The crowd was terrible this year (Is it just me?)

[Redog]

I don't know what the answer is.....but they have to do something...Even I noticed from watching on television that the crowd was terrible. The Division II championship game for AA was packed between Ensworth and Father Ryan. It was not "just a normal Friday night game" - I agree the super sectionals would be a good idea with a rotating site for the FINAL FOUR....That way if the Memphis does get 4-5 of their top teams that attendance demand would increase....

 

Ensworth and Father Ryan both in Nashville - plus the game was played in Nashville. 12.00 to get in next year - ain't goin' unless I have a dog in the fight...... plus 5.00 to park -- 17.00 fore u get in the door. I live 30 mi. from Murf - ain't worth it. Memphis doesn't even support its pro basketball team IN MEMPHIS!

[TronCarter]

Super Sectionals may be the way to go. Venue change really isn't a fix, because all things considered, Murfreesboro makes the most sense by a mile. Its as centrally located as can be and the 11,000 seats is perfect for the event (FedEx, Sommet, and TBA are too big). You really want Science Hill to travel from JC to Memphis? Or Dyer County to have to go to Knoxville? Not a good option.

 

Having this event on the opening weekend of the NCAA's really does draw the crowd down, but what happened this year that really killed attendance was the lack of a local team in the tourney, especially in AAA. Last year, you had Siegel and Antioch playing each other in a Thursday evening game. Two schools within 20 miles of the Murphy Center.......and you had a great crowd.....you didn't have that this year. Beech was the closest school in AAA and they brought the largest student contingent.

 

The format may need to be tweaked, but I hope the tourney can get back to the way it used to be.

[govols78]

Putting the tournament at FedEx Forum you would have a record crowd of Memphis people but what about East Tennessee people? Would be really hard to convince those fans to come all three days if thier team plays. I know a lot of people this year who went Wednesday, thier team won, and didn't go Friday because they wanted to be able to go Saturday if they made it. The location and format are not the problems.

I can think or a couple of reasons (and not blaming or downing anyone here) for the small crowds. Out of the 6 participants on Saturday, 4 of which are from Memphis, which as discussed doesn't travel well. So these teams played the majority of the games for the week. Also in Single A you had 4 (or was it 3) private schools that also do not traditionally travel well as their single A public school counterparts.

The boys tournament usually does fall on the opening round of the NCAAs so I don't think that has much to with the decline.

I don't think you can blame anyone or make a big fuss over it. It is just the way it played out this year.

 

 

Actually Grace of Chattanooga had a good turnout for all games. One thing I wonder about is how many schools were on Spring Break. I know 3 of the 5 Chattanooga schools were on Spring Break which defintely hurt the attendance from that area. Red Bank had absolutely no one at their first round game.

[etownsparky]

When Bartlett used to play in the state tournament, they brought a crowd. Science Hill and Dobyns Bennet and the schools from the Tri-Cities area always bring crowds. Don't blame the distance.

 

 

I agree that distance has little to do with it. I live in East Tennessee and most teams from this area always bring a good crowd.

[ksgovols]

Need to play the state before baseball and softball and other spring sports start as well.

[btownbasketball]

Need to play the state before baseball and softball and other spring sports start as well.

 

While you are worrying about baseball and softball why not shorten the football playoff also, after all they are still playing at the start of basketball season.

[smckinney]

There are a lot of factors why the attendance is down in the State. However I am really concerned that some much attention is being giving to this. It makes me afraid that the State tournament will not be about the teams that have burst their butt to get there but which teams will bring the biggest crowds. When money becomes a factor people start to loose their conscience. At that point getting to the state will loose its credibility. I made the 4 hour drive from Memphis to watch the Championship game on Saturday. Now let??™s break down that trip for me. Gas is 1.89 per gallon in my Escalade that??™s about $70, $10 for the ticket, and $5 for parking. That 85 for a high school basketball game when I could have easily stayed at home and watched the game like many of the people in Memphis for FREE and even watched the Tigers BLOW OUT MARYLAND.

[ds123]

If you go back two years to when Clarksville played aginst Maryville in the finals and maryville won in triple ot both student sections were packed and that was one of teh best games i have ever seen. Also i played for Culleoka that year and we had two sections filled up the whole school was there i saw people there that i have never seen at school before and thats what the state tournment should be about all the students wanting a title just as bad as the players. That year was Culleoka's first apperance ever and students were lined up all outside the school with signs of support and everything else that was the most amazing thing espically being a senior and playing in those games.

[hooters]

Don't go head-to-head with the NCAA Tournament. You could do it before Tennessee was in it but not now.

[ksgovols]

While you are worrying about baseball and softball why not shorten the football playoff also, after all they are still playing at the start of basketball season.

 

 

That's fine by me, but you won't see as many regular season basketball games affected by football playoffs as baseball teams affected by basketball post season. Look at the freakin' calendar dude. It's on TSSAA.org. Still, week zero could be week 1, play 10 and cut the playoff field in half in football would be fine by me. The reality is that basketball has a 167 day season from start of practice to end of state. That's almost 24 weeks, 5 1/2 months, 46% of the whole year and 65% of the school year. It takes 5 of those 24 weeks to play the post season when it could easily be done in 3.

 

On top of all that, the dang thing isn't making money to boot. If you're competing against the NCAA's, sitting outside on a warm day to watch a baseball game or just plain burned out from a season that lasts half the year, then it seems to me that the problem has been identified. If you're solution oriented, like I am, then you address what you need to do to correct the problem instead of thinking that the status quo is working just fine.

[davidlimbaugh]

I have been telling my friends at the TSSAA for years that one solution to attendance is admission price for the students. If students could get in for $1.00 then maybe more would come. And if parents could bring their kids at a lower price perhaps more parents may come? It is hard for a family of 5, 1 playing and 2 kids watching, to pay for all the nights of district play, region play, substate game and then multiple sessions in Murfreesboro. Give them a break on the price for the kids and give the students a break and perhaps attendance will pick up???

[Solomon]

I don't think any of the state tournaments are making any money on their own. There are corporate sponsors for the Clinic Bowl and Farm Bureau sponsors the basketball tournament, but from purely a fan's standpoint, there's not that many showing up.

 

I think Super Sectionals are the way to go to make money and then have a Final Four tournament on a rotating basis to one of the 4 sections. Separate the girls from the boys and 2 of the 4 sections are hosting a tournement every year. Travel is cut, fans are closer to the site and particularly for those sections with fan bases that might not travel so well. And, they need to get on with the getting on during the post season and not drag it out so long.

 

 

And there you have most, if not all of the answer.

 

Sectionals were tried in the 99-00 season to make it a Final Four format at the Boro but schools griped and complained so much that they kept it at 8. (The one time King Ronnie did have a good idea he actually caved on it.)

 

There's no way in the world that you can convince me that the Sub-state model (which it is) would be better than Sectional tournaments. Plus, you could play the state tournament in one week instead of two. Play it out and have the single A championships Friday night and the AA/AAA on Saturday. How would that not work?