Lack of attendance at home matches.

[DocWrestling]

You need to copy what minor league baseball teams do and market and make the event.

You need Bucky there, you need a band, you need loud intense music, video introductions would be cool, you need give aways, you need something to keep the intensity after first five matches, you need the wrestlers to get into it and show some intensity and excitement, you need the wrestlers accesible after their matches.  Guys not wrestling could even be working the crowd.

I cannot come without bringing my kids and and my kids went once and thought it was boring.  Maybe it is just the sport?  Took my family to volleyball match.  My son bitched the whole way.  Now he wants to keep going back to see more matches because it was fun and intense.

It takes the coaches and the administration to do a better job.  Wrestling alone is not going to sell itself..

Maybe they need to have a dual in their perfomance hall.

[lizard king]

If we new we would see Synder and Medbery wrestle in the upcoming dual, some may make the drive.  We probably won't and because of that, some people won't go.  As long as duals mean nothing, many schools will not get crowrds.

[Harris]

I have gone to both Minnesota and Wisconsin home duals.  There is no comparison.  I would rather watch Ellsworth wrestle Amery instead of a Wisconsin home dual to be honest and I don't even live in either of those towns.  Talk about excitement    Chippewa Falls puts on a good show as well.  You should see those parents support their team!

I will say this, if everyone wrestled like Ryan Taylor we would have more excitement.  Ryan went hard and was super aggressive from whistle to whistle (And sometimes after the whistle   )which gets the coaches and fans fired up.  Win or lose, Ryan was always an exciting match.

[Harris]

Oh yeah, and I am still waiting for the latest Tuesday's with Barry.  Hope he gives an update on Ritter and tells us who is healthy for the dual.

[Barou]

Michigan sold out vs Iowa. Band is there.

[badgerjohn]

Michigan sold out vs Iowa. Band is there.

NOTES: Attendance was 1,800, a sell-out... Iowa's 24-point victory was its largest over Michigan since winning 36-0 in 2010

[bman]

Went to the Badger dual tonight.  Disappointed with the attendance to say the least.  Two solid Big Ten Teams. I included the 2014 and 2015 attendance info.  
I used 2014-2015 because Grapple on The Gridiron with 40,000+ skews the numbers.
2014-15 Average Attendance
Team            Average     Total
Iowa             8,358         55,390
Penn State    7,747          54,221
Minnesota     4,947         29,681
What's the common denominator?  Winning brings in numbers.  A school has to be willing to invest in the program, and invest like a top tier program to consistently have a top tier program.  It is no different than college football. Ben is correct.  It also is the responsibility of the local team/athletic department    
to promote the events.  Market the sport, just communicate the event, be creative.   Put in some time and effort to build it.
Gary Kurdelmeier was a brilliant marketer (when he coached Iowa with Gable and J Robinson as his assistants).  Promos such as, if Iowa held defending NCAA Champions Oklahoma to fewer than 10 points in their dual, (Iowa was up and coming, but hadn't won an NCAA title yet) every ticket stub gets you a free hamburger at the local McDonald's after the meet. To play on the "Iowa Style" of wrestling of constant pressure, constantly attacking (and to play mind games), coupled with the knock on Oklahoma for wrestling on the edge of the mat, they rolled out a 74 foot wrestling mat.  I think the action only stopped for going out of bounds three or four times the entire night. Iowa won the meet by over 30 points and held Oklahoma to under 10 points.  They had 9,000 people at that meet, and Iowa hadn't won an NCAA title yet.  The McDonald's promotion, and with Iowa having already knocked off some pretty good teams, the chatter around town wasn't just about Lute Olson and the basketball team anymore.  There was already a buzz around town leading up to the meet because Iowa was starting to look pretty good and NCAA champs Oklahoma was coming to town.   Imagine everyone's surprise when the mat is almost the size of the basketball court beneath it.  It suddenly became THE Event to be at.  What do you think everyone was talking about at work Monday morning?  
The promotions get the fans interested, but winning keeps them coming.  

Iowa State because of their success had been getting great attendance for years.  Even though the two schools were in separate conferences, they scheduled duals against each other to hype the sport in the state (which grew the sport at all levels).  Every Iowa vs Iowa State dual was broadcast live on tv, and this was before cable.  To make it even better, they had two dual meets against each other per season (one at each school).  

Sometimes you have to find ways to create chatter and interest.   The Iowa City area has 100,000 people, yet they come again and again... They promoted the heck out of the program as an event not to be missed.  
There is a reason Iowa has hosted a bunch of NCAAs, as well as the last two Olympic Trials.  The 2018 World Cup will also be there. Finding ways to promote your sport and your team, especially when it coincides with the rise of the program has created generations of loyal fans that keep coming.

[bigG]

Very true. Iowa does have a much bigger wrestling audience. No coincidence that ISU, U of I and UNI (Luther, too, among many others) have more fan interest. There are just fewer wrestling people here and more sports to compete with. I love the no pros team thing (though, I'm sure, not by choice). Iowa has wrestling as part of its identity. Not as much WI.

That said, wrestling, in general , needs to promote itself better. You're right, there. I live right by UWL and make, maybe, one dual per season.    Gotta +1 the comments about Kurdelmeier. Hopefully, never a lost name in wrestling history. He sort of created the Iowa brand. I guess we need our own brand. Counters? I kid, Badger faithful!

[gablesgrip1]

How about just getting more press time.  WSJ and tv news.

[littleguy301]

for the fans in western wisconsin, here is your chance to see the Badgers wrestle minnesota in the twin cities.

while many of you know that I live very close to the gophers home meets, please check out the sports pavalion and see the crowd and what they do. Maybe Wisconsin should take some hints and tips.

[Preparewrestlingcoach]

Hire Ben and Max...give the people the fresh start and coaching staff we've been begging for years...and quit saying downtown on the loud speaker

[MNbadger]

I have said this before.  If you want attendance to increase, you have to attend.  The Badgers are competitive and becoming more so.  We blame low interest in the high scools on forfeits and having too many weight classes.  Well, here you have fewer weight classes and rarely any forfeits and no one goes to watch.

[ankle pick]

Hire Ben and Max...give the people the fresh start and coaching staff we've been begging for years...and quit saying downtown on the loud speaker

This is the only way it gets fixed.

[dman]

I have said this before.  If you want attendance to increase, you have to attend.  The Badgers are competitive and becoming more so.  We blame low interest in the high scools on forfeits and having too many weight classes.  Well, here you have fewer weight classes and rarely any forfeits and no one goes to watch.

So profound....   

[MNbadger]

And accurate.