Attendance for Arizona women’s basketball has impact on and off court

1 week ago 2

It’s not common for a basketball team to play all of its games at home, especially a women’s team. That’s what the Arizona Wildcats did this year, though. That will come to an end as they play their first game outside the friendly confines of McKale Center in Boulder and Lubbock this week, but the fan support in McKale Center has a bigger impact than just what happens on gameday.

Arizona became one of the top draws in the sport under former head coach Adia Barnes. Her program had gone from less than an afterthought to the top of the Pac-12 in attendance. That meant overcoming well-attended programs like Oregon and Oregon State before the old league collapsed.

The Wildcats were second in the Big 12 last year with Iowa State maintaining its crown in the league. The Cyclones are third in overall attendance and fifth in per-game attendance nationally again this year.

The question for Arizona was whether it could maintain the fan support after the acrimonious split with Barnes and the introduction of an (almost) entirely new roster and staff. For the most part, Becky Burke and her players have been able to maintain what Barnes and her players built.

The program drew an average of 5,516 fans per game during nonconference play, including the two exhibition games. When including the conference game against Utah, the program has drawn an average crowd of 5,521 per game.

That’s down from 6,613 fans per game during nonconference play and 6,648 fans per game through the first home conference game last season, but Arizona is still one of the top draws in the game. The Wildcats are 13th in average attendance through the first conference game against Utah. They rank sixth in overall attendance, but that owes a lot to playing every game at home while many teams have already played five or more on the road or on neutral courts this year.

Fan support looks good on TV and puts the fans’ money where their mouths are. It’s more than that, though.

Having over 5,500 people in the stands, almost all of whom are yelling for you, has certainly helped this season. Turning up the defense has been the driving force when the Wildcats have closed big deficits in their three losses. It’s tough to deny that the players’ defense is helped by that mob of fans screaming for their Wildcats to fight back, haranguing the referees over every call, and celebrating every turnover by the opponent.

“It’s been everything,” Burke said. “I can’t say it enough. I wish I could write a thank you note to everybody that comes and sits in those seats when we play, through the good, the bad, the ugly, through the wins, through the losses, them just appreciating the culture we’re building, appreciating how hard our players are playing, and knowing that great days are ahead. Great days are ahead this year, and great days are ahead in these coming years when we get the length the athleticism, the talent to match up a little bit better against some of these teams.”

The pressure is intense from the players on the court and the Wildcat faithful in the stands. Utah certainly felt it in the hard-fought game three days before Christmas.

“Great road win at Arizona, where it is never easy,” said Utah head coach Gavin Petersen. :It hasn’t been for us in the past to come into the McKale center, no matter what the records are. I think the home crowd is phenomenal for their team, and gets going at the right times, and made it another obstacle for us to overcome.“

For this year’s Wildcats, it’s a new experience. All but three came from mid-major programs. Except for Montaya Dew, even those who came from Power 4 programs did not regularly draw the kind of crowds that Arizona has become known for.

“So unreal,” said Arizona forward Nora Francois. “I never thought it would be like. I just, I could have never imagined. I could have never dreamt the energy. Anything about a game day is nothing that I could have pictured for myself. And as far as McKale…at my last school, I was getting maybe 80 fans a game, and now it’s closer to 5000 which is—it’s crazy.”

That kind of passionate fanbase comes with both encouragement and coaching from the stands.

“They’re never shy of, you know, showing disapproval or whatnot,” Francois said. “They are extremely high supporters, but you’ll know when you’ve messed up. The crowd might make sure you know as well. So even climbing out of a deficit, seeing the energy from the crowd just pick up and like rally behind you is just like this unreal feeling.”

Up Next for Arizona Women’s Basketball

Arizona Wildcats (9-3, 0-1) @ Colorado Buffaloes (9-4, 0-1)

When: Wednesday, Dec. 31 @ 7 p.m. MST

Where: CU Event Center in Boulder, Colo.

Streaming: ESPN+

Radio: 1400 AM (KTUC)

Stats: Arizona Live Stats

The money generated by tickets sales can’t be undervalued, either. The growth of the program over the past decade has allowed the department to up prices. They’ve also introduced reserve seating, including “scholarship row” seats on the court.

During the WNIT run of 2019, tickets for the finals started at $10 for general admission. There was no reserve seating. The next year, season tickets started at $64 for seniors/youth and went up to $75 for adults. All tickets were still general admission. In 2023-24, the cheapest tickets single-game were up to $13 per game. Single game tickets for women’s basketball range from $15-23 this season, although the department runs specials for all programs at various times.

In 2023-24, season tickets for Arizona women’s basketball ranged from $100 for reserved seating for seniors/youth in the EC section to $205 for reserved adult tickets in the A section. Prices for “scholarship row” tickets on the court were not published.

In 2024-25, those prices went up by an average of seven percent and had a $25 “competitive fee” tacked on top of the ticket cost. That increased the cheapest tickets to $135 and the most expensive to $250, including the extra fees. “Scholarship row” prices were still listed as “varies.” When considering the fees, total prices increased by as much as 35 percent over the costs in 2023-24. That’s where prices stand for 2025-26, as well.

The revenue generation of ticket sales is as important as actual gameday attendance. While gameday attendance drives the experience for players and fans alike, just selling the tickets helps cover some of the costs of the program.

It has grown to the point where ticket sales have account for around $1 million in revenue per year in recent seasons. Today, if Arizona sold 5,000 season tickets at the mid-range price of $190 each, it would bring in $950,000 each year before considering single-game ticket purchases.

Potential walkup crowds of 500 fans per game at $15 a ticket would bring in another $7,500 per game or $112,500 in a typical year when Arizona plays about 15 regular season home games. This year, it would work out to $150,000 because 20 regular season home games are scheduled. In this scenario, the total would reach approximately $1.1 million this season.

Arizona @ Colorado by the numbers

Poll rankings: Neither team is ranked in the AP or the USA Today/WBCA polls.

NET rankings: Colorado is ranked No. 70 in the NET while Arizona is ranked No. 139.

Top 4 in the Big 12: Arizona ranks in the top quarter of the Big 12 in ATO (4th/1.17), FG% (4th/48.3), FTA/gm (3rd/22.17), and FTM/gm (3rd/16.0). Colorado ranks in the top four in FT% (4th/73.5) and steals/gm (2nd/11.8).

Massey Ratings: Massey ratings have Colorado at No. 56 and Arizona at No. 76. The Buffaloes have a 64 percent win probability at home with the most likely score being 71-65. They are also favored on a neutral court, while Arizona is given a 51 win probability in McKale Center.

Her Hoop Stats: Her Hoop Stats has Arizona at No. 91 in its rating system. CU is at No. 59. The stats service favors Colorado regardless of where the game is played. At home, the win probability is 75.8 percent for the Buffs with a score of 72.6-64.2.

Read Entire Article