Why is college football attendance down?

JJacket said:
I know several northerners who care only for NFL football. Better competition. Was asked why anyone would be interested in seeing Alabama play Western Carolina
Click to expand...

Yep. The ridiculous uneven playing field doesn’t help. Many college games are blowouts. Announcers were excited as OSU/CU was one of the closer CFP semifinal games. Meanwhile, 3 of 4 NFL playoff games last weekend were close with 2 going to OT.
 
The article was poorly written and unnecessarily long but it makes a point that many at GT will realize. Many of today's college students don't care about college football. Big state schools are chasing academics and bringing in students from out of state who didn't grow up as fans of college football. The people who are fans of the big colleges ebd up at places like Kennesaw state and so not on campus for game days. Things like bad kickoff times are also important, no one wants to go to a noon kickoff and it's worse when its 90 degrees. TV is a big part of the decline. One thing not in the article that I think hurts is fantasy football. While not so big for college, the correlation is people are becoming more fans of players than teams. And if you're a fan of the players you don't go to cheer for the team.
 
GT98 said:
Yep. The ridiculous uneven playing field doesn’t help. Many college games are blowouts. Announcers were excited as OSU/CU was one of the closer CFP semifinal games. Meanwhile, 3 of 4 NFL playoff games last weekend were close with 2 going to OT.
Click to expand...
Yes, but the NFL sucks. Can't touch the QB, PI on every play, never call holding, never know when targeting/defenseless player will be called, oh look another incomplete shotgun pass on 3d and goal from the 2, FG's that never miss, players switching teams every couple of years, coaches without personality, players without humility, and owners without any purpose but sucking as many dollars out of you on game day as possible.

Sadly, the college game is moving more and more in that direction. It's all about the market forces of money money money. And while I'm tired of losing and applaud CGC's efforts to move us in the direction of professionalism, too... I sure wish the sport as a whole would take steps to stop.
 
Bowl Attendance also stellar: https://apnews.com/83d423caaf2ae25a3629081a83f826c8

Six bowls this season had their smallest crowds on record, with section after section of unoccupied seats a yawning indication of just how little buzz there can be for the long, long list of postseason games on the schedule.

Half-empty stadiums? Teams with tiny fan bases and mediocre records? Too many bowls?

They aren’t going away: There will actually be three more next year, bringing the total number of bowl games to 42. That means approximately 65% of the 130 Bowl Subdivision teams will go to a postseason game next season.
Click to expand...

Of 33 second- and third-tier Bowl Subdivision games analyzed by The Associated Press, 23 were played at venues where the announced attendance was less than 75% of capacity. Of those 23, eight were under 50%.
Click to expand...

Announced attendance figures provided by bowl organizers or stadium officials were used by AP. Those numbers — typically derived by counting the number of tickets distributed, game participants, band members and media members — invariably are higher than the actual attendance, sometimes by a wide margin.

The Las Vegas Bowl had an announced attendance of 34,197, but the scanned ticket count provided to AP by the stadium owner, UNLV, was 16,568. The Birmingham Bowl, played in heavy rain with a lengthy lightning delay, announced 27,193 even though actual attendance was 9,679. The New Mexico Bowl announced a crowd of 18,823; a San Diego Union-Tribune reporter at the game estimated actual attendance at 6,000.
Click to expand...
 
GT98 said:
Yep. The ridiculous uneven playing field doesn’t help. Many college games are blowouts. Announcers were excited as OSU/CU was one of the closer CFP semifinal games. Meanwhile, 3 of 4 NFL playoff games last weekend were close with 2 going to OT.
Click to expand...

yet NFL attendance is dropping too. There's a twitter handle somewhere that maps the tens of thousands of empty seats each week across the NFL.

It's the same reason: Cost, lack of interest, better options at home, etc.
 
UGAg doesn't count actual attendence at their games. Plenty of games report the 93k at the cesspool with the 600's having scattered attendence along with the corners of the upper deck bowl.
 
I didn't realize how expensive (relatively) some student tickets are these days. Also, interesting to read that some schools' stadiums are not near campus, or the local downtown.

GT students don't have the location excuse, but I don't know how much student tickets are these days.
 
Athletic Supporter said:
I didn't realize how expensive (relatively) some student tickets are these days. Also, interesting to read that some schools' stadiums are not near campus, or the local downtown.

GT students don't have the location excuse, but I don't know how much student tickets are these days.
Click to expand...
I think they were around $50 in 2015. I'd guess they are still under $100, and you can probably still get free tickets the week of the game instead.
 
GTBJW said:
Okay Boomer
Click to expand...
source.gif
 
At the end of the day who is capturing more value, the schools/team franchises or the fans? A big reason why MBS is popular for so many events is the cheap parking and great food/beer vs price on the concessions. The game day experience for most fans hasn’t changed much in decades but the price to do it keeps going up. I went to an NFL game this year and it was $250 per upper deck end zone seat + $50 in fees per ticket + $130 parking + $10/beer and $10/snack. Skipped the meal. It cost $800 for two people to go to a football game. That didn’t include any memorabilia, tailgating food/equipment, etc. It’s not like the experience has dramatically changed but the price definitely has.
 
My dad won't go if I don't take him. He's almost 79. He's been attending games since the early 50's. Parking has become a struggle if you don't have the GT approved app. He's not going to use an app on a smartphone to pay for parking.... and then sit in a parking garage after the game. Add in the early September noon kickoffs and that's two big strikes.

Yeah yeah, I know. "ok boomer"
 
I don't think the GTAA has much say over the reduction in parking across campus, it is simply the effect of having a school in a very desirable area of a large metro area. I do wish they would devise a system to give tailgaters spots in lots that are better for tailgating while relegating others to decks. We almost always take the train in and it's very convenient to the stadium. After waiting in a deck for 1.5 hours after a victory against Clemson on Halloween weekend I will never park in a deck again for a big game.
 
gtg970g said:
I don't think the GTAA has much say over the reduction in parking across campus, it is simply the effect of having a school in a very desirable area of a large metro area. I do wish they would devise a system to give tailgaters spots in lots that are better for tailgating while relegating others to decks. We almost always take the train in and it's very convenient to the stadium. After waiting in a deck for 1.5 hours after a victory against Clemson on Halloween weekend I will never park in a deck again for a big game.
Click to expand...
We used to have a great tailgate in the physics lot. Then they ran us all out. We moved to Tech parkway. Then they ran us out. We moved to Student Center back lot. Now it’s a building. Now I park in the hotel deck and don’t bother.
 
savbandjacket said:
We used to have a great tailgate in the physics lot. Then they ran us all out. We moved to Tech parkway. Then they ran us out. We moved to Student Center back lot. Now it’s a building. Now I park in the hotel deck and don’t bother.
Click to expand...
Yeah, accountants are making really bad decisions.

In trying to squeeze every penny out, they put way too little value on loyalty. Throwing loyal fans out of a tailgate spot to give it to some fatter cat is a short term gain for a long term loss.
 
The growth of buildings going up in Midtown has taken a lot of parking away. The last three lots that I used to park in are now buildings/buildings in process. The latest parking evaporation being the Norfolk building at Spring and Ponce. I also used to park in the deck at Spring and Third, but there’s too much construction around there now. The Centergy parking deck is an option, but last season I actually took Marta in for every game -and half the time, coming from North Springs, riders must unboard at Lindbergh to catch another southbound train. Half the time getting home North Springs trains only run from Lindbergh north.

Still, I do enjoy going to BDS seven (six) times a year. MBS for ND should be a great experience this coming season.
 
GTCrew said:
Yeah, accountants are making really bad decisions.

In trying to squeeze every penny out, they put way too little value on loyalty. Throwing loyal fans out of a tailgate spot to give it to some fatter cat is a short term gain for a long term loss.
Click to expand...
The quest for money is eroding fan loyalty. The lack of parity is increasing fan apathy. The lack of faith in the institutions (ncaa) is playing a role in loyalty and apathy.

Not to add to the aforementioned culture of immediate gratification and the technology advances, but it does seem that our culture just doesn’t care as much about football anymore.

High schools are getting bigger. Kids don’t get to play. We don’t have a sense of community even in high schools anymore.

We’ve discussed ESPN before. It went from showing highlights of every game to 30 minutes of Alabama and 30 minutes of political commentary.

It all comes down to what we value. The older generation values the camaraderie and we chase this nostalgia about what college football used to be. But the fact is college football has changed, and society’s values have also changed.
 
GT65_UGA89 said:
The growth of buildings going up in Midtown has taken a lot of parking away. The last three lots that I used to park in are now buildings/buildings in process. The latest parking evaporation being the Norfolk building at Spring and Ponce. I also used to park in the deck at Spring and Third, but there’s too much construction around there now. The Centergy parking deck is an option, but last season I actually took Marta in for every game -and half the time, coming from North Springs, riders must unboard at Lindbergh to catch another southbound train. Half the time getting home North Springs trains only run from Lindbergh north.

Still, I do enjoy going to BDS seven (six) times a year. MBS for ND should be a great experience this coming season.
Click to expand...
We also take Marta from Decatur whenever possible. It's very convenient as long as we're not planning to tailgate. Plus the kids love to ride the train.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top