Does USF men's basketball have "Sleeping Giant" potential IF it can sustain some success?

[BDYZR]

As a certain new coach at USF said recently..."Make it sexy..." While I'm 99% sure he didn't mean sex sexy he meant make it FUN! Make it EXCITING! Amalie will seat 21,500 for a Lightning game. With approx 2mil people living in Hillsborough and Pasco Counties I don't think those 21,500 at Amalie, for lack of a better term, matter. The Lightning sell out because it's EXCITING, aka SEXY. They WIN and winning matters. Yes, I know the Rays are/were winning and that brought more fans. Now they're playing mediocre baseball, watch their attendance.

[Triple B]

12 minutes ago, Brad said:

5000 a game?  I'd take that, but every game.  A following.

I did forget to add that I'd take that 5K in a heartbeat ..... place would sound sold out.

[belgianbull]

17 minutes ago, BDYZR said:

As a certain new coach at USF said recently..."Make it sexy..." While I'm 99% sure he didn't mean sex sexy he meant make it FUN! Make it EXCITING! Amalie will seat 21,500 for a Lightning game. With approx 2mil people living in Hillsborough and Pasco Counties I don't think those 21,500 at Amalie, for lack of a better term, matter. The Lightning sell out because it's EXCITING, aka SEXY. They WIN and winning matters. Yes, I know the Rays are/were winning and that brought more fans. Now they're playing mediocre baseball, watch their attendance.

Are there really that many people besides alum and students that would care about USF athletics? I remember while living in the Tampa area I became interested in professional hockey and NFL since I lived in Tampa. So I rooted for the Tampa teams. And being a fan of USF was a given since I was a student, but If I had not been student I probably would not have cared or even known  about the team. Recently lived in the Pittsburgh area and kind of  followed the professional sports there, but couldn't give a rats a## about how Pitt university performed.

Maybe I am wrong and there are tons of people in the Tampa area who aren't alums and students that would come watch USF play, but I would think that number or the target audience would be much smaller then for professional sports.

Edited July 7, 2023 by belgianbull

[Bull Matrix]

1 hour ago, Brad said:

ASU has Bobby ******* Hurley and recruits top notch players in Pac12 and can only populate the stands when it's a top opponent (similar to the examples @surfer provides above).  One of the big differences there is a great student section.

5000 a game?  I'd take that, but every game.  A following.  

Yeah my older brother is a ASU alum and is happy about his coach 

[BDYZR]

3 hours ago, belgianbull said:

Are there really that many people besides alum and students that would care about USF athletics? I remember while living in the Tampa area I became interested in professional hockey and NFL since I lived in Tampa. So I rooted for the Tampa teams. And being a fan of USF was a given since I was a student, but If I had not been student I probably would not have cared or even known  about the team. Recently lived in the Pittsburgh area and kind of  followed the professional sports there, but couldn't give a rats a## about how Pitt university performed.

Maybe I am wrong and there are tons of people in the Tampa area who aren't alums and students that would come watch USF play, but I would think that number or the target audience would be much smaller then for professional sports.

That’s where the sexy part comes in. Several years ago, because I I had nothing better to do and someone offered me tickets to a WBB game. Been a season ticket holder since.

[Sk00b]

4 hours ago, belgianbull said:

Maybe I am wrong and there are tons of people in the Tampa area who aren't alums and students that would come watch USF play, but I would think that number or the target audience would be much smaller then for professional sports.

This is where you need to market the hell outta the team and you need Tampa onboard. Keep USF brand out there, start winning, market a good time, etc. The entire USF marketing students should be dedicated to this full time.

[WoolyBully]

15 hours ago, belgianbull said:

Will  people in the Tampa area rally around the team if we start winning ?

Yes. Why? Because we're Tampa; it's what we do. Which means not just beating the CUSA 2.0 opponents, it means actually DOING SOMETHING PEOPLE HAVE HEARD OF like going to the NCAA Tournament with a measure of regularity. Nooooo...just showing up will not generate traffic. Just a winning season will not generate traffic. Tampa is not "starved" when it comes to an athletic appetite, which can be slaked with a helping of Bucs and Bolts. I don't see a pent-up desire for basketball, otherwise, USF basketball games would, not necessarily sell out, but would generate some measure of interest. People want to be entertained and want an enjoyable experience. If the alumni don't feel entertained and have grown weary of watching USF get beat game after game year after year, what possible incentive is there for Joe Donut to get interested, much less "rally" / jump on the bandwagon? I know I've told you this before, but I remember going to the Sun Dome and eyeballing all of those empty courtside season ticket seats vacant game after game. Those are PAID FOR seats. Now what would possess someone who bought those pricey seats not to use them? Want me to answer out loud? 

So yeah, start winning and Tampa will rally around you. Not just sporadic wins...regular winning and always contending. Until then, no. No buzz. No interest, other than that which is obligatory.  As for "sleeping giant", doesn't every team have that potential? It's basically an unknown, isn't it? Until such time as the team "awakens" and progresses, it is, nothing but potential. But potential is the kind of thing that has no real value unless you turn it into something. 

 

Edited July 8, 2023 by WoolyBully
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[Triple B]

1 hour ago, WoolyBully said:

So yeah, start winning and Tampa will rally around you. Not just sporadic wins...regular winning and always contending. Until then, no.

As much as I'd like to be, still not a buyer on this and hope to be proven wrong some day. I think the students and already USF sports fans would probably rally but as far as the Tampa Joe Donuts you referred to, don't see a total buy in. There would be spurts of interest but don't see anything on a game in, game out basis .......................... unless Matrix is a psychic, meaning we have this success in the ACC.

[CousinRicky]

26 minutes ago, Triple B said:

As much as I'd like to be, still not a buyer on this and hope to be proven wrong some day. I think the students and already USF sports fans would probably rally but as far as the Tampa Joe Donuts you referred to, don't see a total buy in. There would be spurts of interest but don't see anything on a game in, game out basis .......................... unless Matrix is a psychic, meaning we have this success in the ACC.

I know it was a long time ago, but I doubt those 56k people in Ray Jay watching WVU were all USF fans. The next game against UCF was a sellout but the place wasn't full. And then after the loss at Rutgers, poof, they were gone. Unless we're Top 20 playing a Top 10 or 15 team the non USF Tampa crowd probably won't show but it has happened.

[Cubanbull]

It will take winning consistently for a few years. But here is the thing, I was there when SunDome first opened and we were decent during Lee Rose years playing in SunBelt and we had good attendance. I think 7k per game is doable.