The SMU women’s basketball team wins games; the men’s team wins fans.
When Elbie Gates stepped onto the court, she looked at the stands hoping to see a lot of fans in the seats. But what she found was a small turnout. This was a regular occurrence for the SMU women’s basketball team; Gates almost expected it.
The SMU men’s team is a different matter. They are ranked No. 28 on the NCAA’s list of highest increase in average attendance from 2007-08 to this year. In 2008-09 there were 2,944 people, on average, at each men’s game. Take 2,000 away from that and you’ve got the women’s average. For the entire 2008-09 season, the men finished with 52,990 attendees while the women had 14,159.
What accounts for the discrepancy? Some say it’s that men’s basketball is more exciting to watch. But shouldn’t winning and losing make a difference?
The men’s team finished with a 9-21 record, while the women ended their season with a 20-11 record. The women’s basketball team went to the NCAA tournament in 2008. The men have not qualified for the NCAA tournament in 16 years.
Gates is a senior and finished her final season with SMU this year. She has noticed the variance between the amount of fans at her team’s games compared with the men’s.
“There wasn’t the amount of people that should’ve been at our games, especially with our record. The men have always had more in attendance. It’s never been equal. We are the underdog,” she said.
She said she doesn’t let it get to her. Basketball is basketball.
Shay Taylor, a senior athletic trainer for SMU, has seen the difference in the stands as well. She attends both teams’ games and says the atmosphere is different.
“The men’s games are more fast-paced. Also, the men’s players are more recognizable on campus so more people go because of that too,” Taylor said.
Ali Bradshaw, director of sales for SMU athletics, agrees that the crowds at men’s games are different than those attending the women’s games.
“I’d say there are just slightly more women at the women’s games, but there isn’t a big difference overall,” he said. “I’d estimate that men and women equally attend the men’s games.”
The athletic department uses many resources to get bodies in the seats at basketball games. Bradshaw said they have kids representing the youth leagues, YMCA and boy and girl scout troops coming out to watch.
They also arrange Greek sponsors for each men’s game. Both a fraternity and a sorority sponsor every game. Bradshaw said that there are three or four sponsored games per year for the women’s team, and the reason is there isn’t as much of a demand for their games.
Leticia Cruz, a sophomore, has gone to a men’s game with one of these groups as a member of the College Hispanic-American Students group. This is the only game she has been to. She says the sponsorship was the only reason she went.
There might be more demand if there more effort to get sponsors.
Some schools have found that there are ways to increase the attendance of women’s games. The University of Louisville prices women’s tickets significantly lower than men’s. The University of North Carolina gives points towards priority seating at men’s basketball games if a student attends a women’s game.
Gates said the men’s coach, Matt Doherty, has something to do with the number of spectators.
“The social status of the men’s coach definitely helps them. He’s well known for his recruiting abilities, his name is very well known. It’s kind of politics,” she said.
Coach Doherty has been at SMU since 2006. He started out at Notre Dame and was named the head coach at his alma mater, North Carolina, for the 2000-01 season. He played for the Tar Heels and was later drafted to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
He has two NCAA championships under his belt – one as a player and one as a coach.
The women’s coach, Rhonda Rompola, declined an interview, but provided a written response.
“Our team has some very loyal, passionate fans that are a big part of our success each year,” she said. “Obviously, we strive to increase our attendance every year, and we’re doing our part to achieve that goal by winning games, competing for championships and playing an exciting brand of basketball.”
Rompola graduated from SMU in 1983. While here, she led the Mustangs to an 18-15 record, the last winning season for SMU until she came back to coach in 1991. She holds the school records for total and average season scoring and free throw percentage.
In the 16 seasons she has coached, Rompola has helped gain record winning percentages and the first postseason tournament appearances in school history.
Players on the men’s team were unavailable for interviews.
Gates also cites the amount of advertising both teams receive as a cause for these differences. She thinks the men’s team gets a lot more advertising. She says even without Doherty, the men’s team would still have more ads.
When searching ads for the SMU basketball program, only ads for Coach Doherty and his team came up.
“It’s just the way it is,” Gates said. “Men always have gotten more, they get more respect.”
