From the would you believe it file:
While it doesn't seem like the Fresno State women's basketball team draws many fans to the Save Mart Center (it gets pretty cold in there with the few bodies rattling around in that cavernous arena at times), actually the Bulldogs aren't doing too bad in comparison to the rest of the WAC and teams on the West Coast.
The Bulldogs rank No. 2 in attendance (2,726 average) through 11 games in the state. No. 3 Stanford is first at 4,141. UCLA, Cal, Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara are the only others attracting over 1,000 fans.
Fresno State has the sixth highest attendance average in the West behind New Mexico
(7,336), Stanford, Wyoming (3,239, Arizona State (2,850) and Gonzaga (2,799).
In the WAC Louisiana Tech draws 2,478 per game, Boise State 1,619, Hawaii 1,588, New Mexico State 1,133, and ouch! Nevada 819, Utah State 568, San Jose State 540 and Idaho 391.
In comparison, the bottom feeders of WAC men's basketball, Boise State and Hawaii, attract 3,333 and 4,976, respectively, for their home games.
What does this say about the women's game? It still isn't drawing a wide-range of fans, like alumni and students and people who watch the men's games. The women's fan base is more selective, like in Fresno State's case the gray hairs, or seniors, usually make up the majority.
The women's sport has come a long way in terms of physical ability and team play. But except for the elite teams like UConn, Texas, Vanderbilt, Nebraska, Oklahoma and few others, it still has a long way to go to become even close to a main stream sport.
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