More Final Four Press

[Bluzrover]

Saw this article this morning http://www.deseretnews.com/article/8...-programs.html which gives the Shox a nice mention. It's more about big-time football but the discussion about Cinderellas attracting more attention from a national TV audience in a Final Four is interesting.

It sure seemed Wichita State started picking up more fans around the country as the tournament progressed and they kept winning. And Marshall kept talking about the fans around the world. It'll be interesting to see how that trip to the FF affects enrollment at the university as studies have shown this to be a result for schools like Butler and Gonzaga.

[im4wsu]

I realize we've seen the TV ratings before, but I thought maybe this provided some interesting information; Louisville/WSU had higher rating than K-State/Oregon bowl game and Oklahoma/TA&M. http://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2013...nd-nit/#topten

1	Mon., 1/7/13	Football	Alabama	Notre Dame	Champ. Gm.	ESPN	15.1
2	Mon., 4/8/13	Basketball	Louisville	Michigan	Champ. Gm.	CBS	14.0
3	Sat., 4/6/13	Basketball	Michigan	Syracuse	Final Four	CBS	10.2
4	Sat., 12/1/12	Football	Alabama	Georgia	SEC Champ.	CBS	9.8
T5	Tue., 1/1/13	Football	Stanford	Wisconsin	Rose Bowl	ESPN	9.4
T5	Sat., 11/24/12	Football	Notre Dame	Southern Cal	Reg. Season	ABC	9.4
7	Sun., 3/31/13	Basketball	Louisville	Duke	Elite Eight	CBS	8.8
8	Sat., 4/6/13	Basketball	Louisville	Wichita St.	Final Four	CBS	8.7
9	Thu., 1/3/13	Football	Oregon	Kansas St.	Fiesta Bowl	ESPN	7.4
10	Fri., 1/4/13	Football	Texas A&M	Oklahoma	Cotton Bowl	FOX	7.2

[Kung Wu]

I realize we've seen the TV ratings before, but I thought maybe this provided some interesting information; Louisville/WSU had higher rating than K-State/Oregon bowl game and Oklahoma/TA&M. http://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2013...nd-nit/#topten

1	Mon., 1/7/13	Football	Alabama	Notre Dame	Champ. Gm.	ESPN	15.1
2	Mon., 4/8/13	Basketball	Louisville	Michigan	Champ. Gm.	CBS	14.0
3	Sat., 4/6/13	Basketball	Michigan	Syracuse	Final Four	CBS	10.2
4	Sat., 12/1/12	Football	Alabama	Georgia	SEC Champ.	CBS	9.8
T5	Tue., 1/1/13	Football	Stanford	Wisconsin	Rose Bowl	ESPN	9.4
T5	Sat., 11/24/12	Football	Notre Dame	Southern Cal	Reg. Season	ABC	9.4
7	Sun., 3/31/13	Basketball	Louisville	Duke	Elite Eight	CBS	8.8
8	Sat., 4/6/13	Basketball	Louisville	Wichita St.	Final Four	CBS	8.7
9	Thu., 1/3/13	Football	Oregon	Kansas St.	Fiesta Bowl	ESPN	7.4
10	Fri., 1/4/13	Football	Texas A&M	Oklahoma	Cotton Bowl	FOX	7.2

Nice! Is it possible to find the ratings for Butler's second Final Four game? It would be interesting to see how their ratings improved once the were a well known commidity.

[im4wsu]

Nice! Is it possible to find the ratings for Butler's second Final Four game? It would be interesting to see how their ratings improved once the were a well known commidity.

http://news.byu.edu/archive13-jul-finalfour.aspx

The jump in ratings is even bigger when two Cinderella teams face off in the Final Four. Nearly 11 million households tuned in when Virginia Commonwealth met Butler in a 2011 semifinal game. Without their respective Cinderella labels, the model predicted an audience of only 6.4 million.

[xazshox]

WSU - Final 4 Game Attendance

Aside from the TV Rating for the WSU, Louisville, Final 4 game, I saved a youtube version of the game & watched it again last week. One of the TV announcers for this particular recording of the game was Dick Vitale. Early in the game, one of the TV announcers made the remark that this was the biggest crowd in history to every watch a college basketball game. I know it was in the vicinity of 75,000, but have never been able to find the actual attendance written down anywhere. I'm also curious as to how big of attendance occurred for the other Final 4 game as well as the Final game between Louisville, & Michigan. It would be pretty cool if it turns out that the WSU, Louisville game drew the most attendance of all time for any college basketball game. Can someone answer that question, pls?

[KochHead22]

Well I figure those three games all pretty much have the same attendance. Don't know if there will really be a difference.

[jdshock]

Aside from the TV Rating for the WSU, Louisville, Final 4 game, I saved a youtube version of the game & watched it again last week. One of the TV announcers for this particular recording of the game was Dick Vitale. Early in the game, one of the TV announcers made the remark that this was the biggest crowd in history to every watch a college basketball game. I know it was in the vicinity of 75,000, but have never been able to find the actual attendance written down anywhere. I'm also curious as to how big of attendance occurred for the other Final 4 game as well as the Final game between Louisville, & Michigan. It would be pretty cool if it turns out that the WSU, Louisville game drew the most attendance of all time for any college basketball game. Can someone answer that question, pls?

I'm also interested in the numbers. I can only answer from what I saw. During the WSU and Louisville game, there were a lot of syracuse and michigan fans watching the game. After the WSU game, I noticed lots of WSU fans, including me, and even Louisville fans leaving the arena. I planned to stay for the second game but after the loss I just didn't feel like it. On the metro there were thousands of Louisville fans headed out to celebrate. It would not surprise me at all if the actual attendance was higher for the WSU/Louisville game. That said, since the games were back-to-back I'm not sure how they could have tracked it effectively.

[1979Shocker]

Aside from the TV Rating for the WSU, Louisville, Final 4 game, I saved a youtube version of the game & watched it again last week. One of the TV announcers for this particular recording of the game was Dick Vitale. Early in the game, one of the TV announcers made the remark that this was the biggest crowd in history to every watch a college basketball game. I know it was in the vicinity of 75,000, but have never been able to find the actual attendance written down anywhere. I'm also curious as to how big of attendance occurred for the other Final 4 game as well as the Final game between Louisville, & Michigan. It would be pretty cool if it turns out that the WSU, Louisville game drew the most attendance of all time for any college basketball game. Can someone answer that question, pls?

The largest attendance for a college basketball game was 78,129 at Ford Field in Detroit and was held between Michigan State and Kentucky on December 13, 2003.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basketbowl

[ShockerFever]

Aside from the TV Rating for the WSU, Louisville, Final 4 game, I saved a youtube version of the game & watched it again last week. One of the TV announcers for this particular recording of the game was Dick Vitale. Early in the game, one of the TV announcers made the remark that this was the biggest crowd in history to every watch a college basketball game. I know it was in the vicinity of 75,000, but have never been able to find the actual attendance written down anywhere. I'm also curious as to how big of attendance occurred for the other Final 4 game as well as the Final game between Louisville, & Michigan. It would be pretty cool if it turns out that the WSU, Louisville game drew the most attendance of all time for any college basketball game. Can someone answer that question, pls?

I believe it was the largest attendance for a college basketball game in the state of Georgia.

[CBB_Fan]

I'm also interested in the numbers. I can only answer from what I saw. During the WSU and Louisville game, there were a lot of syracuse and michigan fans watching the game. After the WSU game, I noticed lots of WSU fans, including me, and even Louisville fans leaving the arena. I planned to stay for the second game but after the loss I just didn't feel like it. On the metro there were thousands of Louisville fans headed out to celebrate. It would not surprise me at all if the actual attendance was higher for the WSU/Louisville game. That said, since the games were back-to-back I'm not sure how they could have tracked it effectively.

From this, attendance on Saturday peaked at around 75,000. That wasn't the most watched college basketball game of all-time, but it did set the record for a Final Four game. The national championship game also had a record, with 74,000. It is reasonable to say that the Wichita State/Louisville sets the record for attendance in the NCAA tournament, but that Michigan State/Kentucky game still holds the overall record.

[1979Shocker]

Assuming they use all the capacity of Dallas Cowboy Stadium, 2014 should break the record.

[ShockerPhi]

*raises hand*

I have a question. According to the stats that @im4wsu: provided, the WSU/Louisville match-up had the least ratings compared to the Mich/Syracuse game and the championship game.

If that's the case, that kind of goes against the argument of Cinderellas bringing a bigger audience, doesn't it? Or is it just saying the fact that we were there at all provided a boost to all of the games' ratings?

[FlyingWheat]

*raises hand*

I have a question. According to the stats that @im4wsu provided, the WSU/Louisville match-up had the least ratings compared to the Mich/Syracuse game and the championship game.

If that's the case, that kind of goes against the argument of Cinderellas bringing a bigger audience, doesn't it? Or is it just saying the fact that we were there at all provided a boost to all of the games' ratings?

Just speculating, but wouldn't the later timeslot have the advantage? More 'Prime Time?'

[Bluzrover]

*raises hand*

I have a question. According to the stats that @im4wsu provided, the WSU/Louisville match-up had the least ratings compared to the Mich/Syracuse game and the championship game.

If that's the case, that kind of goes against the argument of Cinderellas bringing a bigger audience, doesn't it? Or is it just saying the fact that we were there at all provided a boost to all of the games' ratings?

Although it doesn't say it, the actual study from which the story was based, was conducted prior to this year's FF over a decade of games 2002-2012. So in that case, the WSU/Louisville game wouldn't have been considered. But it does sort of blow a hole through the guy's theory.

[Shoxfan11]

*raises hand*

I have a question. According to the stats that @im4wsu: provided, the WSU/Louisville match-up had the least ratings compared to the Mich/Syracuse game and the championship game.

If that's the case, that kind of goes against the argument of Cinderellas bringing a bigger audience, doesn't it? Or is it just saying the fact that we were there at all provided a boost to all of the games' ratings?

I'm curious so I decided to take a look at the ratings of some recent Final Fours

2012: Kentucky-Louisville got an 8.4 rating, while KU-Ohio State (the later game) got a 9.6

2011: Butler-VCU got an 8.3 rating, while Kentucky-UConn (the later game) got a 9.5

(I haven't found anything for 2010)

2009: Michigan State-UConn got a 7.8, while North Carolina-Villanova (the later game) got an 8.5

2008: Memphis-UCLA got an 8.2, while KU-North Carolina (the later game) got an 8.8

Useful website: http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/D...ts-On-CBS.aspx

It seems the opposite of what you said is true, as our game had the highest rating for the first Final Four game since 2006 (which featured George Mason). I'm sure a big part of this can be due to the fact that Louisville games always tend to do well rating-wise, but games with Cinderellas in them haven't struggled. Actually, the only time in the past 12 years that the early game did better was in 2006, when George Mason played the early game.