After a sold out crowd of 4,400 two weeks ago in support of the struggling men's hockey team, and near-packed houses expected for two crucial men's basketball games this weekend, it is hard to imagine that student attendance at Big Green sports events is on the wane.
In fact, it is. While game-by-game receipts over the last five years have risen dramatically in three of the four teams, overall student attendance has continued to slip, consistently, since 1992.
According to Kathy Cain, the athletic department's business manager, season ticket sales have taken a major hit as well. Despite aggressive efforts by the marketing department, "over the last three years, student season ticket sales have fallen to less than half of their previous level," Cain said.
Four different sports teams regularly sell tickets at Dartmouth; football, men and women's basketball, and men's hockey. Football has experienced the greatest slip in student attendance, dropping by 37 percent over the last five years.
With respect to basketball and hockey, "It is fairly clear that good teams bring in students," Cain said, adding conversely that the teams play better when fan support is strong.
Much of the slack in student sales has been picked up by an increased emphasis on ticket sales outside the Dartmouth community. Men's hockey is case in point, with a large diehard following among the locals.
Reasons for why students are coming to less games are as varied as the students themselves.
One prevailing opinion, according to head of promotions, Joanne Nester, is that Dartmouth students have numerous social options other than athletics.
"Our students have so many options out there that they have to make a conscience decision to come to a sporting event," Nester said.
Athletic Director Dick Jaeger '59 echoed Nester's sentiments.
"Its like having a restaurant with five things as opposed to having 45 things on the menu," Jaeger said.
With so much "on the menu" at any given night, many students have been making other choices, despite a number of efforts by the promotions department to lure them back.
The office organizes a number of giveaways, games and prizes directed at students, including ski pass giveaways, a halftime basketball shootout, and football "Punt Pass and Kick" competition in the fall.
More recently, the class of '51 donated 100 tickets to men's and women's basketball games to promote student support for the teams.
The biggest incentive for students to attend games may be the cost. "Prices are way way way reduced" for students, Nester said, thanks in large part to a subsidy from the $35-a-term mandatory student activities fee.
For example, student football tickets cost only four dollars per game and $19 for a five game season ticket package, while regular tickets cost $10 per game and $49 for the season.
"We have never received feedback that cost has been a factor," Cain said. "We have genuinely tried to keep prices low."
Cain added that the first time students did not have to pay full price was seven years ago.
"I think our students just need to come to some of these games to recognize how good our teams are," Nester said.
Jaeger, who is also an alumni of Dartmouth college, is frustrated by the softening of student support at games.
"I grew up in an era when being a fan meant something," he said. "Maybe times have changed."
According to Jaeger, compared to when he was a student at Dartmouth, "Participation and involvement is much more the mode as opposed to being a spectator."
"The concept of school spirit has changed," Jaeger added. "There is a different concept of loyalty and identity partly because there are so many options."
Much of the problem, especially in football, may not have to do with Dartmouth alone.
"It's around the whole league," said Jaeger, adding that Brown has the most trouble attracting students to games.
Asked whether he thought the decline in student football attendance was a passing faze, Jaeger responded, "I'm not optimistic that it is going to change [for the better]."
With the upcoming Carnival weekend, however, the athletic department is expecting sell out crowds for the men's basketball games against Ivy League rivals Penn and Princeton on Friday and Saturday respectively.
Bulletins have been posted to inform students, who are known to wait before game time to purchase tickets, that they should plan on buying purchasing tickets through the ticket office either today or tomorrow afternoon.
