At Barclays Center yesterday, a handful of spectators for local women's college hoops; why not make tickets more accessible?

So, there was a noon women's basketball game yesterday at the Barclays Center, and it doesn't look like many people showed up.

From SB Nation's "Queenie," writing today on the SBNation's SwishAppeal site for WNBA fans :

Good morning, everyone! We're back at the Barclays Center for the Battle of Brooklyn, the epic duel between LIU-Brooklyn and St. Francis College. $17 for general admission isn't bad, though generalish admission might be closer; they're herding people into the three sections behind the benches, center court. I think this game's on regional television, which is why they want it to look as crowded as possible (though given that we were the 49th and 50th tickets sold for actual-facts money, about twenty minutes before tip, I'm not holding out much hope for that).

Indeed, as LIU noted, the game was broadcast on ESPN3. Note how, in the video (via St. Francis website), there's no one in the near-side courtside seats, where the camera is.



Does Brooklyn benefit?

So, Barclays Center operators fulfill their pledge to have a few local teams appear once or twice a year at the arena. Arena operators get some compensation by having the game on TV. The teams sure don't mind the exposure and the shiny new arena.

But what does "Brooklyn" get? $17 for a college game is way too much for a family or, frankly, anyone who knows they can pay less to see those college teams at their regular venues.

The Barclays Center could fill seats if they charged $5 and/or gave more tickets away. It would be more of a "community" arena.

But it's probably not cost-effective to keep a full staff on hand when revenues are low. And low-cost/free seats might get the "wrong" crowd, though people attending games at noon on a Saturday don't tend to get rowdy.

Update

Google tells me tickets cost $8.50, with a punishing $13.35 service fee, meaning tickets cost $21.85.