,087.
That would be an average attendance of ...... 7,751 people.
I too have a problem with PC's attendance, but can we at least hang out in a world of reality and not blantantly forge data to prove a point?
And just for giggles ... 2017 numbers...
Vermont, Grambling St., St. Francis, New Hampshire, Brown, UMASS, Wagner, Maine, Georgetown, Seton Hall, St. John's, Marquette, and DePaul. Removes home games against URI, Villanova, Xavier, Creighton, and Butler.
Average attendance ... 7,453.
Hmmmmm..... I guess I didn't learn in school where we round ~7,500 down to 4K :lol: :lol: :lol:
I think he was using numbers from last year
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Re: Attendance- Perspective

Unread post by TruePoint »

RhowdyRam02 wrote:
section(105) wrote:
RhowdyRam02 wrote:I understand the first line says season tickets, but I'm wondering where he got the information from because a double digit increase in season tickets doesn't seem to line up with the actual attendance numbers
.......people hold season tickets then are no shows......?
If the ticket is sold it's counted towards attendance whether you go or not
Just from a marketing perspective, we SHOULD do it this way, but I am almost positive that we don't. I have a family member that worked in the arena business for 30 years, and he is convinced that URI actually under-reports attendance, whereas most teams treat attendance like heights: it's almost all slightly exaggerated or rounded up. When we go to other sporting events, my family member can usually look around the arena and guess the attendance to a pretty high degree of accuracy - at the Ryan he is almost always on the high side.
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Re: Attendance- Perspective

Unread post by CT Rhody »

rjsuperfly66 wrote:
CT Rhody wrote:
Besides PC barely getting over 4K when opponents not in the top 30 nationally come to town and Uconn struggling mightily at the gate as well.
Just out of curiosity, where was this number fabricated from?
Since we are dealing with the here and now, PC has played 1 Top 30 team at home this season, Minnesota, and they drew 10,214.
Their other home games have been against Belmont, Boston College, Rider, and Brown.
Their attendance in those games has been 6,857, 10,806, 7,255, and 6,087.
That would be an average attendance of ...... 7,751 people.
I too have a problem with PC's attendance, but can we at least hang out in a world of reality and not blantantly forge data to prove a point?
And just for giggles ... 2017 numbers...
Vermont, Grambling St., St. Francis, New Hampshire, Brown, UMASS, Wagner, Maine, Georgetown, Seton Hall, St. John's, Marquette, and DePaul. Removes home games against URI, Villanova, Xavier, Creighton, and Butler.
Average attendance ... 7,453.
Hmmmmm..... I guess I didn't learn in school where we round ~7,500 down to 4K :lol: :lol: :lol:
2016-17 OOC games that drew in the 4K range, all of the non-brand name basketball opponents that I’m referring to. Maine, Wagner, Brown, New Hampshire, and Saint Francis. 5 OOC games under 5k, that’s a fact.

2017-18 - Has been a little better but still no sell-out for the 14th ranked team in the country? Has been reaching 6k for other games which is an improvement at least. This is a program coming off 4 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances and has the entire team returning from last year. Also another great class coming in next year. What would Cooley have to do to really start moving that attendance needle?

My point is in general, this is not a URI issue but a general college basketball issue. URI deserves credit for increasing their fan base and if we can do it again with double digit growth this off-season, then we are starting to get somewhere.

Another point, as Dan proves he can sustain this success, better programs will come to the Ryan Center. This will drive additional ticket sales by itself and help continue that growth. Rome wasn’t built over night, and either will this programs national assention be built over a couple of solid years.
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Re: Attendance- Perspective

Unread post by Da_Process_Survivor »

rjsuperfly66 wrote:
CT Rhody wrote:
Besides PC barely getting over 4K when opponents not in the top 30 nationally come to town and Uconn struggling mightily at the gate as well.
Just out of curiosity, where was this number fabricated from?
Since we are dealing with the here and now, PC has played 1 Top 30 team at home this season, Minnesota, and they drew 10,214.
Their other home games have been against Belmont, Boston College, Rider, and Brown.
Their attendance in those games has been 6,857, 10,806, 7,255, and 6,087.
That would be an average attendance of ...... 7,751 people.
I too have a problem with PC's attendance, but can we at least hang out in a world of reality and not blantantly forge data to prove a point?
And just for giggles ... 2017 numbers...
Vermont, Grambling St., St. Francis, New Hampshire, Brown, UMASS, Wagner, Maine, Georgetown, Seton Hall, St. John's, Marquette, and DePaul. Removes home games against URI, Villanova, Xavier, Creighton, and Butler.
Average attendance ... 7,453.
Hmmmmm..... I guess I didn't learn in school where we round ~7,500 down to 4K :lol: :lol: :lol:
It's ok, you did only go to PC.

Last year, URI was you best OOC attendance by 4000 people.

And if you remove that 1 game, your OOC average attendance was 4,900
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Re: Attendance- Perspective

Unread post by rjsuperfly66 »

Da_Process_Survivor wrote:
It's ok, you did only go to PC.

Last year, URI was you best OOC attendance by 4000 people.

And if you remove that 1 game, your OOC average attendance was 4,900
I'm sorry I didn't see anywhere where it specifically talked about OOC scheduling ... I'm pretty sure the OP said, and let me quote "Besides PC barely getting over 4K when opponents not in the top 30 nationally come to town." And even if it had mentioned the OOC specifically, I guess I'd ask why we pull 7 games, mostly against bottom feeder programs, and not a complete view of the schedule, year over year ... Conference attendance is better barometer for declining or improving attendance, since most programs play the same teams year after year after year during conference play...
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Re: Attendance- Perspective

Unread post by TruePoint »

Agree with your overall point about OOC vs conference attendance, RJ, but most of the handwringing about URI attendance is related to not drawing great against the Holy Crosses and Browns in OOC. That’s why the distinction is warranted for this discussion.
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Unread post by BleedBlue87 »

I'm honestly tired of ProJo and their attendance shots at us. I would say that generally the only URI fans following Koch and company are the ones who go to the games as it is (unless they live out of state). I don't think he is motivating anyone to go to the Ryan Center who doesn't already. The only thing he is doing is trying to make the rest of us fans feel like shit because we "should be doing more." Guilt tripping fans is stupid.

In my opinion, if you want to guilt trip someone, let it be the marketing department. Their job is to get people in the seats. Sometimes on a cold January night it's better to sit on the coach and watch the game then head out 30 minutes to the Ryan Center. That's up to the marketing department to make people change their mind about that.
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Unread post by RF1 »

PC has drawn 42,819 for six home contests with an average to date of 7,136. URI has gotten 23,120 patrons to its four home games for an average of 5,780.
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Unread post by BleedBlue87 »

PC is going to naturally have higher attendance solely because they are located in a highly dense area. If URI's home base was in Providence it's attendance would be higher too. Easier to get people to the game when you can catch on the way home from work rather than driving down past your house to RC.
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Unread post by Da_Process_Survivor »

RF1 wrote:PC has drawn 42,819 for six home contests with an average to date of 7,136. URI has gotten 23,120 patrons to its four home games for an average of 5,780.
converted to % capacity to standardize for arena size:

PC: 57.5% capacity
RI: 75.4% capacity
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Unread post by bigappleram »

+1,300 fans per game for a team coming off 4 straight tourneys, in the state capital and in a higher profile league is meh. But Kevie won't write about that. If it were in reverse we would be getting lambasted by our wonderful beat reporter.
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Unread post by RhowdyRam02 »

I'm not sure how valid comparisons are at this point of the season. Higher profile conference isn't relevant because league games haven't started and percentage is thrown off because we had the rivalry sell out this year. Wouldn't be fair in years when the game is in Providence to compare percentage right after that game is played either.
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Unread post by Da_Process_Survivor »

RhowdyRam02 wrote:I'm not sure how valid comparisons are at this point of the season. Higher profile conference isn't relevant because league games haven't started and percentage is thrown off because we had the rivalry sell out this year. Wouldn't be fair in years when the game is in Providence to compare percentage right after that game is played either.
ok.

last year they averaged 6,323 per game in the OOC, good for 50.9% capacity

we are at 75.4% capacity to date with 3 games remaining.

to match their OOC % from last year, we would have to have an avg attendance of 3,916 for the entire OOC (currently at 5,790).

In order to have our OOC attendance drop to 3,916, we would need an average attendance of 125 for the next 3 games...yes, 125.

In other words, giving them the benefit of using last year when they hosted our game, we still are going to finish far better in % attendance in the OOC than they did
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Re: Attendance- Perspective

Unread post by RhowdyRam02 »

Why don't we just compare their attendance last year to ours last year and theirs this year to ours this year? That seems to be the most accurate way of doing things, no?
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Unread post by Da_Process_Survivor »

RhowdyRam02 wrote:Why don't we just compare their attendance last year to ours last year and theirs this year to ours this year? That seems to be the most accurate way of doing things, no?
because you literally complained 1 post up that us hosting the game this year gives us an unfair advantage over them because of the attendance boost.
and percentage is thrown off because we had the rivalry sell out this year.
Hence why I compared us this year to them last year, to normalize out the boost of hosting the game.

Fact is whether you look at this year, or last, our % capacity attendance is going to significantly out pace theirs.

This isn't rocket science...

Comparing this year to this year, we are better by 18%
Comparing this year to them last year, we are better by 25%
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Unread post by rjsuperfly66 »

Not for nothing, but who cares about attendance percentage unless comparing to one's own performance YOY?

The way you talk about attendance percentage, you would think URI is this small private school that produces only 200 graduates per year rather than the roughly 4,500 under/post graduates every year (roughly 4 to 1 for every URI graduate compared to PC). Sure, PC is at a competitive advantage due to past allegiances, being in a more marketable area, etc., but maybe it's because of where I live and work, I don't think there is roughly a 2 to 1 PC to URI fan in RI, but that's basically what the raw attendance number will illustrate at the end of the year (rounding up, it's really roughly 1.75 to 1). So if that's true (and I believe the true figure is maybe 55/45, but that's personal speculation), why isn't that seen more in the raw attendance figure?
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Unread post by Da_Process_Survivor »

rjsuperfly66 wrote:Not for nothing, but who cares about attendance percentage unless comparing to one's own performance YOY?

The way you talk about attendance percentage, you would think URI is this small private school that produces only 200 graduates per year rather than the roughly 4,500 under/post graduates every year (roughly 4 to 1 for every URI graduate compared to PC). Sure, PC is at a competitive advantage due to past allegiances, being in a more marketable area, etc., but maybe it's because of where I live and work, I don't think there is roughly a 2 to 1 PC to URI fan in RI, but that's basically what the raw attendance number will illustrate at the end of the year (rounding up, it's really roughly 1.75 to 1). So if that's true (and I believe the true figure is maybe 55/45, but that's personal speculation), why isn't that seen more in the raw attendance figure?
% capacity is the standard used across all sports to compare attendances because it normalizes for arena capacity. Unless you think the Red Sox have mediocre attendance because they only draw 38k a game.

To your other point, its quite simple...Providence RI pop 185,000, Kingston RI pop 5,400. PC's arena is ~7% of the population...URI's arena is 150% of the population.

Its the population effect. Its the same reason everything at Madison Square Garden sells out (when you have 15million people its easy to draw 20k).
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Re: Attendance- Perspective

Unread post by rjsuperfly66 »

Da_Process_Survivor wrote:
% capacity is the standard used across all sports to compare attendances because it normalizes for arena capacity. Unless you think the Red Sox have mediocre attendance because they only draw 38k a game.

Well I think that's a pretty lousy comparison -- If URI was selling out the Ryan Center every night, of course you could sit and point out the fact that you are selling out every night and say "How much more could we be doing in a bigger arena?" That's your Red Sox comp ... Fenway is small but sells out every night.

You act like Providence is this huge city and RI is a huge state -- It takes less than 1 hour to get from Pawtucket to Westerly. Just because there is 185,000 people who live in the Providence area doesn't mean they are all PC fans. It's just as likely they went to URI and moved to Providence, but could easily make the 45 minute commute to Kingston if they really wanted to.

You are using the true Rhode Islander mentality to justify this one ...
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Re: Attendance- Perspective

Unread post by PlayMikeMotenMore »

Fact:

Joe Casual Basketball Fan is more likely to drive 15 minutes from Pawtucket to Providence for a college basketball game on a Tuesday night at 7pm after a day of work than drive 45 minutes (in light traffic) to Kingston at the same time on the same night to watch a game.

Diehards will drive the 45 minutes regardless.
Joe Casual Basketball Fan will drive the 45 minutes if URI becomes a consistent winner, it's a "name" opponent or URI is a legitimate top 40-50 program. Then it becomes the thing to do and Kingston the place to be.

That's not Rhode Islander mentality...that's the real world. It's why PC's attendance was embarrassing under Joe Mullaney and why attendance took off under Pitino. (and then dropped under Chiesa)
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Re: Attendance- Perspective

Unread post by Rhode_Island_Red »

rjsuperfly66 wrote:
Da_Process_Survivor wrote:
% capacity is the standard used across all sports to compare attendances because it normalizes for arena capacity. Unless you think the Red Sox have mediocre attendance because they only draw 38k a game.

You act like Providence is this huge city and RI is a huge state -- It takes less than 1 hour to get from Pawtucket to Westerly. Just because there is 185,000 people who live in the Providence area doesn't mean they are all PC fans. It's just as likely they went to URI and moved to Providence, but could easily make the 45 minute commute to Kingston if they really wanted to.
Define "Providence area." If you're including all the adjoining cities and towns -- North Providence, East Providence, Pawtucket, Johnston, Cranston -- you're telling us where you learned to do math.
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Re: Attendance- Perspective

Unread post by Da_Process_Survivor »

rjsuperfly66 wrote:
Da_Process_Survivor wrote:
% capacity is the standard used across all sports to compare attendances because it normalizes for arena capacity. Unless you think the Red Sox have mediocre attendance because they only draw 38k a game.

Well I think that's a pretty lousy comparison -- If URI was selling out the Ryan Center every night, of course you could sit and point out the fact that you are selling out every night and say "How much more could we be doing in a bigger arena?" That's your Red Sox comp ... Fenway is small but sells out every night.

You act like Providence is this huge city and RI is a huge state -- It takes less than 1 hour to get from Pawtucket to Westerly. Just because there is 185,000 people who live in the Providence area doesn't mean they are all PC fans. It's just as likely they went to URI and moved to Providence, but could easily make the 45 minute commute to Kingston if they really wanted to.

You are using the true Rhode Islander mentality to justify this one ...
you do understand basic logic, dont you? Most weekday nights, its not possible for most in Providence to get to Kingston in time for tip off.

leave work at 5
home between 5:30 and 6
eat, change: 30min
leave for Kingston 6:30
depending on traffic youre looking at 45-75min driving
arrival at Ryan Center between 7:15pm and 7:45pm

and thats a best case scenario and assumes you completely ignore all family members.

Compare that to going to the dunk where your drive is 15min at most from EP, Pawtucket, Cranston, Warwick, North Providence.

and FYI, 185,000 is Providence's population only. If you want to introduce "Providence area" you're looking at ~600,000
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Re: Attendance- Perspective

Unread post by RAM67 »

Don't forget Southeastern MA.
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rjsuperfly66
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Re: Attendance- Perspective

Unread post by rjsuperfly66 »

Da_Process_Survivor wrote:
rjsuperfly66 wrote:
Da_Process_Survivor wrote:
% capacity is the standard used across all sports to compare attendances because it normalizes for arena capacity. Unless you think the Red Sox have mediocre attendance because they only draw 38k a game.

Well I think that's a pretty lousy comparison -- If URI was selling out the Ryan Center every night, of course you could sit and point out the fact that you are selling out every night and say "How much more could we be doing in a bigger arena?" That's your Red Sox comp ... Fenway is small but sells out every night.

You act like Providence is this huge city and RI is a huge state -- It takes less than 1 hour to get from Pawtucket to Westerly. Just because there is 185,000 people who live in the Providence area doesn't mean they are all PC fans. It's just as likely they went to URI and moved to Providence, but could easily make the 45 minute commute to Kingston if they really wanted to.

You are using the true Rhode Islander mentality to justify this one ...
you do understand basic logic, dont you? Most weekday nights, its not possible for most in Providence to get to Kingston in time for tip off.

leave work at 5
home between 5:30 and 6
eat, change: 30min
leave for Kingston 6:30
depending on traffic youre looking at 45-75min driving
arrival at Ryan Center between 7:15pm and 7:45pm
People can make the time for what they want to make time for ... So the assertion is that if URI played at the Dunk (or in Providence), they would would see attendance increase from 5-5.5K to 8.5-9K? And the only difference between PC attendance and URI attendance is in the casual fans who will travel to the Dunk but not to the RC?

I've also stated this in the past but believe it to be true -- if "casual" attendance is the problem, especially in games against smaller schools, why not play a "neutral" court game at the Dunk? Why not play against Brown on a random Wednesday night at the Dunk? Draw in some of those "casual" fans into the city and eliminate some of the excuse making about travel time? Could give away tickets to local school kids like PC does, gain some exposure in the northern portion of the state as well... Just a thought ... I know it would never fly... too much hatred, but I've always wondered why it was never utilized in a one-off situation annually or semi-annually.
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Billyboy78
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Re: Attendance- Perspective

Unread post by Billyboy78 »

rjsuperfly66 wrote:
Da_Process_Survivor wrote:
rjsuperfly66 wrote:
Well I think that's a pretty lousy comparison -- If URI was selling out the Ryan Center every night, of course you could sit and point out the fact that you are selling out every night and say "How much more could we be doing in a bigger arena?" That's your Red Sox comp ... Fenway is small but sells out every night.

You act like Providence is this huge city and RI is a huge state -- It takes less than 1 hour to get from Pawtucket to Westerly. Just because there is 185,000 people who live in the Providence area doesn't mean they are all PC fans. It's just as likely they went to URI and moved to Providence, but could easily make the 45 minute commute to Kingston if they really wanted to.

You are using the true Rhode Islander mentality to justify this one ...
you do understand basic logic, dont you? Most weekday nights, its not possible for most in Providence to get to Kingston in time for tip off.

leave work at 5
home between 5:30 and 6
eat, change: 30min
leave for Kingston 6:30
depending on traffic youre looking at 45-75min driving
arrival at Ryan Center between 7:15pm and 7:45pm
People can make the time for what they want to make time for ... So the assertion is that if URI played at the Dunk (or in Providence), they would would see attendance increase from 5-5.5K to 8.5-9K? And the only difference between PC attendance and URI attendance is in the casual fans who will travel to the Dunk but not to the RC?

I've also stated this in the past but believe it to be true -- if "casual" attendance is the problem, especially in games against smaller schools, why not play a "neutral" court game at the Dunk? Why not play against Brown on a random Wednesday night at the Dunk? Draw in some of those "casual" fans into the city and eliminate some of the excuse making?
Location is one factor. As is being discussed in another thread, local media bias towards PC of 50+ years is also a big factor. That's nearly 3 generations of people being swayed into believing that PC is the team to follow in this state. And there are other reasons, not the least being Dave Gavitt seeing to it that when we were a program on the rise in the late 70s, he made sure he put an end to it.
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RhodyRam86
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Re: Attendance- Perspective

Unread post by RhodyRam86 »

Agree with RJ. % capacity is an irrelevant factor unless you are selling out. The Red Sox sell out so it is fair to say if they had more seats they would have a higher attendance. Until the Ryan Center starts selling out on a regular basis, I think we should leave % capacity out of the discussion.

As far as people driving 45 minutes to see a game (I drive about that from CT) being no big deal...Well assuming most RIers grew up in RI...That just isn't going to happen. I bet there are a lot of RIers north of Warwick that think they need a passport to get to Kingston. I grew up in Westerly. If my parents went to the Warwick Mall they would notify the family that they were "going away" for the day. That has and always will be the RI mentality.

Given teams of equal caliber PC will always draw better than RI. A much larger pool of fans to draw from.
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theblueram
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Re: Attendance- Perspective

Unread post by theblueram »

We have a stadium of 8,000 to fill. Who cares what capacity it is at as long as it is filled. The only way to do that is to provide a team with National recognition. Doesn't matter if it's pc, URI or penn state. If you are in the top 25, slaying giants, the crowds will come. If not, well then they won't.

Big disconnect between Nation publicity and actually winning games though. I think fans know the difference.
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PlayMikeMotenMore
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Re: Attendance- Perspective

Unread post by PlayMikeMotenMore »

rjsuperfly66 wrote:
Da_Process_Survivor wrote:
rjsuperfly66 wrote:
Well I think that's a pretty lousy comparison -- If URI was selling out the Ryan Center every night, of course you could sit and point out the fact that you are selling out every night and say "How much more could we be doing in a bigger arena?" That's your Red Sox comp ... Fenway is small but sells out every night.

You act like Providence is this huge city and RI is a huge state -- It takes less than 1 hour to get from Pawtucket to Westerly. Just because there is 185,000 people who live in the Providence area doesn't mean they are all PC fans. It's just as likely they went to URI and moved to Providence, but could easily make the 45 minute commute to Kingston if they really wanted to.

You are using the true Rhode Islander mentality to justify this one ...
you do understand basic logic, dont you? Most weekday nights, its not possible for most in Providence to get to Kingston in time for tip off.

leave work at 5
home between 5:30 and 6
eat, change: 30min
leave for Kingston 6:30
depending on traffic youre looking at 45-75min driving
arrival at Ryan Center between 7:15pm and 7:45pm
People can make the time for what they want to make time for ... So the assertion is that if URI played at the Dunk (or in Providence), they would would see attendance increase from 5-5.5K to 8.5-9K? And the only difference between PC attendance and URI attendance is in the casual fans who will travel to the Dunk but not to the RC?

I've also stated this in the past but believe it to be true -- if "casual" attendance is the problem, especially in games against smaller schools, why not play a "neutral" court game at the Dunk? Why not play against Brown on a random Wednesday night at the Dunk? Draw in some of those "casual" fans into the city and eliminate some of the excuse making about travel time? Could give away tickets to local school kids like PC does, gain some exposure in the northern portion of the state as well... Just a thought ... I know it would never fly... too much hatred, but I've always wondered why it was never utilized in a one-off situation annually or semi-annually.
This a basic hypothetical. Not sure why you can't follow this. Ready? Follow this for a second...

Imagine the two schools switched places. PC had its campus in Kingston and URI had its campus in Providence. Got it? You're telling me PC's and URI's attendance would stay the same as it is currently? Seriously?

A large chunk of PC's attendance and season ticket holders are based off what is referred to as "subway alumni." (Even though there's no subway.) These are people who simply have no ties to the school but have "adopted" PC as their school because of geographic proximity and they were told it's big time by virtue of playing in the BIg East. Those folks adopted PC out of convenience. Thus if URI was located in Providence and PC was in Kingston, those same people would've adopted URI and said that PC is located in the sticks and is small time.

If you can't understand this, then there's very little you do understand. This is pretty basic stuff.

Why doesn't URI play at the Dunk?
1) It's completely inconvenient for the team and the students. As stated, URI's season ticket base is in South County. You're robbing Peter to pay Paul if you play a mid-week game in Providence. Don't piss off your base.
2) They would be playing in somebody else's home arena...a rival that is. (You think Duke is going to want UNC playing in Cameron if the Dean Dome were under construction?
3) URI has a beautiful, still relatively new, on campus arena called the Ryan Center. Before the Ryan Center, they used to play some (bigger) games at the Civic Center.
4) The Ryan Center has a far better home court atmosphere than the Dunk.
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PlayMikeMotenMore
Tom Garrick
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Re: Attendance- Perspective

Unread post by PlayMikeMotenMore »

TruePoint wrote:
RhowdyRam02 wrote:
section(105) wrote:
.......people hold season tickets then are no shows......?
If the ticket is sold it's counted towards attendance whether you go or not
Just from a marketing perspective, we SHOULD do it this way, but I am almost positive that we don't. I have a family member that worked in the arena business for 30 years, and he is convinced that URI actually under-reports attendance, whereas most teams treat attendance like heights: it's almost all slightly exaggerated or rounded up. When we go to other sporting events, my family member can usually look around the arena and guess the attendance to a pretty high degree of accuracy - at the Ryan he is almost always on the high side.
Well you've convinced me and I'm sure everyone else on the board with that nugget. Way to bring it strong, TP! Hey everyone, TP's 2nd cousin on his mother's side worked in the arena business (changing light bulbs?) and he can play the family's "Guess the Attendance" game in any arena they go to except the Ryan Center.

Well done.
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TruePoint
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Re: Attendance- Perspective

Unread post by TruePoint »

It's called an anecdote, you simple clown.
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PeterRamTime
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Re: Attendance- Perspective

Unread post by PeterRamTime »

True point and PlayMikeMotenMore were meant for each other.

A match made in Keaney hea.....hell
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Obadiah
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Re: Attendance- Perspective

Unread post by Obadiah »

You have to look at Ryan attendance in the broadest possible context. Reflecting the newness of Ryan, the best average attendance came in the second year when the average reached 5,498. No year since 2003-04 has average attendance been higher.

But make no mistake, Ryan crowds have come a long way from the opener against USC when an under capacity crowd of 5,785 attended. Of the 220+ regular season games held at Ryan the USC game attendance now ranks at only #66. The attendance doldrums began in the last years of Baron's tenure with his last season being near the low of 2006-07. Except the year EC was hurt, under Hurley, average attendance has steadily increased with it rising above 5,000 in two of those years. And this season URI has a chance of breaking the 2003-04 record. The size of the turnout for the many intersession games will decide that question.
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ace
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Re: Attendance- Perspective

Unread post by ace »

Men’s Basketball Ticket Sales Surpass 2016-2017 Totals
http://www.gorhody.com/sports/m-baskbl/ ... 1213jramqy
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Billyboy78
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Re: Attendance- Perspective

Unread post by Billyboy78 »

ace wrote:Men’s Basketball Ticket Sales Surpass 2016-2017 Totals
http://www.gorhody.com/sports/m-baskbl/ ... 1213jramqy
That's great news! I have spoken to Tyler Foley on the phone several times...really nice guy. I'd love to see four or five 7000+ games this year. We also need the season ticket holders to all show up, or at least give the tickets to someone who will use them.
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CT Rhody
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Re: Attendance- Perspective

Unread post by CT Rhody »

Between season tickets holders (2,700-2,800) and mini plan holders (1,000), that’s almost 4,000 by themselves. Add in another 1,000 students (hopefully that much even with school out) that puts the game at 5,000 even before group and individual ticket sales for sat. Hope we can be over 6k for sat.
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ramster
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Re: Attendance- Perspective

Unread post by ramster »

Plus you now have the long awaited win over Providence College which has been cited by several posters as important to increasing attendance.

The poor attendance for Brown with 1,200 fewer than last year still Makes me wonder if Charleston doesn’t disappoint too
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Rhody74
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Re: Attendance- Perspective

Unread post by Rhody74 »

ramster wrote:Plus you now have the long awaited win over Providence College which has been cited by several posters as important to increasing attendance.

The poor attendance for Brown with 1,200 fewer than last year still Makes me wonder if Charleston doesn’t disappoint too

The URI Ticket Office seems optimistic: "Saturday's game against College of Charleston is expected to be another large crowd, due in large part to increased mini-plan sales. The highly-successful three- and five-game packages have seen a near-400 percent increase in gross revenue since the department's inception. "
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