3/28/2020 basketball Edit

Hogs experience rapid increase in attendance under Mike Neighbors

Mike Neighbors has coached the Arkansas women's basketball team for three years. (Joshua S. Kelly-USA TODAY Sports)

Andrew Hutchinson • HawgBeat

Managing Editor

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Mike Neighbors’ revitalization of the Arkansas women’s basketball program extends beyond the win column.

The Razorbacks went 24-8 and were set to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time in five years before the coronavirus forced the cancellation of the rest of the season, but equally impressive is how he’s brought fans back to Bud Walton Arena.

Attendance continued its rapid rise in Neighbors’ third season at the helm. The Razorbacks averaged 3,247 fans for their 18 home games this year - a 40.9 percent increase over last year’s average.

Even more incredible is the fact that Arkansas has seen its attendance nearly double since Neighbors took over. It averaged just 1,652 fans in Jimmy Dykes’ final season, but that has grown by 96.6 percent over the last three years.

The Razorbacks’ average attendance ranked 95th nationally and dead last in the SEC in 2016-17, the year before Neighbors was hired. This season, they ranked 39th nationally and eighth in the conference.

It was also the first time Arkansas has cracked the 3,000 mark for average attendance in 16 years, when it averaged 3,523 fans in 2003-04. That was Susie Gardner’s first season as head coach and since then, attendance has been in a steady decline - as seen in the chart below.

If Neighbors can continue winning, he’ll likely achieve a sustained level of success in the ticket office that Arkansas hasn’t seen since his mentor, Gary Blair, was in charge.

During Blair’s 10-year tenure, the Razorbacks averaged 4,137 fans and cracked 5,000 three times. That includes in his final season, when they saw attendance increase by 48.3 percent - the only time Arkansas had a year-over-year increase greater than the one it experienced this season.

The Razorbacks also saw a slight uptick in attendance on the men’s side in Eric Musselman’s first season.

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The 2003-04 season was the Razorbacks' first without Gary Blair as head coach. (Andrew Hutchinson)