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Always A Dragon - Empty Seats at the DAC
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J.B. Offline
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Post: #1
Always A Dragon - Empty Seats at the DAC
Metsox put together a fabulous piece on Always A Dragon discussing the issues with the lack of attendance at Drexel games.

Here is the link to the article.

http://alwaysadragon.com/empty-seats-los...nce-issue/

I'd love to have a civil discussion on ideas that could fill the empty seats at the DAC. Outsiders are welcome, but I'd love to discuss without obnoxious responses from our resident troll(s). I will offer my thoughts, but would like to hear from others first.
02-28-2018 08:35 PM
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hiroshimacarp Offline
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RE: Always A Dragon - Empty Seats at the DAC
1. Winning. That’s the biggest thing.
2. Better schedule. Start playing the Big 5 again.
3. Better promotions. There was supposed to be an autograph session for Mario’s birthday. My son was excited. We never found it.
4. Better conference. CAA hasn’t found itself since VA schools left. Power 5 has drained the midmajors.
02-28-2018 09:42 PM
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dan10 Offline
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RE: Always A Dragon - Empty Seats at the DAC
I posted on AAD but here is my response

Obviously I am from afar now, but I can’t believe game day signs etc are no longer being used. As recent as 2012 for sure every single time the men or women played there were in the very least signs all over campus (specifically the dining hall) and around the DAC saying “game today”. Not giving people information is a bad excuse. It is a hard sell to get butts in seats, but from this article it sounds like we are not even trying any more, which is disappointing.

Advertising is always key. You have to use social media in this day and age to get the word out. Almost all venues that host any event have signs or video boards stating what event is going on with the time and date. Not sure why we would think we are above simple things to get the word out.
03-01-2018 11:39 AM
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fredsavage Offline
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RE: Always A Dragon - Empty Seats at the DAC
(03-01-2018 11:39 AM)dan10 Wrote:  but from this article it sounds like we are not even trying any more, which is disappointing.
03-01-2018 03:42 PM
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EvanJ Offline
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RE: Always A Dragon - Empty Seats at the DAC
(02-28-2018 09:42 PM)hiroshimacarp Wrote:  4. Better conference. CAA hasn’t found itself since VA schools left. Power 5 has drained the midmajors.
In 2013-2014, which was the first season after the VA schools and GSU left (in 2012-2013 VCU was gone and ODU and GMU were still there), Drexel averaged 1,880. That was Charleston's first season, and Elon joined the next season. Drexel went 16-14 with an RPI of 135th, so they were better than they were this season, but not special. In 2012-2013, Drexel's games hosting ODU and GMU had lower attendance than their season average. The CAA's average Conference RPI in the last five seasons including this one is higher than their Conference RPI in the last four seasons with the VA schools (with VCU not in the last of those seasons).
03-02-2018 09:54 AM
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J.B. Offline
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RE: Always A Dragon - Empty Seats at the DAC
(03-02-2018 09:54 AM)EvanJ Wrote:  
(02-28-2018 09:42 PM)hiroshimacarp Wrote:  4. Better conference. CAA hasn’t found itself since VA schools left. Power 5 has drained the midmajors.
In 2013-2014, which was the first season after the VA schools and GSU left (in 2012-2013 VCU was gone and ODU and GMU were still there), Drexel averaged 1,880. That was Charleston's first season, and Elon joined the next season. Drexel went 16-14 with an RPI of 135th, so they were better than they were this season, but not special. In 2012-2013, Drexel's games hosting ODU and GMU had lower attendance than their season average. The CAA's average Conference RPI in the last five seasons including this one is higher than their Conference RPI in the last four seasons with the VA schools (with VCU not in the last of those seasons).

I don't think that Drexel could possibly be in a better conference position right now. The CAA is ranked 13th out of 32 conferences and from a mid-major perspective, is one of the best. The quality of play hasn't dropped off that much (top to bottom) since the Virginia Triangle left us. Based on Drexel's attendance, no better conference is going to consider us. So I think that for now, looking for another conference just to draw a few more fans is a bad idea.

The attendance number that you reference is from 2 seasons after Drexel won 29 games, and was supposed to be really good that year until Lee got injured. This year's attendance is coming after 3 disaster seasons.
(This post was last modified: 03-02-2018 10:31 AM by J.B..)
03-02-2018 10:29 AM
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metsox Offline
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RE: Always A Dragon - Empty Seats at the DAC
JB, I really appreciate you highlighting the piece. It's something I posted this week so that it would be noticed, before we fix a problem, we need to all agree that there is a problem. Since we seem to be there as a fanbase, and the folks in the DAC seem to agree, we can look at fixing it next. That'll be in the offseason. For this weekend, the best thing we can do to grow the fanbase is WIN. So we'll check back in on this next week.
03-03-2018 11:39 AM
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hiroshimacarp Offline
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RE: Always A Dragon - Empty Seats at the DAC
It’s still a boring conference. I don’t know what else to say. Playing Elon doesn’t move the meter for me. There are no great rivalries. I don’t really care about conference rpi and other meaningless stats like that.
03-03-2018 03:49 PM
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hiroshimacarp Offline
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RE: Always A Dragon - Empty Seats at the DAC
(03-02-2018 10:29 AM)J.B. Wrote:  Based on Drexel's attendance, no better conference is going to consider us. So I think that for now, looking for another conference just to draw a few more fans is a bad idea.

i'm not saying there's a better conference that will take us. unfortunately there isn't. we let that ship sail when we went down the toilet while others were rising. i am saying that the conference we're in isn't going to generate any interest.

that's the conversation we're having right? why was attendance so poor?

the normal fan probably doesn't even know a stat like conference rpi exists. and honestly...i don't know that they need to. we all saw how much conference rpi mattered when it came to getting an at large bid into the tournament.

i'm just trying to play the role of the average fan...which i am...who bounces around pa from minor league hockey games to division iii women's basketball games to piaa district 3 basketball games like i did this weekend.
03-03-2018 06:15 PM
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dan10 Offline
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Post: #10
RE: Always A Dragon - Empty Seats at the DAC
(03-03-2018 06:15 PM)hiroshimacarp Wrote:  
(03-02-2018 10:29 AM)J.B. Wrote:  Based on Drexel's attendance, no better conference is going to consider us. So I think that for now, looking for another conference just to draw a few more fans is a bad idea.

i'm not saying there's a better conference that will take us. unfortunately there isn't. we let that ship sail when we went down the toilet while others were rising. i am saying that the conference we're in isn't going to generate any interest.

that's the conversation we're having right? why was attendance so poor?

the normal fan probably doesn't even know a stat like conference rpi exists. and honestly...i don't know that they need to. we all saw how much conference rpi mattered when it came to getting an at large bid into the tournament.

i'm just trying to play the role of the average fan...which i am...who bounces around pa from minor league hockey games to division iii women's basketball games to piaa district 3 basketball games like i did this weekend.
My point is you had that schedule this year and it made zero difference.

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03-03-2018 06:56 PM
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hiroshimacarp Offline
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RE: Always A Dragon - Empty Seats at the DAC
Which schedule?
03-04-2018 07:31 AM
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dan10 Offline
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RE: Always A Dragon - Empty Seats at the DAC
Our schedule had: NJIT, Lafayette, Rider, La Salle, Temple, Loyola (Md), Towson, Delaware and Robert Morris. What other schools are you wanting? That schedule is about as regional as possible

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03-04-2018 07:46 AM
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hiroshimacarp Offline
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RE: Always A Dragon - Empty Seats at the DAC
Temple and La Salle at the Palestra so students can walk there. Otherwise RMU, NJIT, and Loyola were road games so have no impact on home attendance.
03-04-2018 11:13 AM
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dan10 Offline
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RE: Always A Dragon - Empty Seats at the DAC
If they won't walk to the DAC they aren't walking to the Palestra. Fact is these are local teams where getting a bus to travel is not difficult nor expensive. Promoting games against all local teams should be easy. Not long ago road trips happened frequently for these types of games (maybe not rmu). We need to raise the level back to that. Also most deals have home returns (other than philly schools) so these same teams play at home either a year earlier or later. They didn't draw and won't draw. It's just excuses. It has to be built again like it was previously. With a lot of effort and crazy marketing. Make it fun again. That brings them back.

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03-04-2018 11:37 AM
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bmf25 Offline
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RE: Always A Dragon - Empty Seats at the DAC
Drexel's OOC schedule should consist of only these programs:

Bucknell, Lehigh, Lafayette, Vermont, Boston University, George Washington, Rider, Princeton, Penn, Villanova, Temple, St. Joes, LaSalle, Penn State, Rutgers
03-04-2018 07:51 PM
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J.B. Offline
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RE: Always A Dragon - Empty Seats at the DAC
(03-04-2018 07:51 PM)bmf25 Wrote:  Drexel's OOC schedule should consist of only these programs:

Bucknell, Lehigh, Lafayette, Vermont, Boston University, George Washington, Rider, Princeton, Penn, Villanova, Temple, St. Joes, LaSalle, Penn State, Rutgers

Not disagreeing with you in theory. But why Vermont and BU? There are a lot schools who are better in basketball and much closer.

Other than Bowling Green this year, really haven't played many distant schools that weren't part of a tournament. But this is a discussion about what can be done to HELP attendance, and the one game that sold out at the DAC this year was against Bowling Green, the team that came the furthest to play at the DAC.
03-04-2018 08:12 PM
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bmf25 Offline
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RE: Always A Dragon - Empty Seats at the DAC
(03-04-2018 08:12 PM)J.B. Wrote:  
(03-04-2018 07:51 PM)bmf25 Wrote:  Drexel's OOC schedule should consist of only these programs:

Bucknell, Lehigh, Lafayette, Vermont, Boston University, George Washington, Rider, Princeton, Penn, Villanova, Temple, St. Joes, LaSalle, Penn State, Rutgers

Not disagreeing with you in theory. But why Vermont and BU? There are a lot schools who are better in basketball and much closer.

Other than Bowling Green this year, really haven't played many distant schools that weren't part of a tournament. But this is a discussion about what can be done to HELP attendance, and the one game that sold out at the DAC this year was against Bowling Green, the team that came the furthest to play at the DAC.

Bowling Green sold out because it was the home opener, play that game in December and the attendance is 800.

I grew up in central New Jersey, each college listed above is where a significant amount of students from my high school class attended. Vermont & Boston University attracted a good chunk of NJ high school students.

The objective is to create some rivalries...
03-04-2018 08:27 PM
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J.B. Offline
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RE: Always A Dragon - Empty Seats at the DAC
Now that I've had a few days to digest this, I'm going to give you my thoughts on what Drexel needs to do to help attendance.

1. Marketing to kids and families in the area. This is tough for me to do, because I like these people and they have been REALLY good to me. But I have to call out the ticketing and marketing people on this. I really feel as if they've stopped trying. When my daughter sang the National Anthem last year, I was told that they'll let people sing if they ask, but they're just going to let the Pep Band perform because nobody seems interested in singing anymore. That seems like a quitting attitude. If you get high school teenagers in to sing the anthem, they'll sell some tickets. They used to have a successful Girl Scout Day for Women's Basketball, but they gave up on that too. Maybe it's not their fault and it's due to lack of resources. But if that's the case, then the entire department has stopped trying. They need to do what it takes to introduce kids and families to Drexel Basketball. Kids and families will buy tickets. A local elementary school recently sang the anthem at a Temple Game. And I'm sure they sold hundreds of tickets for that. My thought is that if Temple can do it, so can Drexel. Temple might be in a bigger conference, and play in a fancier arena. But who cares? They are no better than Drexel. If Temple can do it, so can Drexel. They need to do what it takes to introduce kids and families to Drexel Basketball. Kids and families will buy tickets. Continue to invite youth basketball teams to play exhibitions at halftime, and maybe even real games before or afterwards. Now some of you might think that we shouldn't be marketing to people who don't care about Drexel Basketball. My response to that is, who cares? There aren't a lot of chair back seats at the DAC. If they fill them up with groups, and limit the amount of tickets left on game day, it will create a demand that might lead to sellouts. If games are sold out, it might convince people that they need season tickets to avoid getting shut out. That will create even more demand. There's no reason why the DAC can't be sold out almost every game and this is how you do it. How can they accomplish getting the groups into the DAC? Drexel promotes their Sports Management degree. Sports Management people are supposed to learn to manage game day operations, including marketing and ticket sales. So why isn't the AD utilizing these students? Hire them for paid or unpaid interns, and work to promote and get the word out to schools and youth organizations and get butts in the seats. IT CAN BE DONE.

2. Drexel Students. I don’t think that the athletic department can fix this problem on their own. But it will take a group of dedicated students to rebuild the DAC Pack from ground up. They need to figure out what their goals and objectives are. They need to push for student funding and funding from the AD. Students recruit students and it will take a group like The DAC Pack to convince the student body that Drexel Basketball is FUN. Section off an area of the student section. Let the student body know that anyone is welcome to be part of this section, as long as they wear a gold shirt, stand and cheer, and have fun. The DAC Pack started from scratch with a few dedicated students. IT CAN BE DONE.

3. Embrace the DAC – The renovated DAC in itself a fine mid-major arena but is still a work in progress. It is not something that we as fans should be embarrassed by. I don’t get the anonymous quote in the article by a STH who’s embarrassed to take guests to the DAC. It’s not glitzy, but it’s small, intimate, and it gets all fans really close to the action. It’s no longer uncomfortable. It’s no longer hot. Guests no longer have to go down 3 fights of steps to pee. The scoreboards stink, but I’ve seen plans that we should be getting new scoreboards and video screens very soon. Also, I’m told, the team areas are as nice as any and the DAC should no longer hurt recruiting. If we have good coaches recruiting the players, the players will come. It doesn’t hurt Denise that much, and it shouldn’t hurt Zach either.

4. Improve the Game Day Presentation – This is a big issue. The game day presentation is stale and needs to be improved. Having video screens can help. But fancy screens alone can’t fix the problem. It takes a good plan to make the DAC fun again. The DAC needs new lighting, and new lights could help with the atmosphere as well. Anyone who’s been to a game at Temple knows that Temple knows how to put on a good show. Drexel’s marketing people should be working with our friends at Temple to figure out how they can put on a similar game day presentation at the DAC. As I said before, if Temple can do it, so can Drexel. This would be a great project for Drexel’s Sports Management students to figure out how to do it. IT CAN BE DONE.
(This post was last modified: 03-05-2018 12:11 PM by J.B..)
03-04-2018 09:03 PM
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dan10 Offline
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RE: Always A Dragon - Empty Seats at the DAC
(03-04-2018 07:51 PM)bmf25 Wrote:  Drexel's OOC schedule should consist of only these programs:

Bucknell, Lehigh, Lafayette, Vermont, Boston University, George Washington, Rider, Princeton, Penn, Villanova, Temple, St. Joes, LaSalle, Penn State, Rutgers
I can only hope you are kidding, but I know you aren't and Hiroshima is in favor as well. All I can say is that won't move the needle either

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03-04-2018 09:03 PM
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RE: Always A Dragon - Empty Seats at the DAC
I would say conference/schedule is less important than some other issues. People go see minor league sports with no idea who the Home team is playing. Hershey Bears are terrible but they had almost 10,000 people there tonight for $1 hot dogs and $5 off advance tickets. It helped that they played the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (Flyers affiliate) who is only 90 minutes down I-78. Bears also have tradition of winning and what seems like a very loyal and active booster club/season ticket holder base.
03-04-2018 09:26 PM
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