Attendance

[clodney]

First off, hats off to the students! It looked like they came out in full force and covered the entire bottom half of the East side. They were loud (I thought we banned thundersticks after the Cuse game 15 years ago but I guess not!) and most importantly a great number of them appeared to actually stick around past halftime despite the lopsided score. Well done!

That said, it looked on TV like pretty much nobody showed up from Buffalo. Is this the case or did they just fail to show the sections they were sitting in?

[promotherobot]

Mid week game against a nobody opponent. Let's see how many show the Coastal game.

[UBinMD]

13 minutes ago, promotherobot said:

Mid week game against a nobody opponent. Let's see how many show the Coastal game.

I expect a good showing for that one, especially if the Nebraska game is a good one.

[HomeyG]

13 minutes ago, UBinMD said:

I expect a good showing for that one, especially if the Nebraska game is a good one.

Very true

[mikescherrer8]

33 minutes ago, promotherobot said:

Mid week game against a nobody opponent. Let's see how many show the Coastal game.

I’ll be there. 

[Big 4 Hoops Blogger]

Student turnout was unbelievable! Overall crowd though was disappointing. 13k for a home opener following Top 25 season with a new coach and fans allowed for the first time in two years is not acceptable whether it’s against a no name opponent or not. My belief is that the mask mandates and $30 tickets scared many families away on a Thursday night. It’ll be better against Coastal Carolina but that crowd should’ve been 17-18k based on normal circumstances.

Edited September 3, 2021 by Big 4 Hoops Blogger

[Big 4 Hoops Blogger]

For comparison sake, Buffalo had 18,142 in 2019 for a Thursday night home opener against Robert Morris. There’s no justifying the poor turnout from the Buffalo community last night.

[clodney]

52 minutes ago, Big 4 Hoops Blogger said:

For comparison sake, Buffalo had 18,142 in 2019 for a Thursday night home opener against Robert Morris. There’s no justifying the poor turnout from the Buffalo community last night.

This was my take as well but I wanted to be sure I wasn't misled by TV angles. It doesn't matter if it's a Tuesday game against Williamsville East, we should draw 20k after the season we had last year. Truly disappointing, Buffalo.

 

I do want to repeat though: THE STUDENT FRIGGIN ROCKED! That was obvious.

Edited September 3, 2021 by clodney

[Ubblue]

16 hours ago, Big 4 Hoops Blogger said:

For comparison sake, Buffalo had 18,142 in 2019 for a Thursday night home opener against Robert Morris. There’s no justifying the poor turnout from the Buffalo community last night.

Never heard of Covid Pal? Ridiculous comment.  Hope your big 4 Hoops commentary is a bit more thoughtful. 

[Big 4 Hoops Blogger]

2 hours ago, Ubblue said:

Never heard of Covid Pal? Ridiculous comment.  Hope your big 4 Hoops commentary is a bit more thoughtful. 

Covid isn’t an excuse for the Buffalo community when they already sold out the entire Bills season and reached their season ticket cap of 60,000 for only the second time ever.

I obviously understand that it makes an impact but to have a crowd of 13k is a disappointment no matter how you look at it.

the mask mandates made a huge impact even though the majority of people inside the stadium weren’t wearing them.

I say this as a fully vaccinated person who has followed all of the mandated rules without complaint.

 

[promotherobot]

I still say it's Thursday and the opponent. I mean I thought Wagner was a DIII program.

[Big 4 Hoops Blogger]

36 minutes ago, promotherobot said:

I still say it's Thursday and the opponent. I mean I thought Wagner was a DIII program.

Let’s hope that’s the case. Like you said earlier, the Coastal Carolina game will be more telling. 

I can tell you though that there are some concerns within the program that even with Coastal being a ranked opponent, their lack of name recognition may be difficult draw.

[UB05]

45 minutes ago, promotherobot said:

I still say it's Thursday and the opponent. I mean I thought Wagner was a DIII program.

They basically were. I think UB in the past has shown when they rack up a few wins the public gets on board. I remember being undefeated going into the game against army and the stadium was completely packed. Sadly we got crushed but that’s another story

[mikescherrer8]

3 hours ago, Ubblue said:

Never heard of Covid Pal? Ridiculous comment.  Hope your big 4 Hoops commentary is a bit more thoughtful. 

Someone is a little sensitive this morning.

[promotherobot]

3 hours ago, Big 4 Hoops Blogger said:

Let’s hope that’s the case. Like you said earlier, the Coastal Carolina game will be more telling. 

I can tell you though that there are some concerns within the program that even with Coastal being a ranked opponent, their lack of name recognition may be difficult draw.

 

2 hours ago, UB05 said:

They basically were. I think UB in the past has shown when they rack up a few wins the public gets on board. I remember being undefeated going into the game against army and the stadium was completely packed. Sadly we got crushed but that’s another story

 Then what is called for here is a little charm offensive. Fortunately Rachel Lenzi and the Buffalo News give good coverage. Sadly WGR Sports Radio does not. Alnutt needs to pull whatever strings to get Coach Mo on the air to talk about the games. UB is up against the Super Bowl contending Bills right now. The Athletic Department needed to make some noise.

 

[Tee4three]

I follow ub athletics more than most I know personally and I didn't know they opened Thursday until Wednesday night before I went to bed

[UB05]

Yeah, it looks like they did an amazing job with the students but there hasn’t been a lot of engagement with the public. I got emails for ticket buying but that’s because I actively go to games. I don’t know how Joe Footballfan knows UB is playing unless they read the newspaper (they had an awesome front page spread on the team)

[MuchMany]

17 hours ago, Tee4three said:

I follow ub athletics more than most I know personally and I didn't know they opened Thursday until Wednesday night before I went to bed

No disrespect but that's a bit ridiculous 😂

Multiple social posts in the week prior, a couple email blasts, the flash sale in August making $10 tickets available for every game. Or also just, you know, knowing when college football starts every year and looking at their schedule online 🤷🏼‍♂️

[Tee4three]

1 hour ago, MuchMany said:

No disrespect but that's a bit ridiculous 😂

Multiple social posts in the week prior, a couple email blasts, the flash sale in August making $10 tickets available for every game. Or also just, you know, knowing when college football starts every year and looking at their schedule online 🤷🏼‍♂️

I know its ridiculous but its the truth and no disrespect taken. I laughed at my self when I found out the night before (some fan I am)

I go on social media maybe once a day(FB/Twitter) its actually how I saw it. I remember the flash sale but didn't mark my calendar knowing I wasn't going and frankly just figured they played the first Saturday like the vast majority of the NCAA

The issue with me was that the the game day was something other than Saturday. I know other ub alumni that had zero idea it was on Thursday. Including getting a text yesterday asking where they can watch the game ha

[promotherobot]

34 minutes ago, Tee4three said:

I know its ridiculous but its the truth and no disrespect taken. I laughed at my self when I found out the night before (some fan I am)

I go on social media maybe once a day(FB/Twitter) its actually how I saw it. I remember the flash sale but didn't mark my calendar knowing I wasn't going and frankly just figured they played the first Saturday like the vast majority of the NCAA

The issue with me was that the the game day was something other than Saturday. I know other ub alumni that had zero idea it was on Thursday. Including getting a text yesterday asking where they can watch the game ha

This goes to show that usual amount of effort promoting UB games simply isn't enough. The Bills are sucking up all the oxygen these days. UB Athletics needs to pull all the spots and then some.

[UBlearns]

On 9/3/2021 at 3:23 PM, Big 4 Hoops Blogger said:

Student turnout was unbelievable! Overall crowd though was disappointing. 13k for a home opener following Top 25 season with a new coach and fans allowed for the first time in two years is not acceptable whether it’s against a no name opponent or not. My belief is that the mask mandates and $30 tickets scared many families away on a Thursday night. It’ll be better against Coastal Carolina but that crowd should’ve been 17-18k based on normal circumstances.

This is going to sound terrible, but $30 feels expensive to me, for what the UB gameday experience entails.  I was a season ticket holder for a few years after I graduated, but haven't had them for close to 10 years now.  Back in those days, a number of the games wouldn't be televised and it'd be my only way to see the games.  Now, so long as you have a basic cable TV package and ESPN+ access, you can see pretty much every Bulls game from the comfort of your own home.

I love going to basketball games and I'll go to a number of them every year.  It's something to do on a weeknight.  But I find it tough to commit to the football games - and this is coming from someone who is, truthfully, 100% a bigger UB football fan than UB basketball fan.  I missed the flash sale, but figured I'd buy some single game tickets online anyway.  Went online, saw the $30/ticket price tag, and didn't bother.  I'll probably end up going to the Coastal game, because it's not often a (assuming they don't lose this week) ranked team comes to UB Stadium, but other than that I'll watch on TV.

Edited September 7, 2021 by UBlearns

[TML1000]

Many ppl did not attend due to the mask mandate, which, if you watched the game, was clearly not enforced. I think I saw maybe 1 or 2 out of every 50 students wearing a mask. If you are going to have the policy, then actually have it. If it is completely a paper policy...just drop it. It will negatively effect attendance and when it clearly is not enforced at all, it just looks like virtue signaling bs.

[promotherobot]

11 hours ago, UBlearns said:

This is going to sound terrible, but $30 feels expensive to me, for what the UB gameday experience entails.  I was a season ticket holder for a few years after I graduated, but haven't had them for close to 10 years now.  Back in those days, a number of the games wouldn't be televised and it'd be my only way to see the games.  Now, so long as you have a basic cable TV package and ESPN+ access, you can see pretty much every Bulls game from the comfort of your own home.

I love going to basketball games and I'll go to a number of them every year.  It's something to do on a weeknight.  But I find it tough to commit to the football games - and this is coming from someone who is, truthfully, 100% a bigger UB football fan than UB basketball fan.  I missed the flash sale, but figured I'd buy some single game tickets online anyway.  Went online, saw the $30/ticket price tag, and didn't bother.  I'll probably end up going to the Coastal game, because it's not often a (assuming they don't lose this week) ranked team comes to UB Stadium, but other than that I'll watch on TV.

You must have missed the $10 flash sale for all games a couple weeks ago.

 

10 hours ago, TML1000 said:

Many ppl did not attend due to the mask mandate, which, if you watched the game, was clearly not enforced. I think I saw maybe 1 or 2 out of every 50 students wearing a mask. If you are going to have the policy, then actually have it. If it is completely a paper policy...just drop it. It will negatively effect attendance and when it clearly is not enforced at all, it just looks like virtue signaling bs.

The same mandate exists for Bills games. I doubt it's affected ticket sales for them. Will that mandate be enforced there is another story. We are in the final days of a functioning civil society anyway so who cares. I've given up arguing with people.

Edited September 7, 2021 by promotherobot

[mikescherrer8]

The Bills’ mask policy is for masks for any indoor facility. Bulls require it indoor and outdoor no matter where you are. 

[mikescherrer8]

Just now, mikescherrer8 said:

The Bills’ mask policy is for masks for any indoor facility. Bulls require it indoor and outdoor no matter where you are. 

I’m one of those people who doesn’t really give a sh** about mask mandates. Do I wanna wear one? Hell no. But I’m gonna support both teams and attend games regardless cause that’s what a really good fan does.