MBB attendance VS performance

[HU95]

Long time reader over on the old CAAZone...just had to comment on the attendance issue. Sorry if long-winded.

Unfortunately, HU has always had the attitude that people would come just because we're Hofstra. The sad reality is that I have never seen any attempt to reach out to the community to get them interested in Dutch (sorry) sports. Just to give you an idea, as you can tell from my name, I go back to the Mary Beth Cary commercials.

On the other hand, I currently live out in Suffolk County. Although I have brought my son to the Mack multiple times for BB, when we go to our local McDonalds, on each tray is a paper with the Stony Brook Men's & Women's schedules & a coupon for Buy 1 get 1 tix. My son has now been asking me to take him to SB for a game. Obviously, advertising works.

Additionally, in the fall, SB had a booth set up at the local town fair. This is something the HU can easily do at local events. In the absence of accomplishing anything (NCAA appearance), you need to make people WANT to come.

[Wags]

Stony Brook avg attendance for mens basketball is 3,218 for Hofstra its 1,314. Stony brook womens attendance is 667 Hofstras is 166. Thats embarrassing.

I'm not a Newsday subscriber, but for any who are, does HU put ads for games in there? I would think that would work for the daily Newsday sports section reader who glances at the articles of Hofstra's games over the season. If they start seeing that Hofstra is winning and there's talk of an NCAA tourney berth, I think a lot of them would start seeing those articles, and especially if there are full-page, or half-page color ads for upcoming games in that sports section, many of them might be intrigued to come to The Mack and check out what they hype is about -- provided HU does it's part by building some hype through winning and staying as the team to beat in the CAA. Another problem though are the opponents. That type of buzz was generated on its own when Mason visited as a Top 25 team years ago. When no other CAA opponent is even close to that, it's tough to generate the buzz. Still, win and they will come. Give it time this month and the next.

As for the students, they'll likewise catch on and will show up as long as HU keeps winning. It's still early January, in the midst of a 3-game road trip. Keep winning, and I think the Lion's Den fills up later this month.

[HUSID80]

They are NOT advertising in Newsday and it is a big mistake for at least two reasons. Agreed the paper is still the news of choice for LI and many read it for the sports including high school coverage and secondly if we were advertising in Newsday I believe we would get more coverage....How do I know this? Because we did it several years back when Jenkins was still here. We ran an ADVERTORIAL(similar to what the Ducks run) in advance of every home game, talking ABOUT THE OPPOnENT, HIGHLIGHTING Hofstra PLAYERS AND PROMOTING WHATEVER giveaway/promotion was running...I believe it was VERY successful in drawing fans; in fact, the year we did it we averaged over 3,000 fans per home game...pretty damned good...We also received very good Newsday coverage.

For a program that is spending around $3 million, surely they can spend $30-40K on some advertising.

[bobe13]

Agree 100% with last post

[Wags]

They are NOT advertising in Newsday and it is a big mistake for at least two reasons. Agreed the paper is still the news of choice for LI and many read it for the sports including high school coverage and secondly if we were advertising in Newsday I believe we would get more coverage....How do I know this? Because we did it several years back when Jenkins was still here. We ran an ADVERTORIAL(similar to what the Ducks run) in advance of every home game, talking ABOUT THE OPPOnENT, HIGHLIGHTING Hofstra PLAYERS AND PROMOTING WHATEVER giveaway/promotion was running...I believe it was VERY successful in drawing fans; in fact, the year we did it we averaged over 3,000 fans per home game...pretty damned good...We also received very good Newsday coverage.

For a program that is spending around $3 million, surely they can spend $30-40K on some advertising.

And that's why I asked. I had a feeling.

That's a really bad job to not spend a small percentage of the overall budget on some Newsday advertising -- which would probably pay for itself -- on Nassau county's only D-1 hoops team, in Long Island's biggest paper. It should almost be automatic. And yet it's not done at all? Makes no sense.

If even the Cosmos advertise in Newsday and the Daily News (because I have seen it), how the heck does Hofstra Hoops not at least advertise in the major newspaper that is run in its own backyard?!?!

Was there any such advertising or similar advertising for the Harlem Globetrotters games? It was mostly because there were so many kids in attendance (and because of the Globetrotters' world famous brand), but there was still a pretty good crowd for that. People wouldn't have known about that by word of mouth, so I'm guessing that had to be advertised in a number of places.

It's not as if Hofstra Hoops DOESN'T advertise, but the money isn't spent wisely. LIRR passengers viewing ads at platforms as their train pulls in a for a few seconds aren't going to be enticed to go see a Hofstra basketball game. People who regularly read the Newsday sports section, however, are a lot more likely to see an ad and catch a game. It's not rocket science.

[stuball888]

SBu does advertizing on the LIRR o9ut easy because the train stops right on campus. They also have posters up in stores on 347 and the smithtown mall. Leave Hempstead turnpike in hempstead and uniondale and there is 0% hofstra presence.

[ZMAN3]

Could advertise in Newsday with a buy one ticket/get one free coupon

[Polito]

right on the $ HUSID, and that's an idea similar to ones I have had Z, this really is not THAT difficult, it's just that whoever is in charge of HU athletic marketing hasn't done a damn thing, and it has to be addressed.

and correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't recall the CJ years being teams that were particularly very good, none that really had a true shot at the NCAA's... they were just about watching a great future NBA guy in CJ - but it was marketed, it was promoted, there was at least some buzz created and it was a pretty well attended year - what's happening this yr is an absolute disgrace, and it isn't anyone's fault except those in charge of it, PERIOD. Fans don't just magically show up because you think in your head that they should because well why not

YOU HAVE TO PROMOTE - and this team quite frankly has a zillion things to promote - to not have fans in the seats this season is 100% cause for heads to roll so to speak - I want to know who's in charge of this - they need to be called out.

look for a fun new thread from me...

[stuball888]

HUSID80 this is for you. I have the average attendance for mens basketball since the 2001 season
2001-2002 2,555
2002-2003 2,011
2003-2004 2,126
2004-2005 2,352
2005-2006 3,023
2006-2007 3,623
2007-2008 2,740
2008-2009 2,681
2009-2010 2,410
2010-2011 3,073
2011-2012 2,403
2012-2013 1,936
2013-2014 1,468
2014-2015 1,834
This just confirms what HUSID80 did during the 2005 to 2011 era. No reason with the CAA preseason player of the year and #1 pick for CAA champions coming off a 20 win season why we should be drawing flies now.

[stuball888]

The mens and womens team have sort of mirrored each other over the past 10 years or so. While the men had Charles Jenkins the women had Shante Evans.here are the womens attendence over that same time period. It also bears out what HUSID80 has stated.
2001-2002 429
2002-2003 660
2003-2004 749
2004-2005 783
2005-2006 702
2006-2007 901
2007-2008 559
2008-2009 482
2009-2010 522
2010-2011 628
2011-2012 906
2012-2013 770
2013-2014 391
2014-2015 532
So Polito what is your take on us?

[Flying Dutchmen]

Truthfully, how important is advertising for our program? A few hundred seats if that?

The attendance numbers show it, when we're good, people show up, when we suck, when we play pathetic OOC opponents, empty seats galore.

Also, how many of those tickets in the attendance numbers just pure giveaways, has the policy changed with Hathaway? Maybe they should change it back honestly, I rather have people showing up for free then not at all.

It's just so easy nowadays to get information about the games, people 40 and younger probably do not read the newspaper at all. I just think the product on the court, and the quality/prominence of opponent completely drives ticket sales. The game information is readily available at the click of a button. I will say we need something to get people to click that button, but some hype in the bracketology, and other third party write-ups will work, the targeted audience is reading those articles anyway.

[stuball888]

Flying Dutchman here is the situation. If we win they will show up. Ok last season both teams won 20 games and were in the post season. Where are the fans? Both teams men and women are on pace for the lowest attendance fiqures since we opened the Mack and joined the CAA. We have the CAA preseason player of the year. We have the womens CAA rookie of the year from last season. Is Hofstra just going to be reactive instead of proactive in getting fannies into the seats? The other div1 program on Long Island in the middle of nowhere somehow gets 2 1/2 times more for its mens games and almost 4 times more for its womens games. what are they doing that we are not?

[Flying Dutchmen]

Flying Dutchman here is the situation. If we win they will show up. Ok last season both teams won 20 games and were in the post season. Where are the fans? Both teams men and women are on pace for the lowest attendance fiqures since we opened the Mack and joined the CAA. We have the CAA preseason player of the year. We have the womens CAA rookie of the year from last season. Is Hofstra just going to be reactive instead of proactive in getting fannies into the seats? The other div1 program on Long Island in the middle of nowhere somehow gets 2 1/2 times more for its mens games and almost 4 times more for its womens games. what are they doing that we are not?

Well first off SBU has a larger alumni base, and the fact they are way out on LI allows them to be the only show in town. But more importantly, SBU has been top two in the America East for five years, hosted multiple AE championships, it's fairly obvious that's why their fanbase has been coming out more than ours.

Ok sure, we won 20 games which is a meaningless number considering how many games the team now plays, but we got blown out on the two Saturday's when the students came out, so the students just never came back. We finished 5th in the CAA, the team never built any hype last year, it was unfortunate.

Our attendance will go up if we're in first when the students come back, and we put some W's up at home. The poor play and laptop scandal has eroded the student fanbase, but this group of guys is likable and an exciting team to watch, so I think we see that overall attendance jump over 2k by March.

[HUSID80]

What percentage of the attendance do you think is actually students????? Pretty low is my estimate

[stuball888]

MY point exactly. To tell the truth I have given up on the students. Let face it about 40% of them probably dont know of the scandal if you asked them. Excuse #2 so the only way we get fans is if we are #1 in the CAA or about that. It has happened only once in 13 years. You think 2K is good attendance. So 40% capacity is acceptable. In that case close down the mack center and use it exclusively for trade shows. We can easily squeeze 1,500 for men and 500 for women in the PFC center. Lets get back to the commuter school theory. How many in dorms, about 4K and we cant even get 2% of the students in. 5 years from now will we still be hearing its poor attendance due to the theft scandal. Thats like blaming Bush for the Iran nuclear deal.

[stuball888]

I hate beating this dead horse but here is another example. Hofstra plays their first conference game on dec 31st. new years eve. Now most people have off or get off early. the 1PM start does not interfere with plans that night. We drew 1,293. SBU womens team played today 1/6 at 12 noon. Now no one I know unless you are retired is off. Kids are in class so I expect no one would so show up. They drew 1,045. So we only outdrew Stony Brooks womens by less than 250. WTF is going on here. Our mens team draws like mid major womens teams.

[ProudofPride]

Have SBU's attendance numbers gone up significantly for both teams since their new arena was built?
I feel bad for our women's team, having their best season in 10 years, and right now they're the best team in the conference and only a handful of people go to the games. And men have the best chance to make some noise since 2010-11 with Jenkins, and they barely draw any fans. Our women already proved that they're the best women's team on Long Island, since they already beat SBU this season, and they're ranked number 17 (best in the CAA, including better than JMU) in the same Mid-Major Poll that SBU is getting two measly votes in. The team can't do much more to attract fans to games, and it's to fans to step and go, and to the school to market the team. Same goes for the men, although it would help if the men played better at home and played better teams.

[garyg]

With the money being invested and the lack of support does anyone think program in jeopardy of being dropped to D-III ???

[stuball888]

never happen But how does rabinowitz address the BOT with numbers like this. Numbers dont lie. You cut football due to lack of interest. 4.5 mil with 4,000 attendance and only 400 students at the game. But it is OK to invest 3.2 mil and get 1,300 and only lets say 50 students to a mens basketball game. remember its an indoor venue so weather is not a factor.

[Polito]

NO. There is ZERO chance of this guys. Please, let's stop even entertaining this idea - that's how bad rumors get started. That has never been even a discussion IMO unless someone with real cred can show me PROOF otherwise. HU is all for having a quality D1 dept, and they do. They NEVER would've bothered with JM and vice versa if anything other than that was true. Now it's about getting them to commit FULLY - to make that 'all in' type move and make this an absolute priority.

I know what you're saying FD, but allow me to help clarify - it is not all about having a great product. That helps, BUT it's really about marketing the absolute hell out of what you have - FEATURES and BENEFITS - if it was all about a good product how could McDonald's be what it is?

Why does Coca Cola even bother anymore? They are in basically every country in the WORLD, and you'd have to travel to the depths of a remote 3rd world jungle to find a human who either has never tasted it or never seen their logo - it's the most recognized brand on the entire planet. No need to market anymore right? Obviously wrong. Coca Cola spent almost 3.5 BILLION (< yep that's a B) in 2013 on advertising - crazy right? Wanna know what their plan was going forward? To INCREASE it...by *1 BILLION* by 2016.

The most famous brand in the known world who puts out a great product and has global recognition is putting MORE into marketing. But we think HU supporters should just 'show up' ? LOL, um, no.

The scandal is so far old news I bet 85% of the campus doesn't even know it happened - that's a non-factor. And it's DEF a non-factor for the community. What IS a factor is that most people don't even realize there is a high quality *D1* program at HU with next level talent and a shot to make national noise in their own backyard, playing in a beautiful facility and costs nothing more than a couple of bucks

I can't think of a better sporting event to keep your kids occupied with family fun for any cheaper - or watch top notch D1 ball - or continue following top local players - or support your community - or get a break from whatever - or just about a million things that can be marketed about this

I was there NYE game with the Mrs, and we took our 2 1/2 yr old twins... and they had a blast - as did we. And it was a joke $ wise. But see I KNOW that already - HU has GOT to educate the rest of Long Island - There's about a million and half in Nassau and Suffolk, plus another 1.5-2.5 million each in Queens and Brooklyn (if not more) - there is no excuse for this winning quality program to not avg a measely 2500 fans a game.

I GUARANTEE a quality marketing firm could accomplish that as soon as THIS season, and at worst NEXT with the proper ideas and appropriate budget. Ain't that tough, just have to actually CARE about it.