It’s not the competition or the Revolutionaries’ Atlantic 10 standings that draws some GW basketball game attendees to the Smith Center — it’s the free souvenir license plates and Chick-fil-A.
GW Athletics works alongside student spirit organization George’s Army to host different promotions, giveaways and halftime events in hopes of making the center a destination for students and improve attendance from its usual largely empty crowds. Average attendance for both men’s and women’s basketball this season ranks No. 13 out of 15 A-10 teams — a turnout that falls short of competing schools, like St. Bonaventure, which has roughly one tenth of GW’s total student population.
In the 5,000-seat capacity Smith Center, the women’s team averages 479 attendees per home game, while men’s basketball averages 1,869.
Senior Associate Athletics Director for External Operations Andy Ruge, who helps oversee fan engagement, said he works to evolve promotions to keep things exciting for students and fans. This includes halftime entertainment, where GW often welcomes outside performers to try to keep fans enthused during the break.
“Each halftime is designed around one of three key pillars,” Ruge said in an email. “Celebrating the GW community, providing fun and dynamic entertainment or showcasing unique fan engagement opportunities.”
Ruge said some of the “fan favorite” halftimes include a corgi race for men’s basketball’s Jan. 24 win over Saint Louis and Simon Sez, an entertainer that has emerged as a “staple over the past few years” and runs large-scale “Simon Says” games on the court with fans. He said attendance has been steadily rising since COVID-19, seeing a 12 percent increase each year.
He also said the teams’ success has “played a significant role” in attendance. Last year, when the men’s basketball team finished last in the A-10 standings, they also finished last in conference with attendance, at 1,628 fans per game.
Ruge said Director of Athletics Michael Lipitz challenged the marketing team to “think bigger and go beyond traditional items,” which is part of the basis for giveaways introduced this season, like “Scoot to Smith” in which students win electric scooters for winning raffles or shooting contests. The team has also offered larger-scale giveaways, like 400 floral bucket hats and 300 tri-cornered hats.
At the most recent men’s home game, a Feb. 5 loss to George Mason, officials gave out free Chick-fil-A to the first 100 students after a George’s Army tailgate. The first 500 fans at the team’s Jan. 15 game against Duquesne received faux D.C. license plates.
Ruge said these fan promotions help to drive attendance by students who wouldn’t typically attend basketball games, which, in turn, help the basketball teams win by strengthening their home-court advantage. Combined, the men’s and women’s teams are 17-8 at the Smith Center this season, compared to 6-11 away.
“By offering high-impact prizes and creating interactive experiences around them, we’ve generated buzz both on campus and in the arena, reinforcing that attending games isn’t just about watching basketball — it’s about being part of something fun and memorable,” Ruge said.
George’s Army, the official student section for GW sports, has a persistent presence at basketball games, with their members providing energy and cheers even in tough games. Yet, as both teams have struggled over the past few years, attendance on the student side of the Smith Center has been spotty.
George’s Army President Rami Hanash Jr., a senior, said success getting students to come to games “very much depends” on the team’s success. He said GW’s culture as an academics-oriented school often makes students choose school work or studying over attending games, especially on weeknights, when half of the teams’ games take place.
“It’s a very academic environment,” Hanash said. “So trying to get those types of students to go to basketball, you gotta be a little creative.”
Hanash said through his role with George’s Army, he attends every men’s and women’s home game in the front row of the student section and meets once a week with members of GW Athletics to brainstorm halftimes and different promotions.
One of his most successful ideas, he said, was a “Super Hero Day” for the men’s basketball’s game against Saint Louis on Jan. 25, where the University distributed posters showing several players posing around Captain America’s shield for fans and gave superhero costumes to members of the George’s Army executive board.
“They got us random superhero masks and capes,” Hanash said. “And they got e-board specifically actual outfits, so I was Batman, and we had another person in an Aquaman suit. And it was ridiculous. It was ridiculous, but it was funny.”
Attendance for the Saturday game was 2,557, exceeding the team’s 1,869-attendee average and filling more than 50 percent of Smith Center’s seats.
With the men’s team hovering around A-10 contention this season, just one win out of a double-bye spot, Hanash said it’s not as hard to promote games compared to efforts during the team’s 12-game losing streak last year. With the women’s team recently breaking an eight-game losing streak of its own, Hanash said it’s been difficult to draw fans when the University’s women’s team hasn’t been winning.
Hanash said people who start going to games early in their college tenures are the ones who return and that if upperclassmen haven’t attended games before, they’re unlikely to start. To reverse this phenomenon, he said George’s Army is trying to capture a “21+” crowd by incorporating drinking and postgame elements into the fan experience.
For the upcoming men’s basketball’s game against Massachusetts on Feb. 22, George’s Army is hosting a Power Hour at sports bar ExPat in Western Market immediately following the game.
“Once you’re a junior or senior, if you’re not really going to basketball games, you’re not going to basketball games,” Hanash said. “And so with this power hour, I wanted to capture a different crowd, and so we’ll see if it works. I’ve never done it before, but I assume it’ll do well. Fifteen bucks for unlimited drinks for a night. I would do that.”
Both George’s Army and the athletics department have been working on increasing overall awareness of GW’s basketball teams campus-wide with signs, fliers and social media working to get more people informed of games and events. Ahead of games, signs dot campus highlighting giveaways and showcasing players, like one for men’s basketball’s “Beach Day” game against Army on Dec. 13 that showed Rafael Castro against a backdrop of palm trees advertising the game and the bucket hat giveaway.
Hanash said there are students who don’t realize GW’s games are free for all students and don’t go to games because they don’t want to spend money.
“General awareness of when the games are, who’s playing, why is it important?” Hanash said. “I don’t think people have a sort of channel or stream to get to that. And if you’re not following George’s Army on Instagram, or if you’re not following those accounts on social media, then, where are you going to hear it from?”
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