Long term effects of COVID on attendance

by **mvfcfan** » February 7th, 2021, 11:48 am

Most of our schools have been struggling with attendance anyways before the COVID came along. How likely do you all think it is that COVID might kill attendance even more once things return to normal again? Will people in general be afraid to go back out and live life again as we always have? I think you could put the Enterprise Center at 25% capacity and I doubt it would even come close to selling out.

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by **Bulldog2323** » February 8th, 2021, 10:14 pm

Let's assume for the sake of discussion that November 1, 2021 we're back to full attendance at sporting events, everyone who wanted one got a vaccine, cases are down to very manageable levels by the health systems, etc.

I think there will actually be an increase both in non-conference attendance and season ticket sales next year for every school & team in all sports. People are beyond ready to get out of their house. I'm ready for Arch Madness in person. Next season home court advantage is going to be very real.

After next year things will likely gradually fall back closer to where they were pre-pandemic. I don't think you'll see Enterprise Center come anywhere close to sell-out territory for the foreseeable future.

by **tribecalledquest** » February 8th, 2021, 10:34 pm

Bulldog2323 wrote:Let's assume for the sake of discussion that November 1, 2021 we're back to full attendance at sporting events, everyone who wanted one got a vaccine, cases are down to very manageable levels by the health systems, etc.

I think there will actually be an increase both in non-conference attendance and season ticket sales next year for every school & team in all sports. People are beyond ready to get out of their house. I'm ready for Arch Madness in person. Next season home court advantage is going to be very real.

After next year things will likely gradually fall back closer to where they were pre-pandemic. I don't think you'll see Enterprise Center come anywhere close to sell-out territory for the foreseeable future.

Agreed 100%.

by **Red** » February 26th, 2021, 1:04 pm

Strangely enough, I feel somewhat liberated by not attending games this year. I haven't missed games for the better part of two decades, but now I'm spending more time with family and working out more. I think there might be a decent sized group of people who find other "hobbies" that will replace their sports devotion.

by **Countrypanther** » February 26th, 2021, 1:45 pm

Red wrote:Strangely enough, I feel somewhat liberated by not attending games this year. I haven't missed games for the better part of two decades, but now I'm spending more time with family and working out more. I think there might be a decent sized group of people who find other "hobbies" that will replace their sports devotion.

Agree with this post especially if I have ESPN + available to watch the games.

by **Red** » December 22nd, 2021, 3:00 pm

Circling back to this. Wondering how attendance this year compares to 2019-20.

by **AcesAces** » December 22nd, 2021, 9:55 pm

Red wrote:Circling back to this. Wondering how attendance this year compares to 2019-20.

I believe UE hit an all-time low in attendance this year. About 3,000. Can't blame COVID. Blame is on the athletics department, coaching staff and poor performance on the court by the team.

We long for the days of stuffing Roberts Stadium with 11,000+ loud, bleacher stomping diehard Aces fans.

by **Bulldog2323** » December 23rd, 2021, 12:22 am

Drake attendance also disappointing right now. We sold more season tickets than we had since at least the 2008 season but only about 60% of them are showing up to games. Many are blaming Drake's mask mandate but I think it's more than that. Iowa State going from 2-18 to #9 in the country and undefeated absolutely taking away the casual fan attention.

Drake attendance tends to improve in conference play at least a little bit. We'll see how it goes.

by **TBS_20** » December 23rd, 2021, 5:53 am

I would like to point out that Baylor announced a new basketball arena a couple of days ago. Their new arena is going to be 7,000-7,500. Down from 10,700. Remember they are defending champions. Apparently, they were having trouble selling out all 10.7k even being the best AND against top rate opponents. It's not just the MVC. Basketball attendance is down across the board and this was happening before Covid. Covid just sped it up.

by **BCPanther** » December 23rd, 2021, 8:39 am

Bulldog2323 wrote:Drake attendance also disappointing right now. We sold more season tickets than we had since at least the 2008 season but only about 60% of them are showing up to games. Many are blaming Drake's mask mandate but I think it's more than that. Iowa State going from 2-18 to #9 in the country and undefeated absolutely taking away the casual fan attention.

Drake attendance tends to improve in conference play at least a little bit. We'll see how it goes.

Iowa State is one of very few exceptions to the rule that everyone is losing attendance. Part of it is having a REALLY good AD, part of it is finally being good at football after a century of being awful and part of it is the delusional fan base that seems to think they're a basketball blueblood coming back.

People realized that it's a helluva lot easier, and exponentially cheaper, to sit at home and watch it on the big screen with better views than you could ever hope to have in the arena. The future, and Drake is doing this with the reno, is making it an experience. Smaller capacities with more amenities, small suites, upgraded food and beverage services. It's no longer pack as many people into a building and watch a game. The first adapters will keep attendance, the ones that lag will never get it back.