What will make attendance better?

[Tommy]

And, sorry to vent, but to those who are blaming the drops in attendance on the "older fans" who actually do attend the games, or blaming Bradley for "catering" to the old people, that is complete BS. Everything about the games is catered to younger fans- the loud music, the intolerable hip-hop stuff, the loud, obnoxious MC, the promotional games for students during timeouts, the dance cam, the t-shirt toss, the kids' game ball presentation, and many other promotions, all the high-tech stuff like the scoreboard videos, and the flashing cell-phone strobe-light intros, the special ticket pricing for kids, and free stuff for students, and much more.
Us "old folks" would be there even if all that stuff disappeared, and it's the younger generations who shun quality live sports and stay home to watch the video stream, or play games on their PlayStation or text and socialize on electronic media. It's the older fans who buy the great majority of season tickets, and donate the overwhelming majority of money to support Bradley athletics. If not for the "older fans", Bradley would be where Valparaiso or Evansville are, or worse, maybe D2 or D3 by now.

Couldn't agree with this more, Coach.

My thoughts on dropping attendance:
1. I believe we were on the rise until COVID, weren't we? Coach, can you confirm? COVID had a devastating effect on attendance for obvious reasons, and cost them a lot of season ticket holders, I'm sure. There are still many people that avoid social situations since the big COVID scare and being an older fanbase, this probably had an unusually large effect on BU. I think this is the single biggest effect on the attendance numbers personally.

2. Many season tickets are no doubt bought by companies/corporations. The company I work for purchases them every year and we've seen our company seats empty quite a few times, and I doubt they'd still be buying them every year if Dub were not in charge of it. At any rate, the COVID scare affected more than just older fans as people just got used to not going to games when they weren't allowed to and I'm sure this has caused many companies and individuals to give up their season tickets. I'd be curious to see how many season ticket holders have been lost were corporate/company purchases.

3. Season ticket prices go up every year. We've been in the same seats for quite some time now and they cost us more money every year. I used to buy multiple tickets, but now, I just buy one for myself and if I need more I buy the cheapest ones I can get and my guest(s) just move down by where we sit or we move somewhere else if there isn't enough room.

4. Just my feeling, but I've got to think that the pay for play and the no penalty transfers have discouraged some from coming as well. The way they've set it up, the mid-majors are going to feel like the recruiting fields for the power conferences and people are not going to want to see their team's best players leaving every year. I'll be honest, if that starts happening with BU, I'm not sure I'd continue to come, but I am optimistic that all of it will work itself out as I'm sure it will cause as many problems as solve for the big boys. Time will tell.

The comments below are all pretty insightful and bring up many good points. Winning helps, but intentionality would really help get the attendance back up and it just doesn't seem like there is much of a marketing push for BU basketball right now. They've done a few things like the kids free night, so let's hope they expand those type of events.

Also, the customer service seems to be an issue and I've seen a lot of complaints on this board about the ticket office and the Braves club in particular, just to name a couple. It would no doubt benefit them to do everything they can to go above and beyond in providing the best customer service possible to make it an easy and enjoyable experience, but I understand the reality is that its extremely difficult to get the type of employees that can excel in that area these days.

As far as moving to the Renaissance Coliseum, that is an interesting idea. Seats about 4200 people and that would be interesting to see how many would be filled with season ticket holders and how the pricing would work as you got closer to center court. Wasn't aware that Bradley didn't get any cut from concessions, so honestly wonder why they're still there. On the downside of the Coliseum, parking is terrible and getting in and out takes quite a bit more time, so I'd rather see them try to renegotiate a better contract with the Civic Center before making that move.

[Canton BU fan]

I will expand on your post. Most teams including ours do not place there hand over their heart. None of our kids do and i can except the non USA kids but not the rest of them. Last night ONE player from EU DID place his hand over his heart and it is rarely happening. It is something I watch every game. Our Coaches do but our players do NOT. Sorry if this doesn't bother you but if does me.

It's the heads down the whole anthem that got my attention more than hand on heart. Then at the same time recognize a verteran each game.

[Da Coach]

My thoughts on dropping attendance:
1. I believe we were on the rise until COVID, weren't we?

Yes, we were holding steady and starting to trend up slightly until the 2020-21 Covid year when no fans were allowed at any games.
Check the list of yearly attendance numbers in post #3 on the first page of this thread.-
https://www.bradleyfans.com/forum/sp...117#post506117

I don't know all the reasons for the substantial drop in these 2 seasons post-Covid ban on attendance, but maybe some of the fans learned how to stream, and got used to watching the games on TV, and now are slow to return to the live games. I know a few people who had never streamed anything in their life until that season, and they reluctantly learned how to stream ESPN+. A couple friends even had to buy "smart TVs", something they never thought they needed, in order to watch the streamed games. But I also believe the suggestions about fans getting older, retiring and moving away, or just losing interest, continued fear concerning Covid, and the younger fans lack of interest in live sports events all are part of the reason for the drops.

[The Old Guy]

I suggest that Chris Reynolds and Brian Wardle meet with a group consisting of Fraternity and Sorority presidents plus student Senate officers and honestly discuss why students don’t attend games and what needs to happen to get students to attend. Then the Athletic Dept needs to follow up on the suggestions and make their best effort to follow the students suggestions.

[braves16]

The Illinois State game should always be on a Saturday both home and away.

[Nashville Cat]

I suggest that Chris Reynolds and Brian Wardle meet with a group consisting of Fraternity and Sorority presidents plus student Senate officers and honestly discuss why students don’t attend games and what needs to happen to get students to attend. Then the Athletic Dept needs to follow up on the suggestions and make their best effort to follow the students suggestions.

I don't disagree with you. However, free tickets, free transportation and free pizza have already been offered with tepid response. What else is there?

[BUfan17]

I think we have a winner here.... When the attendance plummeted because of the Glasser/Cross/Geno era, recall that we heard people say, "just win and the fans will come back". The administration in 2012 responded by raising ticket prices substantially, and attendance nosedived much more.
Well, Bradley is winning now, 17 straight, and the attendance keeps dropping to all-time lows.
The ticket prices are way too high. That, IMO, is the #1 reason.

My wife and I had a couple of guests with us last night, and they had a terrific time and greatly enjoyed watching the game. They are suddenly now big Bradley fans. They wanted to plan a few more future games, but when they learned what the ticket price is for the sidecourt seats, they aren't sure they can afford to go again.
Tickets in the lower bowl on the side court (sections 101,112,114,and 124) are listed at $65 each, but after fees and tax, are over $85 each. Tickets in sections 102 & 113 are listed even higher, $75 each, but become $97.80 each after paying the additional fees.
Upper bowl tickets are listed at $35 each, but become $48.60 after fees.
Available tickets for the next home game- https://www.ticketmaster.com/bradley...005D3C969A1410 (zoom in and cursor over any of the numerous available seats)
Yes, there are $10 tickets ($17.85 after fees are added), but those seats just don't generate the same enthusiasm nor create new fans.

I have been to every other MVC arena (except now Murray State) over the last couple decades, and never paid more than $30 for the ideal side-court lower bowl tickets. I recently went to the game at Belmont in Nashville, and paid $24 for great seats in row 4 directly behind the Bradley bench. Because I bought them directly from the Belmont website and not Ticketmaster, there were no additional fees. To summarize, if someone wanted to drive fans away, they would do exactly what Bradley is doing.

Part of me has to think the Civic Center has something to do with these higher prices. I love Bradley Basketball but it just isn't worth that much to go to a game and pay $65 for a decent seat, or pay $10 to sit up high up in a already half empty arena. Especially when I can just stream the game from the comfort of my home.

This would be a different issue if Bradley was playing quality opponents at home or making multiple trips to the NCAA tournament, then I think the demand would be there for the tickets regardless of the price. It is just basic supply and demand. Look at Gonzaga for example, they play in a small 6000 capacity arena yet every game is sold out. Tickets go for hundreds on secondary market, and you aren't going unless you pay that or know someone with season tickets. Their season ticket waitlist is also years long.

I'm not saying Bradley should just be giving away tickets or anything like that but we should at least be regularly filling the lower bowl, this current team deserves to play in front a crowd like we used to have.

[Stryker]

IMO:

1) A large portion of the fan base has aged out. I graduated from the hilltop in 08' and at that time a large portion of the attendance was elderly. I don't want to downplay this group's contribution to BU basketball though. They are the ones buying the expensive season tickets and contributing to the Braves Club. They are critical. However, many of them are just gone.

2) Glasser/Cross era really ruined the product for a lot of people, which everyone here knows well. I attended a lot of games after graduating but once it became clear how the Glasser era was shaping up I stopped attending regularly.

3) Prices are too high. Now that I have my own kids who I want to bring to games, it is $40+ just for bad tickets. If we want to eat or drink anything there plus the cost of gas to get to downtown peoria etc, I'm looking at $60+ for 2 hrs of entertainment. It is doable some but I won't be dropping $500+ on BU basketball every season.

4) No doubt about it, quality of home opponents has fallen off a cliff the past 15 years. Non-conference home opponents have been terrible. I'm not necessarily saying that this can be improved given the current mens basketball environment, but if it can I think it would help a lot. Maybe the greatest live sporting event I have ever attended was when Michigan State came to Carver in 07'. 11,000+ fans, standing room only, I lost my voice at half time, the mats over the ice were literally vibrating under my feet (1st row of the student section), it was amazing. Also the quality of MVC opponents has fallen as well. While Evansville isn't always as bad as they are now, a 340 NET team or whatever is just so bad to watch. They scored 5 points in about 17 minutes of the 2nd half this week. And when other conference opponents like UIC & Valpo, both not much better, it just won't draw eyeballs. Teams like Wichita and Creighton put people in seats. The conference has gotten weaker.

5) My generation just doesn't do live events quite like they used too. Part of this is COVID, a lot of it is that most young families have both parents working outside the home. Makes it hard to attend events like this especially as other kids activities ramp up. Many industries have been negatively impacted by this, like golfing/country clubs, and other social activities. My generation has more avenues for entertainment than ever before, and most of them can be consumed at home.

Its sad to see the state of things right now for sure. When I was in school during the Les era the student section was always full, as was the lower bowl. While official attendance was always really high, some games probably had 5,000-7,000 people actually there. A lot better than it is now.

I have noticed attendance can be great if the right promos are run, like the Loyola game last year. While student attendance is important, and BU needs to get more them to games, the real focus should be on the local population. Those are the people that won't be leaving after a couple years and they can make generational fan progress as well. BU should be running promos almost every game to get school kids in the door and in the upper bowl.

I used to hate the idea of having basketball games on campus. However, if the on campus stadium can be retrofitted to about 6,000 and a solution to parking was available, it could make a lot of sense at this point. Clearly I don't have all the answers on fixing attendance. I feel with Kaboom and other promos over the past 5 years that a strong attempt was made at promoting the product. Just not sure where it can go from here. Winning helps.

[Jim]

And, sorry to vent, but to those who are blaming the drops in attendance on the "older fans" who actually do attend the games, or blaming Bradley for "catering" to the old people, that is complete BS. Everything about the games is catered to younger fans- the loud music, the intolerable hip-hop stuff, the loud, obnoxious MC, the promotional games for students during timeouts, the dance cam, the t-shirt toss, the kids' game ball presentation, and many other promotions, all the high-tech stuff like the scoreboard videos, and the flashing cell-phone strobe-light intros, the special ticket pricing for kids, and free stuff for students, and much more.
Us "old folks" would be there even if all that stuff disappeared, and it's the younger generations who shun quality live sports and stay home to watch the video stream, or play games on their PlayStation or text and socialize on electronic media. It's the older fans who buy the great majority of season tickets, and donate the overwhelming majority of money to support Bradley athletics. If not for the "older fans", Bradley would be where Valparaiso or Evansville are, or worse, maybe D2 or D3 by now.

I couldn't agree with you more Da Coach! The very loud music is annoying but could be more tolerable if "younger people" actually attended the games and enjoyed that type of music. I agree the MC is very obnoxious. He adds nothing to the attending the game experience. The combination of him screaming and the worn out speaker system serving section 124 make it impossible to understand most of what he says.
Give me a break, blaming the older people that actually attend the games and stating catering to old people are causing drops in attendance could not be more further than the truth. Without the support of the old folks Bradley would be playing to a nearly empty arena.

[BUfan14]

I’m not student age, but not “older” either, and I would say these are my thoughts:

1. I’ve probably always been an “old soul” in terms of my interests and tastes. I don’t love loud or modern music much. Give me an acoustic figure and I’m good. However, that’s not the case for most in my generation. It is a tough balancing act because to a certain extent you have to play to younger people’s interests or eventually you will have no one left because older fans won’t be around forever. I love baseball the old fashion way as a non-timed relaxing game, but younger people generally don’t and that’s the MLB’s problem too right now.

2. At the same time, for a program like Bradley the older fans are its lifeblood right now. It’s a tough balancing act between young and older fans.

3. It’s harder to get invested in programs when the team changes every year with the new rules. I’m not saying I even disagree kids should have more pay or choice, but it’s created other problems to solve. I don’t know what the right answer is there. Having said that, Bradley did have some returning players and hype this year as much as a modern mid-major can expect, and it hasn’t seemed to matter much.

4. I’m not sure if power teams will even do 2 for 1s anymore, but maybe even more scheduling deals with other upper level mid majors (established, known programs). I don’t see what that’s not possible. We don’t see to do that much.

5. I don’t think the streaming is hurting young people attendance much. Young people aren’t generally watching cable tv anyway, and sports interest is less in younger generations unless they are playing them. It’s all about promoting one’a self now.

6. I do think more student would go if it was on campus and easy. Also experience is a big factor right now. The college game day type atmosphere with students jumping up and down along with a loud arena are a draw. This would happen more in a smaller arena. I just don’t see, baring a final four Loyola type run, Carver being filled like it used to be no matter what Bradley does due to societal factors. Maybe they could make it a “family” event like some are saying and try to attract people that way, but I’m not sure it’ll work.

To me, keep winning, hopefully eventfully on a national stage (NCAA tournament or beat ranked teams - cause that’s what the kids check), and move to campus (the 6200 seat expansion sounds good enough if still possible) to create a better student and overall atmosphere. Do more scheduling with upper level mid-majors that are well known programs and 2-for-1 with power teams if at all possible. Even do this with lower power teams, because with the new rules programs can change year to year anyway in terms of how good they are. Find a balance between younger game day happenings and a family/older generation happenings in terms of what is presented during games.

As someone who doesn’t live in the immediate Peoria area, as mentioned, the ticket prices are a huge factor for me too. I can’t afford nice seats very often.

[bradleyfan124]

Win!!!!

[bradleyfan124]

Part of me has to think the Civic Center has something to do with these higher prices. I love Bradley Basketball but it just isn't worth that much to go to a game and pay $65 for a decent seat, or pay $10 to sit up high up in a already half empty arena. Especially when I can just stream the game from the comfort of my home.

This would be a different issue if Bradley was playing quality opponents at home or making multiple trips to the NCAA tournament, then I think the demand would be there for the tickets regardless of the price. It is just basic supply and demand. Look at Gonzaga for example, they play in a small 6000 capacity arena yet every game is sold out. Tickets go for hundreds on secondary market, and you aren't going unless you pay that or know someone with season tickets. Their season ticket waitlist is also years long.

I'm not saying Bradley should just be giving away tickets or anything like that but we should at least be regularly filling the lower bowl, this current team deserves to play in front a crowd like we used to have.

I am not privy to negotiations between Civic Center and Bradley but it just seems like the Civic Center is not very accommodating to Bradley. Prices are high, too many snafus when it comes to normal operations( ticket office and open only one entrance gate at one time). A few weeks ago parking lot prices were $7 per person now they are $10. I know it is being picky but it is annoying people. Hopefully not to the point where they will quit coming

[BUfan14]

Win!!!!

In addition to everything in my previous comment, I will say this seems to be more important to younger generations. Loyalty is not a huge things in sports anymore. Pro sports has been geared to be either you are a championship contender or you tank. Being in the middle is not a thing. Kids all love the Warriors or Bucks when the Bulls are bad. Bandwagon fans are a big thing right now. Very few teams carry a brand that gives them fans no matter what. Even the Cubs now lose attendance when they aren't winning. The Bulls even had fading attendance at the end of the Gar/Pax years despite the Jordan era still giving them more of brand power than most teams' pasts.

Very few kids want to root for a mid-major unless there is a family connection/fan, or they are winning a lot. Kids want to be on the championship bandwagon. Loyola became more talked about with kids because of beating Illinois and making tournament runs. Winning and building that tradition of big wins over a longer stretch of time is important to attract younger audiences. We need to start at least winning the Valley a couple of times in the regular season. I actually think that is more valuable than the conference tournament championships, because sometimes people associating winning conference tournaments with luck more than sustained success.

[Bradley8792]

Something I noticed when I came to Bradley in the 80’s was the longevity of the administration and athletic department staff. They were in it for the long haul. Think Martin Abegg, Ron Ferguson. Seems like BU has now become a stepping stone for staff moving on to the next big opportunity. The constant turnover means new people who don’t know “how it was done” back when things were going really well. And the newer staff all want to come up with the next big idea (usually copied from another school) that they think will help them get the next job. I think this is the new norm and we might have to accept it.

And I agree, the emcee adds nothing to the experience. BU has an excellent communication department that specializes in sports. Give that opportunity to a student.

[Buesch N Chips]

Aren't most of the problems solved (except parking) if they move to RenCol?