University of Hawaii men’s basketball averaged its largest home crowds in eight years this season, just missing the $1 million mark in ticket revenue, officials said.
But even with a 20-11 record (9-7 Big West Conference), the Rainbow Warriors fell short of ambitious revenue projections.
UH averaged 4,208 through the turnstiles, the most of any season since 2005-06, coach Riley Wallace’s penultimate campaign, which attracted an average of 4,893 per game.
The 2013-14 turnouts produced $930,787 in ticket revenue for UH, according to unaudited figures. UH had set $963,000 as its target.
"We set some high goals for ourselves and we always want to try and reach those targets, but we’re satisfied, I think, with the way that men’s basketball went," said athletic director Ben Jay. "Hopefully, we can continue to build the attendance for next year, so I’m (encouraged)," Jay said.
Revenue figures do not include the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic, which is owned and operated by ESPN Regional Television. UH receives a stipend for hosting the games and is guaranteed at least two TV appearances but does not share in gate receipts.
UH’s largest crowd of the season, 7,232, came for the Senior Night appearance against Cal State Fullerton. Seven games drew crowds of 5,000 or more.
UH did not announce turnstile figures for men’s basketball during the season, just numbers of tickets distributed for each game, per head coach Gib Arnold’s four-year policy. UH averaged 6,569 tickets distributed per game.
The number of tickets distributed and actual turnstile count varied by an average of 2,361 per game and, at times, as much as 3,595 for a single game.
Meanwhile, the Rainbow Wahine averaged 732 per game and took in $37,735 in ticket revenue in a 17-14 (10-6 Big West) finish. The Rainbow Wahine home finale against UC Santa Barbara drew 1,243, the largest of the season.
"We still have some work to do on the Rainbow Wahine side in building attendance," Jay said. "We’re looking into ways in marketing to encourage a bigger crowd to show up."
DRAWING A CROWD |
UH home men’s basketball attendance |
Season |
Avg. |
Coach |
2013-14 |
4,208 |
Arnold |
2012-13 |
3,971 |
Arnold |
2011-12 |
3,938 |
Arnold |
2010-11 |
3,958 |
Arnold |
2009-10 |
2,873 |
Nash |
2008-09 |
3,198 |
Nash |
2007-08 |
3,110 |
Nash |
2006-07 |
3,438 |
Wallace |
2005-06 |
4,893 |
Wallace |
2004-05 |
4,777 |
Wallace |
Source: UH unaudited turnstile figures |