Butts in the seats

Some figures from the first two BU home games.

Attendance for Game 1 vs. GW: 4778
Attendance for Game 2 vs. Rider: 531

Now, I know that George Washington is the marquee opponent on our home schedule this year, and that most people don't know Rider is a college. And maybe Friday night is a better time to see a game that Saturday afternoon when most students are still sleeping off their hangovers. But those factors hardly should account for a drop of almost 90%.

And I am aware that students were enticed to come to the GW game by the prospect of picking up tickets for BU-BC hockey. That's a good way to get hard-core hockey fans to come to one game, but the problem is that these kids aren't basketball fans - it's obvious they didn't come back for a second helping of Strong, Lowe and Co. But the idea was good enough to work once - normally this is only done for Beanpot tickets, and it was smart to extend it to a regular season BC game. So here's my idea: why not use this promotion every time there is a home basketball game before a home hockey game? There are enough hard-core hockey fans who care enough about where they sit to increase basketball attendance by 500-1000 every game, and that can create a bigger buzz. It would cost the Athletic Department nearly nothing - maybe 20 bucks to have a ticket salesperson or two around after the basketball game to sell the tickets. If the Athletic Department is serious about growing the fan base for men's basketball, and if it believes that the hockey following is the best tool to do that, then it should exercise that tool to its fullest extent.

I would love to get to the point where BU students don't come out to games because of a high-profile opponent or just to get hockey tickets. I want to see them come out to watch the BU basketball team. Until we get there, the Athletic Department is going to have to continue to be creative.