Fellow student-athletes are often the only supporters in the student section at sports like volleyball. Photo by Jonathan Wang.
DOROTHY LAKSHMANAMURTHY | STAFF REPORTER | dlakshmanamurthy@butler.edu
As she looked out from the field, junior outfielder Cate Lehner examined the bleachers last season to spot the students who took advantage of that game’s Dawg Pound giveaway: a Butler crossbody bag.
Despite the game’s enticing giveaway, Lehner saw a minimal number of students attend the matchup.
“I guess a good thing was that the team ended up getting free crossbody bags since there were a lot left over,” Lehner said. “But it was because not that many people showed up.”
When it comes to encouraging attendance at Butler sports games, Dawg Pound plays a primary role in getting students to attend with special raffles, free food and prizes.
However, Michaela Jordan, senior biochemistry major and president of Dawg Pound, attempted to tackle the challenge of getting students to actually stay at games instead of only coming to get their Dawg Pound perks.
“We know that if students don’t like what we are giving away, they are not going to go,” Jordan said. “Then we tried to combat students coming and leaving right away by doing [our giveaways] more towards halftime to at least make them stay for a bit and watch.”
Men’s and women’s basketball pull in the highest audience numbers for both general admission and Butler students. Holding 9,100 seats at Hinkle Fieldhouse, the men’s team filled an average of 7,714 seats per game and the women’s team had an average of 1,823 seats per game this season.
Additionally, women’s basketball broke its single-game attendance record three times this season. After the season opener against Chicago State brought in a record-high crowd of 2,941, the Nov. 13 game against Indiana upped the number to 4,135 fans before the sold-out Feb. 22 UConn game swept up both of those records.
Even though basketball obtains the highest audience outcome, Lehner notes that Dawg Pound still primarily targets those games.
“We have not had any [Dawg Pound giveaways] this year,” Lehner said. “We also have not had a ton of home games yet — so maybe they are planning something — but I would say Dawg Pound is probably more for basketball and volleyball.”
Dawg Pound does a giveaway for each men’s and women’s basketball game. For other games, they try to do one giveaway a week per sport.
Jordan adds that Dawg Pound is still trying to find balance between giving out the most attractive giveaway items to get students to other sports events without taking attention away from the game.
“It is definitely a battle to find the happy medium of making sure the students have a good time while still creating space for the athletic event,” Jordan said. “I am hoping that my successors will be able to figure that out and get the other sports the recognition that they deserve.”
Butler Athletics makes it a point to focus on basketball games, as they bring in the most crowds and revenue. Volleyball follows behind, ranking third in the Big East for attendance with an average of 847 fans per game.
Michael Freeman, senior associate athletic director for external operations, expresses that focusing on the revenue of these larger sports benefits all Butler athletic teams.
“We are focused on trying to get crowds for all of our teams,” Freeman said. “But we are also focused on trying to drive as much revenue as we can so that we can pay for everything. So, there is a big focus on the men’s basketball side so that we can drive that revenue.”
When evaluating why basketball and volleyball account for the highest crowds, Freeman finds it to be a result of standard buyer decisions.
“It is just the consumer behavior around outdoor sports versus indoor sports,” Freeman said. “Oftentimes, our crowds for outdoor sports are going to be better when the weather’s better, then it might tail off as it gets colder. The same with baseball, lacrosse or softball, you just don’t know what you’re going to get due to the weather. That is a challenge that we have to deal with.”
Between the Butler teams, Lehner mentions that the coaches often push athletes to attend and support other athletes’ games. However, she would still like to see more students attend more sporting events outside of basketball.
“I think when there are big groups of people in the crowds being really loud, it can definitely change momentum,” Lehner said. “If [a team] does something exciting, it is cool to have people there to stand and also be excited for you. It just builds a little bit of a stronger sense of community.”
