AU Athletics cancelled the planned fan bus to send AU students to Iowa City, Iowa for the Women’s Basketball team's first ever appearance in program history in the First Round NCAA Tournament game Thursday due to lack of student sign-ups. The bus trip was cancelled because AU Athletics did not reach the minimum of 25 AU students required to make the trip financially feasible, according to AU Blue Crew Council Chairman Benjamin Zenker.
Only three students signed up to take the $30, 900-mile, 14-hour trip to Iowa City, according to Associate Athletic Director of Communications Douglas Dull. The news of the cancellation comes on the heels of the AU Women’s Basketball team’s low attendance during the regular season.
Last year, when the Men’s Basketball team earned an NCAA bid, AU organized a fan bus to the site of AU’s Second Round game in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
“Last year’s trip to Milwaukee for [the] AU Men’s Basketball team had almost a full bus, and the trip was around 12 hours,” Zenker said in an email.
AU Athletics advertised the fan bus in a similar manner to how it advertised the men’s fan bus a year ago, through emails to Blue Crew members and through their social media outlets.
“AU Athletics and Blue Crew did all the same marketing tactics that were used last year, but unfortunately the demand was not as high especially for a team that just made history with their first Patriot League Championship and headed to their first NCAA Tournament appearance,” Zenker said.
Zenker stressed the importance of continued efforts to increase student involvement in AU sporting events. Zenker said the continued engagement of diverse communities on campus like greek organizations, clubs and club sports are very important in creating more excitement around AU Athletics. Refining and enhancing game day experiences, with focuses on more interaction and in-game promotions, is central to encouraging more attendance at AU Athletic events, according to Zenker.
Despite the cancellation of the fan bus, the AU Athletic Department believes the student supporting is growing for Women’s Basketball and will only increase in the future. The Patriot League Championship game, when the Eagles clinched their first NCAA bid, drew over 1,000 fans and attendance was the second-highest it has been in eight years, Dull said.
