Actual butts in seats (scanned tickets): For 2024-2025: Ave was 5,045. For 2023-2024: Ave was 5,742. Iowa last sold $4M in MBB tickets in 2004-2005

[Franisdaman]

Announced attendance: 10,393

Actual butts in the seats: To be announced

Iowa 85-79 Washington (Feb 22, 2025) Final Score - ESPN

Game summary of the Iowa Hawkeyes vs. Washington Huskies NCAAM game, final score 85-79, from February 22, 2025 on ESPN.

www.espn.com

 

[83Hawk]

The announced attendance was 12,693.

* How many actual butts were in the seats, in your opinion? 10,000? 11,000? 12,000?

* When looking at the stands, was it an 80% Iowa/20% Wisconsin (red) fan split? Or something different?

Wisconsin 74-63 Iowa (Feb 8, 2025) Final Score - ESPN

Game summary of the Wisconsin Badgers vs. Iowa Hawkeyes NCAAM game, final score 74-63, from February 8, 2025 on ESPN.

www.espn.com

Couldn’t say…I’m not very good at that.

Nice crowd today. Really got into it in the second half. The guys behind me complained almost the whole game, though.

 

[Franisdaman]

 

[Hawksfor3]

View embedded media

Beth praising the fans. Good stuff!

 

[Franisdaman]

Beth praising the fans. Good stuff!

and praising me?

 

[Franisdaman]

From yesterday's UCLA at Iowa women's game:

 

[Franisdaman]

This is a good discussion.

How attractive is the Iowa job? Iowa is 18 out of 18 in NIL in the B1G. That has to change, no matter who the coach is.

 

[Franisdaman]

This will be the lowest attended season since at least 1964.

 

[Franisdaman]

 

[Hawksfor3]

This will be the lowest attended season since at least 1964.

View embedded media

Lowest attendance since '64. Says it all.

 

[Franisdaman]

In tonight's home loss to #8 MSU, the announced attendance was 10,347.

Michigan State 91-84 Iowa (Mar 6, 2025) Final Score - ESPN

Game summary of the Michigan State Spartans vs. Iowa Hawkeyes NCAAM game, final score 91-84, from March 6, 2025 on ESPN.

www.espn.com

 

[MepoDawg#]

In tonight's home loss to #8 MSU, the announced attendance was 10,347.

View embedded media

Michigan State 91-84 Iowa (Mar 6, 2025) Final Score - ESPN

Game summary of the Michigan State Spartans vs. Iowa Hawkeyes NCAAM game, final score 91-84, from March 6, 2025 on ESPN.

www.espn.com

We were in attendance last night, there’s no way there was 10k+ there.

 

[BrewHawk]

We were in attendance last night, there’s no way there was 10k+ there.

Might've gotten half full.

 

[MepoDawg#]

Might've gotten half full.

I thought about 40%. Even if 50% that’s a long ways from announced attendance. Oh well. Quite a few MSU fans there as well.

 

[SDHawkDoc]

I thought about 40%. Even if 50% that’s a long ways from announced attendance. Oh well. Quite a few MSU fans there as well.

Announced attendance isn't a meaningful number outside of PR spin.
Paid butts in seats are what matters.

 

[83Hawk]

I was at the game. Very disappointed that Carver was only about 1/2 full. Say what you will about their athletic ability, whether they are Big 10 level players, etc……these kids (and the seniors) deserved better for the last home game.

Kudos to the crowd, though. Very loud and into the game. Too bad the Hawks couldn’t hold on.

 

[Franisdaman]

We were in attendance last night, there’s no way there was 10k+ there.

yep; scanned tickets has been way lower than the announced attendance (tickets sold & distributed)

 

[Franisdaman]

I thought about 40%. Even if 50% that’s a long ways from announced attendance. Oh well. Quite a few MSU fans there as well.

Carver still gets loud, even with 5,000 or 6,000 there. This issue is probably the final nail in the Fran decision.

 

[MepoDawg#]

Carver still gets loud, even with 5,000 or 6,000 there. This issue is probably the final nail in the Fran decision.

It got loud a few times, nothing sustained. But if that’s truly the loudest it’s been all year then it’s rather pathetic.

 

[ISUBryce]

I mean this sincerely I do think Fran is an outstanding offensive coach. Maybe the best in the country.

But he has not done anything to ingratiate himself to fans, so when the bad times come he’s got no insulation against criticism. Nobody is going to bat for him.

I’m also gonna say, based on these numbers, MBB is 4th fiddle at Iowa right now behind FB, WBB, and wrestling. That’s not a value judgement, right now Iowa’s support for WBB and WR can’t be matched anywhere. But there is only so much time, energy, and money for this stuff.

 

[Franisdaman]

I mean this sincerely I do think Fran is an outstanding offensive coach. Maybe the best in the country.

But he has not done anything to ingratiate himself to fans, so when the bad times come he’s got no insulation against criticism. Nobody is going to bat for him.

I’m also gonna say, based on these numbers, MBB is 4th fiddle at Iowa right now behind FB, WBB, and wrestling. That’s not a value judgement, right now Iowa’s support for WBB and WR can’t be matched anywhere. But there is only so much time, energy, and money for this stuff.

Dochterman said in a recent podcast that low overall ticket sales & scanned tickets (actual butts in the seats) are likely the deciding factors. If people were still coming to the games, Beth could say this is just one of those years and the team can bounce back next year.

 

[Franisdaman]

Announced attendance: total tickets sold AND distributed.

Scanned tickets: the number who actually show up at Carver, get their tickets scanned at the entrance, and head to their seat.

For 2023-2024: scanned ticket average was 5,742.
For 2024-2025: scanned ticket average was 5,045.


Story from today, from the Gazette:

 

[IllQChawk]

This is for someone in the know. How many seats are reserved for students for each game and from that amount what was the average number of seat filled by students during the 18 home games this year? To me that's more important then taking in the entire seats in Carver arena. Could that percentage be lower then the 33.6% for the entire arena?

 

[BirdistheWord]

how much more NIL do we need to make a difference?

 

[Franisdaman]

Full text of the tweet:

I mentioned these numbers last night on "On Iowa Live" in @SavilleSez final show.

Iowa MBB's average attendance of 9,131 is the lowest since the 1964-65 season. That season is not on record; I had to go through the box scores.

Average tickets scanned per game: 5,172 (not counting the exhibition)

Only 56.6% of tickets available to Iowa MBB were purchased, only 34.6 percent of seats were filled.

Iowa last sold $4 million in MBB tickets in 2004-05.

 

[Franisdaman]

 

[Franisdaman]

 

[Franisdaman]

 

[Franisdaman]

Announced attendance: total tickets sold AND distributed.

Scanned tickets: the number who actually show up at Carver, get their tickets scanned at the entrance, and head to their seat.

For 2023-2024: scanned ticket average was 5,742.
For 2024-2025: scanned ticket average was 5,045.


Story from today, from the Gazette:

View embedded media

Scanned tickets at CHA:
10,696: vs Iowa State
8,929: vs Wisconsin
7,905: vs Indiana
7,683: vs Washington
6,476: vs Michigan State
5,540: vs Penn State
4,756: vs Purdue
4,508: vs Nebraska
4,408: vs Oregon
4,019: vs Northwestern
2,877: vs Minnesota

Some excerpts from the linked article:

Jan Jensen’s program averaged 9,748 tickets scanned per game even though every game was listed as a sellout (14,998).

Fran McCaffery’s program averaged 5,045 tickets scanned in its 18 regular-season games and one exhibition game in 2024-25. That makes up only 33.6 percent of Carver-Hawkeye Arena’s 14,998-seat capacity.

Iowa had fewer than 4,000 fans in the seats for every game in October and November. Those games were against especially feeble foes — Division II-level Minnesota-Duluth and five Division I teams that currently rank 229th or worse in college basketball analytics site KenPom’s rankings.

The average for Iowa’s 10 Big Ten home games was 5,710 tickets scanned — 38.1 percent of Carver-Hawkeye Arena’s capacity. The day of the week was a major factor as Iowa averaged 8,172 tickets scanned during its three Big Ten home games on Saturdays versus 4,655 on all other days during conference play.

These figures differ from Iowa’s official listed attendance, which was 9,161 fans per game. Tickets scanned data measures how many fans actually entered the arena on a given night rather than how many tickets were sold.

Iowa men’s basketball turnout falls further in 2024-25, tickets scanned data shows

Iowa men’s basketball’s issues with attracting fans reached another level in 2024-25.

www.thegazette.com

 

[General Tso]

I was at the game. Very disappointed that Carver was only about 1/2 full. Say what you will about their athletic ability, whether they are Big 10 level players, etc……these kids (and the seniors) deserved better for the last home game.

Kudos to the crowd, though. Very loud and into the game. Too bad the Hawks couldn’t hold on.

Not trying to be an ass and I want Iowa athletic events to be the loudest, fullest events in the country.. but I constantly here the 'kids, coaches, etc 'deserve' this, that, or the other.' The kids are playing power conference D1 basketball on full ride scholarships and some getting nice coin from NIL. The coaches are making more than most people in Iowa City make in a lifetime. The fans pay the money for this. Nothing more is 'deserved'

 

[hawkjt]

Scanned tickets:
10,696: Iowa State
8,929: Wisconsin
7,905: Indiana
7,683: Washington
6,476: Michigan State
5,540: Penn State
4,756: Purdue
4,508: Nebraska
4,408: Oregon
4,019: Northwestern
2,877: Minnesota

Some excerpts from the linked article:

Jan Jensen’s program averaged 9,748 tickets scanned per game even though every game was listed as a sellout (14,998).

Fran McCaffery’s program averaged 5,045 tickets scanned in its 18 regular-season games and one exhibition game in 2024-25. That makes up only 33.6 percent of Carver-Hawkeye Arena’s 14,998-seat capacity.

Iowa had fewer than 4,000 fans in the seats for every game in October and November. Those games were against especially feeble foes — Division II-level Minnesota-Duluth and five Division I teams that currently rank 229th or worse in college basketball analytics site KenPom’s rankings.

The average for Iowa’s 10 Big Ten home games was 5,710 tickets scanned — 38.1 percent of Carver-Hawkeye Arena’s capacity. The day of the week was a major factor as Iowa averaged 8,172 tickets scanned during its three Big Ten home games on Saturdays versus 4,655 on all other days during conference play.

These figures differ from Iowa’s official listed attendance, which was 9,161 fans per game. Tickets scanned data measures how many fans actually entered the arena on a given night rather than how many tickets were sold.

Iowa men’s basketball turnout falls further in 2024-25, tickets scanned data shows

Iowa men’s basketball’s issues with attracting fans reached another level in 2024-25.

www.thegazette.com

These #s are disturbing but not surprising.
What is stunning is Iowa scanning more fans than PU and Nebraska.
The perception is those arenas are sold out madhouses but they draw less than the sleepy carver?
It does put into perspective the nation- wide malaise for regular season men's college bb attendance.
Not just Iowa..not just fran.

But as we constantly hear from especially younger fans on here; regular season success is meaningless beyond making the Dance...all that really matters is March. That focus has diluted the regular season to the point that fans simply do not attend games anymore.
I fear the same could happen to a lesser extent to college FBI with Dec becoming March madness.
Also contributing is fans being turned off by professionalization of college sports...ie.killing the golden goose. I cannot help but think of boxing and horse-racing type of decline in national sporting consciousness. UFC takeover?

Will PU consider jettisoning painter due to boiler fan apathy greater than Iowa fans?
If so, hire him Beth.

 

[Franisdaman]

These #s are disturbing but not surprising.
What is stunning is Iowa scanning more fans than PU and Nebraska.
The perception is those arenas are sold out madhouses but they draw less than the sleepy carver?
It does put into perspective the nation- wide malaise for regular season men's college bb attendance.
Not just Iowa..not just fran.

But as we constantly hear from especially younger fans on here; regular season success is meaningless beyond making the Dance...all that really matters is March. That focus has diluted the regular season to the point that fans simply do not attend games anymore.
I fear the same could happen to a lesser extent to college FBI with Dec becoming March madness.
Also contributing is fans being turned off by professionalization of college sports...ie.killing the golden goose. I cannot help but think of boxing and horse-racing type of decline in national sporting consciousness. UFC takeover?

Will PU consider jettisoning painter due to boiler fan apathy greater than Iowa fans?
If so, hire him Beth.

Take another look at the numbers.

When Iowa hosted Purdue, only 4,756 tickets were scanned.

For senior day vs MSU, only 6,476 tickets were scanned.

 

[SDHawkDoc]

It's unlikely that Iowa men's bball goes from where they're at now in attendance to a full house immediately with one hire. But, it's a virtual guarantee that it will be better. It's also close to a lock that if Fran comes back those numbers fall even further.
If Fran returns they'll need to come up with alternative plans like curtains to temporarily close off all the empty sections and pumping in artificial crowd noise.
Even if they make the obvious move and bring in a new coach, they should immediately consider moving several home games to Des Moines for next season.

 

[hawkjt]

Take another look at the numbers.

When Iowa hosted Purdue, only 4,756 tickets were scanned.

For senior day vs MSU, only 6,476 tickets were scanned.

Oops...I messed up..I thought those #s represented comparative data with those programs...as rosannedandana would say:
" Never mind".

 

[Franisdaman]

Oops...I messed up..I thought those #s represented comparative data with those programs...as rosannedandana would say:
" Never mind".

its all good.

communication is a crazy thing; i obviously didn't communicate well if it's causing confusion

Scott Dochterman of the Athletic is on the record that "butts in the seats" over the last 2 years is probably the final nail in Fran's coffin.