Non-revenue sports discussion

[money3189]

I totally agree and yes I know you are very involved in NYS football. Inherently I don't think he is intending to trash the championship ... I think like the rest of us he wants to be a football power again and winning a chip in soccer isn't going to scratch that itch. I mean if I'm being honest I would love to be talking about a top 25 football and hoops school with my friends ... most don't want to hear me tell them we beat their asses in soccer because they don't care. It’s more of that perception thing for fans.

Yes we know how the big market sports represent the athletic programs as a whole. Doesn’t mean we should throw shade on the accomplishments of other teams because they are useless to brag about.

 

[money3189]

There are a set number of fans who follow a sport
there are a set number of fans who will follow a team
there are a set number of fans who will attend games
there are a set number who will tune in to watch

There is an overlap. In some sports the overlap is large in some it is not.

Volleyball at SU has a small following. Volleyball at Neb has a huge following.

Hockey around syracuse has a decent Crunch presence and a decent HS presence but has that transcended to SU womens games? Not as much

Lax around Syracuse has a big HS following and a big SU following, does that mean that all watch it on TV? I watch most every game but have not been to a game in yrs.

Soccer around Syracuse has a decent HS following and with SU men being pretty good a decent group there.. Most likely though less people watch SU soccer on ESPN+ than do LAX. Its probably the X number that would attend that would also watch. Where as Lax has vastly more that would watch than would ever attend.

College hockey is huge in some areas with crowds of 10-15K in some of those towns, the playoffs and Final 4 are well attended but you go to a game at Cornell and will get a bigger crowd than most any routine game in Boston.

Soccer is big in the US but its the dedicated people attending and watching not the casual fan. Lots of people turn on TV and see a fball/bball game and may not turn the channel but soccer isnt holding them. When the US plays a big game in a town and draws 20-30-40k that might be 50% of the locals that care but fball does it and its 5% of the people who care.

Great post.

 

[David321]

I’m pretty sure that the actual point of most college athletic programs is not fan based. If that were the case D3 schools wouldn’t even have sports, let alone scholarships. Football and basketball is obviously different because they have a huge following.

 

[wfschrec]

Yes we know how the big market sports represent the athletic programs as a whole. Doesn’t mean we should throw shade on the accomplishments of other teams because they are useless to brag about.

I don’t disagree …

 

[upperdeck]

I wouldn't call college hockey huge in some areas. It has a good following in some niche areas. The 4th best average attendance was 6544 this year. Only one school had more than 10k. That being said there are a lot more people going to hockey games than soccer games. Probably about 3x more. Most people outside the niche don't have a clue about the sport. But at least they have a niche unlike soccer.

hockey is big in minn.wisc.mich places that have large jr leagues.

attendance in many places at 80/90 capacity in the worst weather of the yr.