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Basketball Attendance Hits 25-Year Low Point
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Leave a CommentAs if we needed more proof that Tommy Amaker has to go, an article was written today that states Michigan’s basketball attendance will finish at its lowest point in 25 years.
Attendance for the Michigan men’s basketball team will finish at its lowest level in 25 years, even if the team sells out its three remaining home games.
Either way, it’ll be the worst average for the program since it drew 9,176 fans per game in the 1981-82 season. And it’s the second straight year of dwindling attendance, down 905 people per game from 2004-05.
This clearly shows that interest in Michigan basketball is gone. The losing not only has turned people away, but it is preventing interest from coming in future years. This is another year where attendance is down, which is a growing trend at Michigan.
Crisler Arena rarely is filled anyways. These figures are from tickets sold and not by how many of the tickets were actually used. If that were the case then the number would be drastically lower as many people that have season tickets don’t even bother going anymore as it’s pretty predictable of what will happen.
For those of us that want a new coach, this is the best news we could’ve gotten. This hopefully will serve as a wake-up call to Mary Sue Coleman, Bill Martin, and anyone else who has a hand in making the decision to keep or fire Tommy Amaker. Bill Martin actually commented on this news of low attendance figures.
“Sure there’s concern,” Michigan athletic director Bill Martin said. “It’s not where we want it. I’ve seen it, and I’m concerned about it. Ultimately, it’s my responsibility.”
If this is in fact Bill Martin’s responsibility, then he has to do what’s best for the basketball program. Attendance is only going to fall to an even worse number next season if Amaker is still the head coach, which could put Michigan basketball in a hole too deep to climb out of.
A change has to be made before the fanbase of the basketball team is gone. Fans are no longer showing up for the games as there really isn’t a point, interest in general is all but gone, and hope that this team could go somewhere other than the NIT is out of everyone’s minds. To fix this problem, especially the one of low attendance, Bill Martin just needs to do one thing: Fire Amaker.
