Attendance was always interesting for NCAA postseason events in my years there (late 1980s to 2021). Students no longer receive free admission, except when the CA Boosters/TeamAggie/Champion Aggies Club picked up the tab for the first X number of tickets.
However, where the non-zero ticket price may have curbed quantity, it oddly created an uptick in quantity. Students who truly want to be there continue to purchase tickets, resulting in a smaller but more boisterous section. The best example I ever saw of that was a men's basketball playoff game against Grand Canyon back in the 1990s. The attendance was around 2,000 but the floor level atmosphere was LOUDER than the almost 8K crowd we had at Break The Record Night that same year.
Also, having the game televised (and not just streamed) also results in a bump. It's funny how students want to be at a televised game while having little to no interest in a non-TV game. It's not like any of them get significant screen time. Yet every year, the ESPN men's hoop game became the FOMO event that BTR Night was in the 1990s.
Nothing in my limited memory beats the electric atmosphere when the heavily favored former University of Nevada at Reno came to capacity-filled Toomey Field and was dominated by the Ags.
A close second would be the Ags holding off North Dakota State on the final play of the D2 playoff game.
Ags could go all the way.
Yep, one giant is gone, but every one of the seven others who still remain are are a clear and present threat. At this state, they are all very good.
Go Ags!
You're making me smile, Michael
Attendance was always interesting for NCAA postseason events in my years there (late 1980s to 2021). Students no longer receive free admission, except when the CA Boosters/TeamAggie/Champion Aggies Club picked up the tab for the first X number of tickets.
However, where the non-zero ticket price may have curbed quantity, it oddly created an uptick in quantity. Students who truly want to be there continue to purchase tickets, resulting in a smaller but more boisterous section. The best example I ever saw of that was a men's basketball playoff game against Grand Canyon back in the 1990s. The attendance was around 2,000 but the floor level atmosphere was LOUDER than the almost 8K crowd we had at Break The Record Night that same year.
Also, having the game televised (and not just streamed) also results in a bump. It's funny how students want to be at a televised game while having little to no interest in a non-TV game. It's not like any of them get significant screen time. Yet every year, the ESPN men's hoop game became the FOMO event that BTR Night was in the 1990s.
Right on all counts, Mark. Great observation.
I've noticed the same phenomenon.
Nothing in my limited memory beats the electric atmosphere when the heavily favored former University of Nevada at Reno came to capacity-filled Toomey Field and was dominated by the Ags.
A close second would be the Ags holding off North Dakota State on the final play of the D2 playoff game.