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Post by euphoenix99 on Feb 15, 2008 9:29:13 GMT -5
As for last night, attendance was down all around the conference and probably around the nation. That's no excuse for the poor attendance throughout the year though. The games are nearly half the length of football games so I'm surprised more don't show up. If the guys manage to keep winning that should help attendance, plus 2 of the 3 remaining homes games are on Saturday so maybe that'll get more from the community coming out.
Anyone know the latest on plans for a new convocation center? I think a new place could change the perception of Elon basketball among students and get more people out there. Those comments about "cracker box" gym aren't so far out there, given that most HS gyms are the same size. I love the atmosphere though. I know this all costs money and I certainly don't have it, but I think a new facility could help. I had seen some mention of 10K capacity on the Elon "vision" page, I would like something more along the lines of what Campbell is building (4-5K)
Go Phoenix!
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Post by phoenixfc on Feb 15, 2008 11:31:10 GMT -5
Does anybody know what Cameron's capacity is? For a number of years, Wake could not fill up Joel and people noted that when they played in the old coliseum, it was better...hard to play in a half-filled arena. Now, Wake pretty much sells out Joel. Being in the ACC certainly helps them, but so does having a community that both buys and uses their tickets. Until we can sell out the Nest, I don't want to think about us forcing the guys to play in an even emptier arena. At least now, we have a little advantage.
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Post by phoenix3 on Feb 15, 2008 21:58:20 GMT -5
Our average attendance is 916 per game at home. The next lowest is UNC-G which is largely a commuter school. Cit, Wofford and Furman, all smaller schools with worse records, have higher attendance. We built one of the best football venues (not biggest, best) in all of 1-AA in 2001 and just this year we have begun to average between half and two thirds of capacity. So, I'm not really sure the venue makes a huge amount of difference. I know this is blatant complaining but it would be really nice to see the students especially and the community come out and support our teams a little better.
Cameron seats between 9 & 10,000.
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Post by topher99 on Feb 16, 2008 9:35:03 GMT -5
The average is now 935, not great but it has gone up some.
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Post by phoenixfc on Feb 16, 2008 11:16:22 GMT -5
I would guess it's been done before, with Elon's poll taking abilities...do they conduct campus surveys to determine what would get the students to better support the teams? Is it that our university has moved more to an institution for students who are far more interested in academics than sports...is it that they are more interested in ACC sports...is it that they don't want to watch the team lose...is it that it's "not cool" to go to sports...is it that they are too busy partying...is it simply that there are too many other things to do and they choose to participate in something that occurs with less frequency, thinking they can always catch a game some other time? I think we showed much more support in the old days because everybody went (actually, there was not much else to do). The community could make such a difference though...pretty sure the Lake Norman crowd helps keep Davidson's numbers high. I fear that some high school players will shun us due to the small attendance figures.
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Post by phoenix3 on Feb 16, 2008 11:58:52 GMT -5
The poll is a great idea!
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Post by euphoenix99 on Feb 16, 2008 12:03:07 GMT -5
Don't get me wrong, I love the atmosphere at Alumni, but a bigger and better facility helps recruiting and could generate more interest in the program. We are seriously lagging behind the rest of the conference in this area. Alumni is not just a basketball facility either and we need a bigger indoor facility on campus anyhow, so it's prob just a matter of time before it happens. I just hope we don't build anything too big. Oh well, let's hope the guys keep the win streak going in Statesboro tonight.
Go Phoenix!
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