When thinking of successful college men’s basketball programs, such as the likes of North Carolina, Duke, Louisville and Michigan State, one thing comes to mind other than their success. All of these teams have loyal, supportive fan bases that contribute to the winning ways of their programs. In fact, nearly all of the top 10 winningest programs of the last decade have ranked in the top 10 in home attendance during that same time span.
Despite the successes of our basketball program, attendance at Saint Louis University men’s basketball games has been on a steady decline over the past five years. With the state-of-the-art Chaifetz Arena now on campus, this seems to defy logic. Despite the on-campus location of the new basketball arena, attendance has been lower at Chaifetz compared to when the team played at the distant Scottrade Center (then known as the Savvis Center).
In the two seasons the SLU men’s team has played at Chaifetz Arena, the average attendance per home game was 7,627 fans per game during the ’08-09 season and 7,470 per game this season. Compared to the NCAA Division-I average of 5,185, and considering that Chaifetz has only a 10,600 seat capacity, the attendance has been above average by any standard.  But, compared to the attendance per game of ’05-06 (9,325 per game, 50th in the nation) and ’06-’07 (9,667 per game, 54th in the nation), there has been a significant drop off.
SLU’s men’s basketball attendance has consistently ranked third in the A-10, behind Dayton and Xavier, respectively. Dayton has averaged 12,992 fans per game this year, and Xavier 10,129 per game. Despite the lagging attendance, SLU has posted a 25-4 record at Chaifetz Arena, with an 11-1 home record this season. Similarly, seven teams in the A-10 have a home record of one loss or better this season, despite four of those teams having lower home attendance than SLU. Maintaining a near-perfect home record despite a drop in attendance pays testament to not only the talent of the team, but the passion of the fans.
Through thick and thin, though, the ever-loyal Blue Crew has been there to support the team. Acting as a sixth man, the student group gives the team a big push and creates a hostile environment for the opposition, proving that you don’t need 20,000 fans to make a difference in a game.
“The fans that do attend the games, especially the Blue Crew, do an excellent job in showing support for the team, but nothing fuels spirit more than spirit,” Blue Crew member and freshman Julia Pitlyk said. “If all SLU students took advantage of having Chaifetz on campus and packed the house, the spirit and atmosphere would only grow stronger, and SLU students, alumni and faculty would only grow prouder to be a Billiken.”
So why the decline? From the eyes of a student, there are two main reasons: ticket costs and visibility.
“The fact that it’s $10 to get into the game here and it’s free at most other schools makes it tough to get out there,” freshman Danny Fleming said. “Plus, I hardly know when games are going on, unless it’s a big game, which there aren’t a lot of.”
Out of the top three A-10 programs in terms of attendance, SLU is the only school that charges its students admission to get into the games. At $10 a ticket, it’s a pretty steep price to pay for college students. Pair that with the $135 season tickets for students, and attending games becomes a financial issue.
Another possible cause for the attendance decline is a lack of visibility. The men’s basketball team has not played any nationally televised games; most of the games are broadcasted on the local stations KPLR and Fox Sports Midwest. The only somewhat nationally televised game for the Billikens will be on Feb. 15, when the team travels to Dayton. That game will be broadcasted on ESPNU, which only a small handful of cable companies actually carry, including the cable at SLU. This, combined with a lack of top-tier opponents this season, may have suppressed fan interest.
As the team comes into the home stretch of conference play with home games against strong teams such as Xavier, Rhode Island, Temple and Dayton, fan attendance should increase. Last year, Chaifetz Arena sold out when the Dayton Flyers came to town, drawing a season-high crowd of 10,603.