BC is so desperate for fans it is giving away free tickets

RF1 · Unread post by **RF1** » 8 years ago

Boston College Men's Basketball, coming off several consecutive bad years and picked for last in the ACC this upcoming season, is really desperate to attract fans to its games. It is offering free tickets to its first home game against St. Francis-NY.

Shaolin Swat · Unread post by **Shaolin Swat** » 8 years ago

This seems surprising to me. Does anyone know what their average attendance has been over the last couple of seasons?

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 8 years ago

Shaolin Swat wrote:This seems surprising to me. Does anyone know what their average attendance has been over the last couple of seasons?

467

RF1 · Unread post by **RF1** » 8 years ago

BC fans are the worst. They are the ultimate front-runners. They typically only come out if the team is very good and the opponent is a big high profile name.

BC MEN' BASKETBALL HOME ATTENDANCE
2014-15 Season 17 home games - Average: 4,486
2013-14 Season 13 home games - Average: 4,007
2012-13 Season 18 home games - Average: 4,244
2011-12 Season 17 home games - Average: 4,699

The 2014-15 number was for a home schedule that included Syracuse, Notre Dame, Virginia, North Carolina, Louisville, Pitt, NC State, Miami, USC, and Providence.

RF1 · Unread post by **RF1** » 8 years ago

BC's home OOC schedule for this upcoming year is not what one would call very enticing:

St Francis-NY
Central Ct State
Harvard
Penn State (ACC-Big 10 Challenge)
UMass-Lowell
Maine
Delaware
New Hampshire

There may yet be several other games with free ticket promos.

ramster · Unread post by **ramster** » 8 years ago

Didn't we give tickets away during some of the Barren Seasons?

I think we even tried to pay people to come to some of the games during that era

RF1 · Unread post by **RF1** » 8 years ago

ramster wrote:Didn't we give tickets away during some of the Barren Seasons?

I think we even tried to pay people to come to some of the games during that era

We didn't give out tickets to the general public from what I recall. The only thing close might have been freebies to school groups and from what I understand this practice hasn't been done all that much in recent years.

eli#10 · Unread post by **eli#10** » 8 years ago

That OOC schedule is pitiful. With a team that is trying to rebuild who would want to go to a game other than Harvard or Penn State. Those attending the other games would only be very rabid fans of which there are only a few. BC is a school that could present a real good OOC schedule but instead has gone the other way.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 8 years ago

Funny, Preston told me today, that moving to Creighton was a
"great career move" for him.
Says he's being treated very well and loves it.
He's excited about our program, and said he'll be following
during the season.
Maybe he saw the writing on the wall for the BC program.
He's gotten two top 50 kids for Creighton already,
so it must be a better place for any number of reasons.

RF1 · Unread post by **RF1** » 8 years ago

rodfromcranston wrote:Funny, Preston told me today, that moving to Creighton was a
"great career move" for him.
Says he's being treated very well and loves it.
He's excited about our program, and said he'll be following
during the season.
Maybe he saw the writing on the wall for the BC program.
He's gotten two top 50 kids for Creighton already,
so it must be a better place for any number of reasons.

Creighton is at the other extreme and doesn't have to worry about giving away tickets to get fans in the seats. They were #6 nationally in average home attendance last season drawing 289,808 to 17 games for an average of 17,048.

Rhody83 · Unread post by **Rhody83** » 8 years ago

BC made a mistake going to the ACC. They will never recover.

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 8 years ago

Rhody83 wrote:BC made a mistake going to the ACC. They will never recover.

Yeah, no. I don't think that is their problem at all (what would be their alternative, anyways?). Their problem is they had an idiot-tyrant-midget of an AD that ran good football and basketball coaches out of town and set both those program back at least a decade. The right coach can win there, but why would the right coach go to BC considering what a dumpster fire the two major sports are?

RhowdyRam02 · Unread post by **RhowdyRam02** » 8 years ago

Rhody83 wrote:BC made a mistake going to the ACC. They will never recover.

That's like saying the Patriots made a mistake by keeping Tom Brady instead of Michael Bishop and will never recover. If you think otherwise, just look at UConn trying to navigate conference realignment waters. In other words, truepoint is exactly right, down to their problems stemming from their last Ad.

Bos8 · Unread post by **Bos8** » 8 years ago

I knew a guy who was a Duke fan and had BC season tickets, but only went to the Duke/BC game...

SmartyBarrett · Unread post by **SmartyBarrett** » 8 years ago

The two most recent times URI played at BC I'd say the crowd was about 70% Rhody fans... maybe more.

Rhody15 · Unread post by **Rhody15** » 8 years ago

Coaches can win there, Skinner was very successful, football was number two in the country and made back to back ACC championships. The former AD was an if it And canned the two most successful coaches in recent memory and now ther football and basketball programs are a complete joke.

Keaney.Blue · Unread post by **Keaney.Blue** » 8 years ago

RF1 wrote:
rodfromcranston wrote:Funny, Preston told me today, that moving to Creighton was a
"great career move" for him.
Says he's being treated very well and loves it.
He's excited about our program, and said he'll be following
during the season.
Maybe he saw the writing on the wall for the BC program.
He's gotten two top 50 kids for Creighton already,
so it must be a better place for any number of reasons.
Creighton is at the other extreme and doesn't have to worry about giving away tickets to get fans in the seats. They were #6 nationally in average home attendance last season drawing 289,808 to 17 games for an average of 17,048.

It also helps being the only game in town in Omaha, Nebraska! We played them my freshman year, nicest fans I've ever encountered. They actually applauded us as we went on the court!

Rhody83 · Unread post by **Rhody83** » 8 years ago

BC will never be competitive in basketball in the ACC no matter who the coach is.

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 8 years ago

Rhody83 wrote:BC will never be competitive in basketball in the ACC no matter who the coach is.

Al finished 3rd, 4th and T-5th in his 5 years in the ACC, and won the Big East 3 times when the Big East was on the same level as the ACC. So that is demonstrably wrong. I hate BC and have no desire to see them do well, but it is simply not true to say they can't be competitive.

You're also not offering any suggestion of what league would be better for them.

RF1 · Unread post by **RF1** » 8 years ago

Rhody83 wrote:BC made a mistake going to the ACC. They will never recover.

They will however get a lot of money from the league each season.

SmartyBarrett · Unread post by **SmartyBarrett** » 8 years ago

I also think comparing BC basketball to BC football is kind of unfair. Their football team at least went to a bowl game last year, and they get decent or better crowds for almost every game. Their basketball team is way, way worse off (as of right now) by comparison.

Ramulous · Unread post by **Ramulous** » 8 years ago

BC is academically inferior to providence college....

Rhody74 · Unread post by **Rhody74** » 8 years ago

My daughter's father in law is a BC alum and football season ticket holder. He has absolutely no interest in BC basketball and he says it's typical of many of his peers.

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 8 years ago

Some BC people care about hockey more than basketball. Lol. Tells you all you need to know about their fans.

Billyboy78 · Unread post by **Billyboy78** » 8 years ago

TruePoint wrote:Some BC people care about hockey more than basketball. Lol. Tells you all you need to know about their fans.

I think hockey has been a more popular sport than basketball in Boston for a long time, ever since #4 arrived in the mid 60s and probably even before that. Yes, the Celtics became popular during the Bird era. But until then, Boston was always a baseball and hockey town, even with all those championships for the Celtics in the 50s and 60s.

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 8 years ago

Yeah, but college basketball is a real sport and college hockey is not. Baseball is a more popular sport nationally than basketball, but at the college level it isn't. Basketball is the clear #2 college sport.

Billyboy78 · Unread post by **Billyboy78** » 8 years ago

TruePoint wrote:Yeah, but college basketball is a real sport and college hockey is not. Baseball is a more popular sport nationally than basketball, but at the college level it isn't. Basketball is the clear #2 college sport.

I'm not so sure in this area. The Beanpot is a huge event. My daughter goes to the University of Vermont. The hockey team is huge up there.

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 8 years ago

I grew up in this area and didn't even know PC had a hockey team until last year.

RhowdyRam02 · Unread post by **RhowdyRam02** » 8 years ago

TruePoint wrote:Yeah, but college basketball is a real sport and college hockey is not. Baseball is a more popular sport nationally than basketball, but at the college level it isn't. Basketball is the clear #2 college sport.

Come on man. Hockey isn't a real sport?

SmartyBarrett · Unread post by **SmartyBarrett** » 8 years ago

BC only has hockey fans because their hockey team wins (although I think that's more an indictment of their fan base than the sport itself).

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 8 years ago

RhowdyRam02 wrote:
TruePoint wrote:Yeah, but college basketball is a real sport and college hockey is not. Baseball is a more popular sport nationally than basketball, but at the college level it isn't. Basketball is the clear #2 college sport.
Come on man. Hockey isn't a real sport?

College hockey. It's a niche sport. I've always said that, my opinion hasn't changed.

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 8 years ago

SmartyBarrett wrote:BC only has hockey fans because their hockey team wins (although I think that's more an indictment of their fan base than the sport itself).

Yeah, kind of agree with both these points, but Billyboy is right that Boston is embarrassingly crazy about hockey. Only thing I don't really like about living here.

josephski · Unread post by **josephski** » 8 years ago

TruePoint wrote:Yeah, but college basketball is a real sport and college hockey is not. Baseball is a more popular sport nationally than basketball, but at the college level it isn't. Basketball is the clear #2 college sport.

How is college hockey not a real sport? And out of curiosity why do you dislike hockey so much?

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 8 years ago

josephski wrote:
TruePoint wrote:Yeah, but college basketball is a real sport and college hockey is not. Baseball is a more popular sport nationally than basketball, but at the college level it isn't. Basketball is the clear #2 college sport.
How is college hockey not a real sport? And out of curiosity why do you dislike hockey so much?

Compare the TV ratings for the football, basketball and hockey championship games last year. Hockey is a "real" sport in the same way that soccer and lacrosse are - it isn't the game itself that isn't real. It's just that outside of a few pockets of people around the country nobody cares about college hockey.

I don't hate hockey, I just am personally not that interested in it. And separately I think URI investing in hockey would be a terrible idea and I'd rather see resources devoted to basketball and football - the only two college sports that matter to the general public.

hrstrat57 · Unread post by **hrstrat57** » 8 years ago

This thread is very entertaining

josephski · Unread post by **josephski** » 8 years ago

TruePoint wrote:
josephski wrote:
TruePoint wrote:Yeah, but college basketball is a real sport and college hockey is not. Baseball is a more popular sport nationally than basketball, but at the college level it isn't. Basketball is the clear #2 college sport.
How is college hockey not a real sport? And out of curiosity why do you dislike hockey so much?
Compare the TV ratings for the football, basketball and hockey championship games last year. Hockey is a "real" sport in the same way that soccer and lacrosse are - it isn't the game itself that isn't real. It's just that outside of a few pockets of people around the country nobody cares about college hockey.

I don't hate hockey, I just am personally not that interested in it. And separately I think URI investing in hockey would be a terrible idea and I'd rather see resources devoted to basketball and football - the only two college sports that matter to the general public.

You're right but with that logic FBS football shouldn't be considered a real sport either.

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 8 years ago

josephski wrote:
TruePoint wrote:
josephski wrote: How is college hockey not a real sport? And out of curiosity why do you dislike hockey so much?
Compare the TV ratings for the football, basketball and hockey championship games last year. Hockey is a "real" sport in the same way that soccer and lacrosse are - it isn't the game itself that isn't real. It's just that outside of a few pockets of people around the country nobody cares about college hockey.

I don't hate hockey, I just am personally not that interested in it. And separately I think URI investing in hockey would be a terrible idea and I'd rather see resources devoted to basketball and football - the only two college sports that matter to the general public.
You're right but with that logic FBS football shouldn't be considered a real sport either.

I think you mean FCS football, and yes obviously FCS football is not on the same level as FBS football and that is why I think URI should focus first and foremost on basketball. We are veering wildly off topic and this subject and my views on it are easy to find elsewhere on the board if we want to revisit this conversation again. The reason I brought up hockey with respect to BC is that their fans have a, um, unique perspective on college sports and because their fan base is so odd and fair-weather it really puts their marquee sports programs at a disadvantage.

bigappleram · Unread post by **bigappleram** » 8 years ago

Not to sound like a d-bag but why is a thread about BCs attendance and subsequently the merits of Hockey vs other sports the top thread when we are hours away from the beginning of the most anticipated basketball season since 1999. Tip off cant come soon enough!

Puck Frovidence · Unread post by **Puck Frovidence** » 8 years ago

RF1 wrote:BC's home OOC schedule for this upcoming year is not what one would call very enticing:

St Francis-NY
Central Ct State
Harvard
Penn State (ACC-Big 10 Challenge)
UMass-Lowell
Maine
Delaware
New Hampshire

There may yet be several other games with free ticket promos.

Lol they've booked a decent little hockey schedule there. Honestly BC fans are weird in general. Friday and Saturday hockey games do well, but any other day of the week and it gets pretty empty in there (except for Beanpot and rivalry games like BU, Notre Dame, Minnesota, etc) Think Boston just has a lot of distractions, especially pro-sports-wise. Suspect hockey makes good ticket money, but the football Eagles are the ones putting lots of butts in the seats. That coaches vs cancer thing at TD was pretty cool for whipping up some local cbb excitement, I was really surprised/bummed they stopped this year.

RF1 · Unread post by **RF1** » 8 years ago

Puck Frovidence wrote: That coaches vs cancer thing at TD was pretty cool for whipping up some local cbb excitement, I was really surprised/bummed they stopped this year.

I believe a big reason it stopped was because it failed to attract many fans. The triple-header at the TD Garden last year featuring SIX local MA teams (BC/Harvard/BU/Northeastern/Holy Cross/UMass-Amherst) drew a paltry combined attendance of just 5,112. The TD Garden seats 18,624 for hoops.

Puck Frovidence · Unread post by **Puck Frovidence** » 8 years ago

RF1 wrote:I believe a big reason it stopped was because it failed to attract many fans. The triple-header at the TD Garden last year featuring SIX local MA teams (BC/Harvard/BU/Northeastern/Holy Cross/UMass-Amherst) drew a paltry combined attendance of just 5,112. The TD Garden seats 18,624 for hoops.

Ooh that's brutal. It did look thin on NESN at times... bet a four team RI tourney at the dunk could almost double that. Still too bad though, it was a cool idea and enjoyable on the tube.

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