When I was a student back in the 60's student attendance was a problem and it still is. Living on an island off the coast of MA. I can't get to many games. I  will be at the Davidson game and would love to see a packed and rowdy Smith but have a feeling I won't. We have a good and reasonable priced product and should be able to pack the place every game. I wonder if our star freshmen are going to want to keep playing in front of empty seats

As a 50+ year alum, observer, and fan I believe our lack of a tradition of consistent winning is, of course, problem #1.  Students will always be fickle.   They want to be associated with a winner. Period.   They don't even have to be sports fans.  A highly publicized winning team year in and year out will do.  Do we still have a Sports Information Director position at GW ?   If so, what do they do ?  Ditto for an Athletic Programs marketing dept.   The SID used to be the one responsible for making sure the local Media was aware of our team and was provided with regular story lines, articles, game summaries, human interest angles, etc.   I remember when the Jarvis teams were a fixture on NATIONAL television coverage on Selection Day as a regular NCAA Tournament bubble team.   Our foreign players, Jarvis's personal charisma, an occasional Red Auerbach sighting/angle, and, yes, good winning teams had us on the way to some decent levels of recogntion and success across the board.  Pops and the 2006 squad provided a short-lived puff of success, as did the Lonergan NIT team - but all evaporated VERY quickly - no consistency.   For our Athletic Dept. to accept that we get no reasonable sports media coverage as the largest University in the city and the city's second largest employer behind the U.S. Government is embarrassing and ludicrous.  James Madison has now joined the list of "local" schools that are covered in more depth by the Washington DC sports media outlets than GW.   Do students have to pay anything to attend games ?  I recall that every time fraternities and sororities are recognized at half time for some achievement, the student attendance at least doubles - sometimes triples.   Who's marketing directly to the Greeks ?  I don't know the "rules" for membership in George's Army, but I'd lay a bet that the vast majority of the student body thinks it's "lame" to be a member - as most any teen-ager would.   How can we make it "cool" to come to a game or be a member of the Army?   As most all of us have pointed out, it all begins with winning.   I've often thought we could follow the Gonzaga model - sustained winning tradition with a long-term coach and imaginative use of foreign recruits.   It sure ain't easy.

First, I think it's fair to give credit where it's due: In recent years, the athletics department has massively improved the ticket buying experience with the new website and ticket management platform, there is alcohol available in the arena (rather than drinking where you can't actually see the game), and there is some real entertainment at halftime most games. Add to that a vastly improved student turnout, and I think that we need to acknowledge that TV, her staff, and Coach Caputo have done a lot of things right.

I'm sure that some investment in marketing dollars would help, as would better scheduling. But I also think that we struggle with our geography and with all the transitions and turnover, we've lost important relationships. 

As far as geography goes, getting suburbanites to drive into the City or Metro in on a weeknight requires dealing with traffic, putting kids to bed late, and searching for parking. It's by no means impossible, but it's a pain, and it's a hard thing to bear when the opponent has a 300+ RPI.

It also means that creating the sorts of experiences and relationships that define fandom is that much harder. Even getting your kids to a summer camp at Smith Center (where they'd get to know CC, his staff, the team, and the university) is a huge pain in the neck when you don't work in or near Foggy Bottom/West End. And, while much of what GW does is sleeker and more sophisticated than it's been in the past, I think a lot of us miss the ways that the Jarvis/Chernak/Perno/McKee/Kvancz types were so present, visible and friendly for so long. With so much turnover, it's hard to feel that level of connection -- like you're not only supporting a team or a brand, but that you're supporting people that you know, like and respect. 

And another student who is a big GW hoops fan tweeted this. How do we reach those people then?

@brooksie1219 
I always swear by my unofficial analysis that more students don’t know we have division 1 basketball than we do. Which is wild because everyone on this campus passes our arena every day!

Last edited by squid (1/09/2024 5:34 pm)

GWAlum2001 wrote:

I think the customer segment that would be the best to focus on is alumni with young kids. I was always going to come to the games since I have been lucky enough to stay in the area after graduation for multiple decades, but I started bringing my kids when they were little along with the rest of my season ticket holder group and our number of tickets have multiplied over the years. Now our kids bring friends and they have a blast and we want to get even more. Just last week I had a friend reach out on how to buy season tickets because they have come to a few games and their kids love it.

I was watching the Davidson game last night and noticed that there were quite a few parents in the stands with a group of 3-4 kids.  I know, I know, there's nothing else to do on a Tuesday night in Davidson, NC.  But I agree that marketing to parents with kids is great, especially like you said: kids will bring their friends/other parents.

Maybe we should go the minor league baseball route and really lean into the fan promotion aspect of attendance.  Have some sort of giveaway/theme for most home games.  Kids get to shoot on the hoops after the game, etc.  Home games are designated 70s-alumni night, 80s-alumni night, etc.  To our credit, I think we tried that a little this year with "Superhero Day."

I looked up average attendance on the university website yesterday and this is what I found:
  2015-2016: 3127
  2016-2017: 2827
  2017-2018: 2648
  2018-2019: 2382
  2019-2020: 2621
  2020-2021: N/A
  2021-2022: 1120
  2022-2023: 1608
The numbers indicate a slight decline in attendance after the team became less competitive, followed by a steep decline after the pandemic. The attendance numbers have not rebounded from the pandemic, but last year was an uptick. Let's see what happens the rest of this year. Once the students return and we are playing conference games against better opponents, I expect the numbers will improve. And if CC sticks around and builds a perennial A10 contender, as I think we all hope, we should be able to get back to around 3000 average attendance. Sellouts have always been rare and I expect that will continue.

Students getting any scholarships, in order to say thank you GW, and in showing school spirit, should support the visible sports teams. Is it asking a lot to spend a few hours supporting the sports teams? 

H&R..71 wrote:

When I moved into Calhoun Hall as a freshman 50+ years ago, Smitty and the Metro were breaking ground. We played in Fort Myer and filled the house against the likes of American, Maryland, and West Virginia. We were coming off the star power years of Walt Szczerbiak and Bob Tallent. Interest and attendance in GW hoops emanated from some marketing, but more from word of mouth on campus! It gathered momentum either from interacting directly with student athletes in class or meandering over to the famous practice facility (The Tin Tab.)This was where some legendary intramural contests took place and attended by many. I used to referee these games for extra cash. I also got to see some of the amazing local talent show up for pick up games. We all know how rich in talent the DMV was/ is. There were DeMatha and professional connections involved which saw Adrian Dantley, Sid Catlett, Austin Carr, and many others play regularly. It spoke for itself and got people excited.

There was also a deep connection between fraternities, clubs, and all student athletics. We attended soccer games, crew meets, baseball, softball, rugby (best of all) and hoops. It grew out of campus interactions and yes, dormitory energy.

Coach Caputo has the right idea by promoting student/player interaction. He no doubt also has a ton of local and pro connections to tap into. Between those, and stressing to all GW athletics and fraternities (which he has done) to attend games, the numbers should go up.

All it took for me to be sold on GW basketball was a block party and a good, likeable team. As soon as we won a big upset game, attendance took on a life of its own. We are building momentum and this season should help put the ML debacle further in the past.

Thanks for bringing back great memories of intramural basketball games in the Tin Tab. A little more than 50 years ago for me. One of my favorite things about attending GW. Still remember my team getting wiped out by a Black Students Union team with seats filled with cheering supporters. (I remember a small seating area, not sure how many people fit in the stands). Despite huge defeat, a fun evening. 
 

H&R..71 wrote:

When I moved into Calhoun Hall as a freshman 50+ years ago, Smitty and the Metro were breaking ground. We played in Fort Myer and filled the house against the likes of American, Maryland, and West Virginia. We were coming off the star power years of Walt Szczerbiak and Bob Tallent. Interest and attendance in GW hoops emanated from some marketing, but more from word of mouth on campus! It gathered momentum either from interacting directly with student athletes in class or meandering over to the famous practice facility (The Tin Tab.)This was where some legendary intramural contests took place and attended by many. I used to referee these games for extra cash. I also got to see some of the amazing local talent show up for pick up games. We all know how rich in talent the DMV was/ is. There were DeMatha and professional connections involved which saw Adrian Dantley, Sid Catlett, Austin Carr, and many others play regularly. It spoke for itself and got people excited.

There was also a deep connection between fraternities, clubs, and all student athletics. We attended soccer games, crew meets, baseball, softball, rugby (best of all) and hoops. It grew out of campus interactions and yes, dormitory energy.

Coach Caputo has the right idea by promoting student/player interaction. He no doubt also has a ton of local and pro connections to tap into. Between those, and stressing to all GW athletics and fraternities (which he has done) to attend games, the numbers should go up.

All it took for me to be sold on GW basketball was a block party and a good, likeable team. As soon as we won a big upset game, attendance took on a life of its own. We are building momentum and this season should help put the ML debacle further in the past.

I am likewise a Calhoun Hall alum for 3 years (beginning 1969-1970).    I moved myself and my 20 year old hormones to Crawford when it went coed in 1972-1973,   Would love to talk Calhoun Hall and other late 60s early 70s memories with you but I am already way off topic and I am sure anyone younger that 65 would find it boring.  I tried to attend as many games as possible.   Previously, I had always been a fan of the pros  (NBA) but got hooked early on college ball.  Sometimes we would drive to Fort Meyer but mostly took the shuttle bus from the front of the Student Center.    Bunches of drunk/stoned hippie types visiting a military base during the heart of the Viet Nam War facinated me.  The music playing for the layup drills was "Shaft".   Were  you there for the Kermit Washington/Clyde Burwell matchup?   What about the game vs. Syracuse that had we won would have gotten us to the NIT, when the NIT was still relevant.  And of course there was always a home and home vs. Ge**getown.    My recollection was that Fort Myer was always cold.   I think there may have been a hockey rink under the basketball floor.      Of course that makes me an alum also of the Tin Tabanacle, an absolute dump of a facility that passed for a gymnasium.   I likewise remember Adrian Dantley as a frequent visitor to shoot around.  As for the breaking ground on the Metro, it unleashed hoards of rats upon the campus.

Last edited by Long Suffering Fan (1/11/2024 10:10 am)

Crawford 65-66.LSF-so pissed off I missed the co-ed transition.If memory serves(it often doesn’t these
days) we were “allowed “ to have women in our rooms from noon till five -with the door open-on 
Sundays!