* For the first time since Gampel Pavilion opened in 1990, the Huskies did not play to a sellout at either Gampel in Storrs or the XL Center in Hartford. The team averaged 8,732 fans for home games this season, down about 1,700 from the 2015-16 average of 10,413.....
The women's basketball team, despite success, had seen home attendance decline for several years. This season, it averaged 9,162, its highest total in five years — a tangible turnaround.
Full read - UConn Men's Basketball: Many Factors Point To Poor Attendance
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.....and some of the factors for poor attendance per the Courant:
* A losing season — the Huskies' first since 1986-87 — played a role. And it trickled down to the AAC Tournament at the XL Center, where overall attendance was about 27,000, compared to 45,000 in 2014. UConn played three games and drew 20,296, a 6,765 average. Next March, the AAC returns to Orlando, where it drew 38,871 in 2016. Then it is open, looking for a site, or sites, for 2019, '20 and '21. This year in Hartford, where tickets for the 10-game package started at $199. UConn sold nearly all of its allotment of 500 tickets, but with so many tickets available from out-of-the-region schools, the secondary ticket market was flooded.
*The average ticket price for men's basketball was $36 this season, with discounts available. The school is planning a $2 surcharge on tickets to help fund a $46 million project to build new facilities for baseball, softball and soccer.
* The loss of familiar opponents has been a major factor in attendance. UConn sold out the XL Center — during a snowstorm — for a nonconference game with former Big East rival Georgetown in January 2016.
* This season, the AAC's TV agreements saddled the Huskies with a number of inconvenient starting times, 9 p.m. on weeknights, or weekday afternoons around the holidays, and late Sunday afternoon starts going against Giants and Patriots games. "As a league, we have to look at that," Benedict said. "Playing a very important game for us, a conference game, during the AFC Championship week, we probably had less than half our normal crowd. Did I call up and make sure the conference was aware that this isn't good for UConn, isn't good for league? Sure I did."
The women's basketball team, despite success, had seen home attendance decline for several years. This season, it averaged 9,162, its highest total in five years — a tangible turnaround.
Full read - UConn Men's Basketball: Many Factors Point To Poor Attendance
.
.....and some of the factors for poor attendance per the Courant:
* A losing season — the Huskies' first since 1986-87 — played a role. And it trickled down to the AAC Tournament at the XL Center, where overall attendance was about 27,000, compared to 45,000 in 2014. UConn played three games and drew 20,296, a 6,765 average. Next March, the AAC returns to Orlando, where it drew 38,871 in 2016. Then it is open, looking for a site, or sites, for 2019, '20 and '21. This year in Hartford, where tickets for the 10-game package started at $199. UConn sold nearly all of its allotment of 500 tickets, but with so many tickets available from out-of-the-region schools, the secondary ticket market was flooded.
*The average ticket price for men's basketball was $36 this season, with discounts available. The school is planning a $2 surcharge on tickets to help fund a $46 million project to build new facilities for baseball, softball and soccer.
* The loss of familiar opponents has been a major factor in attendance. UConn sold out the XL Center — during a snowstorm — for a nonconference game with former Big East rival Georgetown in January 2016.
* This season, the AAC's TV agreements saddled the Huskies with a number of inconvenient starting times, 9 p.m. on weeknights, or weekday afternoons around the holidays, and late Sunday afternoon starts going against Giants and Patriots games. "As a league, we have to look at that," Benedict said. "Playing a very important game for us, a conference game, during the AFC Championship week, we probably had less than half our normal crowd. Did I call up and make sure the conference was aware that this isn't good for UConn, isn't good for league? Sure I did."
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