(When) Will Lady Vols Re-Capture the Annual Attendance Crown?

[sgacock]

The Ladies still own the All Time home attendance crown from 1998. SCar pushed up close to it last year but couldn't catch it. However, their sellout of this year's season tickets and complete sellout of 4 games already indicate that they could pass it this year.

Tennessee lost the All Time total (home & away) attendance crown to Iowa/Clark last year as large Big Ten arena's filled up to watch her senior season.

The excitement of this fanboard is palpable. I'm just wondering how long it will be before more casual fans (and students) catch the fever and start filing up that monster of an arena that Pat built. Probably won't happen this year, but a good year with the addition of your hyped freshman class next year could bring back the masses.

BTW y'all are about even with last year's average even though you haven't played an SEC average level team yet so I expect to see your usual approximate 10,000 average increase this year.

Samford 9,515
UT Martin 9,288
Middle Tenn 9,697
Liberty 9,109

When does the general fan excitement equal the excitement on this board.

 

[madtownvol]

The Ladies still own the All Time home attendance crown from 1998. SCar pushed up close to it last year but couldn't catch it. However, their sellout of this year's season tickets and complete sellout of 4 games already indicate that they could pass it this year.

Tennessee lost the All Time total (home & away) attendance crown to Iowa/Clark last year as large Big Ten arena's filled up to watch her senior season.

The excitement of this fanboard is palpable. I'm just wondering how long it will be before more casual fans (and students) catch the fever and start filing up that monster of an arena that Pat built. Probably won't happen this year, but a good year with the addition of your hyped freshman class next year could bring back the masses.

BTW y'all are about even with last year's average even though you haven't played an SEC average level team yet so I expect to see your usual approximate 10,000 average increase this year.

Samford 9,515
UT Martin 9,288
Middle Tenn 9,697
Liberty 9,109

When does the general fan excitement equal the excitement on this board.

Those numbers are not too bad actually, Early season games against no name teams -- remember most UT students are not avid fans who are really into the MTSU rivalry,

As the LVs pile up wins and hopefully climb the top 20 and play bigger name teams, those numbers should start rising.

 

[sgacock]

Those numbers are not too bad actually, Early season games against no name teams -- remember most UT students are not avid fans who are really into the MTSU rivalry,

As the LVs pile up wins and hopefully climb the top 20 and play bigger name teams, those numbers should start rising.

You are correct. I was pretty impressed when I looked tem up. Let's say that continuing those numbers would put yall at about what your average has been the last several years- about 5th place in attendance. But, I expect that number to increase when teams like SCar, UConn, Texas, LSU, Oklahoma, Ole Miss and Bama come to K-ville. Especially when your students and more casual fans realize what Kim is building.

 

[glv98]

Tickets sold. Not close to butts in seats. WBB #s have always been wonky like that.

What I want to see is a steady 9 or 10 K actually there when conference season starts, and 12 -15 for big games. Actual attendance is always going to vary by day of the week. Lack of weekend home games is going to hurt.

 

[Coach Jumper]

rain meet parade

 

[Special Ed]

 

[sgacock]

rain meet parade

IDGI

?????? Who's the rain and who's the parade???????????

 

[DeerPark12]

Tickets sold. Not close to butts in seats. WBB #s have always been wonky like that.

What I want to see is a steady 9 or 10 K actually there when conference season starts, and 12 -15 for big games. Actual attendance is always going to vary by day of the week. Lack of weekend home games is going to hurt.

Every sport is calculated that way, you report tickets sold, while the number scanned is only turned into the conference office.

 

[Coach Jumper]

IDGI

?????? Who's the rain and who's the parade???????????

SEE ABOVE
Tickets sold and butts in seats will NEVER MATCHUP.
NEVER
Not in women's BB, football, or tiddlywinks

Maybe in WWE

 

[BruisedOrange]

[...]
The excitement of this fan board is palpable. I'm just wondering how long it will be before more casual fans (and students) catch the fever and start filing up that monster of an arena that Pat built. Probably won't happen this year, but a good year with the addition of your hyped freshman class next year could bring back the masses.

BTW y'all are about even with last year's average even though you haven't played an SEC average level team yet so I expect to see your usual approximate 10,000 average increase this year.

Samford 9,515
UT Martin 9,288
Middle Tenn 9,697
Liberty 9,109

When does the general fan excitement equal the excitement on this board.

I don't know to what degree I'm representative of LV fans who haven't attended a game since Candace or Pat... but I caught the fever on Day One with the announcement and subsequent research on Kim Stephens Campbell Caldwell!

I began making plans to be there for the first game this season, to welcome Kim and the team who have chosen to follow her. It's about a 4-hour drive each way, but that and the splurge on all the costs was fine.

But what really deterred me was everything I had to go through to buy one ticket. I'm no longer dealing with people. I don't do QR codes [and not because I'm not tech-savvy, but because I am. Someday we're gonna recognize that "it's everywhere--everyone uses it" is a red flag, not a green light.] and didn't find a workaround.

Everything else that's changed--like parking--I could research and come up with a game plan. But the final logistics was like planning a vacation ...or invading Russia through the Belarus.

The UTAD would do well to devise a "been a long time since we've attended a game" plug-and-play see-the-game package. With the price of those special tickets, you get parking--not convenient parking, not parking without a long walk--but the assurance of and location of your parking, you get directions for walking and entering the TBA, and some other helpful details to make it more likely those people will attend future games.

I think a lot of people are interested in this team and staff. Make it easier now for people to attend first time, and they'll likely come back... and we can back some of those attendance records and reinforce the recruiting message that Knoxville is a great place, and Tennessee fans are great supporters, for your college basketball career.

 

[glv98]

Every sport is calculated that way, you report tickets sold, while the number scanned is only turned into the conference office.

SEE ABOVE
Tickets sold and butts in seats will NEVER MATCHUP.
NEVER
Not in women's BB, football, or tiddlywinks

Maybe in WWE

I understand the attendance reported is ticket sales. But when I talk about attendance, I have zero interest in how many tickets got sold. I want to know what team has actual fans in seats who are engaged in the game and might make things a little difficult for the opposing team. And make a fun atmosphere.

So far this year our LVs haven't been getting that. But hopefully that picks up as the games get more interesting. Conference season has brought pretty solid 7-8K ish butts in seats the last couple of years, a few thousand more for big games. I believe they got 15K for the UConn game 2 yrs ago, about 12 for LSU last yr. Hopefully as some big wins pile up we'll get back to that and more

Much of SEC WBB has just dismil home attendance. Last yr Coach Yo ranted, begged, wept, and bribed to get 3000 there for their conf game again us. Definitely not to be mistaken for places like Iowa.

I think a lot of people are interested in this team and staff. Make it easier now for people to attend first time, and they'll likely come back... and we can back some of those attendance records and reinforce the recruiting message that Knoxville is a great place, and Tennessee fans are great supporters, for your college basketball career.

When my convenient, go to parking place doubled in price fm 10 to 20$ last yr, I had a conipition. Why in the world would they make it hard? I knew of a secret free place to park but now that's closed. Also, as I've griped many times before, cutting out the Sunday afternoon games was dumb. Weekend games are so much easier to manage.

 

[LadyVol1908]

Why aren’t the crowds like they were back in the day?! I remember watching an old UCONN/Tenn game on YouTube and the crowd was INSANE!

 

[glv98]

Why aren’t the crowds like they were back in the day?! I remember watching an old UCONN/Tenn game on YouTube and the crowd was INSANE!

That started falling off after the CP3 era. And really the packed houses, the 20,000 crowds were only for UConn level games.

I wonder if the men's team being so good has hurt some. They draw huge crowds for SEC games, at crazy high prices. That's really flipped since back in the day. It's like Tennessee fans can't go to both.

Seeing how crappy the crowds are around the league, it's sort of a miracle the LVs have continued to draw the crowds they have.

 

[lvocd]

Why aren’t the crowds like they were back in the day?! I remember watching an old UCONN/Tenn game on YouTube and the crowd was INSANE!

Yeah, those of us who were in TBA for games when 21,000 or so fans would make it shake go to games now and always feel a twinge of sadness -- at least for a moment.

There have been games in more recent years, though, when 10-12,000 were super thunderous and really into it, and so I know the passion for the program is still strong. Just too many factors were in play to bring the numbers down.

I hope someday we'll get back to being one of the top 3 at least. Just seems like a lot of people have been priced out these days. But if the Lady Vols start challenging for championships again, it's not impossible to imagine having at game or two a season that feels more like the old days in there. I hope to see it!

 

[gule]

too easy to see them via the multitude of online media sources and not have to travel.

 

[Mimi#1]

I don't know to what degree I'm representative of LV fans who haven't attended a game since Candace or Pat... but I caught the fever on Day One with the announcement and subsequent research on Kim Stephens Campbell!

I began making plans to be there for the first game this season, to welcome Kim and the team who have chosen to follow her. It's about a 4-hour drive each way, but that and the splurge on all the costs was fine.

But what really deterred me was everything I had to go through to buy one ticket. I'm no longer dealing with people. I don't do QR codes [and not because I'm not tech-savvy, but because I am. Someday we're gonna recognize that "it's everywhere--everyone uses it" is a red flag, not a green light.] and didn't find a workaround.

Everything else that's changed--like parking--I could research and come up with a game plan. But the final logistics was like planning a vacation ...or invading Russia through the Belarus.

The UTAD would do well to devise a "been a long time since we've attended a game" plug-and-play see-the-game package. With the price of those special tickets, you get parking--not convenient parking, not parking without a long walk--but the assurance of and location of your parking, you get directions for walking and entering the TBA, and some other helpful details to make it more likely those people will attend future games.

I think a lot of people are interested in this team and staff. Make it easier now for people to attend first time, and they'll likely come back... and we can back some of those attendance records and reinforce the recruiting message that Knoxville is a great place, and Tennessee fans are great supporters, for your college basketball career.

Sorry, but it's Kim Caldwell, not Campbell. Auto-correct can be a pain.

 

[BruisedOrange]

Sorry, but it's Kim Caldwell, not Campbell. Auto-correct can be a pain.

Thank you! I wish I could blame auto-correct, but recent changes in my life have me saying the name "Campbell" 20 times a day! (It's not like a mantra, just a major street name.)

I'll fix it. "Sorry, Kim & Justin! I know every night you read everything we post here!" [color of implied blue font/off]

 

[LV renaissance]

That started falling off after the CP3 era. And really the packed houses, the 20,000 crowds were only for UConn level games.

I wonder if the men's team being so good has hurt some. They draw huge crowds for SEC games, at crazy high prices. That's really flipped since back in the day. It's like Tennessee fans can't go to both.

Seeing how crappy the crowds are around the league, it's sort of a miracle the LVs have continued to draw the crowds they have.

In almost all sports, and definitely for WBB, if you have many consecutive years when there is a definite decline in team play and accomplishments, the attendance ultimately goes drastically down. It is a testament to Lady Vols fans that that a significant chunk has continued to buy season tickets after all these relatively disappointing years. Take LSU for example: After they went to 5 consecutive Final 4s, within a few years season tickets were clearly under 3,000 and a few years after that they often had actual attendance less than 1000. Now that they are a contender again, the fans have come back in record numbers and they markedly outdraw the men's team.

Even in Pat's heyday, a fair number of season ticket holders would not come to some of the games against weak opponents in November and December. I even used to complain about it, but I finally noticed this happened everywhere except perhaps the most men's basketball crazy schools with poor football teams such as Kentucky and Duke. An additional factor now to this trend is that even the weak games are televised in some form or fashion. It is so easy after a day of work to chose to stay home and watch in the comfort of your home unless you are revved up about the game. Nevertheless, season tickets does represent one form of interest and does put more people in seat's overall. If the Lady Vols keep building on their momentum, there will be more peeps in the seats. Once they start winning championships or at least competing in some Final 4s, I imagine us being in the chase for top attendance. Throw in a GOAT like Candace and we may again approach the attendance we had in her era.

 

[chuckiepoo]

In almost all sports, and definitely for WBB, if you have many consecutive years when there is a definite decline in team play and accomplishments, the attendance ultimately goes drastically down. It is a testament to Lady Vols fans that that a significant chunk has continued to buy season tickets after all these relatively disappointing years. Take LSU for example: After they went to 5 consecutive Final 4s, within a few years season tickets were clearly under 3,000 and a few years after that they often had actual attendance less than 1000. Now that they are a contender again, the fans have come back in record numbers and they markedly outdraw the men's team.

Even in Pat's heyday, a fair number of season ticket holders would not come to some of the games against weak opponents in November and December. I even used to complain about it, but I finally noticed this happened everywhere except perhaps the most men's basketball crazy schools with poor football teams such as Kentucky and Duke. An additional factor now to this trend is that even the weak games are televised in some form or fashion. It is so easy after a day of work to chose to stay home and watch in the comfort of your home unless you are revved up about the game. Nevertheless, season tickets does represent one form of interest and does put more people in seat's overall. If the Lady Vols keep building on their momentum, there will be more peeps in the seats. Once they start winning championships or at least competing in some Final 4s, I imagine us being in the chase for top attendance. Throw in a GOAT like Candace and we may again approach the attendance we had in her era.

 

[Volfan1000]

The Ladies still own the All Time home attendance crown from 1998. SCar pushed up close to it last year but couldn't catch it. However, their sellout of this year's season tickets and complete sellout of 4 games already indicate that they could pass it this year.

Tennessee lost the All Time total (home & away) attendance crown to Iowa/Clark last year as large Big Ten arena's filled up to watch her senior season.

The excitement of this fanboard is palpable. I'm just wondering how long it will be before more casual fans (and students) catch the fever and start filing up that monster of an arena that Pat built. Probably won't happen this year, but a good year with the addition of your hyped freshman class next year could bring back the masses.

BTW y'all are about even with last year's average even though you haven't played an SEC average level team yet so I expect to see your usual approximate 10,000 average increase this year.

Samford 9,515
UT Martin 9,288
Middle Tenn 9,697
Liberty 9,109

When does the general fan excitement equal the excitement on this board.

Next year you might see 12,000 to 15,000 people in the stands on a regular basis.

 

[Voltopia]

Why aren’t the crowds like they were back in the day?! I remember watching an old UCONN/Tenn game on YouTube and the crowd was INSANE!

Because Pat was the gold standard, and people trusted her teams to play hard from tip to buzzer. People took pride in her representation of east Tennessee and the university. And, frankly, the Lady Vols were more or less a traveling professional team back then, stocked from top to near bottom with the best of the best year in and year out. It was a show. A great one.

It didn't happen overnight. Took decades. Took a lot of hard work. Summitt had to build it from the ground up, which she did. But she and her teams earned that respect the hard way, and they deserved it.

I went to my share. Saw some big crowds. That 2001 Tennessee-Connecticut game in Knoxville was the pinnacle. ESPN treated it like a heavyweight prize fight, and attendance was 24,000 - and not a "ticket sold" 24,000, either. Almost every seat in TBA was full. That was the peak, as far as my experiences went. Everyone treated it - and I say this with the utmost respect - but like a men's rivalry game. Everyone in sports world treated Tennessee-Connecticut like the biggest men's basketball rivalries. Like Duke-North Carolina. It was full blown nasty filthy big time basketball.

 

[chuckiepoo]

Because Pat was the gold standard, and people trusted her teams to play hard from tip to buzzer. People took pride in her representation of east Tennessee and the university. And, frankly, the Lady Vols were more or less a traveling professional team back then, stocked from top to near bottom with the best of the best year in and year out. It was a show. A great one.

It didn't happen overnight. Took decades. Took a lot of hard work. Summitt had to build it from the ground up, which she did. But she and her teams earned that respect the hard way, and they deserved it.

I went to my share. Saw some big crowds. That 2001 Tennessee-Connecticut game in Knoxville was the pinnacle. ESPN treated it like a heavyweight prize fight, and attendance was 24,000 - and not a "ticket sold" 24,000, either. Almost every seat in TBA was full. That was the peak, as far as my experiences went. Everyone treated it - and I say this with the utmost respect - but like a men's rivalry game. Everyone in sports world treated Tennessee-Connecticut like the biggest men's basketball rivalries. Like Duke-North Carolina. It was full blown nasty filthy big time basketball.

Hmm… /savors recollection.

 

[Voltopia]

In almost all sports, and definitely for WBB, if you have many consecutive years when there is a definite decline in team play and accomplishments, the attendance ultimately goes drastically down. It is a testament to Lady Vols fans that that a significant chunk has continued to buy season tickets after all these relatively disappointing years. Take LSU for example: After they went to 5 consecutive Final 4s, within a few years season tickets were clearly under 3,000 and a few years after that they often had actual attendance less than 1000. Now that they are a contender again, the fans have come back in record numbers and they markedly outdraw the men's team.

It's true, and it happens everywhere, and especially with women's basketball. Women's basketball has to have a different degree of success and quality to move the needle with attendance. Just how it is. Frankly, Tennessee did a hell of a job with attendance for a number of years after Pat retired, but the really uneven play and inconsistent results finally bit them as well I think. And yes, I know they still report 8k-10k a lot of the time, but all you have to do is look at photos from the current games, and compare them with photos from games 10 years ago, and you can tell something doesn't add up. Similar reported attendances, but the old photos show bigger crowds - or at least they sure seem to.

That said, I do think Caldwell and her team will have a much MUCH easier time getting attendance back, if they can bring an exciting game back to the Summitt. Another gift from the legacy of what Pat built in Knoxville. I don't know if it'll get to 10,000 overnight, but if they start winning big on the regular, I could see them getting back into that 6-8k range and then the rest is just hard work. People just need to believe again.