Attendance Report 12/14

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barsad
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11:59a, 12/14/25
UPDATED 3/1/2026, 2 games remaining

Notes: See our last few games, really encouraging that the fans are showing up. The pattern seems to be 5-6K for the middling opponents, 8-11K for ACC bluebloods.

Each game I go to I scan the stands to see if the winning ways (best starting record since 2014) are bringing in the fans. Each game I'm disappointed. Numbers from each game are below, actually saw a 1,000 gain from the Dominican game (but are the reported numbers real ior imaginary?) Average according to Google is 2,659… take away the Chase Center game and we're probably much less than that.
I tell myself this will change in 2026, especially when the Big 3 of the ACC show up, but I don't really believe it.
Here's a story from nearly 3 years ago in SI that shows that by the numbers we're nowhere, even though emotionally Feb 2026 will be miles away from Feb 2023.
https://www.si.com/college/cal/basketball/cal-worst-attendance

What are realistic goals on attendance for the end of this season and the end of next season, and is it just a waiting game or is something radical needed?

11/03/25 CSU BAKERSFIELD
3,143

11/06/25 WRIGHT ST.
2,172

11/10/25 CAL ST. FULLERTON
2,377

11/13/25 at Kansas St.
7,521

11/18/25 PRESBYTERIAN
1,894

11/21/25 SACRAMENTO ST.
4,295

11/25/25 vs UCLA
7,293

12/02/25 UTAH
2,783

12/06/25 PACIFIC
2,688

12/09/25 DOMINICAN (CA)
1,844

12/13/25 NORTHWESTERN ST.
2,738

12/19/25 MORGAN ST.
1,894

12/21/25 COLUMBIA
3,283

ACC GAMES
12/30/25 LOUISVILLE L 70-90 6012
01/02/26 NOTRE DAME W 72-71 5158
01/07/26 at Virginia L 60-84 11533
01/10/26 at Virginia Tech L 75-78 5323
01/14/26 DUKE L 56-71 11201
01/17/26 NORTH CAROLINA W 84-78 8077
01/24/26 at Stanford W 78-66 7,291
01/28/26 at Florida St. L 61-63 4867
01/31/26 at Miami (FL) W 86-85 6513
02/04/26 GEORGIA TECH W 90-85 6018
02/07/26 CLEMSON L 55-77 5629
02/11/26 at Syracuse L (2 OT) 100-107 19053
02/14/26 at Boston College W 86-75 3485
02/21/26 STANFORD W 72-66 9020
02/25/26 SMU W 73-69 4411
02/28/26 PITTSBURGH L 56-72 5061

Cumulative, by team
Total. Home Total. Home Avg
1. North Carolina 29 468024 330235 19,425.0
2 Syracuse 29 399749 299226 17,601.0
3 NC State 29 325321 239513 15,967.0
4 Louisville 29 387726 246421 15,401.0
5 Virginia 29 293695 191459 12,763.0
6 Duke 29 317545 121083 8,648.0
7 Clemson 29 205920 112510 7,500.0
8 Wake Forest 29 217972 123250 7,250.0
9 Virginia Tech 29 219328 103031 6,439.0
10 Pitt 29 189308 98254 5,779.0
11 Florida State 29 207357 90397 5,649.0
12 Georgia Tech 29 183754 98656 5,480.0
13 Notre Dame 29 192107 86311 5,394.0
14 SMU 29 183777 90592 5,328.0
15 Miami 29 202333 87311 5,135.0
16 California 29 162577 89698 4,484.0
17 Boston College 29 139395 65038 4,064.0
18 Stanford 29 133489 70177 3,898.0
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Shocky1
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12:29p, 12/14/25
barad, jay larsen (not a berkeley grad) is the current co athletic director in charge of marketing & tix sales for the men's basketball program and also the current complete lack of any progress in fundraising for a dedicated basketball practice facility, honestly nothing is gonna change until he's terminated & replaced with a berkeley grad that luvs this university and embraces its basketball potential

cal is currently 18th in the acc in attendance outta 18 programs

yeah are berkeley bureaucrats held accountable??
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Go!Bears
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12:38p, 12/14/25
My take, as a 30 year season ticket holder….

'They' have made it very hard to want to go to the games.

We don't play on consistent days, or at predictable times, so I often lose track of when the games are and develop scheduling conflicts.

We don't play marquee teams (at home, at least) so I can't find anyone who will use the tickets, when I can't.
Nobody forms any attachment to any of the players because by the time you start to do that, they are gone.

What you are left with is an ever shrinking, hard core. The atmosphere in the gym is dead. Attendance reflects this.

Given that TV is more important than the live audience I don't think it will change.
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GoCal80
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In reply to Go!Bears • 2:01p, 12/14/25
Go!Bears said:
My take, as a 30 year season ticket holder….

'They' have made it very hard to want to go to the games.

We don't play on consistent days, or at predictable times, so I often lose track of when the games are and develop scheduling conflicts.

We don't play marquee teams (at home, at least) so I can't find anyone who will use the tickets, when I can't.
Nobody forms any attachment to any of the players because by the time you start to do that, they are gone.

What you are left with is an ever shrinking, hard core. The atmosphere in the gym is dead. Attendance reflects this.

Given that TV is more important than the live audience I don't think it will change.


As a 38-year season ticket holder I agree with everything you wrote and will add two more factors. First, although I really like this group of players, there is no big-time recruit like a Jaylon Brown, Ivan Rabb, Kidd, etc. One or two of those would really help fill seats. Second, there have been too many home games this year and I feel saturated. I have thoroughly enjoyed all the games I've attended, but I do have other demands on my time and find I'm suffering from hoops fatigue.
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oskidunker
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In reply to GoCal80 • 2:44p, 12/14/25
GoCal80 said:
Go!Bears said:
My take, as a 30 year season ticket holder….

'They' have made it very hard to want to go to the games.

We don't play on consistent days, or at predictable times, so I often lose track of when the games are and develop scheduling conflicts.

We don't play marquee teams (at home, at least) so I can't find anyone who will use the tickets, when I can't.
Nobody forms any attachment to any of the players because by the time you start to do that, they are gone.

What you are left with is an ever shrinking, hard core. The atmosphere in the gym is dead. Attendance reflects this.

Given that TV is more important than the live audience I don't think it will change.


As a 38-year season ticket holder I agree with everything you wrote and will add two more factors. First, although I really like this group of players, there is no big-time recruit like a Jaylon Brown, Ivan Rabb, Kidd, etc. One or two of those would really help fill seats. Second, there have been too many home games this year and I feel saturated. I have thoroughly enjoyed all the games I've attended, but I do have other demands on my time and find I'm suffering from hoops fatigue.
.

The mote the merry
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HearstMining
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In reply to GoCal80 • 3:14p, 12/14/25
GoCal80 said:
Go!Bears said:
My take, as a 30 year season ticket holder….

'They' have made it very hard to want to go to the games.

We don't play on consistent days, or at predictable times, so I often lose track of when the games are and develop scheduling conflicts.

We don't play marquee teams (at home, at least) so I can't find anyone who will use the tickets, when I can't.
Nobody forms any attachment to any of the players because by the time you start to do that, they are gone.

What you are left with is an ever shrinking, hard core. The atmosphere in the gym is dead. Attendance reflects this.

Given that TV is more important than the live audience I don't think it will change.


As a 38-year season ticket holder I agree with everything you wrote and will add two more factors. First, although I really like this group of players, there is no big-time recruit like a Jaylon Brown, Ivan Rabb, Kidd, etc. One or two of those would really help fill seats. Second, there have been too many home games this year and I feel saturated. I have thoroughly enjoyed all the games I've attended, but I do have other demands on my time and find I'm suffering from hoops fatigue.

Good point here about recruiting, but if that recruit only stays a year, it won't have the needed impact on attendance. Cal's basketball fan culture was obliterated by six years of horrific basketball followed by two years of "eh" basketball with a revolving door of players. I think you need a decent (top half of the conference) team with at least two players who are Honorable Mention All-ACC caliber AND they have to stay for two or more years to really get fans excited.

Then, of course, there's the whole issue of an actual plan for marketing and promotions, and Cal really needs to lower ticket prices. If you go to one of the ticket reseller sites, Cal home tickets are higher priced than many of their ACC opponents.
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oskidunker
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In reply to HearstMining • 3:40p, 12/14/25
The ticket prices on secondary sites aka seat geek are set by sellers who over estimate what they are worth . Cheaperbto buy from Cal direct, usually
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bbfollower
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3:49p, 12/14/25
All of the games now being on TV has got to hurt the actual game attendance.

But would Cal be better off financially with no or less TV and better actual home game attendance?
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bearsandgiants
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3:56p, 12/14/25
We haven't played well since the ucla game. This isn't on the fans. The team needs to give people a reason to spend a night watching them.
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HearstMining
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In reply to oskidunker • 6:06p, 12/14/25
oskidunker said:
The ticket prices on secondary sites aka seat geek are set by sellers who over estimate what they are worth . Cheaperbto buy from Cal direct, usually

I don't know about basketball, but WRT football, Cal's ATO has sold CMS football tickets through either SeatGeek or TickPick (I don't recall which) during the week of the game for at least the last couple of years. The exception to this is the Big Game. I've bought seats for well under list price, and the seller name that shows up on the transaction is Cal Athletics. I certainly don't have a problem with that - whatever puts more butts in the seats.
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Strykur
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In reply to bearsandgiants • 7:06p, 12/14/25
bearsandgiants said:
We haven't played well since the ucla game. This isn't on the fans. The team needs to give people a reason to spend a night watching them.

And we need to play a legit opponent or at least someone not in the absolute dregs, they are local but why do we even bother scheduling a Division II school in-season, save that **** for exhibition games and until students get back on campus the games will be sleepy before Duke and North Carolina come in
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barsad
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In reply to Go!Bears • 11:16p, 12/14/25
Go!Bears said:
My take, as a 30 year season ticket holder….

'They' have made it very hard to want to go to the games.

We don't play on consistent days, or at predictable times, so I often lose track of when the games are and develop scheduling conflicts.

We don't play marquee teams (at home, at least) so I can't find anyone who will use the tickets, when I can't.
Nobody forms any attachment to any of the players because by the time you start to do that, they are gone.

What you are left with is an ever shrinking, hard core. The atmosphere in the gym is dead. Attendance reflects this.

Given that TV is more important than the live audience I don't think it will change.

None of these problems are unique to Cal. TV broadcasts, roster churn, scheduling, these are things all the other 17 teams deal with. For God's sake there are a bunch of teams (Pitt for example) who are sub-.500 or .500 and have twice our average attendance!
Link to current conference attendance stats:
https://theacc.com/stats.aspx?path=mbball&year=2025

If there's a solution it will have to address something specific to Cal, and firing everybody in the Athletic Dept. just isn't going to happen, so what else? Bring a friend free?
T-shirt giveaway? $5 all games in upper rows?
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Strykur
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In reply to barsad • 12:05a, 12/15/25
barsad said:
Go!Bears said:
My take, as a 30 year season ticket holder….

'They' have made it very hard to want to go to the games.

We don't play on consistent days, or at predictable times, so I often lose track of when the games are and develop scheduling conflicts.

We don't play marquee teams (at home, at least) so I can't find anyone who will use the tickets, when I can't.
Nobody forms any attachment to any of the players because by the time you start to do that, they are gone.

What you are left with is an ever shrinking, hard core. The atmosphere in the gym is dead. Attendance reflects this.

Given that TV is more important than the live audience I don't think it will change.

None of these problems are unique to Cal. TV broadcasts, roster churn, scheduling, these are things all the other 17 teams deal with. For God's sake there are a bunch of teams (Pitt for example) who are sub-.500 or .500 and have twice our average attendance!

Yeah but after going through the drudgery of Mark Fox until now we have not been a compelling product and having an AD giving excuses in the middle of a 3 win season turned off a lot of casuals
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Shocky1
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3:09a, 12/15/25
barsad, literally nobody is saying that "everyone in the ad needs to be fired," however general knowlton's right arm co athletic director jay larsen (not a berkeley grad, worked previously in compliance & a very unlikeable personality) needs to be fired and replaced with a berkeley grad that is passionate about cal basketball that can innovatively market/sells tixs and build relationships with key donors for the critically needed practice facility

that along with hiring a gm are the 1st steps to selling out haas again, winning more powder puff games has already show that it's not gonna move the dial in building a fanbase which has been exacerbated by madden not demanding for all students to given FREE tixs to all home games which me & hoop dreams tole mark wuz the #1 KEY STEP for returning the roar to haas in north end zone tunnel at a football game right after he got hired

we also tole mark that recruiting a home crowd favorite asian wuz important, he's also ignored that advice
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Harky4
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9:19a, 12/15/25
Our weak non-conference schedule has killed attendance for those games and also, I am told by a senior Cal athletic staff member, hurt season ticket sales despite a fantastic ACC home schedule (decent season ticket renewal rate but a poor amount of new season ticket holders were generated). We should never repeat that folly, if we are serious about returning Haas to its professed status as our Haas of Pain for opponents.
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Shocky1
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9:44a, 12/15/25
harky, respect ur passion/commitment to cal mbb but that's absolute bull****, the weak schedule is not the material issue impacting abysmal attendance this season, it's the abject FAILURE of the athletic department to build a younger fanbase particularly with students & young alums that's killing attendance

interesting to hear a sr ad employee would deflect blame from the department but that's par for the course since jay john had enough & retired
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Cal88
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In reply to Harky4 • 9:46a, 12/15/25
If that gets us in the tourney, the strategy will have paid off. As well, given the amount of personnel turnover, the team is going to be weaker early in the season before gelling.
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Shocky1
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10:09a, 12/15/25
88, the bears are better this season for sure but potentially looking at 4 of the top 6 players departing after the season which will involve another TOTAL REBUILD next season, building a fanbase requires a marketing strategy that tells the stories of the players so that fans fall in luv with them until they graduate with a berkeley degree

as a casual fan these days shocky watched part of a game earlier this season & didn't know who any of the players wuz & then turned the tv off after 15 minutes to go to modern yoga
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oskidunker
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In reply to Harky4 • 11:27a, 12/15/25
Harky4 said:
Our weak non-conference schedule has killed attendance for those games and also, I am told by a senior Cal athletic staff member, hurt season ticket sales despite a fantastic ACC home schedule (decent season ticket renewal rate but a poor amount of new season ticket holders were generated). We should never repeat that folly, if we are serious about returning Haas to its professed status as our Haas of Pain for opponents.


Madsen decides who we pplay not assistant AD's.
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HearstMining
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11:46a, 12/15/25
Average home game attendance this season via Wikipedia and doing some mental arithmetic:
UCLA: ~ 5,100
Oregon: ~5,900
UW: ~5,800
UA: ~13,400
USC: ~4,500
Cal: ~2,500
Utah: ~6,000

So, yeah, Cal lags badly but with the exception of Zona, all west coast major college basketball attendance is pretty low. Not an excuse, just an observation. As with football, west coast college students are not as interested in their teams compared to much of country.





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HearstMining
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In reply to oskidunker • 11:55a, 12/15/25
oskidunker said:
Harky4 said:
Our weak non-conference schedule has killed attendance for those games and also, I am told by a senior Cal athletic staff member, hurt season ticket sales despite a fantastic ACC home schedule (decent season ticket renewal rate but a poor amount of new season ticket holders were generated). We should never repeat that folly, if we are serious about returning Haas to its professed status as our Haas of Pain for opponents.


Madsen decides who we pplay not assistant AD's.

Well, the opposing teams are also part of that decision. What's in it for them to travel to Berkeley and play in front of 2500 fans, possibly at a time that's inconvenient for their own fans to watch if the game is televised? I think Cal should be trying to schedule at least three former Pac-12 teams each season. Plenty of UW, UO, SoCal alumni from those schools in the Bay Area as well as locals who went to those schools but now work here. Sure, no point in getting blown out by Arizona at this point, but any of the other schools should be appealing candidates.
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HearstMining
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In reply to Strykur • 12:16p, 12/15/25
Strykur said:
barsad said:
Go!Bears said:
My take, as a 30 year season ticket holder….

'They' have made it very hard to want to go to the games.

We don't play on consistent days, or at predictable times, so I often lose track of when the games are and develop scheduling conflicts.

We don't play marquee teams (at home, at least) so I can't find anyone who will use the tickets, when I can't.
Nobody forms any attachment to any of the players because by the time you start to do that, they are gone.

What you are left with is an ever shrinking, hard core. The atmosphere in the gym is dead. Attendance reflects this.

Given that TV is more important than the live audience I don't think it will change.

None of these problems are unique to Cal. TV broadcasts, roster churn, scheduling, these are things all the other 17 teams deal with. For God's sake there are a bunch of teams (Pitt for example) who are sub-.500 or .500 and have twice our average attendance!

Yeah but after going through the drudgery of Mark Fox until now we have not been a compelling product and having an AD giving excuses in the middle of a 3 win season turned off a lot of casuals

Not to be picky, but "drudgery" describes the Wilcox era. The Mark Fox regime was more like an oil refinery fire combined with a SARS outbreak and any survivors were immersed in a vat of Roundup.
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bluesaxe
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In reply to Shocky1 • 1:48p, 12/15/25
Shocky1 said:
harky, respect ur passion/commitment to cal mbb but that's absolute bull****, the weak schedule is not the material issue impacting abysmal attendance this season, it's the abject FAILURE of the athletic department to build a younger fanbase particularly with students & young alums that's killing attendance

interesting to hear a sr ad employee would deflect blame from the department but that's par for the course since jay john had enough & retired

Two things can be true.
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Shocky1
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1:52p, 12/15/25
agreed bluesaxe, think my poorly stated point wuz that the cal athletic department tryna deflect responsibility/accountability re: the abysmal attendance on scheduling issues by the basketball staff is why jay larsen needs to be fired sooner than later

not offering FREE tixs to all home games to all berkeley students is beyond breaking bad marketing 101 as is hassling the few students that do attend games
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Cal88
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2:32p, 12/15/25
One idea to revive early season attendance and excitement would be to organize in November at Haas a local tournament along the lines of Philly's Big Five Classic, featuring Cal, Furd, St Mary's, Sta Clara, USF, SJSU and maybe Davis and Sac St.

It would also bring local fans to Haas, and minimize travel costs.
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bearister
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In reply to barsad • 4:36p, 12/15/25
As a 37 year season ticket holder that bailed on the tickets this season, this is my opinion of the various coffin nails that got pounded into the Cal hoop program:

1. Cuonzo leaving the cupboard bare;

2. Wyking Jones dropping 16 games in a row;

3. Mark Fox dropping 16 games in a row and being an @$$h@le;

4. The Death of the Conference of Champions and its history, traditions and rivalries;

5. Substitution of the ACC in its place with all the jerk off broadcasters, fans and schools that it brought with it that I could personally give a rat's @$$ about;

6. NIL/The Portal. The studs want to make bank and play for a team that can go deep in The Dance. As a result, Cal, like the A's, is basically a talent development platform for the programs that attract the best players.

Similar to the A's, each season you have to memorize a new roster. There is no continuity or feeling of emotional connection with the players.

*With all of that said, props to Mad Dog for cobbling together a team good enough to beat fUCLA and that can be competitive. It has attracted my attention enough to catch the games on TV…..but for the reasons stated above, I am no longer interested in the effort it takes to plant my arse in a seat at Haas.

*When they were planning the expansion of Harmon into Haas, too bad AI didn't exist to run projections regarding if 20 years down the road there was a down side to expanding the seating capacity from 5500 to 12500. Things wouldn't look so embarrassing if our gym was still the size of Harmon.
Cancel my subscription to the Resurrection
Send my credentials to the House of Detention
I got some friends inside

“I love Cal deeply, by the way, what are the directions to The Portal from Sproul Plaza?”
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bearfan93
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10:17a, 12/16/25
If you win, they will come.

Takes time to undo a decade of irrelevance.
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Shocky1
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10:51a, 12/16/25
^ that is a 100% an outdated marketing strategy in today's high competitive market space for people's free time

it is, however, an excuse offered up by the cal athletic department to justify the ineptitude of jay & jenny (who ran off jay john)
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BeachedBear
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1:41p, 12/16/25
People come to Haas (or any college basketball game, for that matter), for three reasons:

1. It is fun (this is where most of the alums, season ticket holders - fall). The nostalgia and connection to their alma mater is fun. Similarly, community members would come because the event is fun (or some version of entertaining). This is harder today, since many people find other avenues for fun.

2. To watch basketball. This is actually a pretty small percentage. But there are a few that will watch the game for the game's sake.

3. Because someone brought them (or invited them and they came). This includes young family members.


Winning is more fun than losing and it correlates to why people may choose to come or not. But relying ONLY on winning is short sighted. It needs to be supported by a fun atmosphere than encourages fans to bring other people.

Under Fox Both of the first 2 were putrid. It was not fun and the basketball was bad to watch. Under Jones it was pretty bad too. Under Madsen, the fun and quality of the basketball has improved.

But the third part is still missing and this is where it will take some time and work (and winning). From Campy through Martin, I had many friends and family that would ask (sometimes beg) me to take them to a Cal Games. Since Martin, I couldn't pay people to join me. When they witness bad basketball and are being asked to pay ridiculous prices for bad concessions (when open) at an event that misses the basic block and tackling (announcing, volume and coordination of side events, etc) - they won't return.
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oskidunker
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In reply to BeachedBear • 2:07p, 12/16/25
BeachedBear said:
People come to Haas (or any college basketball game, for that matter), for three reasons:

1. It is fun (this is where most of the alums, season ticket holders - fall). The nostalgia and connection to their alma mater is fun. Similarly, community members would come because the event is fun (or some version of entertaining). This is harder today, since many people find other avenues for fun.

2. To watch basketball. This is actually a pretty small percentage. But there are a few that will watch the game for the game's sake.

3. Because someone brought them (or invited them and they came). This includes young family members.


Winning is more fun than losing and it correlates to why people may choose to come or not. But relying ONLY on winning is short sighted. It needs to be supported by a fun atmosphere than encourages fans to bring other people.

Under Fox Both of the first 2 were putrid. It was not fun and the basketball was bad to watch. Under Jones it was pretty bad too. Under Madsen, the fun and quality of the basketball has improved.

But the third part is still missing and this is where it will take some time and work (and winning). From Campy through Martin, I had many friends and family that would ask (sometimes beg) me to take them to a Cal Games. Since Martin, I couldn't pay people to join me. When they witness bad basketball and are being asked to pay ridiculous prices for bad concessions (when open) at an event that misses the basic block and tackling (announcing, volume and coordination of side events, etc) - they won't return.


Agree on concessions. Beer everywhere but no ability to sell ice cream except downstairs. Great for the court side people. Not so much for everyone else .
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sycasey
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9:17p, 12/16/25
There hasn't been a winning team in 8 years, nor even much realistic hope of one until very recently. Not surprising fans aren't showing up. That's the number one thing to fix. If people feel like they will get to watch good basketball they will start to show up.
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Shocky1
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2:43a, 12/17/25
sycasey, luv u man but that thinking is at least a decade outdated, the bears mbb faithful are 70+ years & rapidly aging out so winning more games is not gonna bring back other old fans that bleed blue & gold

a new much younger fanbase of students, young alums, bay area fans with no affiliation to berkeley that are priced outta golden state warrior tixs need to be relentlessly targeted to start attending games & just winning more games is not gonna make that happen in this day & age of COMPETING for people's free time & money

and that's why the current promo of 10 buck tixs for old cal alums to sit in the student section is a good idea it still won't move the dial in terms of this season's abysmal attendance metrics (dead LAST of the 18 teams in the acc), recycling won't work in growing the fanbase with today's rapidly escalating 6 second attention economy (the monster understands this ****, the cal athletic department not so much)
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sycasey
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In reply to Shocky1 • 8:17a, 12/17/25
I do not doubt that marketing and prices need to be better too, but you still aren't getting people to show up in a fair-weather market like the Bay Area without winning consistently.
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Civil Bear
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8:23a, 12/17/25
We only need to look at football. When Cal wins, the students show up big time. Embarrassing losses are followed up with embarrassing student attendance. Cal supposedly came close to selling out the allotment of 2025 Cal Student Combo Passes. Those students can attend basketball games at no additional cost.
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HoopDreams
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8:32a, 12/17/25
I can't count the times I've asked students in the RSF who are playing BASKETBALL if they are going to the game

Most common responses:

1. What game
2. I don't have a ticket
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