If the Steg is a-rockin...

See if you can guess what Mark Fox is talking about:

"That was awesome," Fox told Bateman.

If you guessed "Stegeman Coliseum filled to less than half capacity," please claim your prize!

In this case, Fox is specifically referring to the NIT game against Vermont, during which 3,951 fans packed the bowl and cheered on the Dawgs.  You know what else was awesome?  The 3,692 that came to watch the loss to Louisiana Tech.  And just to be clear, I say that totally without sarcasm.

If you have never been in a full Stegeman, let me assure you, it can get very, very loud.  The fact that ~4,000 fans created the environments that they did should tell you that.  So it's no wonder Fox and company are exploring some options to increase attendance and improve atmosphere.  In fact, it's about damn time:

“We’ve got a group of staff that are working on some options internally, on how we can capture that enthusiasm that was in Stegeman for those two NIT games," McGarity said Wednesday. "Is there some way that we can develop that general admission atmosphere. I’m not sure where that leads us. But we’re certainly going to look at it and see if there are some options we can do to kind of mirror that enthusiasm for this coming season. Because as everybody noticed it made a huge difference."

Read more here: http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2014/04/03/3038511/georgia-studying-ways-to-improve.html#storylink=cpy

The cynical will say "just win, baby" and, of course, they are right.  Jim Harrick proved that a winning team can put butts in the seats.

In the meantime, though, there are options.  Try these on for size:

1. General admission for non-conference games.  You can't do general admission year-round because, as Seth Emerson points out, season ticket holders will likely complain.  You can, however, do it for non-conference games.  How?  Pretty much the same way you did it for the NIT.  You rope off the season ticket sections until 5 minutes before tip-off, you rope off the area behind the visiting bench for family and friends of the opposing team, and you let everyone else sit wherever they please.  There isn't even any revenue impact.  All tickets are the same price, anyway.
2. Students free for non-conference games.  Make it hard for students not to go to the games.  Get them hooked on basketball early.  Students will come to free.  Trust me.
3. Work the Greeks.  Mark Fox needs to start at one end of Milledge, walk to the other end of Milledge, and shake every hand in between.  Football at Georgia is an event, and basketball can be too.  This is called marketing, and it's a billion dollar business for a reason.  Engage the fraternities and sororities.  Meet them personally and tell them you need them there to support the team.  If you can get sorority girls packing the first few rows of the student section, you think you're going to have a problem filling the rest?
4. Create an atmosphere.  Set up some tailgates outside Stegeman for Saturday games.  Set up a fan zone for little kids.  Get people used to arriving early.  It's not as realistic for a Tuesday night game, but there's no reason not to do this stuff on Saturdays.  Entertain people before, during, and after the game.  Doing this kind of thing implies that you're actually glad people showed up, which is the whole idea.
5. Just win, baby.  Ok, so I had to include it.  Every fan base has its die hards, and every fan base has even more bandwagoners (where have all the Lakers fans gone?).  The goal is to turn the bandwagoners into the die hards.  That starts with winning.

h/t Seth Emerson