David Naghski wrote:
 
> 1) Attendance (or possible attendance) is listed as a reason for staying at
> campus sites.  However, it seems that discussion concerning "campus sites"
> has only included two campuses: Mich St. and Mich. Does anyone have a
> feeling for what attendance would be at these sites if neither MSU or UM
> made the tournament?  I know people on this list would say "sure" but there
> was a lot of discussion about a large percentage of the fans really being
> there to only see "their" team, ie leaving after the first game or not
> coming in until the second game was starting (in both the East and West).
 
Michigan and Michigan State have been willing to take that risk.  So has
Wisconsin.  They're betting that they'll be in the tournament, or, if not, someone
close to them will be.  It's been a long time since neither Michigan nor Michigan
State made the tourney.  This is essentially the same gamble Western Michigan took
last year by hosting in Grand Rapids.
 
> The fans from these schools are being asked to travel if they want to see
> their teams.  Would the fans from other schools be willing to travel?
> Could this years regional have done well at North Dakota?  It seems
> reasonable to believe that NoDak fans would have shown up to watch their
> defending champions.  Would Colorado College have enjoyed staying home in
> their new rink instead of going to Albany?  Does someone from the Springs
> have an idea how the attendance might have been there?
 
These schools are much less likely to want to take the risk.  There appearance in
the NCAAs has been more sporadic over the last decade than the Michigan schools, so
they would be going out on a longer limb.  And if they lose the gamble, there
aren't any other schools close enough to even begin to bail them out.  Most year's
this might not have been true for St. Cloud, but with neither the Huskies or the
Gophers in it, they'd have been in trouble.
 
> 3) I'd hate to bring this up, but does the over-hyped roundball tourney
> keep the "average sports fan" home watching TV and not going out to maybe
> see a hockey game.  Maybe this is why the GLI draws well in December(?) but
> Regionals at the Joe (end of March) don't do well.
 
Yes, and as another poster pointed out, it isn't even predictable at the time
you're setting up the regional.
 
> 4) Finally, are tickets sold as package only(?) or can you get single game
> tix?  If its package only, that certainly would eliminate walk-ups just
> interested in seeing a single game.
 
Yes, they are sold only as a package.  Except for a few seats left at the end this
year, which were obstructed view.
 
J. Michael Neal
 
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