Grizbeer
Well-known member
I think UM75 has nailed most of the problems with Griz (and most college) BB attendance. to solve the problem you have to solve who goes to the games, and who doesn't, because there is a direct link between the 2 (what college kid wants to go get rowdy in front of grandparents, and what grandparents want a bunch of rowdy kids in front of them). All those people who refuse to stand and tell you to sit down at football games? They make up the season ticket base for basketball.
I also think you can draw a pretty distinct connection between the decline of college basketball attendance and the rise of Showtime in LA. Remember the plush Gold GAA seats where the mighty and important used to watch the Griz from midway up the seating? After seeing Nicholson courtside with his shades on at the forum, or Spike Lee standing on the court heckling officials in the Garden respectable plush seating away from the court wouldn't due - it was courtside or bust for the well heeled and I-come-to-games-so-people-see-me crowd. The people who actually want to got to the games to watch the game? eh, well... and those plush seats? Well they are still there, but they are maroon now. Know who sits in them? Hardly anyone, cause anyone who has a ticket there also has a an entrance to the Skyclub. If you are one of the first 10 people in the Skyclub you can watch most of the game, otherwise you can sort of watch it on tv. But that doesn't matter, because almost everyone there would rather talk about the snow conditions at Snowbowl anyways, or when they are going to Whitefish or Big Sky again. The Skyclub is always packed, although fewer than a dozen people know the score or even who won.
How to fix attendance at Griz basketball games? That is the topic that first drew me to eGriz well over a decade ago. Trying to get the football fans from out of town to drive over is a folly. Trying gimics to draw UM students is even more hopeless - it isn't their team, and it sure as hell isn't their scene. Dahlberg belongs to the same people who had their fun there in '70's and '80's and refused to let go and give it to the new generation. Trying to recreate that era is hopeless.
So how to save Griz basketball? Kill it. Make it so uncomfortable and unpleasant for the current season ticket holder base that they give up their tickets. Jack up the price of season tickets so high that the older base is insulted and gives them up, then lower the cost of GA tickets to almost $0 and get rid of ushers and security so the freeloaders can sit where they want. Same with parking, charge a fortune of season pass, but get rid of attendants so anyone can park where they want. Move the parents section to the plush seats, and close the Skyclub to everyone during the game.
Then go after people who love basketball and want to be there. Carve out sections for high school students and let them run amok in there. Schedule high school basketball games before weekday Griz games - parents travel across Montana during weekdays to watch their kids play, certainly a Sentinel/BHS, Hellgate/Capital, or Big Sky/Glacier game will draw some fans during the week. Partner with the 7 tribal colleges to extend complimentary student admission, and run a bus from the reservations on weekends, and from Pablo from every game. Schedule a Tribal Colleges game before weekend Griz games. Give the south floor seating area to the Kyiyo club, get rid of the seats and encourage them to bring drums.
If all of this madness doesn't work? Sell beer.
I also think you can draw a pretty distinct connection between the decline of college basketball attendance and the rise of Showtime in LA. Remember the plush Gold GAA seats where the mighty and important used to watch the Griz from midway up the seating? After seeing Nicholson courtside with his shades on at the forum, or Spike Lee standing on the court heckling officials in the Garden respectable plush seating away from the court wouldn't due - it was courtside or bust for the well heeled and I-come-to-games-so-people-see-me crowd. The people who actually want to got to the games to watch the game? eh, well... and those plush seats? Well they are still there, but they are maroon now. Know who sits in them? Hardly anyone, cause anyone who has a ticket there also has a an entrance to the Skyclub. If you are one of the first 10 people in the Skyclub you can watch most of the game, otherwise you can sort of watch it on tv. But that doesn't matter, because almost everyone there would rather talk about the snow conditions at Snowbowl anyways, or when they are going to Whitefish or Big Sky again. The Skyclub is always packed, although fewer than a dozen people know the score or even who won.
How to fix attendance at Griz basketball games? That is the topic that first drew me to eGriz well over a decade ago. Trying to get the football fans from out of town to drive over is a folly. Trying gimics to draw UM students is even more hopeless - it isn't their team, and it sure as hell isn't their scene. Dahlberg belongs to the same people who had their fun there in '70's and '80's and refused to let go and give it to the new generation. Trying to recreate that era is hopeless.
So how to save Griz basketball? Kill it. Make it so uncomfortable and unpleasant for the current season ticket holder base that they give up their tickets. Jack up the price of season tickets so high that the older base is insulted and gives them up, then lower the cost of GA tickets to almost $0 and get rid of ushers and security so the freeloaders can sit where they want. Same with parking, charge a fortune of season pass, but get rid of attendants so anyone can park where they want. Move the parents section to the plush seats, and close the Skyclub to everyone during the game.
Then go after people who love basketball and want to be there. Carve out sections for high school students and let them run amok in there. Schedule high school basketball games before weekday Griz games - parents travel across Montana during weekdays to watch their kids play, certainly a Sentinel/BHS, Hellgate/Capital, or Big Sky/Glacier game will draw some fans during the week. Partner with the 7 tribal colleges to extend complimentary student admission, and run a bus from the reservations on weekends, and from Pablo from every game. Schedule a Tribal Colleges game before weekend Griz games. Give the south floor seating area to the Kyiyo club, get rid of the seats and encourage them to bring drums.
If all of this madness doesn't work? Sell beer.
