Attendance at women’s basketball games decreased over winter break, while men’s attendance stayed consistent in the five thousand range.
Coming off a NCAA Tournament berth, Ohio University’s women’s basketball team is currently pursing back-to-back Mid-American Conference championships.
Attendance for men's and women’s basketball home games were almost consistently in the thousands until winter break.
Over the nearly month long break, the attendance numbers for the women’s team dipped into the hundreds, whereas attendance for the men’s team stayed consistently in the 5,000 range.
“We really did not have a decrease in the women’s crowd as long as we take away the outlier game on December (3rd),” Michael Stephens, senior associate athletic director for external operations, said in an email. “That was a special youth day that drew really well and is outside of our consistent, just under one thousand, crowd.”
The women’s game on Dec. 6 against Saint Francis saw a crowd of 873 at The Convo.
Attendance at the men’s home games, however, is an average of about five times higher than the turnout for women’s games.
Although the attendance numbers for women’s team are less than the men so far this season, the ticket sales for women’s game has gone up compared to last season.
The women’s team is 13-3 overall this season and played seven games over winter break, with three coming in Athens. Their only loss over break was against Duquesne.
The men’s team is 10-6 overall this season and also played seven games over winter break, with five of them at The Convo. Out of the seven games, Ohio won six with their only defeat coming at Northern Illinois on Jan. 6.
“I’m confident our attendance numbers will climb as students come back to campus and our women’s team again competes for the MAC title over the next two months,” Stephens said.
Stephens' prediction is right as the attendance numbers for the first home women’s game after break went up. More than 1,000 fans packed The Convo Saturday to watch Ohio defeat Central Michigan 86-84 in overtime.
Attendance for the first men’s game after break also saw an increase of fans as 7,083 fans watched the Bobcats lose to the Bowling Green Falcons.
Greg Haylett, a junior studying pre-physical therapy, went to a couple of the men’s games last season.
“I’ve never really been a huge basketball fan, but it is fun to go to them,” Haylett said.
Haylett has never been to a women’s game.
“It’s really cool to notice that people are getting more attentive to the fact that the women’s team is doing better … we are still more likely to go to the men’s game,” he said. “I feel like it’s a societal thing as of now, but I feel like there’s definitely more progression towards more popularity in equality on teams.”
Nathan Fought, a freshman studying media, went to a men’s basketball game as a member of the Marching 110 when they played at a game before winter break.
“I see (athletics) doing the promotional things. I see the emails about it and I think that’s pretty cool. That gets people going,” Fought said.
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