Student attendance

If you haven't yet read Krista Hutz's piece in today's DP about student attendance at the Palestra, please check it out here. It was very interesting to get Penn Athletics' take on it. I am shocked at the athletic department's commitment to continue the system currently in place, especially given the overwhelmingly negative student response. I understand the desire to preserve the Line and give some kind of incentive for students to participate in it, but when the attendance patterns have been as ridiculous as they have this season, a change is definitely in order.

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The main problem this season with attendance is not necessarily overall numbers, or at least that's not a problem that the athletic department has much control over. When the team is as bad as it is, students are not going to show up -- that's just the harsh reality, and hardly one unique to Penn.

At the same time, the athletic department could be taking more strides to improve the numbers, and that starts with creating a more equitable and sensible seating policy.

The biggest problem this season with attendance has been the overwhelming discrepancy between the number of students with seats in the general admission upper tier and the number of students with seats down low (reserved season tickets that were purchased by attending the Line). I will suspend discussion of the value of the Line and make this suggestion, assuming it's feasible. If Penn wants to keep the current system, with the Line and general admission in the upper tier, in place, then students with season tickets from the Line must be required to be in their reserved seats by tip-off. Whatever open seats down low are left should be filled by students with general admission tickets on a first come, first serve basis.

You might think that such a policy would be unfair to season ticket holders that are just a few minutes tardy, but think of the benefits here. First, this policy encourages students both with GA tickets and season tickets from the Line to show up early, helping to remedy the perennial problem of students showing up late to games. There is incentive to show up early both for season ticket holders from the Line and students with GA tickets.

Second, an empty student section down low cheapens the value of the reserved ticket by severely limiting the enjoyment of sitting closer to the court and leading the student section. Based on student reaction, it is pretty clear that the students that do show up and sit in the lower tier would much prefer GA ticket holders to join them than to have to remain separate. Even if no students were in the upper-tier as a result, you would still get a cohesive, louder, and more recognizable and influential student section. With an improved student section in place, basketball games become more fun for students to attend, possibly leading to an increase in overall student attendance.

Certainly, Penn should reconsider the value of the Line in general and whether or not it makes sense to continue in its current form. It does have potential value if and when the team gets better and more fans are attracted to the Palestra. Personally, I think that general admission for the entire student section is the way to go, with an "optional" Line for fans in which other incentives or benefits could be offered. Or you could scrap the Line altogether and go with a Midnight Madness format.

But if Penn wants to stick it out with this current system, then those students that do the Line must follow up on their commitment and show up to games, and show up on time. After all, is it more important to do the Line, or to be at the actual games and participate in an active student section? I would hope the athletic department thinks the latter.