Fans and Student Section

[acoustimac]

I saw a thread in the men's forum and thought I'd start a parallel thread here. What's up with the fan base for women's basketball? We have SOLD over 10K tickets and yet game after game (even during the "streak") we probably have 3-4K show up. Then to make matters worse, this is one of the most passive crowds I've seen. There wasn't a big cheer yesterday until the end of the game.

To make matters worse, the students are barely represented. What will it take to get the students to show up for the Sisters? It's embarrassing to have the end of the stadium void of bodies. If the students won't show, reduce their section and sell the tickets to donors!

 

[wxman1]

Let me get this out up front. My wife and I while in school were at every home mens and women's game.

Women's basketball overall is viewed as not as good, slow, boring and overall less interesting than the men's game. You can make arguments both ways around those issues. There is also a good number of people who think the only sports we should have and should ever be shown on TV are football and men's basketball. Attendance for women's sports is always less than men's. Hell look at UConn, Stanford, Baylor and Tennessee they are all well regarded and generally very good. Yet most of the time they don't have great attendance.

Add those factors into a struggling season and you have the recipe for mediocre attendance. There has never been much of a student crowd for their games and unless they give out swimsuit posters or calendars of the players, dance team or cheer squad there won't be. Those would just become GA tickets, most donors don't want to have a basket in the way and a bad sight line for the other end of the floor.

 

[3TrueFans]

Women's basketball overall is viewed as not as good, slow, boring and overall less interesting than the men's game.

Pretty much this, coupled with the fact that they're pretty average and that doesn't bode well for attendance or excitement.

 

[Tornado man]

Fennelly's offense is different now - not the constant motion, screens, pick and rolls, quick interior passes, etc. that characterized the program when he was building it. Now, it's lots of stationary offensive sets and long shots from beyond the arc. Megan Taylor would not recognize the offense that we play now. For the casual fan, it's just not as entertaining. Thus, even though they may have bought season tix to support the program, they find it easier to attend to other appointment/events on their calendar instead of the game. For example, last night's game was not spectator-friendly, just not very entertaining.

 

[cyclone101]

I'll be honest, I haven't been to a game since my freshman year. It's just not as exciting. If we were a top 5 team, I MIGHT go to a couple games. It's just hard to go from watching alley oops, put back dunks, and high flying rebounds to layup, another layup, and 50% 3 point shooting because they use the same size basketball as 6th grade girls.

 

[casey1973]

I wonder because most all the home games are on Cyclone.tv now with the crazy cold weather its pretty inviting to watch from home. Just a guess and I too think the game has become a bit less exciting for whatever reason.

 

[cydney]

...We have SOLD over 10K tickets and yet game after game (even during the "streak") we probably have 3-4K show up. Then to make matters worse, this is one of the most passive crowds I've seen. There wasn't a big cheer yesterday until the end of the game.

To make matters worse, the students are barely represented. What will it take to get the students to show up for the Sisters? ...

The fans are in the upper decks, and so I'm pretty sure there are well over 5000 fans, not quite as dismal as you suggest.

As for students, it is disappointing. It just doesn't seem to be the "cool" place to be. Some students may want the excitement of men's BB, but some would come hang out at WBB if it was perceived differently. Students go to other athletics events in better numbers, such as soccer games.

Fennelly's offense is different now - not the constant motion, screens, pick and rolls, quick interior passes, etc. that characterized the program when he was building it. ... Thus, even though they may have bought season tix to support the program, they find it easier to attend to other appointment/events on their calendar instead of the game. For example, last night's game was not spectator-friendly, just not very entertaining.

Although the style of the game is different, I would not call it not entertaining. It was very entertaining to watch Hallie score 29 points!

However, people do have more options now than 15 years ago. They can watch it on the web on cyclones.tv, follow the play-by-play blog, etc. There may be more people following the team then back then but they have more ways to do so.

Of course, their play the past few weeks has made it hard work to watch the games.

 

[Tornado man]

Although the style of the game is different, I would not call it not entertaining. It was very entertaining to watch Hallie score 29 points!

However, people do have more options now than 15 years ago. They can watch it on the web on cyclones.tv, follow the play-by-play blog, etc. There may be more people following the team then back then but they have more ways to do so.

Of course, their play the past few weeks has made it hard work to watch the games.

Yes, Hallie's play was very entertaining! Forgot to mention that the cold, snowy and icy winter has had an effect too. Like every other WBB venue I can think of, we have a large percentage of our fan base that are elderly - they are justifiably worried about slips and/or falls on the ice, and are bothered more by the cold weather. They would rather be at Hilton than watch it on TV, but their concerns are there nonetheless. You can't discount that as another factor for the no-shows.

 

[C.John]

Honestly I thought the crowd was pretty good last night, it got loud at times and it was a pretty exciting finish.

 

[cyking]

Honestly I thought the crowd was pretty good last night, it got loud at times and it was a pretty exciting finish.[/QUOTE
I also thought the game and crowd was very good and big.

 

[gocubs2118]

The ISU women's team has been spoiled by the fan support it's gotten. Have you guys seen some of the arenas these teams play in and how empty they are?

I'm sure Fennelly is very thankful for the fan support because a lot of schools couldn't give a **** about anything that's not football and men's basketball.

 

[awd4cy]

Most people find women's basketball boring. That's why.

 

[Thompsonclone]

In all my years of going to womens games (have season tickets. Been going for about 7-10 years.) the student section has seemed to be only full when Brittney Griner would come to town. Students in general care way more about football. (I don't know why) They aren't even really showing up for a top 15 men's team.

 

[CycloneErik]

Will we be doing this for wrestling, too?

 

[WhatchaGonnaDo]

Even if I had the time to commit to go to both men's and women's games...I still wouldn't go to women's games

 

[Jordanj6502]

Will we be doing this for wrestling, too?

Don't worry, nobody will ever say anything bad about our volleyball attendance.

 

[CycloneErik]

Don't worry, nobody will ever say anything bad about our volleyball attendance.

Why? Has it spiked? Is it a net increase?

 

[Rabbuk]

I made it to enough women's bball games to get my beer glass. Didn't stay though.

 

[Tre4ISU]

1. They aren't very good
2. Womens basketball isn't enjoyable to nearly as many people
3. The mens team is now good and people will sacrifice to make it to the mens games where maybe they wouldn't have done that before.

Sorry, but when they don't win, that's going to hurt. There was a good run of years when the women were good and the men weren't and people would go to both. The team is different now, the system is different and the game is different.

 

[cyclone13]

All of the fanatics who replied already explained the reasons behind this situation: WBB always viewed as inferior to football and MBB, game not attractive compared to MBB, games on cyclonestv, etc.

You add the fact that so many people HATE WBB so much that they spewed so much venom on people who attend WBB. This happens everywhere, even on WNBA level and the effect is: a lot of guys are afraid to even go to WBB games. It takes a lot of factors to change this.

Let's take Minnesota Lynx as an example. Until several seasons ago, the attendance was pathetic but now the Lynx are probably the hottest attractions in the Twin Cities due to the combination of these factors:
1. They play attractive basketball. People can say whatever they want about WNBA, but I can actually enjoy the games. You see the athleticism of the players, the speed of the game, etc.
2. Maya Moore factor: there was a tremendous publicity when Moore was drafted and it helped attracting new fans.
3. Other teams not performing: Vikings, Timberwolves, Twins, Wild were bad. Lynx was able to take advantage: they won the title and are able to attract new fans as fans love winners.
4. Many local sports columnists have supported the Team: they give favorable reviews, that they enjoy going to the games, etc. This helps erasing the stigma that "WNBA is boring" or "men shouldn't go to the Lynx game" etc

In the past, Lynx's attendance consist of mom and daughters, senior citizens and female fans. The past 2-3 seasons, I see average guys (without their girlfriends), middle age couples without kids, etc - new kind of demographics, going to the game and they actually buy the best seats, not the cheapest seats. It's result of those factors.

Not sure the demographics of Ames these days: do we have more kids? do little kids growing up still watching WBB or do they get busy with schoolwork, activities, etc?

But winning is always the key. Win and fans will flock.