Bama Basketball: Attendance

[Jamos]

It was a big win for the team last night but it wasn't as big as it could have been. It's hard to believe the team is playing at the level they are now, this is the best basketball that I have seen since Gottfried had a couple of good years. Actually, I think this team is playing a brand of basketball this school has never seen. Fundamentally they are playing at a level that a new coach and team shouldn't even be near. It's wonderful to sit in the stands and actually see the team run designed plays and not look like it's a pick up game and everybody wants the ball. CAJ has done a masterful job to this point in the season with his players and their record points to that 7-2. There have been wins against ranked teams and believe it or not there have been some games won on the road. Road wins are something that has been unheard of at Bama in quite sometime.

The most disappointing thing about the game last night though was where were the fans? There might have been 5,000 there last night and how disappointing is that. There were actually free tickets offered if you brought a couple od cans of food for the needy. All that I have heard about in the last six years is why doesn't Bama hire them a good coach and people will come to the games. Well, Bill Battle has hired a good coach and that coach has gotten the team  to a level of winning against ranked teams and winning road games which has been unheard of. They have only played 10  games but in those 10 games the team has gained more respect from the sports media than any of us have witnessed in 10 years or better. This is what everyone complained about, Bama gets no respect from the media folks and weren't being treated fairly. It's a crying shame that when the team plays on tv the first thing the commentators notice is the size of the crowd at Coleman. I'm not complaining about the fans that live long distances from the campus for not coming as often and it was an 8 o'clock game as well. I'm complaining about the folks that live less than a hour away from the campus. The problem isn't the selling of the tickets, the majority of them are sold as season tickets, the problem is the season ticket holders don't come. The real reason that these tickets are bought in the first place by the "noshows" is it helps their status in TIDE PRIDE, their point total.

I know it's very early in the season but attendance shouldn't be where it is considering how the team has performed. Actually they've had very few games at home this season and you would think the fans would be very anxious to come see them considering how they have performed so far. I also understand they haven't played the likes of Kentucky or Florida but that is like all sports, every game isn't a premium game and true fans want to see their team play regardless of who it is. Personally I think AD Bill Battle needs to address this with those ticket holders and try to find some kind of a reasonable resolution with them to help use their unused tickets to help fill the seats. It's their money and they have every right to do as they like but I wish they would look at the big picture of the future of the basketball program and find a way to help with the attendance problem. CAJ has lived up to his side of the bargain in putting a very respectable team on the court which I think has surprised the college basketball world. Bama has an excellent chance now to return to the respected and feared side of the sport as they once were but the team is going to need some help from us fans to reach that level.

Bama plays Oregon in Birmingham Monday night in another late game and it will be interesting to see if the crowd will be there. I hope some of you that live so far from Tuscaloosa can find a way to make it to Birmingham. It will be like another road game for the team and they will need all the support that we can give them. Beating a Pac 12 team could be another big plus for the team and who knows, it might just help them come post season tournament time. RTR!!!!

[ricky023]

Jamos, I can feel your disappointment but I believe that the idea of hiring a winning coach will bring the fans. They have been fooled so many years in a row that maybe they were afraid of believing and getting busted again. You look at a 7-2 record and then start thinking there is winning going on especially in the close games the fans will come. I bet you could ask CAJ and he would tell you he didn't expect fans this early. Hey brother, I say, don't come down to hard on the fans right now, but look forward to winning the next game and watch the few as they gather one game at a time. RTR!

[Marshal Dillon]

I think the students are gone & that sure didn't help. I checked the box score & it showed attendance as 10,005. What a bald face lie, 4000-5000 tops. No excuses if we don't have 12,000-15,000 in Bham against #28 Oregon, 8-2 on season with RPI 23. Alabama RPI is 15. By the way, the RPI of Xavier is #1, Dayton #8, & Notre Dame 37, all teams Bama has played.



 

[pmull]

I think the students are gone & that sure didn't help.I checked the box score & it showed attendance as 10,005. What a bald face lie, 4000-5000 tops. No excuses if we don't have 12,000-15,000 in Bham against #28 Oregon, 8-2 on season with RPI 23. Alabama RPI is 15. By the way, the RPI of Xavier is #1, Dayton #8, & Notre Dame 37, all teams Bama has played.

Bama counts tickets sold and not people in seats. There are a lot of wealthy football fans that buy season tickets for the Tide Pride points and rarely go to a game.

[Marshal Dillon]

I think the students are gone & that sure didn't help.I checked the box score & it showed attendance as 10,005. What a bald face lie, 4000-5000 tops. No excuses if we don't have 12,000-15,000 in Bham against #28 Oregon, 8-2 on season with RPI 23. Alabama RPI is 15. By the way, the RPI of Xavier is #1, Dayton #8, & Notre Dame 37, all teams Bama has played.

Bama counts tickets sold and not people in seats. There are a lot of wealthy football fans that buy season tickets for the Tide Pride points and rarely go to a game.

I know, all sports teams do it, but it's still a lie. Maybe the guys in charge should read this.

at·tend·ance

noun
the action or state of going regularly to or being present at a place or event.
"my attendance at church was very irregular"
synonyms:   presence, appearance
"please confirm your attendance"
the number of people present at a particular event, function, or meeting.

 

[bamaphil]

Even during the peak Gottfried years there weren't a lot of fans at games like yesterday.  I think when the SEC schedule starts we'll see a full coliseum every home game.  I also imagine a lot of fairweather fans aren't paying attention yet.  If Bama starts getting national attention the fans will come.   

[Marshal Dillon]

Even during the peak Gottfried years there weren't a lot of fans at games like yesterday.  I think when the SEC schedule starts we'll see a full coliseum every home game.  I also imagine a lot of fairweather fans aren't paying attention yet.  If Bama starts getting national attention the fans will come.   

Yep. Winning solves all problems and a new BB arena would help, too.

[Catch Prothro]

I agree, I hate seeing all the empty seats.  I've heard folks say they buy tickets to "support the team," but they rarely go to basketball games.  That's not supporting the team.

What makes it worse is that these folks often get the premier seats because of their Tide Pride status, and all you see on TV are empty white seats near the court. 

This isn't a new phenomenon.  When I lived in Tuscaloosa, I had season tickets during Gottfried's good years, and attendance was about the same.  Plenty of empty seats near the court.

The only way to address this is a change in the system.  I didn't consider that season ticket purchasers accumulate points across sports.  So the system is encouraging this behavior.  Perhaps a change in the system could be considered, with a different reward structure, or different seating assigned.

[2Stater]

If I lived in Tuscaloosa, or even near it, I would be at every game I could attend. Empty stands don't entice recruits. If you don't get the recruits, coaches like CAJ don't stay around for very long. Hopefully, when the students get back, and we keep playing good ball, the fannies will be in the seats.

[pmull]

TV hurts weekday games even once conference play begins. Games that start at 8:00 means I get home about 1:00 with work the next morning. 6:00 games are too early. 7:00 is ideal but that does not work with TV schedules.

I am looking forward to a lively student section with the new seating once school is back in session and conference play begins.

[Jamos]

I have noticed on another forum that many of them feel the same as I do about finding a solution for the empty seats. I know it's pretty hard to tell someone what to do with their tickets when they have used their money to buy them and they paid a pretty good price for the side court seats. Some have suggested that there shouldn't be a TIDE PRIDE for basketball, which would probably cause some of the fans to not buy season tickets anymore. I'm not for running anyone away from the program but to find a reasonable way to work with those ticket holders that would allow someone to fill their empty seats.

I was thinking that maybe the season ticket holders that do not care to come to every game or any of the games could offer their tickets, on a game to game basis, to the students free of charge. This would require some extra work for the ticket office but I don't think they are that overworked.

This is just an idea of mine but maybe some of you might have a reasonable idea that might work. If we can get enough voices being heard on the social network just maybe Bill Battle will get wind of it and some type of corrective action might take place.  

[bamaphil]

I have noticed on another forum that many of them feel the same as I do about finding a solution for the empty seats. I know it's pretty hard to tell someone what to do with their tickets when they have used their money to buy them and they paid a pretty good price for the side court seats. Some have suggested that there shouldn't be a TIDE PRIDE for basketball, which would probably cause some of the fans to not buy season tickets anymore. I'm not for running anyone away from the program but to find a reasonable way to work with those ticket holders that would allow someone to fill their empty seats.

I was thinking that maybe the season ticket holders that do not care to come to every game or any of the games could offer their tickets, on a game to game basis, to the students free of charge. This would require some extra work for the ticket office but I don't think they are that overworked.

This is just an idea of mine but maybe some of you might have a reasonable idea that might work. If we can get enough voices being heard on the social network just maybe Bill Battle will get wind of it and some type of corrective action might take place.  

I almost posted this same idea last night, or even giving the tickets to kids in the community who wouldn't normally be able to go to games, but then I remembered that the rich folks who do actually go to the games would shut that down real quickly.  I don't know what the answer is.

[Marshal Dillon]

I have noticed on another forum that many of them feel the same as I do about finding a solution for the empty seats. I know it's pretty hard to tell someone what to do with their tickets when they have used their money to buy them and they paid a pretty good price for the side court seats. Some have suggested that there shouldn't be a TIDE PRIDE for basketball, which would probably cause some of the fans to not buy season tickets anymore. I'm not for running anyone away from the program but to find a reasonable way to work with those ticket holders that would allow someone to fill their empty seats.

I was thinking that maybe the season ticket holders that do not care to come to every game or any of the games could offer their tickets, on a game to game basis, to the students free of charge. This would require some extra work for the ticket office but I don't think they are that overworked.

This is just an idea of mine but maybe some of you might have a reasonable idea that might work. If we can get enough voices being heard on the social network just maybe Bill Battle will get wind of it and some type of corrective action might take place.  

Jamos, you heard any scuttlebutt about a new BB arena? The current one opened in 1968. I heard one concern mentioned a few years ago was that there was no place to put a new arena.


 

[Jamos]

I have noticed on another forum that many of them feel the same as I do about finding a solution for the empty seats. I know it's pretty hard to tell someone what to do with their tickets when they have used their money to buy them and they paid a pretty good price for the side court seats. Some have suggested that there shouldn't be a TIDE PRIDE for basketball, which would probably cause some of the fans to not buy season tickets anymore. I'm not for running anyone away from the program but to find a reasonable way to work with those ticket holders that would allow someone to fill their empty seats.

I was thinking that maybe the season ticket holders that do not care to come to every game or any of the games could offer their tickets, on a game to game basis, to the students free of charge. This would require some extra work for the ticket office but I don't think they are that overworked.

This is just an idea of mine but maybe some of you might have a reasonable idea that might work. If we can get enough voices being heard on the social network just maybe Bill Battle will get wind of it and some type of corrective action might take place.  

Jamos, you heard any scuttlebutt about a new BB arena? The current one opened in 1968. I heard one concern mentioned a few years ago was that there was no place to put a new arena.


 

Back before Mal died he discussed many of the future plans for the athletic program in one of our meetings. His main goal at that time was to build a new baseball stadium. There were also plans to remodel Foster Auditorium to move the volleyball and women's basketball out of Coleman. This time frame was right after Grant was hired as the men's basketball coach.

As you can now see, most of Mal's plans have been completed now and what is next for the athletic program. There have been times during some general discussion about basketball someone would ask about what is in store for Coleman because of it's age. Each year, there are some kind of renovations to the old building such as this year they put in a new court. The reason for most folks questions about Coleman is because of our new coach Avery Johnson. Everyone seems to think that part of his contract may have included a new facility for his program. I would think though that there are some "stips" tagged to any facility promises if there even is such a promise.

The reason I think there may some merit to the idea of a promise to him is the way he has come on campus running wide open trying to establish his program. The first thing he did right was to befriend Nick Saban. The second thing he has done right is to be very visible in constructing his program. He is constantly on television and radio and even traveling with CNS on many of his trips trying to get to know the Alabama family. The reason I say trying to get to know the Alabama family is because Coach AJ will have have to find some funding if his goal is to have a new arena.

The third and most important thing he has done so far is to take on a practically whole new team and make winners out of them. He is a hot topic on all of the talk shows because he once worked with many of them and he has backed up everything that he has promised so far.

So to ask if there are any plans to build a new arena right now, I would say no. But if the question is could there be some ideas of a new arena, I would say yes but with some very demanding stipulations. Coach AJ has said many times that his goal is to take his team to the Big Dance first and then to the finals of the Big Dance. Having said that, I would think that is what it will take to get him a new arena. If what he has accomplished so far is an indicator of can it happen, I would have to say very much so.

This is why getting the crowd back into Coleman is so critical. Bill Battle is there every game and can see what is happening and can help with the crowd situation. it's a must to get the crowd back to the 12,000 plus average for the games. There won't be any talk of a new arena until the fans are willing to support the program. I still cannot understand why they built a new baseball stadium unless it was done strictly for Mal Moore, it was his last big project. Their attendance is horrendous.  

  

[bamaphil]

The only real problem with Coleman is that seating is so spread out.  It's great when it's full, but when 5,000 people show up it looks deserted.  Only the elite programs like Kentucky, Duke, MSU, etc. are going to consistently draw huge crowds for games against teams like Winthrop.  Most schools would be happy to draw that many for Winthrop, but due to the size and layout of Coleman it looks pathetic when 5,000 people are there. 

I don't know if there's a way early in the season to move everyone down to the closer seats and perhaps even somehow hide the empty seats up top to give the appearance of a fuller crowd.  The problem again is going to be the money people who pay high prices for their seats not wanting their section overrun with the riff-raff. 

I do still believe that if CAJ builds this early momentum into an elite program 2-3 years down the road, people will come, even for games against Winthrop.  Coleman may not be full for those games, but we'll see 10,000 people instead of 5,000.  I think this year it will be full for most of the SEC games. 

[Guest]

Username:
Password:
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever

Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

• pmull

Loading Tweet...