[prototype]

Listen - this is one of the most frustrating things that Liberty has to figure out. Not to toot my own horn (because it was a team effort), but when Prototype was in-charge of getting the Vines filled up - we did it. We averaged over 5,000 fans a game and had the students engaged.

It's NOT about winning!! It's about pride, providing a fun/entertaining atmosphere for free, and creating a connection between players and fans. We worked to make sure students knew that it was game day. We put up posters every home game, we setup in Cafeteria and promoted the game on game days. We gave a lot of stuff away!! We bought a bulk shipment of Game Cubes (which were very popular at the time, and really not expensive) and gave away a few at each game. We tried to make it a more appealing option than Movies 10...

We educated students about who the players are and made opportunities for student s to connect with them. We made sure that we push Jerry and other leaders at convo to push game attendance and what it means to the school.

We concentrated solely on getting students back and guess what - the paying fans started coming, because they liked the atmosphere and watching the crazy students. We educated students the first week of the season on chants and things we could do as fans to get on other team and make it more unison.

I worked for 5 years with the Bullets/Wizards/Caps and Susan O'Malley, who was President while I was there and was amazing, used to always say - we have to create success that transcends wins and loses, because we cannot control that. And while I was there, both teams were always in top 5 in attendance and both teams where under 500, all but one year.

[R i]

I think we can make minor adjustments to the vines seating and ticketing options, and it would massively improve the atmosphere and lack of student attendance. In very summed up terms, you create the first 4 rows all the way around the horse shoe as students only. If students want to use their pass to get into the game it is good for the student section only. Which can be the first four rows of the entire horse shoe, with the middle section that is currently where most students sit as over flow if needed.

Then you put season ticket holders on the 7th row giving three rows of space so the students can stand and not block everyone's vision. Then put the Red Chairs for season and premium seating all the way around the horse shoe. In summary of one of my worst posts on this board. You dont split the vines in half , left and right , baptist and student. You split the vines in proximity to the court. North and South vs East and West , if Im making any sense at all.


Thank You for reading, and I apologize for the mental gymnastics.

[LUnpretty11]

Ri, I think you are making sense, but I disagree with your idea - I by no means am tearing you apart! The athletic department has to create demand. Leaving 3 rows of empty seats close to the floor around the whole horseshoe just isn't a good look or idea IMHO.

I'm not a big fan of disagreeing without providing an alternative, so I'll do my best to complement your idea.

They have it right by putting the band on the baseline - they used to be above the tunnel and completely disengaged. Now, you can't treat basketball like football and expect the same level of attendance/excitement (right now). The top 10-15 rows should be taped off (tarped off if possible) to force the students to get as close to the court and around to the corners as possible. I remember going to games when Seth Curry was playing and only being able to stand halfway up in the corners because the arena was so packed. Creating demand closer to the floor by eliminating the "social seats" where kids can slump in the top rows will help - again, IMO. That could be a starting point, then as the team improves and excitement builds, you take away the taped off areas as the arena fills up again. This creates a close packed environment and a more engaged crowd. You have to leave the cushy seats for season ticket holders etc. That alone gives people a reason to come to a game because people with money don't (typically) want to sit on plastic seats. Tickets will sell once again, but it will take a little more time.

[Purple Haize]

I think we can make minor adjustments to the vines seating and ticketing options, and it would massively improve the atmosphere and lack of student attendance. In very summed up terms, you create the first 4 rows all the way around the horse shoe as students only. If students want to use their pass to get into the game it is good for the student section only. Which can be the first four rows of the entire horse shoe, with the middle section that is currently where most students sit as over flow if needed.

Then you put season ticket holders on the 7th row giving three rows of space so the students can stand and not block everyone's vision. Then put the Red Chairs for season and premium seating all the way around the horse shoe. In summary of one of my worst posts on this board. You dont split the vines in half , left and right , baptist and student. You split the vines in proximity to the court. North and South vs East and West , if Im making any sense at all.


Thank You for reading, and I apologize for the mental gymnastics.

I like where your head is at but putting them around the horseshoe dilutes the effect
Putting them behind the bench and focusing the enthusiasm has merits

[adam42381]

Proto, I don't want to call you out, but you did toot your own horn. According to thie site below, the Bullets/Wizards were never in the top 5 in attendance from '96-'01. The closest was 7th. They were 21st during the '98-'99 season. They were also above .500 twice during this timeframe.

http://www.apbr.org/attendance.html

The Capitals were never close to the top 5 in attendance. The Capitals were over .500 three times during this timeframe.

http://www.hockeydb.com/nhl-attendance/

[prototype]

Proto, I don't want to call you out, but you did toot your own horn. According to thie site below, the Bullets/Wizards were never in the top 5 in attendance from '96-'01. The closest was 7th. They were 21st during the '98-'99 season. They were also above .500 twice during this timeframe.

http://www.apbr.org/attendance.html

The Capitals were never close to the top 5 in attendance. The Capitals were over .500 three times during this timeframe.

http://www.hockeydb.com/nhl-attendance/

OK Adam - Not sure I was tooting my own horn about attendance in DC - believe that was just telling you a quote by Susan O'Malley. Attendance isn't just built on number of people, but also capacity and number of season ticket holders. My point was - they did very well, for not being a great team. That was not me. I was the Marketing Director for only 2 years and not taking credit for any of it. But, am very proud of what we did for liberty Athletics when we worked for them.

[adam42381]

Proto, I don't want to call you out, but you did toot your own horn. According to thie site below, the Bullets/Wizards were never in the top 5 in attendance from '96-'01. The closest was 7th. They were 21st during the '98-'99 season. They were also above .500 twice during this timeframe.

http://www.apbr.org/attendance.html

The Capitals were never close to the top 5 in attendance. The Capitals were over .500 three times during this timeframe.

http://www.hockeydb.com/nhl-attendance/

OK Adam - Not sure I was tooting my own horn about attendance in DC - believe that was just telling you a quote by Susan O'Malley. Attendance isn't just built on number of people, but also capacity and number of season ticket holders. My point was - they did very well, for not being a great team. That was not me. I was the Marketing Director for only 2 years and not taking credit for any of it. But, am very proud of what we did for liberty Athletics when we worked for them.

Maybe I misinterpreted this and thought the last sentence was yours since there were no quotation marks.

I worked for 5 years with the Bullets/Wizards/Caps and Susan O'Malley, who was President while I was there and was amazing, used to always say - we have to create success that transcends wins and loses, because we cannot control that. And while I was there, both teams were always in top 5 in attendance and both teams where under 500, all but one year.

[adam42381]

Sorry if it seemed like I was attacking you. I just knew those two teams were not well attended during that timeframe. My father-in-law's company at the time had a luxury suite and he used to tell me they had a hard time getting people to go for free.

[Neo]

Concern Moving Forward: Filling our football schedule without a conference...

[Purple Haize]

Concern Moving Forward: Filling our football schedule without a conference...

Did the Big South fold

Big S uth

[R i]

Concern Moving Forward: Filling our football schedule without a conference...

Are you indicating we are pursuing FBS independent already ?

[Neo]

Not sure, couldn't find the President or AD to ask them about it yesterday.

[R i]

[R i]

Athletic Department Concerns Moving Forward-

Men's basketball attendance. The vines being a hard place to fill up and make intimidating or fun place to watch a game.

Posted this in High Point game thread but here may be a better place. The attendance issue is a very complex one, that appears to have lots of factors. I am hoping Ian can pull all the right strings next season.

[ballcoach15]

The poor attendance is puzzling in most all sports at LU. Stands should be packed every game, in football, basketball, baseball and softball.

[adam42381]

The poor attendance is puzzling in most all sports at LU. Stands should be packed every game, in football, basketball, baseball and softball.

Based on what? A lack of on-field/court success leads to empty seats. Not to mention that a majority of students pull for other schools as their number one.

[BJWilliams]

Athletic Department Concerns Moving Forward-

Men's basketball attendance. The vines being a hard place to fill up and make intimidating or fun place to watch a game.

Posted this in High Point game thread but here may be a better place. The attendance issue is a very complex one, that appears to have lots of factors. I am hoping Ian can pull all the right strings next season.

I agree...I said this in response to you over in the HPU thread but it takes a couple different factors...first, you gotta win obviously. As adam said, lack of on court/field success leads to empty seats...when youre winning, people want to come watch you. Second, it takes strong marketing and promotion. Give people something to look forward to...enticing giveaways, engaging entertainment (Im sure the Harlem Globetrotters would be a nice draw), targeted advertisements where the people listen and watch and read most...getting players and coaches out into the community (why did we stop the Flames Reading Club anyway?) encouraging people to come out...television...I can recall two games when we managed to get on the ESPN family of networks, promoted the games reasonably well and we packed the place out (course one of them was the 04 Big South Championship game which certainly helped things) Im sure there are other factors that I haven't considered but all of them play into an ability to get more butts in seats...

[Purple Haize]

I don't have the solution. Student Attendance was never good during my on campus days. It picked up at the end of the 02-03 season when the team was showing potential. It obviously ended up very strong in 03-04 during the title run. Still the most fun I ever had in college. That last month or so of the season was magical.

Seems like this team is good enough and exciting enough to draw the students. Not sure what it takes these days.

I know the pep band is an embarrassment. When you see what VCU has done there, and what it does for their atmosphere, it's truly incredible.

VCU is a basketball school. That's where they put all their resources. LU is a football school, it's where they put all of their resources. Very few schools can have both

[R i]

LU is a football school, it's where they put all of their resources. Very few schools can have both

LU needs an auxiliary gym in a very bad way. 3-5 k max capacity.

[thepostman]

We should be a basketball school. We have a much better chance to make a splash in basketball than in football.

[ballcoach15]

At one time, there was a rumor that an aux gym was going to be built near Doc's Diner.

[rogers3]

LU is a football school, it's where they put all of their resources. Very few schools can have both

LU needs an auxiliary gym in a very bad way. 3-5 k max capacity.

If Jerry is looking for the school to grow and compete on a larger stage, a smaller venue is not a positive for the men's team. I don't know your age, but when we had guys like Nwosu and Aluma, we had good crowds. A Radford game drew a large crowd. We souls eventually get back to those numbers, since the school was a third the size it is today.

[adam42381]

LU is a football school, it's where they put all of their resources. Very few schools can have both

LU needs an auxiliary gym in a very bad way. 3-5 k max capacity.

If Jerry is looking for the school to grow and compete on a larger stage, a smaller venue is not a positive for the men's team. I don't know your age, but when we had guys like Nwosu and Aluma, we had good crowds. A Radford game drew a large crowd. We souls eventually get back to those numbers, since the school was a third the size it is today.

There were far fewer things to do on campus and around town during those days. The Vines is a bad venue at this point and needs to be replaced with something smaller. Making it harder to get seats would actually be a positive thing.

[R i]

In those days it was David's Place or the basketball game for campus entertainment. There were no streaming options. The team was exciting because the Big South was a newer conference for us.

At this current juncture , I do not see us averaging more than 4 -5 thousand for the next 10-20 years. Volleyball and WBB would also both benefit from an auxiliary gym. Not to mention the fact that for that anomaly game we were going to draw 7-10 thousand fans, we could use the Vines.

[Class of 20Something]

Unrealistic because of the amount of work it would entail, but I would like to see two line graphs. Average attendance per year S-Th. Average Attendance per year F-Sat. I'm sure someone at LU gets paid enough for those analytics, but that individual is not me.

I have noticed with football and it may be true with MBB as well, if we have a bad season, our attendance falls the following season. The effect isn't always inside the season. If we made the tournament this season, even as a one-off, I would expect to see attendance rise at least some. VCU averaged 4k a game before they started making the tourney regularly. They spiked to 6,600 the year after their Final Four run.