Why Don't You Go To UCLA Baseball Games? How To Improve Fan Support?

The reason I don’t make it out to many baseball games is this: I live on campus, don’t own a car. It’s not impossible to get to the stadium, but it’s a pain in the ass. That combined with the fact that I can never convince anybody to go with me makes it hard to get up and get out there.

1) UCLA is boring to watch for me. It’s less boring in real life, but still. Not my fav sport to watch.
2) The stadium was away from campus, and as far as I know there was no transportation there.
3) Severe lack of publicity. Yeah, I knew there was a baseball team, but I never heard about it. I heard more about the rugby team than I did about baseball.

Generally speaking, I enjoy baseball. But…

— Getting to the stadium is inconvenient and time consuming. It’s easy and fast to go down to Pauley, or Drake, or the tennis center, and that’s not really the case for JRS. I can’t stop off there for a little while and see how the game’s going, and I just haven’t gotten into the team enough to make sure I get out there.

— Following the team from afar is also somewhat difficult. There isn’t a great way to follow the team at a low-interest (and effort) level. It’d be cool if there were some way to get a quick feel for each game and key players, and that that might draw me in more. While informative, your game summaries tend to run on the long and detailed side for me, and the official website isn’t great.

A shuttle would be cool, but I’m not sure that would consistently get me to go, just because I don’t care too too much about the team.

In my entire life, I think I’ve gone to 3 or 4 Dodgers and Angels games; combined. Baseball in general is just to slow for me, and the games are too long.

Ironically, I have thought of dropping in on a Bruins baseball game in years past and just never got to pulling the trigger.

When I was in Westwood like many of the commenters above I never went to a game because I didn’t really know where the stadium was (that is a shame because I had a car last three years on campus). It wasn’t because of lack of interest in the program. I remember reading every baseball related article in the DB and the guys from baseball team were really good people. However, just never heard that much about them beyond the DB stuff.

Now I think you have changed the equation via BN a bit. I am much more informed because of your posts and I know when it slows down after hoops season is over, I get more excited about blogging on baseball because I feed of your interest. Menelaus when he had time was also really into it as well.

I think we can definitely gin up the interest more. Morgan Center has been slow. No doubt about that. But I think we can keep working with them. They have taken lot of positive steps in recent months with getting the word out wrt to football program. They are already doing a little bit of that with the women’s basketball program. I am really hoping they will be able to put some nice packages of game highlights, interviews etc this coming season on youtube and put up more content on their official site. Hopefully the baseball team itself will take upon itself to get content up via flickr, facebook etc.

I think the formula here is to chip away and keep paying attention to it. I will definitely try to do my part after recruiting/basketball season is over. Think about how much excitement we have been able to generate here for our football team despite having one of the toughest decades in the program’s history. If we keep at it, I think we will make some headway into baseball as well.

…or for any of our non-revenue sports. I probably would have gone a few times as a student if I even knew about our baseball team, or where JRS is. In fact, the first time I’ve ever heard about UCLA baseball was whenever rye wrote up his first baseball post on BN.

…but probably because it is not basketball or football. WE live out in the San Gabriel Valley so our drive to the Rose Bowl is easy. WE make the drive to Westwood for basketball games…but only go to baseball games if they happen to be going on the same day as a basketball game. The drive along the 10 to the 405 is worth it for basketball…baseball just does not have the same appeal…Perhaps we need to make it have the same appeal to support the Bruins…

but unfortunately I never went to a single game while I was a student at UCLA. My friends and I attended every single football and basketball game while there, and always talked about going to a baseball game ‘eventually’. We would go out to Chavez Ravine, drive down to Anaheim and even made the trip up to SF to catch a pro game. There was just no appeal to going to JRS to catch a game. While I consider myself a diehard Bruin, there was nothing about the baseball team that made it worth watching. I felt as though the softball team had more buzz around it (deservedly so). If the baseball games were occasionally shown on tv, I would have definitely watched and that would have sparked my interest in the team. When the College World Series comes around, I watch it. When the Little League World Series in on tv, I watch it. I know its sad, but I feel as though I know more about other college baseball teams than I do our own Bruins. Its no excuse, but if the team would make it on tv more often, my interest would peak and I would undoubtly make it out to watch them in person.

I did go to a few games (hung out with Freddie Mitchell at one game), but for me, I never really got into UCLA baseball all that much because here in LA there just really isn’t much interest in college baseball in general. Correct me if I’m wrong, but the games aren’t on any of the local FSNs—a paradox I know…if they aren’t on TV, go to the stadium, but it helps to have more media attention. I don’t get the postseason format with the regionals, etc. And I hate to say it, but we weren’t that good when I was a student, so I didn’t have much interest in spending my time at a game. The stadium location didn’t play any part in it for me, because I lived in West LA, so getting to JSR was actually easier than getting to campus for a basketball game.

but I can understand why others won’t, even those who might like baseball. If you don’t get to the game in the first inning, the line for the concession stand (there’s only one and very limited) gets REALLY long. There’s only one bathroom facility. The seats can be uncomfortable (and there aren’t that many) I would like to encourage more people to go but part of me holds me back from doing that, because I don’t want people to come and have to spend the whole game waiting in line for food or for the bathroom, or not be able to find seats and have to sit with the opposing team’s fans. Also, especially the Tuesday night games, it gets really, really cold at JRS and I would love to get a hot cocoa or a cup of chili but usually by then, of course, the concession line is long or they’ve sold out of some things (small facility, I assume they don’t have room for lots and lots of food).

BTW, they actually do lots of fun things for “casual” fans, like Bruin Baseball Bingo, Bruin Pocket Litter, singing Sweet Caroline in the middle of the 8th inning (in addition to the 7th inning stretch, of course), Trivia contests, random program contests (if you have a blue star on your program you win stuff), throwing out free T-shirts, and special promotions for many games, like posters and autograph signing for kids. We’ve won a couple of Chipotle and Domino’s Pizza gift certificates.

I think on Sundays, after the game, kids can run the bases. Some of those promotions are things like Little League teams get in free, free days for UCLA staff, and the like. And, at the last home game of the season, they were giving away the store, so to speak – the entire set of Bruins baseball cards, posters, etc. (I guess whatever was left that didn’t get given or raffled away during the season). They also have a Frequent Fan card and the stamps on it get you raffle tickets at the final game. So I think they do try to make it fun, but perhaps they just need to advertise it more.

I think any student would find it very hard to go to a baseball game for nearly 3 hours without being able to tailgate or whoop it up at the game. It’s just not very exciting. And, let’s be honest…coeds just aren’t into baseball as much, so there is even less opportunity for socializing. You kind of have to be a die-hard baseball fan to go to those games at a school where it isn’t the main sport.

I guarantee you though, if JRS was on campus, attendance would be much better. Would it have fit where the soccer stadium is?

UCLA baseball is one of the great sports bargains in town. Totally recommend the experience …

And — did you know — if you want to bring kids who play Little League or Pony League or other youth baseball, you can get in touch with the UCLA baseball office and they’ll let you bring kids in for free.

You can’t bring in high school kids (whether the play baseball or not) because high school players are technically “recruits” but you can bring your youth baseball group. It’s a lot of fun.

Everyone above has mentioned reasons why most students (including myself) have never been to a UCLA baseball game. I’ve actually been to a couple softball ones, though.

However, several of my friends and I are going to attend the UCLA-$UC baseball game on February 28th at Dodger’s Stadium, just because it seems like a fun event at a great location. I’m not a big baseball fan, but I do have great memories of going to pro games as a kid and eating great food. Hopefully many UCLA alum and students can make it out for that game.

On that topic, does anybody know the ticket situation for that game? Is it free for students? If not, where can we buy tickets? Thanks!

but it is because we have young boys who all play baseball. I think that any youngster who wears their little league uniform to a game gets in free. And I believe if you are a member of the Alumni Assoc. you either get in free or for 1/2 price.

If we didn’t have kids, we wouldn’t go. Even though we have season tix to basketball and football. Maybe if the Morgan Center crew added in a pass for a season of baseball as part of the season ticket offering for Football or Basketball, more people would attend.

The facility is charming. Achilles description is spot on. Kids have a blast chasing foul balls. Concessions are adequate (lines get long at times) and haven’t notice any bathroom issues. The field renovations look great.

I didn’t go to any as a student and I have gone to none as an alum. I saw the stadium in person for the first time last year and was bummed that I had never gone as a student. Although it needs some sprucing up, it is definitely quaint.

No excuses, but it was given zero publicity during my student years and the fact that it is not on campus is a killer. Students with any kind of motivation will travel all the way across L.A. to get to the Rose Bowl because football is insanely popular and the tailgating is fantastic.

By anyone’s account, baseball is a much slower sport and does not necessarily appeal to the same fanbase as football, so that limits attendance right there. Then you have the staidum off campus (not far, but still it’s “off”) and that just nails the coffin shut.

If the stadium was on campus, I am sure attendance would be higher and people would stop in to see a game now and then. But the stadium is where it is and there you go. I’m not sure, outside of shuttles and some serious marketing, that attendance will ever pick up.

Baseball is my love and my passion — all levels from MLB to MiLB to NCAA to high school on down to my son’s club team.

I’ve been meaning to go to a UCLA baseball game for the longest, but living in the South Bay makes it a daunting task to fight the 405. On top of that, I’m a student at CSULB and we have a great program at The Beach. I’m planning on going to JR Stadium this season because I want to see Gerrit Cole pitch in person.

A lot of people don’t appreciate baseball because it is an acquired taste. There isn’t the non-stop action of basketball nor the game day atmosphere of football, but I implore Bruins fans to go check out a game in person if they haven’t yet. College baseball is a lot more intimate than a Dodgers or Angels game because you’re on top of the action. My favorite part of a college game is the nonstop chatter between the players in the dugout and the action on the field. That’s something you never get to hear at an MLB game unless you’re sitting in expensive box seats next to the dugout and the game is tense enough to get the millionaires off their butts and on the rail.

Which game do you think will have the most UCLA fans in attendance? Would it be one of the SC games (not the Dodger Staduim one) and if so, which game in the series?

And to answer your question, I don’t go because I’m not a huge baseball fan and a 10 minute walk to Drake or Pauley on campus is a lot different (at least in my mind) than a 15 minute walk in the opposite direction. When I first learned that the JRS was not on campus, i assumed that the campus provided a shuttle for people who wanted to go. When I then learned that they didn’t, that dissuaded me even further. I know that sounds lazy, but I hopefully all my impressions will change because I told myself last quarter that I will go to a game.

1) I don’t know when the games are.
2) I don’t really know how to get to the stadium.

A bit of publicity (for all sports) would help a lot IMO.

You should get in touch with Trevor Ryan. He just graduated in the Fall and now works on the staff. He is trying to get a bunch of students out for the Dodgertown Classic

They had a quick moment comparing UC Irvine and UCLA and when they brought up the stadium, they chuckled at the mention of JRS. Don’t be in any hurry to do something legitimate Morgan Center.

Rye,

I am guilty of not attending. My excuse is that I live far away and would like to attend. However, I have a 2 and 4 year old. I would like to take them but it doesn’t sound like it’s kid friendly.

with that being said, can you compile a list of the all-time greats who have played baseball for us i.e. Jackie Robinson, Troy Glaus, Chase Utley, etc. Maybe that would excite us a little more to attend and see them before they become MLB stars.

Thanks for all your posts.