Northwestern has its highest season-ticket base in school history heading into the '17-18 season after the program's first NCAA Tournament appearance last March and a No. 19 ranking in the AP preseason poll. This comes as the team is playing its home games this season at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill., as Welsh-Ryan Arena undergoes a $110M renovation. “The Chicagoland community is excited about Northwestern basketball and wants to come see them,” said Northwestern Deputy AD/External Affairs Mike Polisky. He said the school is “getting to the point where we’re probably going to have to cap season-ticket sales soon.” Northwestern also is close to creating a season-ticket waiting list, which would be a first. Northwestern did tell season-ticket holders that their standing would not be impacted if they did not come out to Allstate Arena this season, so the renewal rate actually is one of the lowest the program has seen in recent years. Northwestern will likely set single-game home attendance records this year, as Allstate Arena has a seating capacity of 18,500, compared to 8,117 at Welsh-Ryan Arena. That number will decrease to just more than 7,000 following the renovations. Polisky said Northwestern “won’t be filling up the building regularly” at Allstate, but the school expects to draw well at its temporary home, especially once Big Ten play starts. He anticipated a crowd of 7,000-8,000 for Friday's season-opener against Loyola (Md.) and a “nice crowd” for Wednesday’s Gavitt Tipoff Games matchup with Creighton. No sections of the arena will be tarped off.
COME AND SEE THE SHOW: One benefit of playing at Allstate this season, as Polisky points out, is that "all the major arteries flow into the Rosemont area.” He said, “It has offered up a more convenient opportunity for a lot of basketball fans in the area who otherwise hadn’t come to see Northwestern.” The school will help transport students to and from Allstate -- which is about 14 miles from its Evanston campus -- via a free shuttle. Welsh-Ryan Arena renovations are progressing on schedule and are expected to be ready by next school year.
