Look at the attendance for most home games. Unless the elite are coming in, we can barely get 60-65% capacity. Ticket prices are way too high for the product on the court. No wow players who will put fans in the seats. Would you rather watch Rex hit an open shot or watch Tatum jam one down low. You have to have an exciting team with a flash to them. We are efficient but boring. Nothing wrong with the strategy but it will not put people in the seats. Also, northern Indiana is not a hot bed for basketball. There are more Indiana fans around ND than ND fans.
Reality is that I just do not see any change down the road. The admin. does not want a great team because it might bring in a undesirable player. Therefore they make admissions almost impossible for the elite player. Better pray the stock market does not crash or that endowment and donations will fall off the cliff. They are living on borrowed time with a watered down athletic program in football. Basketball does not bring in squat.
The sky is falling
Wow. Back off the edge of the building.
You really think the endowment is threatened by the athletic department?
Wow
athletic jam after a steal in the tourney.
Why does it seem that the woman's fan base is more rabid/vocal? And please spare me the "they win a ton of games" shit. I'm as liberal as the day is long and I fully support the woman's team. I always watch and root when they are on TV. However, woman's basketball (even when played at a high level) is not the type of thing that should garner a loud, boisterous crowd. Yet it does at ND. The men have been very good the past 3 years and it seems to me that even when the likes of Duke or UNC come to town the crowd/fans suck dog. This includes very close, highly entertaining games. This included a vibrant player such as Jerian Grant who could "wow" with the best of them. They still sucked. They sit there like a pile of dog shit on a warm summer day. The fact that we have to generate a digital sign that states "get loud" or "noise time" is absolutely pathetic in itself.
What amazes me is that the very same rubes that buy tickets and sit there like dickwads during the men's games, show up and create a fantastic home atmosphere during the woman's games. Regarding the neutral site games that used to draw Subway Alums out in droves; see ridiculous ticket prices for "amateur" athletics. ND played in Philly last year for the S16 and E8 games. Philly has always been a big-time subway alumni area for ND. I spoke to many die-hard, lifetime ND fans that could not see the value in dropping hard earned hundreds of dollars on a game that was televised. Pricing for men's hoops and football is outrageous. Notre Dame has always packed venues in the past because the average dude could swing it. Those days are done. NCAA tourney games are for the wealthy that have excess $$ at the end of the month. Alums who are doing well are in good shape, but the subway fans are watching on TV.
women's team more support than the game of women's college basketball deserves. It is sloppy, generally ugly and boring, and very poorly refereed. Of course the non-call charge by the North Carolina player against Arkansas was hideous too.
Tickets for the women were 4 dollars a game until recently so you get senior citizens or the kiddie crowd. The kids will get up and yell for anything. I believe too that people out there appreciate the women's mentality where the national championship is the goal vs the men where playing on the second week of the tourney is the dream.
A few years back the university was charging fans money to high five with the men's team coming out of the tunnel. My alma mater could be at the top of the list for money grubbing.You should see what they charge for remembrances for loved ones. Our Lord cannot be pleased with the greed that goes on there. We need a cleansing of the leadership ASAP.