I was underwhelmed to see the reported attendance at approx 1k last night.
Tuesday isn’t a great day… but it’s still a good opponent, after a big win, and frankly, against a team that has tons of alumni around (far more so than SCU) to add to the total. I thought it would be a better number.
Rothstein is a little tardy.
Most here said we had a star in the making in Jalen a year or two ago.
Weave-
First, good to see you here and please post more often. Appreciate your insight and especially your humor. Laughed out loud…truly…not the obligatory and over used ‘LOL’.
Re: marketing, media coverage, etc…I have not rec’d any e-mails or updates from the the AD lately. Lack of press releases, lack of direct communication with alumni and fans, lack of pre-season hype vehicles…it goes on and on. I don’t get it. We have a renowned business school (both undergrad and MBA) including Marketing majors, we offer a communication degree. We didn’t have a Sports Management degree back in my day, not sure if we’ve added a program. Seems a huge missed opportunity both academically for the students and athletically to not enlist some of these students as interns. And if they can’t hire people or fill positions there are firms out there (ie- IMG) who do this stuff…they might be expensive but so what, we should be able to afford it.
Thanks for the post Weave. You had me laughing.
Thanks @bettererer and @92bronc. Humor, a little history and local flavor is about what I can contribute to the board. My in-depth hoops knowledge is far weaker than most. Ain’t got no time to study game film or scour the InterWeb for recruiting news. I once sat next to Carroll Williams at a game a few years ago and he pointed out that the opponent was running a derivative of his famous “Flex” offense. I said “CW, you know me and know that I couldn’t see the Flex in action if it dunked on me.” Got a smile from the legend.
So, to local flavor… @maddog1…an SID wouldn’t do much good because the local press, especially the Mercury news, was ravaged by the InterWeb. Anything an SID at a college other than what Stanford and Cal puts out for football or basketball, would end up in the the circular file. The Bay Area News group can only barely afford what sells papers/subscriptions. So we get, in order, Niners, Warriors, Giants, Sharks, A’s, Pac12 gridiron and (to a much lesser extent) hoops, and then high school gridiron and (again, to a much lesser extent) hoops. There is no more column space after that. John Wilner used to do a decent job on the WCC, but his focus and paycheck is entirely on the Pac12.
What we need is someone to sponsor a “Mercury News Chuck Hildebrand Chair of WCC Sports Reporting.” That’s would move the needle.
I was also a bit surprised by the low attendance on Tuesday. Nevada has been no slouch in recent years. But, its going to take a bit more to earn students’ trust and an even longer time for word to get out to local alum and the public (assuming things continue on this trajectory). And let’s not forget, Santa Clara is so tough academically (tougher than when most of us old fogies were there) and there is so much more going on on campus. Hard to take a mid-week night off from the books or club or whatever unless one is confident in a V.
In my own case, my wife gave me the stink eye when i said I was going to the game. Not sure I am going to get a hall pass for Friday or next Sat 
given that family is in town for thanksgiving. She’s not a sports fan and thinks I’m crazy (which I probably am) for hanging on this long in hopes that the Broncos turn it around.
Wife’s are like that. Thanks for the insight. It’s a little hard for it to sink in because when we were at SCU you had to wait in line hours before the tickets went on sale so you could get tickets to the game. Hopefully we keep up with the wins and we win some students and local alums back.
I agree that the traditional print/online media isn’t the way. Heck even if they did cover it, a lot of people wouldn’t see it bc of paywalls.
There are a lot of ways to try to execute this tactically, but basically, pay people to show up if that’s what you have to do to get them to come. Bc if you get them once, you have a better chance of getting them twice. And offering experiences that would be enjoyable aside from the game might help.
I think we’re all aware of the slide of campus enthusiasm. Heck, this internet bastion is definitely the most committed bronco fanatics out there. It is a major bummer that is only solved by winning lots of games.
I wouldn’t say that. Minor league baseball teams draw well and half the time people don’t even care who wins. They do a good job of marketing the experience over the result.
I, personally, want engaged folks who take this silly enterprise seriously. I’m trying not to shoot you down. I just want folks who want to be there to be there. A good college basketball atmosphere is different than a minor league game to me.
Weave, enjoyed your post - good material. Sneak out, if that’s what it takes to get to the games. Blame it on the crappy streaming. I’ve been to all 3. These guys are fun to watch and well worth a little heat from The Missus.
I’ve known @TheWeave for a long time…he’s even more humorous in person. He’s coming down south (assuming his better half gives him a hall pass) for the Feb 5 Broncos-Toreros game. Looking forward to a night full of belly laughs! Y’all should make the trip down as well, we can plan a pre- and post-game meetup for some libations and banter.
I give you that minor league baseball draws but…
Here in the South Bay, the SJ Giants seem to do ok, but only because there are free tickets to be had. And once a “fan” has cashed their first set in, there is zero incentive to pay the next time–even for the experience that includes a “beer batter.”
When my kids were younger and i thought “hey, lets go see the SJ Giants again.” I’d go looking for free tiks in the usual spots. If I can’t find them, I nix the idea.
Going down the “freemiums” path could be worth a try, but at this point, games are cheap enough. You’ve got to offer the experience of winning to get someone, especially local alumni, back in the door. They’ve suffered through too long of a dry spell.
Example… SCU at USF pre-COVID…Bronco crowd was ELECTRIC in War Memorial after the Broncos posted a solid pre-season. USF opened up a can of whoop-##$. The “same 'ol Broncos” reality set in and that was it for fans for the season.
And speaking of beer batters and dry spells…There was no beer or wine for sale at the Nevada game. Anyone know if that got nixed? How I am supposed to rip the official that is John Gruden’s doppelganger if I’m not heated up my maximum allowed three of glasses of overpriced chardonnay?
Seriously, that one official on Tuesday looked just like Gruden, minus 40lbs.
Not gonna lie, pre-game wine tasting was on my mental list of incentives for non-student market segments (professionals, local alumni, etc). 
That might be your experience with the SJ Giants, but it’s not everyone’s and it’s not everyone’s with other clubs. You have a point about defending value, but right now for a whole lot of people, the current value is 0. They aren’t coming. If they come once, maybe they have a good enough time to come again even if it costs a few bucks. Let’s be honest, a few bucks isn’t going to break very many people in SC. It’s perceived value of the experience.
It’s all about experimenting with messaging, discounts, promotions, ways to enhance experience, etc. I can’t imagine SCU is revenue-positive now, so I don’t see the harm in putting a few more bucks into trying to do some things differently to change and maybe put you in a better position if the competition product continues to be good.
And now I have to study for a job interview for a job in marketing analytics and measurement haha.
I’ll give you that this administration has not been very pro-active at attempting to drum up interest.
I think the chosen time is also a factor. It’s hard to get from Mountain View to SCU after work by 6 pm, let alone someplace farther out. I’m in the North Bay now and would happily make my way to SCU for a weeknight game against a quality opponent. I’ll probably do that at least a couple times this season. But 6 pm is a non-starter considering I have to fight traffic through three separate metros (SR/Petaluma, SF/Oakland, South Bay) to get there.
As for students, I do think they will come. The Stanford game was pretty well attended, especially by the second half. My guess is good opponent with name recognition + Friday night + texts going around saying “you gotta get down here” made for a good crowd. College students are creatures of zeitgeist and momentum. With some buzz around campus, they’ll show up, but it takes time (and wins).
This is an excellent point. I was almost caught out by the start time, tbh.
Gah, my marketing brain says “it’ll take winning” is like saying “I’m worthless as a marketer unless conditions are ideal”. There has to be something else.
And in case no one else was thinking it, I will say this is one area where Sendek does not excel. He’s not a promoter – of self or anything else. So you need to build out some capability on a department level to do this in order to get the best results. There are still Arizona State fans that prefer Hurley to Sendek even though Hurley has been demonstrably worse at making them consistently decent in the Pac-12. The reason is because Hurley’s behavior makes them think he’s done better.
Obviously, this is not a phenomenon limited to basketball, and it’s very annoying for people with the aptitude to parse reality from perception – but it’s there.
Justice needs to find his range tonight