Let’s have the tough conversation about NC State Basketball’s lagging attendance numbers

It’s the elephant in the room. It’s the stats I didn’t even want to look into. But after a few conversations about fan support and a couple of tweets lately about the Lenovo Center not being as full as usual, I felt like I needed to look into these stats.

We’re halfway through a season that should be piggybacking off the nearly unlimited earned media from last March, the historic 5 games in 5 days ACC Tournament Championship, and the against-all-odds Final Four run.

For a month, the most lovable character in America, DJ Burns, was wearing an NC State jersey. The entire nation was rooting for the red and white. It was a culmination of everything NC State fans have been dreaming about.

What would it take to put the Pack back on the map? What would it take to finally be back in our rightful place on Tobacco Road, battling year in and year out with Duke and UNC? If there was anything that was going to make that happen, this run was IT!

So why is NC State averaging some of the lowest attendance numbers in years at 11,828 per game (according to ACC.com).

It’s obviously a culmination of factors that is causing this dip…

COVID seemingly changed live sports for the forseeable future. People are creatures of habit and when you lock them in their houses for a couple years, they start to get comfortable, they start to enjoy it. Kind of like an offshoot of Stockholm Syndrome if you ask me. Fans started to wonder why they were running the rat race so hard, spending their money to watch a game that was already on TV. Heck, during COVID they invested in a bigger TV, a comfier couch and a new sound system for their living room. Why leave?

At the same time, the NIL laws passed, changing the college basketball landscape completely. Suddenly, fans weren’t following freshman through their four years, watching them grow in the program. During the same timeframe, they also started allowing transfers without a year pentaly. So every year, you pretty much were going to have a mostly new roster. The innocence that drew many basketball fans to college over the NBA, was now gone. Whether or not there was ever really loyalty to the school, there was a least an appearance of one, and that mattered for alumni. There was a pride associated with it. Now, that is mostly gone as players have become guns for hire, mercenaries.

And then there’s the roster and play of this year’s Wolfpack basketball team, which we’ll get into later.

All of that said, let’s take a look at how attendance has trended over the past 25 years…

2024-25 (current): 11,828
2023-24: 13,491
2022-23: 13,253
2021-22: 13,102

— NIL Era started —

2020-21: COVID SEASON
2019-20: 15,150
2018-19: 13,897
2017-18: 15,253

— End of Gottfried Era / Start of Keatts Era) —

2016-17: 15,906
2015-16: 16,758
2014-15: 15,435
2013-14: 12,641
2012-13: 16,299
2011-12: 13,560

— End of Sidney Lowe Era / Start of Gottfried Era —

2010-11: 13,779
2009-10: 13,184
2008-09: 13,456
2007-08: 15,043
2006-07: 13,857

— End of the Sendek Era / Start of the Lowe Era —

2005-06: 14,472
2004-05: 14,464
2003-04: 14,576
2002-03: 13,563
2001-02: 13,468
2000-01: 14,702
1999-00: 16,535

— NC State Moves Out of Reynolds —

1998-99: 10,800

Yes, you read that correctly. Coming off the most successful run in NC State’s modern era, NC State is averaging the lowest home attendance of the ESA/PNC/Lenovo Center era.

Before all of the Keatts critics jump on him, take a closer look.

Keatts’ teams were averaging 14,750 per game prior to COVID. That’s only slightly down from the Gottfried average of 15,099 during his tenure. That’s not bad at all and is about what we were seeing during the Sendek Era in the ESA, which averaged 14,540

However, the past few seasons  have been concerning, with an average of 13,282, which is below the Sidney Lowe era average of 13,863.

I don’t think the NCAA allegations really had an impact on any of the attendance numbers, but it seems as if NIL and COVID certainly started the decline of attendance, and this season’s team is void of a true star, without a signature win and sitting in 14th in the ACC, has only added to it.

Now, I’d want to assume the average is going to rise a bit with all of the remaining games being ACC games, but I’m not so sure. NC State is now all but eliminated from NCAA contention, we’ve already played UNC at home and we don’t play Duke at home this season. The home games left are SMU, Clemson, Louisville, BC, Wake and Pitt.

For context, the game against Cal this past weekend brought 12,881 to the game.

Barring a big change, this season will set the record for the lowest attendance since State moved into the new arena. That’s concerning to me.

In an era where we are counting on the fanbase to help fund the teams via NIL, and help fund the athletic programs via ticket sales, we are seeing a real lack of interest in the basketball program based on the metrics. Whether it’s these attendance stats, social media engagements, or site traffic (all of which have almost always trended together over the past 10 years), there seems to be disinterest taking place.

I’ll say it again, if you ask me, this is a culmination of lifestyle changes from COVID, the NCAA changes in NIL/transfer rules, and NC State’s lack of star power and lackluster record.

For those looking for answers, State isn’t moving back to Reynolds, so mark that off.

But I do think tightening up the NIL rules would go a long way, especially removing the free transfer (without penalty) rule. Bringing back some school pride and player loyalty to the game would help bring fan interest back.

I also think NC State needs to shake things up this season from an on-court perspective.

Maybe that means shifting the style of play which the fans seem to be tired of, or maybe it means playing the freshmen.

I know this won’t be a popular statement, but the fans are checked out more this season than I’ve seen in a long time. They know we are going to have to rely on another insane end-of-the-season run (if they can even make the ACC Tournament this year), and they aren’t ready to invest in that option at this point. Some sort of change, something to help them have hope in the future, may go a long way in making up some of those attendance numbers that have dipped this season.

The point of this article isn’t to lay blame, but to call to attention something that is really happening.

There are things the administration can try to do. There are things the coaching staff can try to do. There are things the players can try to do.

However, as fans, we have control over none of those things. The things we can do is to, if you have the money and you want to take action, you can go to the game and encourage others to come with you. Other than that, we’ll just watch and hope everyone does their part to help turn this thing around.

**We’ll have an update on these numbers at the end of the season to see how things ended up