All WVU Sports posts (Morgantown: installation, aquatic, renovation)

[Colt .45]

Originally Posted by CTMountaineer

The importance of baseball regarding crowds in Mon County...

This isn't really "just" about WVU sports, but since the management here wants things grouped, I thought I'd bring this up here. Everyone knows that sports is a huge draw for our area. Nearly all of that is WVU sports, but our minor league team, the West Virginia Black Bears (a Pirate affiliate) is developing a loyal fan base of it's own. Like all the cities in West Virginia, we are not large in terms of population, but this is definitely a sports minded city, and it is carrying over to the Black Bears.

Everyone knows that college football brings hundreds of thousands of people here, and college basketball, which has WVU facing off against some of the best teams in the country, brings 200,000 here per year for men's and women's basketball, and soccer is a growing revenue sport in the area, but until recently baseball hasn't been given much attention. That is starting to change. Look at these figures for college baseball attendance in America:

Being a major conference, and located in the south, the SEC dwarfs everyone else as a league in average attendance, but attendance elsewhere is nothing to sneeze at. For not being in a traditionally warm weather location, WVU and Morgantown are doing just fine.

From the NCAA ...

2017 CONFERENCE AVERAGE
1. SEC - 4,717
2. Big 12 - 2,477
3. ACC - 1,669
4. AAC - 1,403
5. Pac 12 - 1,371
6. Big Ten - 1,097

BIG 12
7. Texas (21) - 4,856
8. TCU (16) - 4,743
14. Texas Tech (14) - 3,855
28. Baylor (19) - 2,250
33. West Virginia (3) - 1,926
42. Kansas State (16) - 1,618
56. Oklahoma State (17) - 1,192
67. Oklahoma (22) - 930
69. Kansas (17) - 921

AAC
18. East Carolina (21) - 2,850
37. Tulane (20) - 1,763
44. Houston (14) - 1,561
45. Central Florida (25) - 1,403
77. Memphis (20) - 788
78. South Florida (24) - 785
90. Cincinnati (13) - 672
NR. Connecticut (0)

ACC
10. Florida State (17) - 4,561
11. Clemson (19) - 4,520
16. Virginia (18) - 2,940
22. Miami (16) - 2,656
26. NC State (15) - 2,437
46. Georgia Tech (18) - 1,355
47. Louisville (17) - 1,355
55. North Carolina (21) - 1,200
95. Wake Forest (15) - 629
118. Duke (22) - 466
145. Virginia Tech (16) - 358
146. Notre Dame (8) - 352
150. Pittsburgh (7) - 333
202. Boston College (4) - 200

BIG TEN
12. Nebraska (9) - 4,439
31. Indiana (8) - 1,933
53. Michigan State (5) - 1,247
57. Ohio State (9) - 1,178
58. Minnesota (13) - 1,126
72. Purdue (2) - 851
79. Illinois (12) - 780
97. Penn State (6) - 625
109. Iowa (10) - 536
113. Michigan (10) - 512
143. Northwestern (13) - 362
148. Rutgers (6) - 342
153. Maryland (11) - 328

PAC 12
19. Arizona (16) - 2,824
23. Arizona State (20) - 2,609
25. Oregon State (10) - 2,470
34. Utah (8) - 1,911
50. Stanford (15) - 1,284
65. Oregon (11) - 1,040
76. UCLA (17) - 789
99. California (15) - 607
101. Southern Cal (16) - 589
112. Washington State (11) - 515
123. Washington (14) - 447

SEC
1. LSU (21) - 10,679
2. Mississippi (20) - 8,910
3. Mississippi State (18) - 7,680
4. South Carolina (18) - 7,215
5. Arkansas (17) - 7,015
9. Texas A&M (18) - 4,677
13. Florida (18) - 4,256
15. Alabama (23) - 3,777
20. Auburn (25) - 2,742
24. Vanderbilt (18) - 2,577
27. Kentucky (17) - 2,319
36. Georgia (18) - 1,776
40. Tennessee (15) - 1,681
85. Missouri (15) - 735

TOP 10 OTHERS
6. Louisiana-Lafayette (14) - 4,863
17. Hawaii (23) - 2,854
21. Southern Miss (17) - 2,739
29. Rice (15) - 2,152
30. Wichita State (16) - 2,022
32. Louisiana Tech (18) - 1,932
35. Coastal Carolina (21) - 1,887
38. Fresno State (19) - 1,714
39. Long Beach State (9) - 1,693
41. Cal State Fullerson (12) 1,677

WVU has higher average attendance for baseball than all but 2 Big 10 teams.

The minor league team has games that are also well attended, and I should point out that, unlike some places, the Mon County Ballpark does not have any bleacher type cheap seats with $5 tickets.

Nearly 79,000 people attended Black Bear games last season. Remember too, the Black Bears are located 40 miles from another minor league team and just over an hour from a major league team, so there is some competition for fans here.

2016 Minor League Baseball Attendance

this is actually a bad thing IMO.....the berms of Mon Co Park, currently being off limits, would be ideal for $5 tickets...

and BTW, the Washington Wild Things team is not a MLB minor league affiliated team, if thats the "40 miles from another minor league team" you are referring to.....

[CTMountaineer]

Originally Posted by Colt .45

this is actually a bad thing IMO.....the berms of Mon Co Park, currently being off limits, would be ideal for $5 tickets...

and BTW, the Washington Wild Things team is not a MLB minor league affiliated team, if thats the "40 miles from another minor league team" you are referring to.....

The Wild Things aren't in the major league system, that's true. They are comprised of very good professional players who are just short of being in the A league minor league system, but they and the other members of their league have great facilities and loyal fan bases. They are definitely competition for our regional baseball entertainment dollars. Their facilities are on a par with any A league facilities in the country. Their team rosters would be more stable than typical major league affiliates, but I'd be real surprised if outstanding players in the Frontier League wouldn't get a look from major affiliates.

One thing that impresses me is the great events ... concerts and so forth that they are able to schedule in their ballpark in Washington. Granted, they are just down the road from Pittsburgh which would undoubtedly help with attendance and so forth, but I believe we could do the same thing successfully here in Mon County.

Washington Wild Things | Frontier League Baseball

[CTMountaineer]

Standout WVU Point Guard Jevon Carter has received an academic honor from the National Basketball Coaches Assn.

Carter Earns NABC Academic Honor - WVU Athletics

[CTMountaineer]

Randy Mazey has signed a new 5 year contract to continue leading the Mountaineer Baseball Team. This year WVU played against outstanding competition in the Big XII as well as facing Pitt, Penn State, Virginia Tech, and Maryland regionally.

http://www.wvgazettemail.com/sports-...five-year-deal

[CTMountaineer]

The Nation's best rated high school kicker just committed to Mountaineer football.

BREAKING: Top-Ranked Specialist Commits to WVU, Talks Choice

[CTMountaineer]

ESPN has announced, West Virginia vs. Tennessee will play in Charlotte in 2018. Future schedules are quickly filling up.

Tennessee Volunteers, West Virginia Mountaineers to open 2018 season in Charlotte

[CTMountaineer]

Originally Posted by CTMountaineer

ESPN has announced, West Virginia vs. Tennessee will play in Charlotte in 2018. Future schedules are quickly filling up.

Tennessee Volunteers, West Virginia Mountaineers to open 2018 season in Charlotte

Just realized that was announced in 2014, not yesterday. I have no idea why that just appeared on a newsfeed I just received. LOL

[CTMountaineer]

Football Season ... Coming Soon to Morgantown

https://i1.wp.com/s-media-cache-ak0....42%2C442&ssl=1

[CTMountaineer]

Morgantown is home to an Olympic Gold Medal winning rifle shot, and National Champion Rifle Team, and now also the #1ranked Women's Soccer Team which made it all the way to the National Championship game last season.

The WVU football team is also pre season Top 25, and the basketball team is sure to be ranked even higher. WVU athletics is rocking this year.

WVU Women's Soccer Ranked Preseason No. 1 - WVU Football, WVU Basketball, News - Mountaineer Sports

Oklahoma, Penn State, and Virginia highlight a home schedule that, as usual, features outstanding competition.

http://www.wvusports.com/schedules.cfm?sport=wsoccer

[CTMountaineer]

WVU Club Hockey has releases their 2017 schedule.
WVU Hockey releases schedule | Sports | thedaonline.com