It has always been thought

[DoubleDee]

Yup

I went there to see a band once.

 

[bballbeadle]

All of the above and adding ticket transfer is a pain. Used to be you just asked, do you want a ticket. Stop by my house and pick it up. Now, there are so many steps to load the APP, sign up and hope so see it work. Its a pain for certain. Agree re: Covid. Not sure I want to be in the crowd at this time.

But at TIP OFF it was painfull to see the empty seats at half court. Also, during the 2nd half there was a shot of an SU player inbounding the ball from beneath the basket. Camera was on the floor. The dome looked empty as it was panning into the upper seats. Attendance of 17K used to be the norm for December. Jan-Mar it was mid 20K no matter the opponent. There has been a loss of support it seems. Hopefully it turns around.

It is Covid. No students because of Covid. People wanting to be “free to live their lives“ and not wear masks. People having their own private crises because of this damn pandemic and maybe basketball recedes for them in importance. The world is going upside down and this is not even remotely a normal year. A lot of loss and grief.

Sure, we also have a middling team and it was 9 p.m. But Covid rules and basketball drools. There are still a lot of Syracuse fans out there, so don’t fret too much, my friend.

 

[Shrmdougluvr]

To me, it's a sign of how spoiled we are that we "only" had 9000 fans for a late midweek winter game against a foe we prefer in football. SU has a large and knowledgeable fan base. Those that attended were well entertained, but it wasn't the first choice game for many others. I'm ok with that (I'm in Colorado)...

Yup. Reported attendance is 15,210, but I have no clue about butts in seats. To put things in perspective, during 2019, only 11 programs averaged more fans than that per game. Only 47 programs averaged more than 9,000 fans per game.

 

[two3zone]

Yup

Nice! I used to run in a there in my early 20s (early 2000s). Loved that place.

 

[goofnoff]

Nice! I used to run in a there in my early 20s (early 2000s). Loved that place.

That was after my time. I was there from the late 70's into the 80's.

 

[djcon57]

It is Covid. No students because of Covid. People wanting to be “free to live their lives“ and not wear masks. People having their own private crises because of this damn pandemic and maybe basketball recedes for them in importance. The world is going upside down and this is not even remotely a normal year. A lot of loss and grief.

Sure, we also have a middling team and it was 9 p.m. But Covid rules and basketball drools. There are still a lot of Syracuse fans out there, so don’t fret too much, my friend.

I get that and it definitely has some affect, but I saw jam packed stadiums all weekend. FSU was packed vs Duke. I think we’ll have a better idea where the fan base’s head is at for that Wake game on a Saturday

 

[realorange]

I think that's pretty much it and it's not much different than any other fanbase in that manner. UNC and Duke both had empty seats in their lean years. Off the top of my head, the only college fanbase that always fills regardless of how good the team is Nebraska football.

Or almost any SEC football program. The year Kirby Smart took over the Georgia coaching job, he told the fans he wanted to see the stadium filled for the Spring Game!! And they did with 90,000 fans and last week when they celebrated their #1 ranking, the stadium was filled again.

 

[orangedave]

I have been a season ticket holder for at least 50 years. Most of those years I would be there for every game.
I still have the tickets but this season is different mostly because of covid (especially at my age) and, partly because every game is on TV. I plan to get back to my old habits next season.

 

[FireballPhil]

Our basketball base was much more dedicated and loyal then our football base. Looking around the Dome ( from TV) not so much, first team struggling to break 500 and the Dome is a ghost town. I realize some of it is Covi

What…women can’t do the weather? I guess I’ll look in to the teary eyes of my two broken hearted daughters and tell them Mr. Orange79 says there can only be weatherMEN. It’s ok though, because he says you can be secretaries or stay in the kitchen.

Tell them to go make you a sandwich.

 

[OttoMets]

Ok then. No more weathermen and weatherwomen. We'll just call them The Weather.

That is a sneaky-good line.

 

[Cuse#1]

well IMO & to be completely honest, i probaly wouldnt spend my hard earned money watching these games and alot of the very questionable decisions JB has been making! Definitely emphasizing alot of those decisions this season & this team.

 

[hoopsupstate]

All of the above and adding ticket transfer is a pain. Used to be you just asked, do you want a ticket. Stop by my house and pick it up. Now, there are so many steps to load the APP, sign up and hope so see it work. Its a pain for certain. Agree re: Covid. Not sure I want to be in the crowd at this time.

But at TIP OFF it was painfull to see the empty seats at half court. Also, during the 2nd half there was a shot of an SU player inbounding the ball from beneath the basket. Camera was on the floor. The dome looked empty as it was panning into the upper seats. Attendance of 17K used to be the norm for December. Jan-Mar it was mid 20K no matter the opponent. There has been a loss of support it seems. Hopefully it turns around.

Transferring a ticket takes about 10 seconds with mobile ticketing. I’ve transferred tickets for the last three home games. It’s a lot easier than making arrangements to meet someone.

 

[OttoMets]

The other thing is as I get older - my tolerance for being around highly intoxicated tough guys gets less and less. I can deal with (and usually am ) mildly intoxicated but the loud mouths, etc...don't miss that.

Factors that went into dropping our season tickets were many, but this was definitely one of them. (The prospect of either eating tickets or forcing ourselves to a 9:00 p.m. Tuesday game was another.)

A lot of it is out of SU's control, but IMO they're caught in a vicious cycle with the game experience. The place rocks with a full house, but the fewer people in attendance, the less appealing it is to attend. And so attendance shrinks further.

 

[cliftonparksufan]

All above mentioned reasons aside, I remember being in full houses on work nights, school nights, frigid temps etc. There was a time when none of the above mattered. The tides are turning. I have noticed for some time, things aren’t the same and I’m not talking about basketball, I’m talking fan base.

It used to be an event. Backcourt full of tables. Live bands at conference games. I remember being younger thinking “there are people here, just to be seen here”. That is no more. Why? Are those people dying off? Younger people are going to continue to be harder and harder to bring in.

It's not an event anymore during Covid. There is no more back court. No students or cheerleaders or dance team or the SSS. Not even Otto. Limited food and drink selections. Wearing masks for a couple hours is no fun. It's easy to see why people who have paid for season tickets elect not to go on a 9 pm during the week in the middle of winter. It's also easy to see why there is no walk-up sales. We have a bunch of Saturday home games coming up against good opponents. Hopefully more people will be willing to come out of the woodwork.

Maybe they need to bring back the Kiss Cam instead of the stupid Electric Dance thing they got going on.

 

[cliftonparksufan]

Transferring a ticket takes about 10 seconds with mobile ticketing. I’ve transferred tickets for the last three home games. It’s a lot easier than making arrangements to meet someone.

No more ticket scalping. I feel bad for the guys outside Marshall Street trying to make a buck.

 

[storange]

It's not an event anymore during Covid. There is no more back court. No students or cheerleaders or dance team or the SSS. Not even Otto. Limited food and drink selections. Wearing masks for a couple hours is no fun. It's easy to see why people who have paid for season tickets elect not to go on a 9 pm during the week in the middle of winter. It's also easy to see why there is no walk-up sales. We have a bunch of Saturday home games coming up against good opponents. Hopefully more people will be willing to come out of the woodwork.

Maybe they need to bring back the Kiss Cam instead of the stupid Electric Dance thing they got going on.

As far as masks go, during football ( 3/12 hours) I get so engrossed with the play on the field I didn’t think about it, but that’s me.

 

[Millhouse]

There are NO students in town.

Also - 9pm on a Tues is tough for people w school aged kids & jobs.

Cuse is meh.
Opponent is meh, so not remotely a marquee game.

Syracuse isn't that big - good number of people must come from other towns. who's driving in from rochester for that? i kept falling asleep on the couch

 

[cliftonparksufan]

Syracuse isn't that big - good number of people must come from other towns. who's driving in from rochester for that? i kept falling asleep on the couch

Definitely. I drive a couple hours and people to the right of us come from the Utica area and people to the left of us come from the Newark, NY area.

 

[kirbivore]

There are NO students in town.

Also - 9pm on a Tues is tough for people w school aged kids & jobs.

Cuse is meh.
Opponent is meh, so not remotely a marquee game.

That's why the get in the door price over the weekend was $6, some of which were pretty good seats. I had some tickets a relative couldn't use. I couldn't go and nobody I knew in real life wanted them so I gave them away to a board member.

 

[Sherman20]

Our basketball base was much more dedicated and loyal then our football base. Looking around the Dome ( from TV) not so much, first team struggling to break 500 and the Dome is a ghost town. I realize some of it is Covid , but not a majority of the sea of empty seats.

It’s due in part to our poor record and the mediocrity of recent seasons. But it’s also Covid and the Omi surge right now. Last night’s 9pm start also certainly dampened attendance.

 

[81South]

There is not a program in the country that wouldn’t suffer with attendance if their team was below .500. Furthermore, we are a blue collar town and a good number of people are not going to spend money on parking/tickets/concessions for the current product being put on the floor. I hate seeing the dome empty but this is the path that JW has decided to take for now.

 

[SUMinistry]

If I lived within 9 hours, I would be there every game. Can't afford the gas money.

 

[Cheriehoop]

I get that and it definitely has some affect, but I saw jam packed stadiums all weekend. FSU was packed vs Duke. I think we’ll have a better idea where the fan base’s head is at for that Wake game on a Saturday

The southern states are much more relaxed about masks, vaccination status etc. I was shocked watching so many games on tv that were packed and had little to no adherence to wearing masks.

 

[djcon57]

The southern states are much more relaxed about masks, vaccination status etc. I was shocked watching so many games on tv that were packed and had little to no adherence to wearing masks.

True but the Rams game on Monday was jammed pack. LA has hardcore rules.

 

[Cheriehoop]

True but the Rams game on Monday was jammed pack. LA has hardcore rules.

True but the Rams game on Monday was jammed pack. LA has hardcore rules.

I would imagine NFL playoff games would be packed. Even the Bills in near zero weather and all the regulations there, were packed too. They lowered prices even to make sure of it.

Sorry, my bad, I was talking about college basketball games. FSU vs Miami was packed with few masks to be seen. State regulations prevent Florida colleges from enforcing any mandates. However it’s a tough comparison with SU, since most college basketball arenas capacities are less than 1/3 the Carrier Dome’s for basketball. FSU averaged 8,981 in their 11,500 arena, Miami averaged 5,673 in their 8,000 arena seats, Duke fills up their 9,314 arena. You have to consider the size of their arenas contributing to their packed look. Probably why we’ve hear SU contemplating at times to building a smaller, basketball only arena - it very well may become a subject again.