UCONN (and its fans) Demonstrated Its NYC Reach | The Boneyard

UCONN (and its fans) Demonstrated Its NYC Reach

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Dooley

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In a season that we barely beat a FCS opponent at home by a measly field goal, refused to call any passing plays in a little rain because of a horrendous OL, can't move the ball against some of the nation's worst defenses, have lost all of its top players due to injuries (Cochran, Jones and Davis), and are cycling a 4-deep depth chart at nearly every position to seemingly prepare for 2015, UCONN fans represented VERY well last night.

The announced attendance was a few ticks over 27K. Yes, that's not a good figure in itself. Yes, that is the smallest announced crowd ever at Yankee Stadium. Yes, that still fell some 3K short of the second-to-last smallest announced crowd at Yankee Stadium (2012 RU vs Army...which, incidentally, RU was 7-1 heading into that game). But the crowd last night was very pro-UCONN. I would say, at the very least, it was 60/40 in favor of UCONN. 60% of 27,000 is 16,200. Whether or not my 60/40 crowd split is pin-point accurate doesn't matter. What matters is that nobody with a rational set of eyes and ears could dispute the fact that UCONN delivered a good number of fans to Yankee Stadium. Probably around 15K.

In interviews, Jim Delany has said that he knew that attendance would swell at Rutgers and Maryland once those two schools began playing a B1G schedule. He has said that he knew that the combination of playing against B1G programs with steep histories and huge fanbases would generate increased exposure and buzz to help pack the stadiums at RU and MD.

How do those comments apply to UCONN? If nothing else, UCONN showed that it can sell at least the same amount of tickets as Rutgers (often regarded as the #1 followed football program in NYC) in a season that NOTHING has gone right on the field. UCONN fans spent double/triple/quadruple (or more) their normal gameday expenses that they would to go to a game at the Rent to watch what? A couple of miserable 2-6 teams battle it out in an irrelevant meaningless game. Now can you imagine, in THE SAME SEASON, how many UCONN fans would have made the trip to Yankee Stadium to watch someone like, say, Notre Dame? Ohio State? Penn State? Now imagine how many UCONN fans would have made the trip IN A GOOD SEASON. The number of UCONN fans at Yankee Stadium could very easily approach 30+K. In a good season (or, at least, in a season that we are not this God awful) playing against another good team? 30+K. Easy.

I am, in no way, saying that what happened ON THE FIELD last night was anything but p1ss poor. It was embarrassing. It was everything we have all come to expect from this year's team: a decent effort but a team that could not execute properly when it needed to and a bunch of baffling coaching decisions. But sports are cyclical. At some point (hopefully soon), UCONN football will be competitive again. When that day comes, UCONN football could be a very big draw in NYC. So what I am saying is that what happened IN THE STANDS was incredibly positive for UCONN's brand. Remember, CR is all about (and only about) making money. UCONN being able to sell that many tickets to a meaningless game between two very bad teams should intrigue someone like Jim Delany who is no dummy and understands that his collection of B1G programs and fanbases could do the same thing with UCONN that it did with Rutgers and Maryland: sell tickets, create buzz and, most importantly, make money.

If UCONN can continue to build its brand (it couldn't have been a coincidence that it purchased some advertising space in yesterday's New York Times on the same day as their first game at Yankee Stadium), build on its AAU resume, maintain its spot amongst the elite basketball programs in the country, and, hopefully one day, become a bit more competitive on the football field, then it clearly demonstrated last night that there IS interest in UCONN football in New York City...even in a sh1tstorm season like this one.
 
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From our seats yesterday it was evident that we pretty much filled our side of the field...not sold out...but a LOT more people there than Army had (Cadets to me don't count).
 
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Dooley

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From our seats yesterday it was evident that we pretty much filled our side of the field...not sold out...but a LOT more people there than Army had (Cadets to me don't count).

Yeah, I agree. I'm guessing that the crowd split was 60/40 for UCONN. That would give UCONN around 16K fans at the game. For 2-6 vs 2-6, that ain't too bad. If it was 6-2 vs 6-2, I think UCONN would have drawn over 25K fans. Maybe more.
 
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Also, if we were a good team and this was our bowl game (Pinstrip Bowl), then we possible could have sold the place out. Especially if it was a good opponent or a former rival
 

Dooley

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Also, if we were a good team and this was our bowl game (Pinstrip Bowl), then we possible could have sold the place out. Especially if it was a good opponent or a former rival

EXACTLY. In a bowl game or a game against a good opponent or rival, then that school will draw more than what Army drew last night too. So, if UCONN draws 25-30K and the good opponent/rival draws some 25-30K then that would sell out 52K Yankee Stadium. In other words, UCONN has the same draw/appeal as any other P5 school in NYC.
 

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To sober up the party- the crowd did not look good on TV and neither did the performance. I don't think Delaney looked at this game twice... Team needs to improve.
 
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Since B1G fans speak so much about history, there's houses older than any midwestern state on the drive to the Rent in East Hartford.
 
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I walked around the concourse a bit on the 100 level to get better sight lines for the game, and I watched a stretch of the game from the Army side as well. UConn 200 levels looked pretty filled up, the 100 levels looked so-so, except for Section 106 &107 which appeared less than half full (more like a third to a quarter full) which I'm guessing most people in 107 (like me) didn't sit in their seats but stood on concourse area so they could see the whole field. Defintiely a predominantly UConn crowd, I just thoguth there'd be more. Attendance was less than 30K, not that great...regardless of record.

If Memorial Stadium was still standing they could probably play SMU on campus. Will be very surprised if we exceed 16K for that one
 

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To sober up the party- the crowd did not look good on TV and neither did the performance. I don't think Delaney looked at this game twice... Team needs to improve.

Agreed that the team needs to improve on the field. It will, at some point. Again, sports are cyclical. But the crowd was still impressive for 2-6 vs 2-6. There were as many UCONN fans in the house on Saturday as a 7-1 Rutgers team drew in 2012. A 7-1 RU team that, incidentally, was in a hunt (at the time) for their first ever BCS appearance. I think that it is incredibly positive to allow UCONN to further promote itself in and around NYC.
 
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The whole should be greater than the sum of its parts. UCONN-Rutgers was becoming a very good rivalry and would have unbelievable upside in the B1G. Imagine UCONN-Rutgers at Yankee Stadium annually? Or Metlife Stadium?
 
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Agreed that the team needs to improve on the field. It will, at some point. Again, sports are cyclical. But the crowd was still impressive for 2-6 vs 2-6. There were as many UCONN fans in the house on Saturday as a 7-1 Rutgers team drew in 2012. A 7-1 RU team that, incidentally, was in a hunt (at the time) for their first ever BCS appearance. I think that it is incredibly positive to allow UCONN to further promote itself in and around NYC.

You have some wrong info. Dooley,

In 2012 RU was 7-1 and played Army at Rutgers stadium.

I think you're talking about 2011, when RU played Army at Yankee Stadium in front of 30K. We were 6-3 and 2-2 in the conference...already out of the hunt for the BCS. We were 1-2 in our last 3 games before playing....after a good start.


I was at the game at Yankee Stadium It was like a home game for us Rutgers fans. RU fans made up 2/3 of the crowd. Maybe more.
If you want to say you brought as many fans as RU did (20K) go for it....but I bet Army people would highly disagree with you.
Here's a photo from the RU/Army game.

120081135CT027_ARMY_V_RUTGE_crop_exact.jpg
 
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You have some wrong info. Dooley,

In 2012 RU was 7-1 and played Army at Rutgers stadium.

I think you're talking about 2011, when RU played Army at Yankee Stadium in front of 30K. We were 6-3 and 2-2 in the conference...already out of the hunt for the BCS. We were 1-2 in our last 3 games before playing....after a good start.


I was at the game at Yankee Stadium It was like a home game for us Rutgers fans. RU fans made up 2/3 of the crowd. Maybe more.
If you want to say you brought as many fans as RU did (20K) go for it....but I bet Army people would highly disagree with you.

Dooley is a good poster but he is definitely the leader of the "attendance will save UConn" crowd.

It started last summer with something like UConn will sell out Yankee Stadium.

It digressed to UConn will draw more than Rutgers did. In fact he made a bet with someone about this.

Now, it's UConn drew 16,000 to Yankee Stadium & that proves that we should be in the B1G.

I'm tired of the attendance tards telling us that buying tickets is what will save us.

Syracuse didn't get saved because of their attendance. The ACC didn't accept Pitt because of the massive crowds they draw to Heinz Field. Delany didn't one day look at the attendance at Byrd Stadium & say "we have to add Maryland". The B1G didn't say, "Rutgers gives away 10,000+ tickets for free to try & fill their stadium, they would be a good add".

Attendance has nothing to do with CR & never will. If the B1G really cared about UConn's ability to draw people to Yankee Stadium then our measly 16K (if that is even a real number) would most likely convince them that we don't belong.

Do I believe that UConn deserves a place at the big boy table? Absolutely YES! However, I have learned that my opinion doesn't matter & that there is nothing I can do to influence Delany (other than taking photos of him in a compromising situation) to add UConn. It will or won't happen based upon what the conference believes is best for itself.

PLEASE stop with the attendance lectures! I'm tired of reading this BS
 

Dooley

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You have some wrong info. Dooley,

In 2012 RU was 7-1 and played Army at Rutgers stadium.

I think you're talking about 2011, when RU played Army at Yankee Stadium in front of 30K. We were 6-3 and 2-2 in the conference...already out of the hunt for the BCS. We were 1-2 in our last 3 games before playing....after a good start.


I was at the game at Yankee Stadium It was like a home game for us Rutgers fans. RU fans made up 2/3 of the crowd. Maybe more.
If you want to say you brought as many fans as RU did (20K) go for it....but I bet Army people would highly disagree with you.
Here's a photo from the RU/Army game.

120081135CT027_ARMY_V_RUTGE_crop_exact.jpg

My apologies, I got the year wrong. 2011.

2011 RU vs Army - Winning record. Still in the hunt for the Big East. 30K. 2/3 of 30K is around 20K.

vs.

2014 UCONN vs Army - Losing record. Not in the hunt for anything other than an offensive line, a defense that can stop a triple option offense, and a QB who won't throw gut-wrenching INTs at critical moments of games. 27K. 2/3 of 27K is around 16K.

Comparable numbers. I'm not stating UCONN is NYC's team. I'm saying UCONN has presence in NYC even in the middle of a wave of horrendous seasons.

My numbers are not FACT. Never claimed them to be. They are all ballpark estimates and observations about UCONN's reach into NYC. All the pictures of people in red can't change the fact that UCONN has significant reach into NYC. Good crowd at Yankee Stadium to watch two horrendous teams. Home court advantage at every basketball game at MSG. Good reach.

Still impressed by UCONN's turnout on Saturday.
 

Dooley

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@bobbyinaz -

By all means, put me on ignore. I couldn't care less. I'm not going to stop trying to fire up our fanbase and promote my school when good things like Saturday's attendance happen. Giving you fair warning.

Question for you: if trying to show reach into New York and Boston wasn't important to UCONN's CR profile, why bother scheduling these games anywhere but inside Connecticut? UCONN vs Army at Yankee Stadium. UCONN vs UMASS at Gillette. Basketball - UCONN vs Duke at Izod. UCONN vs Maryland at Barclay's. Pre-season tourneys at MSG (Indiana and BC). Obviously, there is some kind of reason why we are trying to schedule our top revenue producing athletic programs in these venues.

And no, of course I don't think that 16K is going to get us into the B1G. What is going to get us into the B1G is a combination of research expansion, endowment expansion, improved football, continued success in our other athletic programs and, yes, fan support. Fan support = money.

We're in Year 2 of the 3-5 Year B1G Plan. If you're going to quote me out of context, at least have the decency to go through my complete body of postings before labelling me. AAU, improved football, endowment closer to $1B, strong play from our other athletic programs, and fan support (money). Heck, you don't even have to read my complete body of postings. You can simply just re-read my original friggin' post in this thread. Someone with third grade reading comprehension would have already known where I stood on all of this already, but I guess I enjoy repeating myself so that I can re-summarize for you. Tard much?
 
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