{"id":128151,"date":"2026-01-10T15:20:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T15:20:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/128151\/"},"modified":"2026-01-10T15:20:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T15:20:16","slug":"whats-to-blame-for-sagging-attendance-at-ucla-basketball-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/128151\/","title":{"rendered":"What’s to blame for sagging attendance at UCLA basketball games?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Maybe UCLA<\/a> has discovered the answer to boosting home attendance at men\u2019s basketball games.<\/p>\n

Just have Jordan Chiles<\/a> perform at every halftime.<\/p>\n

When the Olympic gymnast put on her \u201cDancing with the Stars\u201d routine in November during an otherwise humdrum matchup against Pepperdine at Pauley Pavilion<\/a>, the Bruins drew 9,103 fans. It remains, by far, their largest crowd of the season.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, Chiles isn\u2019t available for every game. That leaves her school in need of more realistic solutions for another season of lagging attendance for what\u2019s supposed to be its marquee sport.<\/p>\n

UCLA\u2019s home average of 5,211 fans entering its game against Maryland on Saturday evening at Pauley Pavilion is ranked third to last among the 18 Big Ten teams, topping only Northwestern (4,886) and USC<\/a> (4,280).<\/p>\n

Among a litany of explanations, there are the usual (tickets are too expensive, students have been on winter break) and relatively new (the team is disappointing, the best nonconference games are being held as neutral-site fundraisers for name, image and likeness endeavors).<\/p>\n

While it\u2019s almost certain that attendance will rise as the Bruins (10-5 overall, 2-2 Big Ten) enter the heart of conference play \u2014 more than 10,000 fans are expected for a showdown against No. 5 Purdue later this month, and the crosstown rivalry game against USC isn\u2019t until February \u2014 the team could use some additional solutions for a problem that has plagued it in recent years.<\/p>\n

What can be done to get more people in the building?<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a Martin Jarmond<\/a> question,\u201d UCLA coach Mick Cronin<\/a> said Friday, referring to the school\u2019s athletic director. \u201cYou know, there\u2019s only so many things I can worry about. I\u2019ve been getting that [question] since my days at Murray State. Donors, fans, friends of mine come with ideas \u2014 marketing, tickets. They have whole divisions of the athletic department to worry about that.<\/p>\n

\u201cImagine having to raise $10 million to pay your team and you have to do it because the athletic department fundraisers raise money for the athletic department. So I think I\u2019ll leave the marketing up to the marketing department.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"UCLA <\/p>\n

UCLA coach Mick Cronin cheers on his team against Oregon at Pauley Pavilion on Dec. 6.<\/p>\n

(Gina Ferazzi \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

As part of its new ticketing partnership with Elevate<\/a>, UCLA continues to tweak its pricing strategy. The entities have begun implementing dynamic pricing that can be adjusted based on demand, though they remain constrained by a new process that will be improved into a more nimble operation in the future.<\/p>\n

Some fans might simply be unwilling to pay the asking price to see a team that has fallen short of expectations.<\/p>\n

Tickets on UCLA\u2019s website for the Maryland game range from $24 for a corner seat in the upper deck to $310 for a seat at midcourt in the lower level. (Each seat also comes with an additional ticketing fee ranging from $7 to $35.50, depending on location.)<\/p>\n

One could buy a midrange smartphone for what it costs to see the Bruins play Purdue in a prime seat. Those tickets range from $44.50 for a corner seat in the upper deck to $449.50 at midcourt in the lower level. A comparable lower-level midcourt seat to see the Lakers<\/a> face Milwaukee on Friday at Crypto.com Arena could be found on StubHub for $505.<\/p>\n

UCLA has mitigated the pricing issue with promotions such as \u201cFours Up Fridays,\u201d which offered fans $4 tickets for three Friday nonconference games; $10 tickets for the Arizona State, Northwestern and Rutgers games; and mini-plans offering bundled tickets at a discounted rate. Students were offered free entry for nonconference games in addition to free food during games while school is in session and a student attendance challenge providing prizes based on attendance.<\/p>\n

Part of the attendance problem in recent seasons has been a lack of exciting nonconference opponents. The Bruins\u2019 most attractive nonconference games this season \u2014 against Arizona, Gonzaga and California \u2014 were held at neutral sites to raise NIL money for each team.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody in the country is doing what we\u2019re doing, would you agree with that?\u201d Cronin asked a reporter inquiring about bringing more enticing nonconference opponents to Pauley Pavilion.<\/p>\n

Well, yes and no.<\/p>\n

While neutral-site NIL games have indeed become a major trend, some schools have continued to play big-name nonconference opponents on their home court. Arizona played Auburn. Duke played Florida. Michigan played Villanova. Kansas played Connecticut.<\/p>\n

UCLA\u2019s most attractive nonconference home game was against Arizona State, which isn\u2019t exactly a national brand. The game drew only 5,553.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re a high-major team in the Big 12 and everybody said we\u2019ve got to keep Pac 12 rivalries,\u201d Cronin said of the Sun Devils. \u201cBut everybody else, everybody in the country has got to raise money and is playing neutral-site games \u2014 everybody. Unless you know some donors that want to give me $5 million to pay players, we\u2019ve got no choice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some additional promotions could entice fans in the weeks to come. UCLA is offering 7,500 fans a free John Wooden bobblehead for the Purdue game. There will be a white-out theme, including a free rally towel for all fans, against Indiana.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, the easiest answer won\u2019t cost a thing. As always, winning is the best promotion.<\/p>\n

Etc.<\/p>\n

Cronin said guard Skyy Clark, who has been sidelined since suffering a hamstring injury in the second half against Iowa last week, was considered doubtful to play against Maryland. \u2026 Cronin said everything was on the table to improve the team\u2019s lackluster defense, including lineup changes, schematic changes and the possibility \u201cwe don\u2019t practice offense the rest of the year.\u201d … UCLA will honor Dodgers manager and former Bruins outfielder Dave Roberts as the honorary captain Saturday. A limited edition \u201cWestwood Brothers\u201d T-shirt featuring Roberts and Cronin together in a playful twist on the movie \u201cStep Brothers\u201d can be purchased with a $25 donation to Men of Westwood. Fans must email their receipt to menofwestwoodtickets@gmail.com<\/a> before picking up the shirts on the north concourse during the game. Asked if he had seen his likeness on the shirt, Cronin said, with a chuckle: \u201cSomebody told me it was awful.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Maybe UCLA has discovered the answer to boosting home attendance at men\u2019s basketball games. Just have Jordan Chiles…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":128152,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[10912,5378,8932,66104,11151,66106,11154,2424,423,66105,48,52,51,47,50,49,4265,278,427,211,1092],"class_list":{"0":"post-128151","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-arizona-state","9":"tag-attendance","10":"tag-bruins","11":"tag-corner-seat","12":"tag-cronin","13":"tag-exciting-nonconference-opponent","14":"tag-fan","15":"tag-friday","16":"tag-game","17":"tag-good-nonconference-game","18":"tag-la","19":"tag-la-headlines","20":"tag-la-news","21":"tag-los-angeles","22":"tag-los-angeles-headlines","23":"tag-los-angeles-news","24":"tag-school","25":"tag-season","26":"tag-team","27":"tag-ticket","28":"tag-ucla"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128151"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128151\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/128152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}