The Appalachian on attendance

[shhelms]

Looking at the wins and attendance data makes me question why we decided to buy Houston Fancher's contract out. If we hadn't done so, things might be very different today.

[bcoach]

Looking at the wins and attendance data makes me question why we decided to buy Houston Fancher's contract out. If we hadn't done so, things might be very different today.

Incompetence

[3rd]

Parking is a huge problem to me. That seems to have been over looked when they built that building.

From my understanding (still very early in the process), there is a plan to place a 3-4 story parking deck on Faculty St. right behind Hardees. The hope is to break ground next August and possibly have it completed by early 2018, if no speed bumps are encountered along the way.

I am not doubting you on this at all but this would be the first I have herd of this. Also there is no open space over that way... It's all apartments that go for a pretty good amount of money because of location to campus, so App would have to buy them at cost then rip them down and build a parking deck...

[AppDawg]

Parking is a huge problem to me. That seems to have been over looked when they built that building.

From my understanding (still very early in the process), there is a plan to place a 3-4 story parking deck on Faculty St. right behind Hardees. The hope is to break ground next August and possibly have it completed by early 2018, if no speed bumps are encountered along the way.

I use to live in River's Run behind Hardee's... Many a good time had there. They just renovated those apartments within the last 5 years. Doubt they would tear those down. When you say behind, do you mean to the side, as in-front of Town Tavern where a quizzno's and perpetual sink-hole used to be years ago?

[bigCasu]

The 3333 club isn't a separate club. It's available to Yosef donors at a certain level of giving, and I believe eradicating that setup for students would be a bad move.

There is probably something to be said about HCC not being a central venue for easy access. Parking and walking in the evening in January on a Thursday night isn't ideal, neither is waiting on a bus to catch a ride.

I haven't heard news of a parking deck, but that would certainly be helpful, especially if it was connected to the HCC via skywalk, similar to the Rivers St deck is connected to Roess Dining Hall.

Why don't people go to games? We haven't been good for several years running. We have some good teams with good records, but never established a trend of winning 20 games several years in a row. That's the difference, IMO.


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[Gonzo]

The Appalachian isn't helping with tweets like this...

[T-Dog]

Also, remember that App rec sports manager who cancelled that night's rec sports games because of Duke/UNC? This was a few years ago.

[Saint3333]

Someone needs to put the computer down and remember which school they attend. What a joke.


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[8993]

In my humble opinion, there are a number of reasons as to why basketball games are not well-attended at App State:

1. We aren't successful on the court. With App having a losing record for many, many seasons now, you are going to be hard pressed to find any alumni or students willing to make an extra trip to HCC for a game that we are almost always predicted to lose. Not being successful on the court also leads to us getting lackluster recruits, which, again, leads us to losing records.

2. The Sun Belt isn't a basketball conference. Aside from Georgia State, none of the conference matches at HCC spark a lot of fan interest. This years home OOC included Charlotte, Belmont Abbey, Furman, and Jacksonville. Aside from Charlotte, none of those teams strike the average fan as being anything spectacular or worth making the trip for.

3. Holmes Convocation isn't the best, atmosphere wise. Aside from it lying empty a majority of the time, HCC is beginning to get a bit outdated. It's not in a central area of campus for on-campus students to get to and parking is a ***** for anybody coming from off-campus or outside of Boone. Most basketball games are during the middle of winter, and with HCC being a fifteen minute walk from the nearest residence hall, on-campus students are much more reluctant to walk through sub-freezing temperatures to sit in an arena with only 500 other people.

4. The Athletic Department's "promotions" are weak, at best. Offering students free glow sticks and basketball posters won't get butts in the seats. Offering students the chance to win an on-campus parking pass will, though. Offering students the chance to win membership to the Student Yosef Club will, though. College students love free stuff, but glow sticks and a chance to meet the basketball players just won't cut it. Let's also remember that these students still share classes together. The basketball players at App are not revered as gods as they are on other campuses (UNC, Duke, Louisville, etc.)

5. App is now and always has been a football powerhouse. A lot of students attend App so they can attend all of the football games for free and be a part of that community. Trying to make that sell in regards to basketball games will always be tough in North Carolina. When App has to compete for basketball fans with UNC, Duke, NC State, and Wake Forest, you'll likely always see the average App fan pick one of those four before they pick App basketball. We have to change that mindset in order to produce a quality product and quality atmosphere.

Those are just my opinions on why basketball has not been a success at Appalachian in quite some time. While I know that some of those statements aren't the nicest, I do believe they are true. There is a lot to be worked on in the Athletic Department. Football drives the bus, but most other sports take a backseat

[AppinVA]

Also, remember that App rec sports manager who cancelled that night's rec sports games because of Duke/UNC? This was a few years ago.

Way to go, Coach Fox!!!

[AppDawg]

http://theappalachianonline.com/2016/02 ... -the-fans/

Interesting article from TheAppalachian on home attendance for basketball games, or lack there of. Does anyone have any ideas about what can be done for attendance? I can't think of anything and clearly the marketing team can't either.

Based on research I posted earlier, I would like to point out the article above did not report 2 of its stats correctly.

The first incorrect piece of information is in regard to the last sell out in the Holmes Dome. There have been 2, not 1. Davidson in 2009 was a sell out and actually had 25 more spectators than the game in 2000.

The second, and in my opinion the more egregious stat, is last season our average attendance was just over 1,600. It was NOT 1,100. The 1,100 number coincided with Capel's last season in '14, not Fox's 1st. Fox should Be recognized for increasing attendance by 500 not presiding over the lowest attended season in recent memory.

I also took issue with the article giving Buzzard and UNCapelble a bye on the current state of our attendance numbers, but I'll save those thoughts for another day.

[hapapp]

Though this year is on pace to be the lowest, currently at 1079.

[bigCasu]

And we still have 4 home games left in the final two weeks of the season, and weather won't be as good of an excuse as it has been.

Though this year is on pace to be the lowest, currently at 1079.

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[AppDawg]

Though this year is on pace to be the lowest, currently at 1079.

Going to play devils advocate some here. There is a story behind your number.

We have only had 5 "true" games this year at home and could argue just 4.

4 of the 9 home games occurred on Bowl Game and Christmas Break. The Charlotte game on the day of the bowl game had a crowd of under 400. That will kill a season avg with so few home games. The 1st home game also occurred on a Football away Saturday after we had a string of 3 home games in the prior weeks.

Out of the 5 games I call "True", one was scheduled for a Saturday and postponed to Monday due to weater. Those 5 games we have averaged approximately 1,250.

If I exclude that georgia southern monday game, the Average is approximately 1,350 roughly 150 spectators off of last years average.

None of these numbers are great, but there also are a lot of outside factors weighing that 1,079 down.

[hapapp]

Is this year's schedule really that much different than any other year? Those same arguments apply to almost any year.

Hopefully, this weekend with the bowl celebration, warmer temps, and the significance of the game, there will be an uptick in attendance. As the team makes a run to get in the tournament, it will need the support of all App fans.

[T-Dog]

Here's the non-conference home games since moving to the Holmes Center.

2000-01
North Carolina
Robert Morris
Gardner-Webb (first year of Division 1)
UNC-Asheville
Mars Hill (D2)
Richmond

2001-02
ECU
Barton (D2)
Liberty
North Greenville (D2)
Gardner-Webb

2002-03
Mars Hill (D2)
Charlotte
Greensboro College (D3)
SMU
Bluefield College (NAIA)
Gardner-Webb

2003-04
Monmouth
La Salle
George Washington
Piedmont College (D3)
JMU

2004-05
Erskine College (D2)
Tennessee Tech
JMU
USC Upstate (was D2, has since moved up to D1)
Milligan (NAIA)
Longwood

2005-06
UALR
VCU
Methodist (D3)
Montreat (NAIA)

2006-07
North Greenville (D2)
Montreat (NAIA)
Campbell
Brevard (D2)

2007-08
Lipscomb
San Jose State
Wichita State (Bracketbusters return game)
Virginia-Wise (D2)
Niagara (Bracketbusters)

2008-09
Charlotte
Campbell
ETSU
Milligan (NAIA)

2009-10
UNCW
Lees-McRae (D2)
Morgan State
Winthrop (Bracketbusters return game)
Milligan (NAIA)
King College (NCCAA)
Tennessee Tech (Bracketbusters)

2010-11
Montreat (NAIA)
Robert Morris
Milligan (NAIA)

2011-12
Lees-Mcrae (D2)
Milligan (NAIA)
ETSU
Campbell
Winthrop (Bracketbusters)

2012-13
Montreat (NAIA)
High Point (Bracketbusters return game)
Duquense
Presbyterian
Milligan (NAIA)

2013-14
Campbell
Lees-McRae (D2)
North Greenville (D2)
Charlotte
Milligan (NAIA)
Bluefield College (NAIA)

2014-15
Hampton
Hofstra

2015-16
Jacksonville
Furman
Charlotte

[proasu89]

The Appalachian isn't helping with tweets like this...

Was disappointed they left off Meteorite as a choice.