Some good news on the attendance front: the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference set a new attendance record for the 2009 men’s and women’s basketball championships at Albany’s Times Union Center.Some good news on the attendance front: the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference set a new attendance record for the 2009 men’s and women’s basketball championships at Albany’s Times Union Center, held March 5-9.
Attendance for the five-day tournament, which was won by the Siena College men’s team and Marist College’s women’s team (entitling both to automatic NCAA Tournament bids), exceeded the old record of 50,620, set in 2000 at the Times Union Center.
“It is interesting to note that no single game set a record for attendance — rather, each of the individual men’s and women’s sessions increased incrementally to establish the new overall record,” Richard J. Ensor, Commissioner of the MAAC, said. “We are grateful to all of the MAAC schools and their fans, and the residents of the Albany region for supporting this year’s sensational championship tournament. “Setting a new attendance record in today’s economic climate is a tremendous accomplishment,” he said.
Among the ticket options were all session passes, individual session passes, kid’s tickets for as low as $8, and a $60 family four-pack, which included four tickets, four hot dogs, four sodas and parking.
“Siena pride continues to thrive today more than ever and the record breaking ticket sales are evidence of this,” Fr. Kevin Mullen, O.F.M., Ph.D., said. “People are still choosing to come out and support the Saints even in these trying economic times. The Siena community itself had a strong showing at the MAAC Championship game, with one-third of our students in attendance, as well as about one-third of our faculty and staff.”
“The Times Union Center and the MAAC are always striving to sell out the venue,” Bob Belber, General Manager, Times Union Center, said. “Tremendous progress was made toward that this year. We saw more fans from out-of- town schools than we have ever seen before and hope that the number increases next year.”
The 2010 Citizens Bank MAAC Basketball Championships will take place at the Times Union Center.
