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OU DAILY
HOME? OU’s estimated attendance is lowest in Lon Kruger era
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JOHN WALKER • @JTW2213
ith one game remaining, Oklahoma is nearing the end of a nightmare season in the Lloyd Noble Center — both on the court and in the stands. The Sooners boast just 10 wins, and the OU faithful have been largely absent in comparison to recent seasons. OU’s attendance, at an average estimation of 5,312 fans per home game, is likely to be the worst of the Lon Kruger era. There’s one obvious cause — the Sooners are heading into their season finale at 10-19, tied for the most losses in program history and the worst win percentage in 26 years — but other issues like market share and player anonymity have loomed for years. There’s a solution to this problem, and it could be coming in the form of OU’s top-25 recruiting class led by Norman North’s Trae Young. But first, it’s important to understand the root of the issue. THE SITUATION Fans made their way inside the LNC on a brisk Saturday afternoon in January. Inside, the Sooners were hoping to prevent a three-game skid against the Florida Gators. Fans filled the seats in bunches, with the student section in full force. The arena hosted an estimated 7,970 for the Big 12/SEC Challenge, the most-attended men’s basketball game of the season — but they didn’t stay long. Oklahoma had its worst performance of the season. The Sooners shot 28 percent and recorded 12 turnovers to just four assists en route to a 84-52 loss against the Gators, the worst defeat at home in 95 years. Fans started to leave in droves when Florida opened with a 7-0 run to begin the second half. First the student section left, then the rest of the crowd followed. By the time “Live on, University” echoed through the LNC after the final buzzer, the building was abandoned save for a faithful few with their index fingers held high. Oklahoma amassed an estimated 7,210 in its subsequent home game against Oklahoma State, the lowest gathering for Bedlam in five years. The team hosted No. 13 West Virginia in early February to an estimated 4,663 in the stands, the lowest attendance number featuring a ranked opponent in the past eight seasons. As the turnout becomes sparser, people start to notice. This is the current state of Oklahoma basketball. PLAYER ANONYMITY Former Sooner Buddy Hield came a long way in his four years at OU, improving from eight points per game as a freshman to 25 as a senior, picking up a pair of Big 12 Player of the Year trophies on the way. As Hield matured, OU fans took notice and streamed into the LNC. Estimated attendance numbers improved each year Hield was at OU. Perhaps his ticket to local stardom occurred in the final home game of his junior season, where he played
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hero with a buzzer-beating tip to defeat No. 9 Kansas, giving the Sooners a rare win against the Big 12 powerhouse. Hield then sprinted to the other side of the court to celebrate with the student section — etching himself as a fan favorite in Norman. Hield’s heroics played out in front of a sold-out arena on national television. The following season, the estimated attendance rose 1,578 fans on average. Hield traveled back as an NBA player in early December. “I have so much respect for the people of Oklahoma,” Hield told reporters in the locker room following his 16-point outing against the Oklahoma City Thunder. “You know, this is home for me.” The LNC drew an estimated audience of 7,928 per game in Hield’s senior season. It was the highest estimated home attendance average in six years, when eventual No. 1 NBA Draft pick Blake Griffin wore crimson and cream. The Griffin-led Sooners ran through the competition en route to the Sooners’ first 30-win season since 2001-02. Oklahoma went 16-1 at home, winning by an average of 17 points per game, averaging more than 8,600 estimated fans at the LNC. “My time at OU will always hold a special place in my heart, and I am so grateful to the fans and the university for all of their support throughout my career,” Griffin said in a statement following the announcement of his jersey retirement. But OU had its largest attendance lulls when future NBA prospects were not around. When the team became anonymous, attendance dropped. “Nobody is going to sign to a 10year contract here in terms of student athletes. We’re accustomed to rapid turnover,” said senior associate athletic director Kenneth Mossman, who supervises marketing and communications for the OU Athletics Department. “Our focus is to build allegiance to our programs and I feel that’s often been our focal point.” Kruger came in and shaped the team into a 20-win team in his second season, posting a 12-2 home record in 2012-13, and the team appeared in its first NCAA Tournament appearance since Griffin was on campus. But its biggest draw was Romero Osby and Steven Pledger. That accumulated approximately half-capacity inside the LNC despite its most successful season in four years. When the Sooners has collegiate stars, attendance follows. But without the presence of a marketable figure, the LNC struggles to hit half-mass. Even if they’re winning. MARKETABILITY On gameday, the men’s basketball program welcomes coaches, high school recruits and parents of basketball players up the southeast entry of the LNC. Attendees are ushered into Legacy Court, which greets fans with a host of Sooner basketball memorabilia,
PAXSON HAWS/THE DAILY
Freshman forward Matt Freeman attempts to block Northwestern States’s sophomore forward Ishmael Lane’s pass Nov. 13, 2016. Attendance for the men’s games has been the lowest since coach Lon Kruger’s arrival at OU.
including banners, trophy cases and a 100-year timeline of the program’s highest achievements. But there’s one conspicuously absent from Legacy Court — the 201617 Oklahoma Sooners.
“If people become attached, they’re more likely to come to the game. And they haven’t been able to get attached to anything.” MARCUS WOODARD, FATHER OF JORDAN WOODARD “I don’t think they embraced the team this year,” said Marcus Woodard, father of senior Jordan Woodard, as he waved his hand around the interior of the southeast entrance, emphasizing the absence of current Sooner players around the area. “You see this?” said Jordan Woodard’s mother, Petra, as she held up her OU-West Virginia ticket, only imaged by the arena’s seating chart. “Last year, it was players’ pictures on the ticket.” This time last year, and for the past few seasons, former players Isaiah
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Cousins, Ryan Spangler and Hield were plastered everywhere. The senior trio and the program’s #takeNOTICE slogan could be found on posters, wall spreads, media guides and other purchasable memorabilia. This season, it’s Rashard Odomes. Except not really. It’s his jersey number, stitched with the No. 1 across the midsection. Purposeful enough to say the team works #AsOne. But his face is not in the picture. Neither are his teammates. “You got a person that’s headless on a big ol’ board out there,” Marcus said. “And on the posters, it’s a headless person,” Petra adds. “They don’t really get to know and connect with players like they forced the issue last year.” Even Woodard has not received the level of promotion as his former teammates this time last season. “You have seniors, you got players that have been here four years and they’re on the back of a media guide,” Marcus said. “I’ve never seen that before.” Kruger has tried to make his program fan-friendly regardless of the star power he has. “I think coach Kruger and his staff have helped us a lot in terms of making our program accessible. I mean every practice is open everyday,” Mossman said. “You can talk to any player you want to, most any time you want to. The ability to get familiar that particular team is probably as good as it gets in the country.” But this season, the fans have been fed headless posters and have failed to flock to the LNC. “You seem like they would push that more this year because they’ve got so many freshmen and that would be a way for (fans) to familiarize themselves with the faces,” Marcus said. “But it hadn’t been like that this year.” Without that connection, the incentive to attend is diminished. “If people become attached, they’re more likely to come to the game,” Marcus said. “And they haven’t been able to get attached to anything.” SHARING THE MARKET OU alumna Melanie Hall is an avid basketball fan. The 1979 graduate has purchased season tickets for both the men’s and women’s basketball teams for many years. Hall feels like there’s no replacement for witnessing live basketball action. “Most could watch the game on TV, but I enjoy watching the players
play in person,” Hall said. But she can’t help but to feel dissatisfied when looking around the arena where the LNC has measured below half-capacity in eight men’s basketball home games this season. Hall has a theory on why she sees more crimson-colored seats than spectators on game days. “I think the Thunder games have affected that since people have season tickets there, as well,” Hall said. The Oklahoma City Thunder, established in 2008, has been the premier attraction in downtown Oklahoma City. The Thunder has posted a perfect home attendance average for the past six seasons. This season, the 10-19 Sooners are clashing for viewership with the electric Russell Westbrook, a threat to post a triple-double every night at the Chesapeake Energy Arena. The LNC has lost an average of 798 fans when the Sooners and Thunder have played on the same day this season. It’s been even more of a problem in the past. Over the last six years, the Sooners have lost 1,501 fans when competing with Thunder home games. But while the Thunder is the newest threat to attendance at the LNC, it’s far from the only one. A stroll down Jenkins Avenue gives the best representation of the hierarchy of sports in Norman, Oklahoma. Near the Lindsey-Jenkins intersection is the Gaylord FamilyOklahoma Memorial Stadium, where five bronze Heisman statues watch construction crews put the finishing touches on an estimated $160 million in stadium renovations. Farther south on Jenkins, the LNC is much less glamorous. No statues. No exterior signs of accomplishments — just a bowlshaped multipurpose center built in 1975. The arena seats 11,562, placing eighth in the Big 12 Conference. Football is the athletic department’s main moneymaker. It’s why OU football coach Bob Stoops is the state’s highest-paid public employee and why the university’s Board of Regents granted a contract extension to Stoops to crystallize this fact through 2021. This was done for good reason: Last year, the Associated Press named OU the No. 2 football program of all time. And the fans have been there to support it. The football program boosts excellence in prestige, focus among the Athletics Department and fan interest that not only flexes superior to
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