dperry
Postdoc
Posts: 2211
Loc: Houston, TX
Reg: 11-24-04
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01-04-18 09:28 PM - Post#242052
In response to palestra38
This was all about branding and strengthening the brand. It's getting us coverage in media and TV and the only place adequate for showing us in the best light is the Palestra, of which almost all college basketball fans are familiar despite being unable to name a single Ivy basketball player. . . So let's be honest--it was all about showcasing the Ivies in their best and most well known facility in a big city. And on that they succeeded and in all likelihood, will not do so if the games are played elsewhere.
I don't agree that they succeeded even in that. As noted in the previous post, the attendances were ordinary on the first day and poor on the second. Two years ago, Yale's clinching the championship, in a rather ordinary pennant race, got far more love in the media than Princeton's winning the final did last year--and, of course, there had been plenty of comment about the Ivy race throughout the entire league season--something that was notably lacking last year. Heck, the two recent wins by the Penn WOMEN over Princeton in the last game of the regular season got about as much attention as the men's final did last year. I don't know what the TV ratings for the men were, but given that they were on an inferior network and going up against considerably more popular games, it's hard to believe that they were all that great. This year, two of the three games will be on the Deuce, so we'll see what happens, but I still don't think it'll be all that great. If they really want to get attention, they need to move the entire schedule up a week and play it on the next-to-last weekend of the season, when the Power 5 isn't sucking all of the air out of the room.
Speaking of scheduling, I'll also note that, checking the academic calendars, once again four of the eight schools (Ca, H, Pa, Y) will be beginning or ending their spring breaks that weekend. At Dartmouth, it's right in the middle of exams, and at Princeton, it's right before midterms. Cornell is unlikely to make either cut; Brown is likely only in the women's. There goes what little student attendance you could expect.
David Perry
Penn '92
"Hail, Alma Mater/Thy sons cheer thee now
To thee, Pennsylvania/All rivals must bow!!!" |
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