BY: CARSON HAYEK, SPORTS EDITOR
Photo: Joseph DeBell / The Bona Venture
The Reilly Center has been a staple of the St.Bonaventure campus since 1966. Most notably known for its passionate student section during men’s basketball games, the arena is approaching a record year for attendance.
A variety of factors play a role in how many people enter the building on a given gameday, one of which is game time and day, said Seth Johnson, senior associate athletic director for external operations.
“We have had a challenging schedule this year,” said Johnson. “We have had a lot of marquee opponents that were scheduled to come to the Reilly Center midweek. Saturday at 4 p.m. is our prime time as it is conducive to our regional fans in town… and for our students, it’s early enough before any Saturday night activities.”
The lone two sellouts of the season both occurred on a Saturday. The first was Feb. 1 for a 12:30 tip-off against Fordham, while the second was last Saturday’s 4 p.m. game against Duquesne.
Much of this attendance success can be broken down into two groups of people. The first is from the loyalty of over 2,400 season ticket holders, according to Johnson.
“[The season ticket holders] are the foundation of your fanbase,” said Johnson. “They are your diehard fans that are all in and plan on being here for if not every home game, the majority of home games. Without your season ticket base, you then are relying on [external factors] such as the opponent, weather and time.”
The second major group of people are the students in attendance. According to Johnson, there are statistics to support that the student section affects the outcome of Bonnies home games.
“The students make the Reilly Center the Reilly Center,” said Johnson. “The students really provide the home court advantage. We have always said we feel the students are a six-point advantage for us. We have seen trends where in the second half, the opposing team shoots worse from the free throw line when they are facing the student section.”
According to Johnson, a year ago there was an average of 700 students per game. That number has slightly dropped for this season. The Reilly Center has a designated capacity of 850 seats for students, and Johnson said he is confident that there are some tools that the ticket department can use to boost student engagement going forward.
“[Even with] a challenging schedule, our students have been solid,” said Johnson. “I think we can do some things to help increase the interest a little bit more and help get us back to [700].”
Even with the team’s recent conference struggles, Johnson had a message for the student section.
“This is when we need you the most,” said Johnson. “When some of our [players] haven’t had a lot of rest and are playing a lot of games along with when they come back home and they come out of that tunnel and the students are fired up, that is the lift they need.”
As for how fan interest and sales have grown this year, Johnson said the future is bright as long as Mark Schmidt is head coach along with the recent addition of Adrian Wojnarowski as the team’s general manager.
“Rosters are different every year now,” said Johnson. “We have a solid foundation…as long as we have Mark [Schmidt] leading our program, we are always going to be in good hands. Woj is just getting started. As he is able to get settled in his role, it’s only going to trend upward. The future is extremely bright.”
As the Atlantic 10 Tournament nears, Bonaventure will have one home game remaining this season at the Reilly Center. UMass will enter the Reilly Center on March 5 for a 7 p.m. start.
