They Built It, (Schar) & they don't come?

[whoanellie]

WTF??? What is the problem with the attendance or Why don't the students show up for Home games?

[euphoenix99]

Blame Dave Blank and the administration. This is what happens when you let perception become more important than results.

I love the new arena and think it's a great step for the university, but when you put the same garbage product right back in the fancy new digs people aren't going to show up.

The school would never allow poor results to fester on the academic side, so it's beyond me why it's permitted on the athletics side. Coaches are making careers on not delivering a competitive product.

If the team were playing well and you asked this question I'd understand, but it should be obvious given the other thread.

Go Phoenix!

[Elon Man]

This is multi-layered.

If you thought a new arena was going to get more students to come the games you were sadly mistaken.

Winning usually cures all but as you can see with football winning does not always do that. While it has helped football a lot from the days of winning 2/3 games a year it for whatever reason has little meaning to the students.

One major difference for basketball from say football is Saturday afternoons and tailgates. Not many students who are casual sports fans are going to come out to basketball games 2/3 times a week on a Tuesday/Wednesday night. Let a lone no tailgating with your friends. And not that you moved the arena far away but it is not in the middle of campus... you have to actually want to go to the game now.

The other major issue in the athletic department is marketing/promotions. The person who was in charge of marketing until Feb of 2018 was a sports information director that got put in charge of marketing... sad thing he is now the Director of Marketing for the Entire University... who ever made that decision did not actually pay attention to the marketing done by the athletics department. It looks likes they hired someone who has a little more experience so maybe they can turn that around. Handing out a t-shirt or a pom pom is not going to get these students to come to a game.

As much as we want to be mad about all of this we have to be realistic about it as well. These students do not care about athletics. It is a smaller school, mostly kids with no ties to athletics, they came for the academics which is great. Most of our enrollment is northeast kids who have come down to nice university that is well maintained and join a frat or sorority. Nothing is wrong with this as I get it, I understand it. We just have to face facts I think that nothing can be done honestly. Outside of offering free beer I do not think anything would get these kids to attend more than 3 games a year.

[Calling all Alumni]

I agree with Elon Man. Does the term "Elon Bubble" mean anything. Its a term for a reason. Does it matter? the school got its convocation/basketball arena. I think along time ago the town of Burlington was kicking some money, as it was going to be a convention center as well. I don't know if that was true. Millennials don't care about sports they are about experiences...they are about whats in it for them. so unless marketing kicks up the budget and hands out money lol take their athletic fees and go on.

[E]

The student profile Elon is looking for doesn't seem to carry "sports fan" as one of it's entries.

[elonlax01]

I think this is a chicken and egg kind of thing. I agree that the majority of current Elon students have little interest in sports and made the decision that having "great sports" associated with their University was not important to them even before they applied to Elon. I think if you consider similar institutions like Butler and Dayton (perhaps Davidson) that the quality of the men's basketball experience was a deciding factor or significant influencing factor for many students when choosing where to attend. Football (as much as we enjoy it) is unlikely to move the needle for the type of students Elon attracts. I do believe that if some sort or men's basketball and success can be built, student attendance will grow. The other challenge is that Elon has no traditions and rivalries. Oh yea, and marketing for Schar/Elon Athletics is as exciting and imaginative as a urinary catheter commercial.

[Calling all Alumni]

Whoever is in charge of marketing should be fired(just an opinion)...but as you hit the nail on the head Elon is a place for rich kids to come and those that could not get into Ivy League Schools or kicked out lol. As the term Elon Bubble has a meaning. I notice that they use the UNC photos over and over as its the only time that place will be filled up. Hell more people from the community were there to see UNC lol. All the kids were there to see UNC not Elon. People want local and there is no local feeling at Elon its just a rich northern bubble.

[fmrstaff]

Y'all are really something else. I've lurked on these boards for several years. I've had no affiliation to Elon for awhile now, but still follow the teams. I care about the student-athletes and students at the school.

It's really messed up to me that you want to come on here dragging people and calling for them to be fired without having any knowledge of what that job is actually like. The marketing budget is a joke, the entire marketing/communications department are wildly understaffed, underpaid, and frankly underappreciated.

Your answer is to fire someone - who on earth do you think you're going to get to come take a job where they're the only full-time marketing person, MBB is terrible, you have an apathetic student base, and there's not near enough budget to consistently fill a 5000+ seat arena? Oh and you have to compete with 4 ACC schools in the area. Seriously.

Also, consider yourselves lucky that you go to work everyday and don't have some assholes dragging you anonymously on a fan message board. At least do these guys the courtesy of keeping that talk off the Internet. You should be ashamed of yourselves.

[Calling all Alumni]

yeah that was pretty crappy on my part I would like to retract the last statement of Whoever is in charge of marketing should be fired(just an opinion)

How about reassigned to more Primary duties.

[fc4life]

We are paying our HC more than $300,000. Let’s stop with the budget arguments.

[whoanellie]

Oh If only We had this type of passionate Phan base as the rule not the exception and Were a lot more consistent We would win a lot more

[whoanellie]

big win vs Delaware and the attendance elonphoenix.com/boxscore.aspx?id=6064&path=mbball

1304 getthefuckouttahere