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Columbus craze: Crew, Blue Jackets, Arena District boast attendance records

May 4, 2023

Article originally published by NBC4, written by Justin Holbrock

Ticket sales for sports in Columbus are booming across the board with record numbers for the Blue Jackets, Crew and NCAA men’s basketball tournament.

“I was just thinking there’s no better place than a Saturday night at Lower.com,” Crew midfielder Aidan Morris said. “I mean just stepping out there I just feel like I’m home.”

The Crew have hosted more than 19,000 fans at all five home matches this year—the first time they’ve done that since the club’s inaugural season in 1996.

“We’re always trying to find ways to receive feedback from Crew supporters in our post match surveys and our performance scores from them are the highest they’ve been in many years,” Crew Vice President of Communication Rob McBurnett said. “That’s a true testament to our fans but also our staff’s efforts to make sure we’re delivering they type of results that they deserve and they expect.”

Just down the road, the Columbus Blue Jackets posted their highest attendance since the 2003-04 season with an average of nearly 17,000 fans per game.

“I didn’t really know too much about Columbus coming here but I’ve played a lot of places and the fans here are unbelievable. Like truly unbelievable,” CBJ defenseman Erik Gudbranson said. “We’ve got to take ownership of that and not take that for granted.”

Nationwide Arena was also the highest selling venue for the first and second round of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.

“Well it’s beyond the sports. It’s three state of the art facilities that are constantly improving and constantly looking for ways to better engage their fans,” said Matthew McGreevy, marketing manager at the Greater Columbus Sports Commission. “It’s a desire to continue to evolve, it’s a desire to give people things to do.”

The Arena District attendance boom could also be on the horizon for the Columbus Clippers with sunnier days ahead as the schedule turns to May.

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