NCAA hockey: Fortunately for UW, Badgers find way to Kohl Center
The last time the University of Wisconsin hosted an NCAA men's hockey regional, it was met with a collective yawn from area fans.
A 1999 regional played at the Alliant Energy Center Coliseum drew only 5,234 fans for the two-day event that featured four games.
The fact the Badgers weren't one of the six teams in the regional -- they failed to make the NCAA field that season -- was the biggest reason for the poor ticket sales.
Another low turnout at this weekend's Midwest Regional hosted by UW appeared likely until everything broke just right for the Badgers last weekend and they were included in the 16-team NCAA tournament field despite a losing record. As the host institution, UW automatically was placed at the Kohl Center.
According to UW assistant ticket director Andy Zywicki, 8,900 tickets had been sold to the two sessions -- two semifinals will be played on Saturday, followed by a final on Sunday -- as of Tuesday afternoon. Zywicki said about 2,400 tickets, or more than 25 percent of the current total, have been sold since the NCAA field was announced Sunday morning. Those figures don't take into account an allotment of 400 tickets each to North Dakota, Denver and Princeton, the other three schools participating in the regional.
"A lot of our fans were waiting to see what happened," Zywicki said, "and fortunately for us, things broke our way."
Sean Frazier, UW's associate athletic director for event management and services, said he expects the ticket sales to keep rising this week. He's optimistic the final totals will exceed UW's goal of 11,000 tickets sold. The Kohl Center holds 15,200 people for hockey.
"We use that number as a threshold, but obviously we're rapidly approaching and will pass that by game time," Frazier said. "I'm confident it will happen just because of the fact I'm confident in our fan base. Our fans are dedicated, they're supportive. We love our college hockey here."
UW officials no doubt were keeping their fingers crossed last weekend for two reasons as the Badgers awaited word on their postseason fate. Clearly, it was good for the program to avoid missing the NCAA tournament for the second consecutive season. Also, it may have put future bids to host in jeopardy had UW not been able to fill seats at the Kohl Center for the regional.
"That is obviously something that we were looking forward to," Frazier said of the Badgers earning a berth in the tourney. "I think that with our fans, they're the best in the country, they want to see the Badgers, and they want to see them at home. And that obviously is going to help the whole ticket situation."
Frazier also was quick to point out that institutions don't make bids to host an NCAA event strictly to make money.
"There's a financial element to it," he said, "but there's also an exposure element to it, which is critical for an institution as well as a community such as ours."
Tickets are available at uwbadgers.com. An all-session package costs $80, which includes a $15 order charge. Single-game tickets will go on sale Thursday morning if available.
File photo/Mike DeVries/The Capital times
Bucky on ice: An ice sculpture of Bucky Badger stands sentinel outside the Kohl Center in this February 2007 file photo. The Badger hockey team plays host to an NCAA regional this weekend at the Kohl Center.
