i wonder why we don't draw more fans?

[BGSU33]

Hence, the reason I said "MAC Tournament title" and not "MAC title."

But a MAC East title (which would be regular season) is more important than a regular season title?

Until we get back to being a factor in the MAC, or heck, even the MAC East, we're going to struggle like we have for much of the last decade.

OK, so we won the MAC East that year and it did not equate into more butts in the seat that year (as an exciting season was going down) or the following year.

Absolutely. A "MAC Tournament" title gets you a trip to the NCAA Tournament no matter where you finished in conference. A "MAC East" or "MAC regular season" title gets you a plaque, and maybe an NIT bid if you were the #1 seed. The winning part implied to more than just a season here or there, obviously you need consistency. Kent State hadn't even been to the NCAA Tournament prior to 1999 I believe. Look at how the last decade has transformed that program. We can't have losing season after losing season after losing season, then have a winning year, but fall back into losing season after losing season and expect support aside from those who will give it no matter what.

[FalconTurf]

Hey Drago and Factman,

Get your friends who don't buy season tickets anymore to buy double the season tickets they did in the past and GC will be more likely to leave. At this rate with fundraising for new venues being balanced out with lower attendance the bigger schools will not come calling. In effect your friends are the reason GC is still here. So get them moving so GC will move as well - if that's what you all want...though I remain a loyal ticket buyer in their absence because GC has never bothered me.

[Bubba Bo Bob Brain]

Here's a deal: we could get a group of 100 of us together, cough up 10 bucks each, buy the tickets for $400 and still donate the other $600 to the team because we love them and are faithful loyal fans. AND we could move around in our own section, and sit in different smaller groups as the mood strikes us.

You really disappoint me Bubba. After all of this time, you still do not seem to understand - REAL FANS DON'T SIT!
(Haven't you learned anything from Duster?)

My bad. I misspoke myself.
To reiterate a point made before, a fan's fan will buy the ticket anyway. The casual fan or the curious stay away due to the price, the lack of real general admission seating, the ability to afford it is a family outing on a regular basis, and all the other $$ points made already.

I can't say with any certainty if GC made the ticket pricing decisions all by himself or not. if not, how is he to blame for low attendance? Perhaps in another post, which would cover all sports, someone could start the list of all the decisions he has made alone or influenced heavily which negatively affected attendance at the games. Calling him an asshole, as Mr. Extreme does on a regular basis, really doesn't explain things.

If GC were an elected official, what would we list in his impeachment hearings?

[Ydfalcon]

The prices wouldn't matter if we were winning more. $14 is NOT that terrible for a sporting event at what is supposed to be the top level of competition. True, BG is not an elite school, but we are in the top division. I have to agree with what was said before. At AA, and to some extent at the Doyt in years past, security, prices, etc. were run a little more like a high school program than like an NCAA D1 program. Things are still cheaper and more lax than a lot of our "peers" at this level, but because people got so used to the way it was, now that we're a little closer to where we probably should have been for a while now, it's a shock to the system, and some people are up in arms about it. Personally, I think it's a shame that they are. I paid about the same amount per ticket for the local AA baseball team and was not really allowed to bring in outside food or drink either (Didn't try, but like a lot of ballparks, they might have let an unopened bag of peanuts slide), and there are two levels of professional baseball above AA ball. That's what going to events is these days.

Now I'm not at all the type to say "If you don't like it, stay home/go to Toledo/etc." because I think that we as a fan base should always be encouraging people to be BG fans in whatever way they like, rather than tearing each other down. That being said, I think that sometimes a few people may need to realize that things do change, and that really, BG was behind the times in a big way as far as security and ticket prices. I know it might not always be fun, and I'm not saying that every single policy or action taken by the Athletic Department or the Security staff is perfect, but sometimes some folks may need to take a step back and re-evaluate their expectations before going on a tirade.

[zete]

Three seasons in a row or winning 20+ games will fill the place up. Especially if season four brings back a group looking like they could walk into the sweet 16 without much sweat.
You try with all that dollar days and get in free with a canned good stuff, but wins generate excitement.
When Toledo built Centennial Hall, now Savage Arena, the Rockets were on a roll. They had been to the Sweet 16 and were bringing big time teams into Toledo to play. The result was 9100 (sellouts) people were jamming the place every game and folks were turned away on occasion. In fact, I recall a few letters to the editor of the Blade indicating the place was built too small.
Yes, it can happen. When and how is a different story.

[gmartin]

Toledo Poluation = 300,000. Bowling Green = 30,000.

So technically all events at UT should have 10x more in attendance. I am not impressed with our attendance and definitely not impressed with UT attendance. I believe if Bowling Green had 100,000 people it would outdraw UT.

[zete]

Gmartin, how many people do you think we would draw?:
Three seasons in a row of winning 20+ games.

A couple hundred more than now because of the crappy population base?

[Flipper]

Toledo didn't make the sweet sixteen when they opened the arena...they opened Centennia Hall in 75 or 76...beat an Indiana team that included some kid named Miday and that made some noise. They won a game in the NCAA's in 1979 before losing to...IIRC...Notre Dame.

Did that arena ever hold 9000? I don't recall it being that big for hoops...

[zete]

Yea, in the beginning it did seat that many. Then Bobby N. left and Rocket basketball has never been the same. Thus they scaled the place down due to lack of interest.
I think Mike Miday was from the Canton area and was first team all Ohio later transferred to bg. Never saw a kid hustle like he did.

[h2oville rocket]

As i recall capacity was around 8600.