53 replies to this topic

[Rocketman]

I wish they would take a survey on the reasons...they might be very surprised at the results....of course this would cost them $$ of which they have said is in short supply.....I think I'll email Goldring and tell him we'll do it for free.....

[erniefurgler]

Another thing that hurts...schools are purchasing fewer books for coaches. I know our local school cut back on who receives books, and I know of another school that stopped buying them completely. Even the OHSAA member schools deem it too expensive. Also, hotel cost is quite high...especially if you want to stay close. Fairfield on Olentangy was $189/night. They are tearing down University Plaza & I'm sure the hotel that replaces will cost much more per night

[StudentOfTheGame]

erniefurgler, on 30 March 2015 - 08:10 AM, said:

Also, hotel cost is quite high...especially if you want to stay close. Fairfield on Olentangy was $189/night. They are tearing down University Plaza & I'm sure the hotel that replaces will cost much more per night

An unfortunate accurate assessment.

[General Tso]

The OHSAA will come up with a class that will cost each coach in the state of Ohio (including volunteer coaches) $100 to take to make up for loss of revenue.

[Ericles]

StudentOfTheGame, on 30 March 2015 - 10:57 AM, said:

An unfortunate accurate assessment.

Yes, there is some truth to this. Originally had reservations at the new Hampton Inn that was built, but kept checking back with the Homewood Inn and Suites, even after they didn't have vacancies. One opened up, so we ended up staying there and saved $75 over the course of the three days. And with a MUCH bigger room.

[Ericles]

Rocketman, on 29 March 2015 - 05:34 PM, said:

I wish they would take a survey on the reasons...they might be very surprised at the results....of course this would cost them $$ of which they have said is in short supply.....I think I'll email Goldring and tell him we'll do it for free.....

Online surveys don't cost anything.

[effingA]

We were fortunate to make it there in 09, and our Thursday semifinal afternoon game was better attended than ANY of this years games. It's not the ticket prices, hotel prices, etc.... People will spend mucho dinero for a new phone, tablet, Apple watch, etc... High school sports are evolving and sadly, not for the better.

[waterloowonder]

effingA, on 31 March 2015 - 11:19 PM, said:

We were fortunate to make it there in 09, and our Thursday semifinal afternoon game was better attended than ANY of this years games. It's not the ticket prices, hotel prices, etc.... People will spend mucho dinero for a new phone, tablet, Apple watch, etc... High school sports are evolving and sadly, not for the better.

I agree with with this. I started going to State Tournaments in 1969 and the cost of a ticket was $2.50, which was probably more than $12.00 in today's dollars. This year the crowds the schools brought were similar to others in recent years. Some of the private schools actually had better crowds than other privates in recent years. The difference was in the school administrator-coach crowd, and the general basketball following population. I think a lot of people under age 45 (the me generation) don't have a passion for sports in general, especially H.S. sports. The trend is not good, and I don't think lowering the price will help. Younger people tend to spend their money on the gadgets and frills mentioned above, which leaves less for things like going to the State Tournament.

[bballcoach10]

The ticket prices are partly to blame, but I place the real blame on the arena. The sterile atmosphere at the Schott is causing younger generations to not fall in love with the tournament like those before them did. Many of the die hards who still attend the whole weekend do so out of a tradition started many years ago at St John Arena. As they get older and end their annual pilgrimages there just aren't newer generations takin their place. For those who attended their first state tournament game at St John's you can remember the feeling you got walking into the place. The energy was amazing, and addicting. You couldn't wait to go back. Do you really believe a young kid gets that same feeling at the Value City Arena at the Jerome Schottenstein Center?? Even the name puts you to sleep.
I was fortunate that my first 6 state tournaments were the final 6 at St Johns. It was those 6 years that got me hooked. Ive witnessed my players sit beside me and be bored out of their mind during some games. St. John Arena didn't allow that. Even close competitive games at the Schott struggle to keep fans engaged. There are just very few seats that feel like part of the action. If I was a young kid now attending my first tournament I can't say that it would be something that captured my interest. If I was someone going down and sitting in he 300-400 level I can guarantee I'd have been a one and done.
The OHSAA likes to talk about how there are so many more options for people to spend their dollars on. And they are right. The problem is that they are doing a very poor job competing for those dollars. You can't hold an event in a sterile, sleep inducing venue and think kids are going to want to spend three days there. The whole father-son weekend doesn't work if the son is bored and wants to go home. If they don't come as kids, it's unlikely they return as adults.
I'm not delusional so I know there is no chance of this, but I strongly believe if the tournament were moved back to St. John arena, the crowds would return. It only holds 13,276 but I believe we'd fill it, even at the current prices. There aren't 13,000 good seats in the Schott and people have figure that out. They aren't coming back.
Just someone who misses the good ole days? Absolutely. Sometimes bigger and fancier isn't better.

[Rocketman]

bballcoach10, on 01 April 2015 - 04:52 PM, said:

The ticket prices are partly to blame, but I place the real blame on the arena. The sterile atmosphere at the Schott is causing younger generations to not fall in love with the tournament like those before them did. Many of the die hards who still attend the whole weekend do so out of a tradition started many years ago at St John Arena. As they get older and end their annual pilgrimages there just aren't newer generations takin their place. For those who attended their first state tournament game at St John's you can remember the feeling you got walking into the place. The energy was amazing, and addicting. You couldn't wait to go back. Do you really believe a young kid gets that same feeling at the Value City Arena at the Jerome Schottenstein Center?? Even the name puts you to sleep.
I was fortunate that my first 6 state tournaments were the final 6 at St Johns. It was those 6 years that got me hooked. Ive witnessed my players sit beside me and be bored out of their mind during some games. St. John Arena didn't allow that. Even close competitive games at the Schott struggle to keep fans engaged. There are just very few seats that feel like part of the action. If I was a young kid now attending my first tournament I can't say that it would be something that captured my interest. If I was someone going down and sitting in he 300-400 level I can guarantee I'd have been a one and done.
The OHSAA likes to talk about how there are so many more options for people to spend their dollars on. And they are right. The problem is that they are doing a very poor job competing for those dollars. You can't hold an event in a sterile, sleep inducing venue and think kids are going to want to spend three days there. The whole father-son weekend doesn't work if the son is bored and wants to go home. If they don't come as kids, it's unlikely they return as adults.
I'm not delusional so I know there is no chance of this, but I strongly believe if the tournament were moved back to St. John arena, the crowds would return. It only holds 13,276 but I believe we'd fill it, even at the current prices. There aren't 13,000 good seats in the Schott and people have figure that out. They aren't coming back.
Just someone who misses the good ole days? Absolutely. Sometimes bigger and fancier isn't better.

What do we have for the winner Johnny?.....

[effingA]

I'm not buying the arena argument either...I've gone since the early/mid 70's and believe me there are some crappy seats in St. John's arena as well. Plus, there were seats that you couldn't even SEE the game behind those pillars... No one is going back to hard, wooden seats and no room to move... I started taking my son when he was 10 or so. He remembers St. John's and would rather be in the Schott. He'll be 27 and we continue to go watch.
I was fortunate to have a father who took me to those early games. There used to be a lot that did so then...not so much anymore...

[Bobby]

They aren't going back to St. John Arena. Small, hard seats. Old bathrooms. NO climate control, i.e. AC. Get one of those 75-80 degree March days and it'll be 85 inside. Bleachers on the sidelines where important people sit.

It's not the fans of the schools who are leading the attendance decline, it's the "other" fans, the ones who get the good seats. If I remember correctly we got around 2,000 tickets last time we were in Columbus. If schools still get the same amount and only sell half that's a combined decline of only 2,000. If the average was 14,000 that drops it to 12,000. Apparently 3,000-4,000 "other" fans are coming. Those of you who went to the state tourney for years and don't now, why?

BTW: if you watch highlights of local games during the season you see a LOT of gyms way less full than they used to be. Maybe high school sports isn't a huge priority anymore. Nothing wrong with that, just change.

[caldwell]

Possibly with all of the transfers, fans no longer recognize and relate to the kids playing at their local schools? Thus don't go.

[HH75]

High school sports use to be what people did, now it's just something else to do.

[Common Sense]

Boy, we could talk for days on this topic. Expense, time off, hotels, parking, eating, weather, all those things combine into part of the reason for declining attendance. Heck, just imagine taking away the number of coaches and administrators who are on the school’s dime away and look at what your “real” attendance would be?

It’s pretty simple, there are just too many other things for people to do nowadays. People are not predisposed to “watching” games anymore. You can keep up the scores through social media or the live feeds, etc. The cost of the games isn’t the reason. Yes, we’re spoiled by our $5.00 admission to our local games, but for $12, I’d guess there may not be another event at Value City Arena that you can get into cheaper than that. Ice Capades and Truck pulls probably bring in a minimum $20 ticket.

So what do you do? Go Fri-Sat-Sun and make it more of a weekend thing? Possibly. Add a 5^th division? Possibly. Split Private/ Public? Possibly. The draw there is you’d not be held hostage to the small crowds that follow private schools. You’d have a full menu of 16 public schools (and their fan bases) for 4 divisions. You could do the private championships on another weekend/ or another venue.

[Common Sense]

One thing I would challenge Mr. Ross on is the "catastrophic" insurance bill? What is this for. Isn't every athlete required to hold their own health insurance? And I wonder what the $2.6 million he OHSAA returned to schools was for?

[FlightCrew]

I spent $230 for thur, fri night at hotel.
$200 for 2 books of tickets.
Gas, food, etc.... prolly $100.

$530

[Mr Bearcat]

There have big or at least decent crowds at the Schott in the past. I don't buy the arena argument either. Ticket prices have to do alot with things. I think bad match-ups have some to do with it as well. I don't like the idea of blatant put together teams, no matter if they increase attendance. On the other hand, I realize HS basketball is changing some, and I'm trying to keep up with the times.

[moe_ szyslak]

I could see the OHSAA moving to sessions, rather than individual games, like in girls. $20 per session, 2 sessions per day.

[gamekeeper]

Or TV could be changing alot of it to? YOu can watch the games at home now if you do not have a dog in the fight, and don't have to fight the traffic, take the entire weekend off because you can watch them from your couch. If like Flight crew said he spent 530.00 for the weekend that's 1000.00 for two people, that's a sizable amount out of a family budget. The only way you can see the games before was actually going there. Pro teams are fighting the same thing. You get replays, you get close up shots, and there are some pretty bad places they stick fans from teams in, like the corners or behind the baskets.