Students must have a Dawg Pound membership to sit in the lower bowl at Big East men’s basketball games. Photo by Jonathan Wang.

LAUREN FISCHER | STAFF REPORTER | lrfischer@butler.edu

This school year, students are required to have Dawg Pound, an exclusive membership for the student section, to sit in the lower bowl for the men’s basketball conference games. Additionally, first-year students have the opportunity to purchase a four-year plan. With this, students pay $195 for four years of Dawg Pound, as opposed to the $260 that four individual payments of $65 would cost. This plan was created to encourage first-years to get involved early on.

Dawg Pound works to increase student attendance and participation for all sporting events at Butler by handing out merchandise, hosting raffles and giving away food at games. Students with Dawg Pound are also granted early access to larger events, such as women’s and men’s basketball games.

This change to membership promises a major incentive: a good view.

At Hinkle Fieldhouse, students have a few areas where they can view the game. The lower bowl, or “Dawg Pound,” is made up of the rows behind either basket, on the north or south side, providing an up-close view of the game and team benches. The other student section is on the north side of the upper bowl, just above the lower bowl.  

Nolan Hamilton, a senior sports media and strategic communications double major and Dawg Pound President, explains that any seat at Hinkle Fieldhouse is a good seat, but the student section is intentionally placed.

“I want the loudest people being near the opposing bench and being near our [players],” Hamilton said. “There’s not a better seat in college basketball than right behind the hoop at Hinkle Fieldhouse.” 

All Butler sporting events are free to students, and for basketball games, all students must do is claim a ticket online and scan it upon entrance to the game.

Sophomore arts administration major Colin Walsh joined Dawg Pound as a first-year after hearing about the organization during orientation. After experiencing the energy of the student section and taking advantage of Dawg Pound’s experiences, he rejoined for a second year.

“[The] ‘Dawg Pound’ [section] is definitely my go-to [seat], because you will get your money’s worth,” Walsh said. “There’s always some kind of memorable moment that you will have with Dawg Pound.”

While many students have appreciated all that Dawg Pound offers, others find that the membership does not have much of an impact.

Kaleb Leiken, a sophomore sports media major, chose not to rejoin Dawg Pound despite having it his first year. He viewed the membership as something geared towards first-years, and did not think there were enough reasons to join as someone who only attended basketball games. 

“At the end of the day, I don’t think it really is worth it,” Leiken said. “I think you can still get the same environment and same experience not being [in] Dawg Pound.” 

The update to the membership has also caused some worry for student section turnout for this upcoming season. 

“I feel like [the update is] definitely going to impact [attendance], because it’s going to be like [a VIP section],” Walsh said. “Without [all of the students in] the section, it’s going to feel dead.”

Amidst concerns, there has also been support from the public, as some students view this as an additional perk to the membership. 

Hamilton said that the number of memberships has increased since this update was announced, but the true outcome of this change will be unknown until basketball season kicks off later this fall, on Oct. 17, for a game against Notre Dame. 

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