Iowa men’s basketball program at all-time lows

IOWA CITY - Empty brown seats outnumber fans more than 2-to-1 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena during men's basketball games this season.

Profits for the University of Iowa program have fallen steadily the past five years. Should Iowa lose its home finale today against Indiana, the Hawkeyes will set a season record with 20 losses.

Iowa fans may wonder how one of the nation's best and most profitable basketball programs sunk from sellout games and annual postseason competitions to record-setting losses and drops in attendance and profit margin. Athletics Director Gary Barta ponders those questions daily.

“There's several layers to it,” Barta said, “but right at the top, obviously, I'm not at all happy with where we are right now competitively, not at all happy with where we are in attendance and just the feel of the all-around program.

“But that being said, my support of (Iowa Coach) Todd (Lickliter) hasn't wavered.”

Lickliter arrived at Iowa from Butler (Ind.) University three years ago. He remains confident he can win public support and reverse Iowa's losing trend.

“When you're building like this, your foundation has to be able to fight through some losing,” Lickliter said. “I'm hoping that this group right here can see that light.”

Nine scholarship athletes have transferred since Lickliter arrived, leaving this year's team inexperienced and full of growing pains.

“Patience is hard,” Barta said. “I hate losing. Our coaches hate it, our fans hate it, our student-athletes hate it. I don't have a switch somewhere in this office, nor does Todd, where we can just flip it and all of a sudden have it going the way we want it.”

Last summer, ESPN and the statistical company Sagarin ranked major college basketball programs on decade-by-decade success, and Iowa finished No. 10 overall. In each of the last three seasons, however, Iowa has lost more games than ever. The downfall may have fans pining for the success of former Coach Tom Davis, who guided Iowa to nine NCAA tournaments in 13 years.

Even Davis said today's challenges don't require quick - or easy - solutions. “I think fans in the long run have got to understand and appreciate that you're going to go through some down periods and have some problems,” Davis said.

Five years ago, the program generated $10.61 million in revenue and more than $4 million in ticket sales, according to documents obtained by The Gazette via the Freedom of Information Act. Overall revenue since has decreased by nearly $900,000, and ticket sales have plummeted by more than $1.35 million.

Nine years ago, Iowa averaged a sellout of 15,500 fans. This year, average attendance based on ticket sales is 9,464, nearly 1,300 fewer than a previous low set two years ago. That doesn't tell the entire story, however. An average of 5,021 people are attending games, meaning only 53 percent of the people who buy tickets use them.

To combat apathy and boost ticket sales, the school has discounted prices for tickets and concessions. Yet fans stay away. They cite starting times and dates, weather, Lickliter's style of play and the arena atmosphere as reasons for not buying tickets. Some fans remain bitter with former Coach Steve Alford and his handling of Pierre Pierce, who was red-shirted and then dismissed over multiple sexual assault cases. Losing remains the constant.

“I turned to a guy and said, ‘If we were the fifth-ranked team in the country, do you really think there'd be empty seats at Carver-Hawkeye Arena?'” said Rick Klatt, associate athletics director for external affairs. “I just don't know. Clearly, fans always want it to happen fast. Everybody wants it to happen fast, but there's also some reality there. There's a learning curve that takes place.”