I refer to the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament. The times I have turned it on I have been noticing a ton of empty seats. That is one thing the first weekend, especially for games not involving the home team. But I am seeing a lot of empty prime seats the past couple days for Regionals action. I don’t know offhand the ratings that ESPN and ESPN2 have been getting for the TV coverage, but the lack of physical fans has to be a concern to the NCAA. They need to do something if for no other reason than the fact it makes for terrible television to see all those empty seats. Doesn’t exactly sell to the casual fan, or the person channel surfing, that this is an event that needs attention paid to.
Of course, the harder question is in trying to find a remedy. I don’t know how much the NCAA charges for admission, but for levels below the Final Four perhaps they should slash ticket prices, let kids under the age of 12 in for free, that sort of thing. On the opening weekend front, I think they should go back to the way it was until the past 5 years or so. All Sweet Sixteen seeds had their pod at home. 16 different sites, 1st round doubleheaders, one game per site in the 2nd round. That way (assuming the home team wins their first round game) two thirds of early rounds games feature a home team, which might help fill the stands a bit. And, seeing as how we are now one Tennessee win away from all four Regional Finals being 1v2 on this format, its not like that would really create a competitive disadvantage. Indeed, would be more fair than the current system where top teams could find themselves playing a road game in the early rounds.
