If Wichita Left.... (RPI Talk)

[BradleyFan71]

Is this attendance YTD? Lots of MVC schools have poor attendance figures early in the season when the opponents are no-name type teams. I suspect MVC conference game attendance improves almost across the board at each school.

Through the first three home conference games, Bradley's ticket sales are down just 2%, which could be attributed to playing Valpo instead of Loyola.

[BirdsEyeView]

Idk, if u you think there was more excitement in the MVC then I think you would see a boost in attendance. But you don't see that all. Overall the MVC average attendance compared to last year is down -12%. Only team with an increase is Lusk's Missouri State (better get a contract extension quick). You would think Valpo fans would be excited - but their attendance is down 14%. It not a pretty picture.

SIU -20%
MOSt +5%
UNI -10%
Valpo -14
Evansville -11%
DU -8%
BU -9%
ISUB -19%
ISUR -22%
LUC -1%

Moving the needle to fit the agenda.

[Play Angry]

Attendance in the MVC is something I enjoyed tracking for many years. Below is a snapshot of where things stand versus their historical norms (I would create a separate thread for this but expect some might react negatively and view it as an attack of some sort). If someone else wants to copy the data and discuss in an independent thread, be my guest:

MVC Attendance Year-by-Year

2017-18 (to date) - 3,569
2016-17 - 5,010
2015-16 - 5,051
2014-15 - 5,176
2013-14 - 5,599
2012-13 - 7,270
2011-12 - 7,064
2010-11 - 7,187
2009-10 - 7,397
2008-09 - 7,752
2007-08 - 7,877

Obviously WSU's departure in 2017 and Creighton's departure in 2013 had significant impacts, but there is more to the story. Below are members' average attendance figures to date for 2017-18:

Bradley - 5007
Illinois State - 4652
Missouri State - 4401
Northern Iowa - 4062
Evansville- 3675
Southern Illinois - 3579
Indiana State - 3201
Valparaiso - 2650
Drake - 2621
Loyola - 1839

Now, below are historical snapshots for each current member school taken in 5 year intervals over the past 20 years:

Bradley - 2012-13 - 6557; 2007-08 - 9600; 2002-03 - 9351; 1997-98 - 9769
Illinois State - 2012-13 - 6541; 2007-08 - 6516; 2002-03 - 6021; 1997-98 - 8694
Missouri State - 2012-13 - 6080; 2007-08 - 6241; 2002-03 - 6295; 1997-98 -7161
Northern Iowa - 2012-13 - 4249; 2007-08 - 5096; 2002-03 - 3220; 1997-98 - 3564
Evansville- 2012-13 - 4463; 2007-08 - 5486; 2002-03 - 6671; 1997-98 - 8177
Southern Illinois - 2012-13 - 5007; 2007-08 - 6660; 2002-03 - 6567; 1997-98 - 3420
Indiana State - 2012-13 - 5726; 2007-08 - 4289; 2002-03 - 4339; 1997-98 - 6652
Valparaiso - 2012-13 - 3173; 2007-08 - 3666; 2002-03 - 4376; 1997-98 - 3861
Drake - 2012-13 - 3926; 2007-08 - 6038; 2002-03 - 3969; 1997-98 - 4093
Loyola - 2012-13 - 2278; 2007-08 - 1776; 2002-03 - 3010; 1997-98 - 2775

Average Attendance for Current Member Institutions:

2017-18 (to date): 3569
2016-17: 4212
2012-13: 4800
2007-08: 5537
2002-03: 5382
1997-98: 5817


All data above is taken from http://www.ncaa.org/championships/stati ... attendance except for YTD attendance for 2017-18, which is taken from each team's statistics page from their AD website.

Obviously these are broad declines across the board over the last 20 years, although the results vary significantly school by school. Members of the MVC will need to arrest and reverse this trend quickly if the league is to achieve the long term results each school desires.

[Red]

A drop from 7200 to 3500 in the five years since Creighton and then Wichita State left is incredible.

[Dansen]

I do agree attendance needs to be better, I also think you shouldn't judge it halfway through the season for mid majors. Like somebody said earlier, OOC attendance can be tough for schools not pulling in big names. But more importantly I think, so far all of the MVC games have been during winter break. Attendance figures are down, students gone, I bet the averages rise as the season goes on. I know Loyola's student attendance was up during OOC, but takes a hit during winter break.

[Rollbird5]

Idk, if u you think there was more excitement in the MVC then I think you would see a boost in attendance. But you don't see that all. Overall the MVC average attendance compared to last year is down -12%. Only team with an increase is Lusk's Missouri State (better get a contract extension quick). You would think Valpo fans would be excited - but their attendance is down 14%. It not a pretty picture.

SIU -20%
MOSt +5%
UNI -10%
Valpo -14
Evansville -11%
DU -8%
BU -9%
ISUB -19%
ISUR -22%
LUC -1%

I'd assume some of this can be contributed to students being on winter break. It'll be interesting discussion with a bigger sample size

[Play Angry]

Attendance in the MVC is something I enjoyed tracking for many years. Below is a snapshot of where things stand versus their historical norms (I would create a separate thread for this but expect some might react negatively and view it as an attack of some sort). If someone else wants to copy the data and discuss in an independent thread, be my guest:

MVC Attendance Year-by-Year

2017-18 (to date) - 3,569
2016-17 - 5,010
2015-16 - 5,051
2014-15 - 5,176
2013-14 - 5,599
2012-13 - 7,270
2011-12 - 7,064
2010-11 - 7,187
2009-10 - 7,397
2008-09 - 7,752
2007-08 - 7,877

Obviously WSU's departure in 2017 and Creighton's departure in 2013 had significant impacts, but there is more to the story. Below are members' average attendance figures to date for 2017-18:

Bradley - 5007
Illinois State - 4652
Missouri State - 4401
Northern Iowa - 4062
Evansville- 3675
Southern Illinois - 3579
Indiana State - 3201
Valparaiso - 2650
Drake - 2621
Loyola - 1839

Now, below are historical snapshots for each current member school taken in 5 year intervals over the past 20 years:

Bradley - 2012-13 - 6557; 2007-08 - 9600; 2002-03 - 9351; 1997-98 - 9769
Illinois State - 2012-13 - 6541; 2007-08 - 6516; 2002-03 - 6021; 1997-98 - 8694
Missouri State - 2012-13 - 6080; 2007-08 - 6241; 2002-03 - 6295; 1997-98 -7161
Northern Iowa - 2012-13 - 4249; 2007-08 - 5096; 2002-03 - 3220; 1997-98 - 3564
Evansville- 2012-13 - 4463; 2007-08 - 5486; 2002-03 - 6671; 1997-98 - 8177
Southern Illinois - 2012-13 - 5007; 2007-08 - 6660; 2002-03 - 6567; 1997-98 - 3420
Indiana State - 2012-13 - 5726; 2007-08 - 4289; 2002-03 - 4339; 1997-98 - 6652
Valparaiso - 2012-13 - 3173; 2007-08 - 3666; 2002-03 - 4376; 1997-98 - 3861
Drake - 2012-13 - 3926; 2007-08 - 6038; 2002-03 - 3969; 1997-98 - 4093
Loyola - 2012-13 - 2278; 2007-08 - 1776; 2002-03 - 3010; 1997-98 - 2775

Average Attendance for Current Member Institutions:

2017-18 (to date): 3569
2016-17: 4212
2012-13: 4800
2007-08: 5537
2002-03: 5382
1997-98: 5817


All data above is taken from http://www.ncaa.org/championships/stati ... attendance except for YTD attendance for 2017-18, which is taken from each team's statistics page from their AD website.

Obviously these are broad declines across the board over the last 20 years, although the results vary significantly school by school. Members of the MVC will need to arrest and reverse this trend quickly if the league is to achieve the long term results each school desires.

QFNP

[Majik45]

A drop from 7200 to 3500 in the five years since Creighton and then Wichita State left is incredible.

You have to remember that when Creighton left, you took out a school that was averaging over 15,000 a game and replaced them with Loyola who barely probably averaged 2,000 a game.

Same thing with Wichita. They were sold out for every game at 10,000+ a game. Replace them with Valpo who is at 2,500 a game, and that is a lot of the attendance right there.

[Play Angry]

A drop from 7200 to 3500 in the five years since Creighton and then Wichita State left is incredible.

You have to remember that when Creighton left, you took out a school that was averaging over 15,000 a game and replaced them with Loyola who barely probably averaged 2,000 a game.

Same thing with Wichita. They were sold out for every game at 10,000+ a game. Replace them with Valpo who is at 2,500 a game, and that is a lot of the attendance right there.

A good point, and the net impact is actually laid out neatly in the post immediately above yours - current member institutions in 2012-13 (the last year with CU and WSU) averaged 4800; current member institutions season to date are averaging 3569 for a difference of 1231, which accounts for 33% of the league-wide decrease from 2012-13 to this season. The balance is attributable to the departures of WSU and CU. The column below spells out the trend among current member institutions pretty well:

Average Attendance for Current Member Institutions:

2017-18 (to date): 3569
2016-17: 4212
2012-13: 4800
2007-08: 5537
2002-03: 5382
1997-98: 5817

[bufan741777]

Honest question, as fans of other schools in the Valley do you notice a significant attendance change in students during the break? A large topic for Bradley is that they are barely able to get any students to the game at all that aren't in the band. BU is regularly on top of the attendance of the Valley but that is due to older people in the area showing up to games. I haven't seen a student showing at Bradley since the 06 Sweet Sixteen (Minus when a ranked team comes to Carver Arena).

I feel that Bradley will stay near the top of the attendance for quiet some time but I'm interested to see the attendance figures for BU 25 years from now.