USA Sold Out

[Bball Girl]

The USA is officially sold out for the game on Sunday. The 2800 seats reserved for students which will be available at 12:15...otherwise everything else is gone. There will be good student support but I'm not sure enough to take 2800 seats...we'll just have to see.

This is our first sellout since 2000 and not only is it a testimony to the Lady Raiders but our worthy opponents too.

Since the men play Texas at the USA today...and after beating OSU, beating Texas would keep them on the bubble for the NCAAs.

Anyway, we are all very excited about this weekend of great basketball here in Lubbock.

May the best teams win!

[JohnHenry]

Some of those tickets were bought by friends of mine... http://hoopscoop.net/ubb/smile.gif

I can't go, but many Longhorns who were going to Lubbock for the men's game decided to make it a 2-fer weekend (at my suggestion) and snapped up some tickets for the women's game Sunday. Two of them confessed to not knowing or caring much about women's bball, but decided to be good orangebloods and support the gals since they would be there already.

I hope we can find a way to jump-start student support here at UT next year. Maybe our men's team needs to be more mediocre...

[Jimi]

Way to go Tech fans!!!!!!!!!!!

JohnHenrey, I think for the most part WBB competes with a lot of things for entertainment dollars (and time) but getting fans away from the men's program is most likely not a major source. I think quality athletic programs build school pride and can build on each other as much as the other way around. Many Kansas State fans I know also support football and Men's BB to, but most do not go to all the men's games as they do the women's. I never cared a whit about KSU MBB or football until I started going to women's games. Now I have just about completely abandoned my following of NU football and KU MBB and switched. Being Purple just seems RIGHT to me now. http://hoopscoop.net/ubb/wink.gif

Everyone seems to think that having some Kansas players on the team and winning is all there is to it. NOT SO. If it was, KU would have set the world on fire with Lynette Woodard et-al. It did not happen in the stands. Coach Patterson and K-State have promoted WBB and taken advantage of their opportunities including "selling" the homegrown talent but they worked at it. One of the keys in my view is getting people to go to their first game. You have done that. If the product on the floor is good it will sell but first people have to notice it and see it. The second thing that is great for Tech is a sell out. I can't tell you the change in attitude that comes with sell outs. The fans start to think of their seats as HOT tickets and get the idea that they better buy season tickets to make sure they can get decent seats and get in the building. We (my little organization) did ticket promotions in Nicole's freshman and sophmore years. We got 1400 people from the Clay Center area to a "Nicole Ohlde" day that we promoted. Most of them had never been to a WCBB game in their lives. In fact many of them needed directions to Bramlage, a pretty good sign that they had never been to a football game much less a MBB game at KSU. Many of those folks started going to games. As they say, look it up, attendance grew in 2000-01 and you sure can't say it was because we were winning (at least B-12 games). Once attendance grew press attention grew to, and that snowballed last year once we hit those sell-outs.

Mechelle Voepel did not attend and write about Wildcat WBB before the wins and especially the sell outs. Do a search for KSU WBB articles in the KC-Star in 00-01. You won't find any. Sell outs are a flashing sign to the media that the public is interested in what you have. If they believe that, they WILL be there to cover your games. Heck in 00-01 not all the games were available on the radio and almost never on TV. Now a lot are on TV and I can get all the games live on the radio even if the men are playing at the same time. As late as last year they delayed WBB broadcasts for MBB recorded coaches show.

In 2000-01 my wife and I had two of 173 season tickets to KSU WBB. In 01-02 we had four of 1,400. In 02-03 it was four of 6,500, and trust me we never have a problem finding people who will take our other two seats. The interesting thing is that most of the people we took to games as guests in 00-01 and 01-02 now have some of those 6,500 season tickets. That sort of thing is multiplied many times over by other folks in the region.

We (in the Big 12) have a great product to sell. People just need to be exposed to it and have the chance to get excited by it. To borrow from Arnold Swartenager "they'll bee baack".

[Jimi]

Btw I think its WAAAAY KOOOOL that the Big twelve will have another SELL OUT WBB game on TV!!!!!!!!!!

That has got to help our image and it sure can't hurt recruiting.