Cameron Attendance

[B-well]

Last night was one of those nights when Duke could have scored a lot of points by making empty standing room and empty seats available to local people who can pop in at the last moment and enjoy the mystique of Cameron.

There has to be a way that this can happen - I know that there are hundreds of Barton College supporters who woul love to see their Defending National Champions have a go at Duke - and to get a taste of playing in front of the Crazies.

Too bad they changed their name - it would make the Crazies (and a lot of other folks) wonder why some guy in the balcony kept chanting ACC during an exhibition game.

[jagger]

What was particularly irritating to me was to see scalpers posting tickets for that game online at 3x face value.

[DukeCO2009]

In the past, season-ticket holders have received tickets to preseason games as part of season package; this year, they had to buy them seperately. This apparently caused quite a bit of confusion, and a lot of people didn't buy their seats. Duke dropped the ball on this one.

[heyman25]

From the pix Cameron was nearly empty. If it had been in Lexington 30000 would have shown up. The Duke fanbase is not as supportive as it should be. The Duke women's games also have a paltry attendance.

[throatybeard]

The good news is now we have a thread to dump twice-weekly complaints about attendance into.

[Cameron]

I'm sorry but I'd have to agree with heyman on this one. In a year like last season, when we weren't up to par with our usual greatness, Cameron was disturbingly empty some games, epsecially the student section some contests. Duke fans are too spoiled, IMO.

Sorry if that rubs anyone the wrong way, but that's what I see. Hopefully that's not the case this year.

[weezie]

We can't always get down to Durham until after the first of the year. I donated our early tickets to a Durham Big Brother type organization. I hope someone used them...now I feel guilty .

[Cameron]

^^You definitely shouldn't feel guilty for that. That's wonderful, weezie. I was more or less just speaking on what Coach K said last season, that some of Duke's students (not all, of course) needed step it up, after he noticed a lack of support during the rough year that was.

[wisteria]

I walked in for this game. Only waited for like 10 minutes and got into the gym 30 minutes before the game started. And I was in the front of the graduate student section. About 10 minutes or so into the game, the gym began to be filled. But still at least 20% empty.
I know that in my department, many staff would love to walk in for a game or two. But only students could do that, right? They were always very disappointed.

[homebre]

Maybe Duke should price the tickets more reasonably. I wouldn't pay even $20/ticket to see a meaningless game. The tickets are overpriced for games against weak teams let alone exhibition games. I would pay $40/ticket for a top notch ACC game but not one against Mercer, NC Central, Our Ladies of Hope, or other fodder. I have been a Duke student and fan since the late '60s, but will not take my family of 4 to a Duke game at the prices they charge (and that is not including parking, food, etc.). That is why I take them to the woman's games.
Andy from Hillsborough

[DukeCO2009]

I'm sorry but I'd have to agree with heyman on this one. In a year like last season, when we weren't up to par with our usual greatness, Cameron was disturbingly empty some games, epsecially the student section some contests. Duke fans are too spoiled, IMO.

Sorry if that rubs anyone the wrong way, but that's what I see. Hopefully that's not the case this year.

Read my post--Duke was at fault here, at least in terms of the weak non-student attendence. I attribute the low student turnout to the ridiculous new line policy. I personally know at least 6 or 7 people who validated but didn't show. When people check the website and see that all the spots are taken, there really isn't any incentive to go wait on stand-by outside Cameron. What a stupid idea.

[Raleighfan]

I pose this question in all innocence: could it be that at 6:30 on a week night that some students (who might otherwise be at the game) are still in class/a lab? I have no idea how late classes go on at Duke now; I'm from the dark ages.

[Wander]

Read my post--Duke was at fault here, at least in terms of the weak non-student attendence. I attribute the low student turnout to the ridiculous new line policy. I personally know at least 6 or 7 people who validated but didn't show. When people check the website and see that all the spots are taken, there really isn't any incentive to go wait on stand-by outside Cameron. What a stupid idea.

I also know a few people who just forgot about validation entirely, and then figured that it wouldn't be worth it to go when they hadn't validated.

[Channing]

I have a question about ticket scalping. I assume Duke frowns on this, and there is something in the season ticket agreement that prohibits it.

How do scalpers get their hands on the tickets? I was under the impression the only way to get tickets to a duke game was from a season ticket holder, and that they werent available for individual purpose.

When tickets go up on E-Bay or some other ticket site at 3 or 4 or 10 times face value why does the Duke athletic department not identify from where the tickets came and make an example?

Improper use of a Master's badge can lead to having them reclaimed -whether the owner misused it or someone an owner gave it to used it. IMO a game in Cameron is almost as hard to get a ticket to as the masters . . .

[-jk]

I have a question about ticket scalping. I assume Duke frowns on this, and there is something in the season ticket agreement that prohibits it.

How do scalpers get their hands on the tickets? I was under the impression the only way to get tickets to a duke game was from a season ticket holder, and that they werent available for individual purpose.

When tickets go up on E-Bay or some other ticket site at 3 or 4 or 10 times face value why does the Duke athletic department not identify from where the tickets came and make an example?

Improper use of a Master's badge can lead to having them reclaimed -whether the owner misused it or someone an owner gave it to used it. IMO a game in Cameron is almost as hard to get a ticket to as the masters . . .

The scalpers work Cameron right under the noses of the Duke police, and have been for years. I can only surmise the University turns a mostly blind eye to it, so long as the transactions themselves are discreet. Frankly, you can scalp yourself in for a season for less than it takes to get season tickets.

-jk

[merry]

In the past, season-ticket holders have received tickets to preseason games as part of season package; this year, they had to buy them seperately. This apparently caused quite a bit of confusion, and a lot of people didn't buy their seats. Duke dropped the ball on this one.

What? The tickets were mailed separately but I know I for one didn't order/buy them separately. I'm not even sure I had the choice.

I think it's a little early in the season to be complaining about the crowd. It was a 6:30 game on a weeknight against a team that we rather predictably beat by a whole lot of points. I saw a lot of people leaving at halftime, some to go to the soccer game I think.

[DBFAN]

I am huge fan of Duke basketball, I have been since I was around 8 or 9. I probably have only missed 1 or 2 televised games in that span, I am now 28. Unfortunately I have never been able to get into Cameron. I finally now have a friend who holds season tickets, I might be able to pull of a game this year. But I was wondering how much does the cheapest ticket start at for an exhibition game, and can you actually go to Cameron on the Day of the game to purchase one, if so I will be driving to Durham tomorrow, of course I am sure there is no way to do this, but I was just curious. At this point in my life I could care less who they are playing, I just want to get in there one time.

Go Duke

[-jk]

There is a ticket exchange board on DBR; you can post requests there.

Also, there is a healthy, supply-and-demand driven market for tickets outside Cameron. For an early season game, there are usually lots of tickets for face or below.

-jk

[LetItBD08]

The Obama speech at NCCU at the same time took a toll on the undergrad attendance. I know a lot of my friends who would normally be in Cameron were there. I wonder how much that affected upstairs attendance. And yes, the start time (6:30 on a Thursday) kind of conflicted with some classes (Don't you hate it when education gets in the way?). I think by the time the game started most students who wanted to go were in Cameron and filled it up considerably, but the pregame student turnout was scarily low. Personally, I had to run over from a lab in French Sci. that ended less than an hour before tip.

[zingit]

Read my post--Duke was at fault here, at least in terms of the weak non-student attendence. I attribute the low student turnout to the ridiculous new line policy. I personally know at least 6 or 7 people who validated but didn't show. When people check the website and see that all the spots are taken, there really isn't any incentive to go wait on stand-by outside Cameron. What a stupid idea.

If that's the case, then it's the fans that are stupid, not the policy. For one thing, if they check the website, they'd see that all the spots are NOT taken; there's a "Cameron Crazie Counter" telling you how many students have swiped their DukeCards at Cameron, so a person who didn't validate can know exactly whether it's worth their time to walk over to Cameron. And secondly, I had to rush over from a class that ended at 5:40 on East, and I walked in around 6, when there was absolutely no line. You don't have to "wait on stand-by outside Cameron" for a game like this. So there's no reason why the line policy would have deterred a person from going. If people didn't show up, it's either because they didn't want to show up, or because they completely overestimated the difficulty of getting into a game, or at least a pre-season game.