Girls basketball has come a long way...still has more work to do though
You’ve come a long way baby.
I never thought I’d see the day when there would be four or five guys crowded around the small TV in Courier newsroom watching women’s basketball.
It happened Tuesday night when the BGSU women’s basketball team slipped past Vanderbilt to advance to the NCAA Sweet 16.
I’m not sure that would have happened a decade or even five years ago. But womens and girls basketball has come a long way in popularity since then but they still have a long way to go to capture the imagination of the casual sports fan.
Take the OHSAA state girls basketball tournament for example. The crowds at the girls state tournament were a little disappointing.
Here were the attendance figures for the four state championship games…
Division I -- 3,576
Division II -- 4,936
Division III -- 4,624
Division IV -- 3,734
So what should be done? Some suggest moving the games across campus to St. John Arena. I don’t agree. Let’s face it compared to the Schottenstein Center, St. John Arena is pretty much a dank, dark, dump. It’s historic, a lot of wonderful memories were made there but it’s not fit for the state girls basketball tournament…in my opinion for whatever that’s worth.
Locally, the following for the girls teams is pretty good when they are playing close to home. But statewide there isn’t the hardcore following there is for the boys state tournament or even the boys regional tourneys. The OHSAA boys state tournament is an event, people attend it every single year. It’s a tradition. Some do travel to Columbus and watch the girls state tournament each year but there isn’t nearly the rabid fan base that the boys tournament has.
I don’t even think the girls state tournament it has the following that the state wrestling tournament has. Even though wrestling is a secondary sport in the winter, it still has a built in fan base that is willing to travel to Columbus the first weekend of March and spend three days there. This year 71,000 fans attended the five sessions at the state wrestling tournament. Girls basketball in Ohio has yet to tap a similar fan base.
So what can be done? How can the OHSAA increase attendance so the 19,200-seat Schottenstein Center doesn’t look so empty when the girls play? Marketing would be good…a targeted marketing campaign. Target youth leagues especially those for young girls and their parents, Give them a group discount on tickets. Hell, market the tournament through the burgeoning Upwards youth basketball program. Better yet drop the ticket prices across the board by $2-3. Tickets for the boys basketball and wrestling were a couple of dollars more expensive than the girls tournament but dropping the price a few bucks more might entice some additional fans to go to the games.
Any other ideas out there?
Boys Basketball
Diebler is named Mr. Basketball
Upper Sandusky has unfinished business
Future Buckeyes will be on display
Liberty-Benton trying to complete perfect season
Holgate marches to its own beat
Harvest Prep hopes to outrun Holgate
A titanic turnaround for Holgate
Plain Dealer coverage of the OHSAA state boys basketball tournament
TRACK
Wood County Boys Track Capsules
Jumper Fairbanks shines for Eastwood
Bucyrus area boys track capsules
BASEBALL
Bellevue ready to rip it
SOFTBALL
Pitching, power key for Bellevue softball team
Other Sports
Elida ousts Etzler as football coach
I never thought I’d see the day when there would be four or five guys crowded around the small TV in Courier newsroom watching women’s basketball.
It happened Tuesday night when the BGSU women’s basketball team slipped past Vanderbilt to advance to the NCAA Sweet 16.
I’m not sure that would have happened a decade or even five years ago. But womens and girls basketball has come a long way in popularity since then but they still have a long way to go to capture the imagination of the casual sports fan.
Take the OHSAA state girls basketball tournament for example. The crowds at the girls state tournament were a little disappointing.
Here were the attendance figures for the four state championship games…
Division I -- 3,576
Division II -- 4,936
Division III -- 4,624
Division IV -- 3,734
So what should be done? Some suggest moving the games across campus to St. John Arena. I don’t agree. Let’s face it compared to the Schottenstein Center, St. John Arena is pretty much a dank, dark, dump. It’s historic, a lot of wonderful memories were made there but it’s not fit for the state girls basketball tournament…in my opinion for whatever that’s worth.
Locally, the following for the girls teams is pretty good when they are playing close to home. But statewide there isn’t the hardcore following there is for the boys state tournament or even the boys regional tourneys. The OHSAA boys state tournament is an event, people attend it every single year. It’s a tradition. Some do travel to Columbus and watch the girls state tournament each year but there isn’t nearly the rabid fan base that the boys tournament has.
I don’t even think the girls state tournament it has the following that the state wrestling tournament has. Even though wrestling is a secondary sport in the winter, it still has a built in fan base that is willing to travel to Columbus the first weekend of March and spend three days there. This year 71,000 fans attended the five sessions at the state wrestling tournament. Girls basketball in Ohio has yet to tap a similar fan base.
So what can be done? How can the OHSAA increase attendance so the 19,200-seat Schottenstein Center doesn’t look so empty when the girls play? Marketing would be good…a targeted marketing campaign. Target youth leagues especially those for young girls and their parents, Give them a group discount on tickets. Hell, market the tournament through the burgeoning Upwards youth basketball program. Better yet drop the ticket prices across the board by $2-3. Tickets for the boys basketball and wrestling were a couple of dollars more expensive than the girls tournament but dropping the price a few bucks more might entice some additional fans to go to the games.
Any other ideas out there?
Boys Basketball
Diebler is named Mr. Basketball
Upper Sandusky has unfinished business
Future Buckeyes will be on display
Liberty-Benton trying to complete perfect season
Holgate marches to its own beat
Harvest Prep hopes to outrun Holgate
A titanic turnaround for Holgate
Plain Dealer coverage of the OHSAA state boys basketball tournament
TRACK
Wood County Boys Track Capsules
Jumper Fairbanks shines for Eastwood
Bucyrus area boys track capsules
BASEBALL
Bellevue ready to rip it
SOFTBALL
Pitching, power key for Bellevue softball team
Other Sports
Elida ousts Etzler as football coach
posted by --J-- @ 10:33 AM
2 Comments:
At 12:02 PM,
Anonymous said…
What was the ticket price for the state tourney? If it's the same as the boys they are kidding themselves and there will always be a huge throng of fans disguised as empty seats. Girls basketball has improved, but not to the point that I care to see any games for the price they charge. No offense, it's just not my cup of tea. As far as the Schott vs. St. John Arena is concerned, if it was good enough for Jerry Lucas the girls can make due.
At 8:21 PM,
Anonymous said…
Wait a minute Jamie, on this blog a couple of months ago, didn't you bang the BVC for not swapping the girls/ boys varsity games on Friday nights like many of the area leagues do? In today's blog you say how poorly the girls state tournament does? That's the reason these leagues should stay with the Friday night boys games, ticket sales!
Another reason for the struggle for fans at the girls tournament, club volleyball. It would probably take a lot of research, but I'd like to see a series of article on the impact club volleyball has had on girls basketball. I bet the weekend of the girls state tournament, there were thousands of high school age girls playing or practicing volleyball, many of whom either played high school basketball during the season, or used to.
JDee
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