Will NCAA appearance bump UD attendance?

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By Kyle Nagel, Staff Writer 7:40 PM Saturday, March 20, 2010

More than 45 minutes before the University of Tennessee women’s basketball team started its first-round NCAA tournament game against Austin Peay on Saturday, March 20, plenty of orange-wearing fans were filtering throughout the lower seating area of Thompson-Boling Arena.

But, that’s no surprise. The Volunteers led the country this season by averaging 13,219 fans per game, which was about 3,500 more than second-place Connecticut, which drew 9,716 per game.

The lesson is clear and one we’ve known for quite awhile: Win, and people will come to the games.

That’s why it will be interesting to see how Dayton’s first appearance in the NCAA Division I tournament affects the amount of people who come to Flyers games at UD Arena.

According to NCAA statistics, Dayton was 33rd nationally with 3,404 in attendance per game, but two of those home games counted men’s crowds of 13,000-plus because the games were played as double-headers. In the 11 home games UD played without pairing with the men, the Flyers averaged 1,602 per game.

But now the team has a new brand. It’s an NCAA tournament team, which is quite a hump to overcome.

The UD marketing and ticket folks get a major boost with the showing. But, will the fans respond?

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-7389 or knagel@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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