What will 2011 Bring?

[Randy]

There are a lot of reasons to get excited for the upcoming Billiken season. Experienced Players. Veteran Coach with a full squad. Team leader returning with a chip on his shoulder. etc etc.

What has me puzzled the most about the upcoming season is our fans.

Last season we averaged 6299 fans at home. That dropped from 7149 the previous year. Granted, last year was absolutely brutal to watch, and if I was not an alumni of the school, I certainly would have not taken the time/money to come watch a SLU game..

Our highest attendance games:

2010-11: 1) Dayton 7,621 2) Duquesne 7,438 3) Xavier 7,268

2009-10: 1) Xavier 10,008 2) Southern Illinois 9,483 3) Dayton 9,453

This season, attendance needs to be a major focus. I know winning gets people to games yadda yadda yadda... but I think there needs to be a major push to get people in the seats as early as possible this year, and it starts with the students.

We need to figure out a way to get the students more involved. SLUnatics was decent at times, but so was the Blue Crew..so obviously the name change did nothing in that regard.. The school needs to get students in games..even if it requires free tickets and making all the freshman in dorms paint their faces and walk together to the first exhibition game of the season like the soccer game the 1st week of school..anything to get the kids in the arena and experience billiken basketball. They have to make going to games "cool" again instead of a few random nerds running around all sober and crazy with pom poms on their head trying to convince kids to watch a game. Involve the greek system more.. do SOMETHING to get the students in the games...GO SEE THE KIDS PLAY! ha

I rant because I am tired of the way the past few seasons have gone...the game experiences have been great at times, but generally only if the game is a barn burner late in the 2nd half and the old people finally feel the need to pull their hands from underneath their asses and clap.. I get it, donors paid for the arena and are going to get those really good courtside seats...but the old people have to be put to sleep. we need to develop an atmosphere this year that pushes our team when they need to be pushed and makes them feel like superstars on the court..not like they are playing for the geriatric unit at Barnes.. The fact that people have mentioned on this board that people bi-tch during games when they stand up to clap should not be tolerated..

I kno buzz will be greater than last year for the team, and that should help...but we have to create a great environment for these guys to play in..

[jbizzle09]

There are a lot of reasons to get excited for the upcoming Billiken season. Experienced Players. Veteran Coach with a full squad. Team leader returning with a chip on his shoulder. etc etc.

What has me puzzled the most about the upcoming season is our fans.

Last season we averaged 6299 fans at home. That dropped from 7149 the previous year. Granted, last year was absolutely brutal to watch, and if I was not an alumni of the school, I certainly would have not taken the time/money to come watch a SLU game..

Our highest attendance games:

2010-11: 1) Dayton 7,621 2) Duquesne 7,438 3) Xavier 7,268

2009-10: 1) Xavier 10,008 2) Southern Illinois 9,483 3) Dayton 9,453

This season, attendance needs to be a major focus. I know winning gets people to games yadda yadda yadda... but I think there needs to be a major push to get people in the seats as early as possible this year, and it starts with the students.

We need to figure out a way to get the students more involved. SLUnatics was decent at times, but so was the Blue Crew..so obviously the name change did nothing in that regard.. The school needs to get students in games..even if it requires free tickets and making all the freshman in dorms paint their faces and walk together to the first exhibition game of the season like the soccer game the 1st week of school..anything to get the kids in the arena and experience billiken basketball. They have to make going to games "cool" again instead of a few random nerds running around all sober and crazy with pom poms on their head trying to convince kids to watch a game. Involve the greek system more.. do SOMETHING to get the students in the games...GO SEE THE KIDS PLAY! ha

I rant because I am tired of the way the past few seasons have gone...the game experiences have been great at times, but generally only if the game is a barn burner late in the 2nd half and the old people finally feel the need to pull their hands from underneath their asses and clap.. I get it, donors paid for the arena and are going to get those really good courtside seats...but the old people have to be put to sleep. we need to develop an atmosphere this year that pushes our team when they need to be pushed and makes them feel like superstars on the court..not like they are playing for the geriatric unit at Barnes.. The fact that people have mentioned on this board that people bi-tch during games when they stand up to clap should not be tolerated..

I kno buzz will be greater than last year for the team, and that should help...but we have to create a great environment for these guys to play in..

One thing that was done to bring more students to games this upcoming season was to place a $30(?) fee on their tuition bill for basketball tix. Now all a student needs to do is show up to the arena and show their ID and they will get a seat in the student section. I believe it is on a first-come/first-served basis. As far as the old folks that tell you to sit down, can't really do anything about that. As some on this board will point out, those old people generally donate a lot of money to the school.

[Billsrmajic]

One thing that was done to bring more students to games this upcoming season was to place a $30(?) fee on their tuition bill for basketball tix. Now all a student needs to do is show up to the arena and show their ID and they will get a seat in the student section. I believe it is on a first-come/first-served basis. As far as the old folks that tell you to sit down, can't really do anything about that. As some on this board will point out, those old people generally donate a lot of money to the school.

Do they cap the number of students who can attend each game? I hope they let in as many as they have seats available (and sit them elsewhere if the student section is full).

[For-DaLove]

Just win. People will come, including students.

[jbizzle09]

Do they cap the number of students who can attend each game? I hope they let in as many as they have seats available (and sit them elsewhere if the student section is full).

From what I know, there will be 1,000 student tickets set aside for each game. I am not sure what the plan is if more than 1,000 students want to come to the game, but then again, have we ever had more than that show up?

[slu72]

From what I know, there will be 1,000 student tickets set aside for each game. I am not sure what the plan is if more than 1,000 students want to come to the game, but then again, have we ever had more than that show up?

This past season got off to a bad start when everyone knew our top 2 players were basically done for the year. Once the L's started piling up apathy set in. Why go to a game when they're likely to lose. No one likes watching the home team lose again and again and again. Once more, it only takes racking up W's to cure a program's ills. And unrelated to SLU the guy on a really hot seat is Cuonzo Martin, if UT loses and they revert to their 4,000 fans of Buzz Peteson days, the new AD, who didn't hire CM, may be tempted to pull the plug on his tenure real quick. We have a lot of UT alum here and to a man everyone of them thought CM was beneath a UT standards hire.

[JettFlight5]

Just win. People will come, including students.

+a lot.

[waldo027]

I'm surprised we drew as many fans as we did last season. I wonder how many people bought their tickets when they still thought we would have a very good team.

The students have been much better since the arena opened. I remember the 07-08 season (final season at Scottrade) when the students hardly showed up at all except for the Xavier game when they were ranked in the top 10. It's much easier for them when they can pre-game in their apartments and just walk a half-mile down campus to the arena.

[The Pelican]

Just win.

This is the answer to 95% of the questions and postulations on this board. It is pretty simple.

[brianstl]

Just win. People will come, including students.

+1

Just win baby.

[Taj79]

Back in the late 70's, when youthful bonwichs and Tajs ( with considerably more collective hair) roamed the halls of the Unews, student apathy and attendance (or lack thereof) ruled at soccer, hockey and basketball games. Theories existed as they do today .... no on-campus facilitis, free rides (Fireline) were not enough, SLU was a commuter school and kids went home at night, on-campus enrollment also low, bad teams, bad weather, other competing metropolitan options, SLU students with out-of-town (ND, Mizzou, Illini, Ohio State, etc.),more prominent allegiances and sports (hockey/soccer) not necessarily "mainstream." Hermann and Chaifetz take one of those liabilities out of play. The ongoing lack of attendance, at least on the student side, remains a debatable mystery.

Again, outside of the baseball Cardinals, it has been my personal observation that St. Louis' casual fan seems to be a front-runner. When things are going good (Blues, Rams, Steamers) the fans seem to come. Even those with no discernable affilation. JUST WIN BABY solves a lot of problems ---- however, last I saw, even the Oakland Raiders weren't selling out the Coliseum.

Regardless, the associated attendance with our Bills remains a mystery to me ---- even after what is now fast becoming my 36th year of personal association with the school. If and when someone figures it out, please let me know what the answer is. For the record, I advocated an on-campus venue for the last 34 years and thought we built it TOO small. I hope to see the day where supply fails to meet demand. That might be an unreasonable wish.

Our loyal fans deserve props. To invest as they have only to be rewarded with four post seasons (NCAAs) says a lot about them. But what's insanity? Banging your head into the same wall and expecting a different result? My head is quite lopsided as it is.

[kshoe]

Back in the late 70's, when youthful bonwichs and Tajs ( with considerably more collective hair) roamed the halls of the Unews, student apathy and attendance (or lack thereof) ruled at soccer, hockey and basketball games. Theories existed as they do today .... no on-campus facilitis, free rides (Fireline) were not enough, SLU was a commuter school and kids went home at night, on-campus enrollment also low, bad teams, bad weather, other competing metropolitan options, SLU students with out-of-town (ND, Mizzou, Illini, Ohio State, etc.),more prominent allegiances and sports (hockey/soccer) not necessarily "mainstream." Hermann and Chaifetz take one of those liabilities out of play. The ongoing lack of attendance, at least on the student side, remains a debatable mystery.

Again, outside of the baseball Cardinals, it has been my personal observation that St. Louis' casual fan seems to be a front-runner. When things are going good (Blues, Rams, Steamers) the fans seem to come. Even those with no discernable affilation. JUST WIN BABY solves a lot of problems ---- however, last I saw, even the Oakland Raiders weren't selling out the Coliseum.

Regardless, the associated attendance with our Bills remains a mystery to me ---- even after what is now fast becoming my 36th year of personal association with the school. If and when someone figures it out, please let me know what the answer is. For the record, I advocated an on-campus venue for the last 34 years and thought we built it TOO small. I hope to see the day where supply fails to meet demand. That might be an unreasonable wish.

Our loyal fans deserve props. To invest as they have only to be rewarded with four post seasons (NCAAs) says a lot about them. But what's insanity? Banging your head into the same wall and expecting a different result? My head is quite lopsided as it is.

I think it says a lot that our average attendance only dropped 850 going from a 23 win team to a 12 win team. Granted, a lot of tickets were sold pre-season but it says a lot about our core fans that they will continue to show-up for a pretty poor team.

Winning big is the only way to move the needle well above the 6,300 average last year and even then people won't know you are a big winner until about halfway through the season. A best case scenario is you sell out the final 8 games of the season which will only increase the average season attendance by 2,150 (10,600 - 6,300 = 4,300 / half the games).

[HusakAttack]

I think it says a lot that our average attendance only dropped 850 going from a 23 win team to a 12 win team. Granted, a lot of tickets were sold pre-season but it says a lot about our core fans that they will continue to show-up for a pretty poor team.

Winning big is the only way to move the needle well above the 6,300 average last year and even then people won't know you are a big winner until about halfway through the season. A best case scenario is you sell out the final 8 games of the season which will only increase the average season attendance by 2,150 (10,600 - 6,300 = 4,300 / half the games).

I would say a 12% avg attendance drop is pretty significant. Can't put many of those on top of each other and still have a fan base

[SShoe]

I would say a 12% avg attendance drop is pretty significant. Can't put many of those on top of each other and still have a fan base

Given that we went from a 23-win season to a 12-win season, a 12% average attendance drop isn't really all that bad. Any bets on whether or not we see a sharp increase (12%+) in attendance if the team puts together another 20+ win season?

As kshoe said, getting people to notice early is difficult, but the team has plenty of opportunities to do so. Romar comes in and then we have the 76 classic. Make noise in those games and people should take notice.