Why don't you go to men's basketball games?

I live in Raleigh and went to the 9pm UNC game this year. It was not a good use of my time.

I wouldn’t wear a mask. Fuck that. But I also don’t live near AA anymore 

I've started going to the women's basketball games because there's free parking (which helps quite a bit when it's cold) and they tend to have better end times. The men's games get done too late. I go to bed between 9 and 10 because I wake up before 6 am and I have to be ready to teach the next day. I could handle getting home at 10, but I get too wound up watching basketball so I wouldn't be able to get a decent sleep. 

Because I’m not a Democrat. 

This topic is raised every year during the basketball season.

I am a season ticket holder and have been for ten or eleven years.

I'm sorry that I'm disappointing you by not being able to attend every game.  

I have a wife, two kids, a career, a house, etc. 

Sometimes those things get in the way of going to the game.

Sometimes the 6:30PM starts are too early...sometimes the 9PM starts are too late...sometimes I've been on my way up to the game but the weather makes what is normally a 50-minute drive in to a two-hour drive.  

Or, sometimes, things happen...like my father-in-law falling ill about three weeks ago and dying two weeks ago.  As a result, I wanted to be home for my wife and then we traveled to NY for the funeral.

For every game that I can't attend, I'll send out texts, call people, and post on Facebook...letting people know my tickets are unavailable.  More often than not, the tickets still end up going unused. 

I hope this has answered what I'm sure was a sincere question.  

I'm a two-hour drive away, which is fine for a 4-hour football game. Haven't been to a home game since Amaker and even that was a Saturday.

I would be fine if UM offered some "Saturday/Sunday only packages" for say 3-4 games per year. Maybe one cupcake and three B1G games.

We went through a period during the 2nd half of the JB era where everything was sold-out so didn't even think about a ticket. 

I think the sluggish start to the season followed by still recovering the fan base from Covid may be a factor. I'm also fully boosted and wouldn't want to wear a mask (fogs up glasses pretty easily). That requirement (mask) would have to be removed. 

Because it’s 1206 miles from home.

Because we have a life. Kids maybe. Other responsibilities. Our basketball team isn't that good this year. Maybe someone doesn't want to mask. Maybe someone doesn't like basketball. Maybe they live really far away. Maybe they're disabled. That's just off the top of my bed.

Because I’m very bandwagon when it comes to basketball and - especially in college basketball - don’t care much until the conference tournament starts.

I'm someone who attends about 75% of home games. Very fortunate to live near by and also have a parking pass. It's a 2.5 hour time commitment in total for me. Not bad. I actually enjoy the 9pm games more.  I know I'm in the minority there.

My only thing that upsets me is I wish there was a system so all the people who have tickets and don't plan to attend/can't sell, could give the tickets away to fans who would attend for free. That's what bothers me is all the paid tickets that go to waste.

I'll also add the fans at the Purdue game were loud and it makes a difference. Go blue!

Because Bob Saget was murdered

WHY DONT YOU WIPE YOUR ASS WITH A PINE CONE?

Because I live in KS. When I was a student I did go as much I could but I worked many weekends. It was the same with Football, if I could go, I would. I did have season tickets from 85-89 for football right after I graduated from Michigan, and I got to attend several Michigan basketball games in '89 but my job moved me to  OK and I have never been back to Michigan, just for short visits to family.

It's winter, it's cold and snowy, late night games, who wants to be out and about during the week when they have to get up for work.

The university is catering to where the money comes from, TV Revenue. Fans can stay home, order a pizza, watch the game till they get bored, then go to bed. Don't have to step outside, don't have to drive anywhere, don't have to pay for parking or high concession prices.

Maybe Michigan basketball is the primary focus of your life, maybe it's your God, and you are upset that others don't worship your God like you do. But plenty of people, including students, have more important things they want to do

10 year season ticket holder; live under 50 miles from Crisler; i don’t want to wear a mask for 2+ hours.  

(There, see how simple that was)

today will be my first game at Crisler this season.

I get your point about empty seats - it is frustrating when season ticket holders eat the tickets for games they are not attending.  My brother is the happy recipient of many of my tickets.  The rest I sell on stubhub, even if I only get low payouts like the $19 per seat I got for the Nebraska tickets

I’m looking forward to attending a lot more games next season after they drop the mask mandate.

I have a job and two kids and the game is on tv.  And I only live two miles away.

Because I'd rather see the hockey team

Love me some MBB. But I live in Chicago, so it’s obviously tough for me to go to any home games. 
Try to go to games when they’re in town. I went to Allstate Arena in 2017 when we lost a clunker to NW. What an awful venue lol. Also went to two games in 2018 when the BTT was in Chicago. 
My biggest pet peeve about the attendance issues is that it gives an obvious justification to expand the Maize Rage, but they continue not to do so. Why not make tickets cheaper and more easily accessible for students? Fill out the lower bowl and have students behind either basket and pump some energy into the place. Instead, students who don’t get the bleacher seats are relegated to the 300 level seats…what a stupid effing idea. 

The ironic thing about the conversation is that M could probably draw a more raucous crowd at a neutral arena in DC, NYC, Chicago, LA, etc. 

I live in Georgia 

Because I live on the East Coast.

But beyond that, it's likely because UM has always struggled to fill Crisler for various reasons, some cultural and some logistical.  It's my understanding that the AD doesn't do a good job situating students close to th court, which creates an even worse appearance of emptiness than actually exists.  Like, even in places where there are "sold out" crowds you can see empty seats higher up in the stands.  One of UM's issues is they don't coordinate seats well so you have these pockets of empty seats that should be filled.

The reason isn’t because people don’t want to go.  In fact this has come up many times before on the board, many times in a similar but different context;  why can’t I buy tickets on secondary market when the seats are all empty?

the answer is because season ticket holders aren’t showing up.  Many times because they decide late that they can’t or won’t make it.  It would be nice if there was an instantaneous electronic way to buy ans sell these tickets.  

This is a good topic. Not reading 4 pages of responses, but people who have to travel aren't often going to go to a late game -- scheduled for TV purposes -- during a pandemic to watch a team that is often borderline unwatchable this season.

That said, I suppose a more reasonable question to ask is why don't more students/staff/locals go, and also why the season ticket holders in the better seats don't try to get those in the hands of fans if they themselves are not going to go.....

The answer to the first question is probably the out-of-state/international make-up of the University coupled with the course load for most students. As far as the second, there has to be a convenient app out there to do this....there are apps for everything else. Probably the University doesn't give a crap, since they have their money already.....

I’m in my way there right now.  My ticket cost $275.  That’s why I rarely go 

9 pm starts on weekdays. 
 

I shared two season tickets with a friend the last few years. Great seats. Last row of the lower bowl in the corner with a wall to our back. Love the seats. 
 

I no longer share the season tickets for reasons unrelated to this discussion. However, my friend still has them and invited me to go to the Purdue game. I live in Troy. He lives in GP, so we have a meeting spot in Southfield just off I-696 that we use for football and hoops. 
 

For me to attend that game, I would have to leave my home around 7:20 pm to meet him at 7:45. The 9 pm games NEVER start at 9 due to the previous TV game. So, conservative estimate of tip would be 9:10. Assuming no OT, game ends at 11:10. By the time we walk to the car, get out of AA, drive to Southfield, and I get in my car and drive home, it would have been close to 1 am. On a weeknight. And I’m still working. 
 

That’s the answer. College sports cater to the TV viewer, not the person who attends the game. So, I stayed home, watched it on my nice HDTV, basked in the victory, watched the Muppets and went to sleep at 11:30 with dreams of Wolverines dancing in my head!

BTW, Seth sat in my seat!!

Couldn't get a ticket and I'm not buy through a secondary market.

The Crisler PA announcer is annoying.

I live 51 miles away

Because Freebird, Echoes, and 7empest came on the radio back-to-back-to-back and I'll been damned if I leave before those songs are over. When the songs were over, the game was over. Thank God, Dazed and Confused from The Song Remains the Same didn't come on next or I would still be in the parking lot.

I live in Arizona.

Would love to fly in for a game, but I'm not really used to cold weather anymore, despite living in Chicago for 15 years. BUT, the last time I attempted to go to a Homecoming football game (pre covid), the flight was over $500 roundtrip, and it was $360/nite in one of the crappy hotels down by I-94 and State Street. Best time to visit Ann Arbor is in the off season, when the students are mostly gone for the spring/summer.

btw- when did Moe's close? 

I live inside Crisler and leave just before tip every game.

I believe Michigan is one of the few schools that has had a lot of success in the big two sports (FB and BB) but our fan base is just much more passionate about football. I wish there was more passion and intensity for basketball but Michigan structurally is a football school and that'll never change. I also believe games in basketball falling many times on week nights when people have to get up in the morning plays a part as well.

Masks. Plus I don't feel like showing my vax card (all 3) and I don't care of you have one or not. Plus I got tricked into standing for a song that was not the Star Spangled Banner by Michigan bringing out the color guard 1 song early. As a veteran, that really pissed me off.  I won't go again.

Because I live in Massachusetts.