College football heads in wrong direction with largest attendance drop in 34 years

#28
#28
Lawrence Wright said:
It usually sucks for you guys every odd numbered year. :)
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#30
#30
Even bad OOC games cost a lot to attend if you tailgate, etc. You could skip 2 bad OOC games and buy a very nice TV or 2 for watching games.

I know people get the warm and fuzzies for being in the stadium and that's great. For me, I like going to a game or 2, maybe an away game where I've never been. But it's much "easier" to watch it on TV.
 
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#31
#31
Grand Vol said:
1. Ticket prices are outlandish.

Yes they are...but someone has to pay for the ridiculous salaries of these coaches.

As long as the tv ratings continue to be as high as they are and the tv money continues to roll in, nobody cares about the attendance.

What I've noticed as a big reason for the attendance is a lack of students going to the games. That is the saddest thing to me.
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#32
#32
peaygolf said:
What I've noticed as a big reason for the attendance is a lack of students going to the games. That is the saddest thing to me.
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This is true...our student section has gotten weaker over the past few years.

They don’t bother to show up until just before kickoff, and they leave before the game is over, whether the outcome is in question or not.
 
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#33
#33
Lawrence Wright said:
This is true...our student section has gotten weaker over the past few years.

They don’t bother to show up until just before kickoff, and they leave before the game is over, whether the outcome is in question or not.
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With the seasons you've had as of late, who could blame them?

And before you say it, yes, we are in that same boat.
 
#34
#34
Grand Vol said:
With the seasons you've had as of late, who could blame them?

And before you say it, yes, we are in that same boat.
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We had a bunch of students leave last September after we went up 20-6 on you guys, thinking the game was over.

Granted, our games aren't what they used to be, but student sections from years past would never leave before the end of a revenge game against a division rival.

Our students have gone soft.
 
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#35
#35
Before TV become so easy, you could watch only your team, have very little knowledge of the rest of college football and be pretty happy. As it has become so accessible to watch every game, its become much more of a sport where you can watch your team but also watch the best teams/games every week. But if you go to the game in person, you lose much of that ability. It means that the stadium experience has to overcome not just that it is easier and cheaper to stay home, its that I could watch the Vols, the 230 SEC game of the week and the ESPN/ABC prime time match up. And really the stadium experience hasn't really changed much in several decades.
 
#36
#36
Lawrence Wright said:
We had a bunch of students leave last September after we went up 20-6 on you guys, thinking the game was over.

Granted, our games aren't what they used to be, but student sections from years past would never leave before the end of a revenge game against a division rival.

Our students have gone soft.
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Its not that they are soft, its that less of them or native Floridians. ALl the SEC school have become more national and even international in their student bodies. There is still a lot of kids that grew up rooting for the Gators or the Vols but the percentage of the student body is smaller than it was in the 70s or even the 90s.
 
#37
#37
MSCE09 said:
Its not that they are soft, its that less of them or native Floridians. ALl the SEC school have become more national and even international in their student bodies. There is still a lot of kids that grew up rooting for the Gators or the Vols but the percentage of the student body is smaller than it was in the 70s or even the 90s.
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Last figures I saw, about 85% of our student body comes from within the state of Florida, so I can't subscribe to that theory.

EDIT: It's actually 88.8% according to collegefactual.com.
 
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#38
#38
MSCE09 said:
Before TV become so easy, you could watch only your team, have very little knowledge of the rest of college football and be pretty happy. As it has become so accessible to watch every game, its become much more of a sport where you can watch your team but also watch the best teams/games every week. But if you go to the game in person, you lose much of that ability. It means that the stadium experience has to overcome not just that it is easier and cheaper to stay home, its that I could watch the Vols, the 230 SEC game of the week and the ESPN/ABC prime time match up. And really the stadium experience hasn't really changed much in several decades.
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I think the stadium experience has gotten worse. I know nostalgia kicks in as we get older but it's just not the same.
 
#39
#39
Boca Vol said:
I think the stadium experience has gotten worse. I know nostalgia kicks in as we get older but it's just not the same.
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too many bluehairs bishing about every little thing the team does wrong. never getting up and cheering or high fiving to celebrate anything. really just there to occupy space.
 
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#40
#40
MSCE09 said:
Its not that they are soft, its that less of them or native Floridians. ALl the SEC school have become more national and even international in their student bodies. There is still a lot of kids that grew up rooting for the Gators or the Vols but the percentage of the student body is smaller than it was in the 70s or even the 90s.
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This is a true statement.
 
#41
#41
I think there is a sense of being bored too. It’s the same teams every year, with the occasional new guy. We have division 1, with a “sub-division” of teams that will ever only win the championship. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure Ohio state and Bama fans love it and I wish UT could get there, but people get tired of seeing the same 4 teams win it every year. In some ways the parity we think we see isn’t really there.
 
#42
#42
rjd970 said:
I think there is a sense of being bored too. It’s the same teams every year, with the occasional new guy. We have division 1, with a “sub-division” of teams that will ever only win the championship. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure Ohio state and Bama fans love it and I wish UT could get there, but people get tired of seeing the same 4 teams win it every year. In some ways the parity we think we see isn’t really there.
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Do you think Alabama’s dominance affects attendance at other schools’ home games?
 
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#43
#43
Everybody seems to be talking about long term trends in their explanations, but the article is talking about a 1 year dropoff in attendance. Why such a stark decline this year?
 
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#44
#44
Lawrence Wright said:
Do you think Alabama’s dominance affects attendance at other schools’ home games?
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I think it has an effect. Other teams suck by comparison and by the midpoint if the season apathy sets in. Why spend money to go watch your team play a meaningless game? The champion, conference standing, playoff picture has all but been established minus a major upset or miracle.

UT and every team from the west plays Bama every year. Bama destroys every team they play, minus the occasional year Auburn pulls a win out. Other teams don’t want to go watch that, and after the second loss most years that means you are playing for a bowl game at best. Any team playing Bama means they are one in the hole before the season even starts.

All these other teams, including UT need to step up. And until they do, fan apathy will be what it is and attendance will suffer.
 
#45
#45
rjd970 said:
I think it has an effect. Other teams suck by comparison and by the midpoint if the season apathy sets in. Why spend money to go watch your team play a meaningless game? The champion, conference standing, playoff picture has all but been established minus a major upset or miracle.

UT and every team from the west plays Bama every year. Bama destroys every team they play, minus the occasional year Auburn pulls a win out. Other teams don’t want to go watch that, and after the second loss most years that means you are playing for a bowl game at best. Any team playing Bama means they are one in the hole before the season even starts.

All these other teams, including UT need to step up. And until they do, fan apathy will be what it is and attendance will suffer.
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Interesting opinion.

How do you account for the drop in attendance for all those other conferences that Alabama doesn’t play in?
 
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#46
#46
rjd970 said:
I think it has an effect. Other teams suck by comparison and by the midpoint if the season apathy sets in. Why spend money to go watch your team play a meaningless game? The champion, conference standing, playoff picture has all but been established minus a major upset or miracle.

UT and every team from the west plays Bama every year. Bama destroys every team they play, minus the occasional year Auburn pulls a win out. Other teams don’t want to go watch that, and after the second loss most years that means you are playing for a bowl game at best. Any team playing Bama means they are one in the hole before the season even starts.

All these other teams, including UT need to step up. And until they do, fan apathy will be what it is and attendance will suffer.
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Football is a simple game. 11 men try to get the ball in their opponents' end zone while 11 men try to stop them. This goes on for 60 minutes and, in the end, Alabama always wins.
 
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#47
#47
Lawrence Wright said:
Interesting opinion.

How do you account for the drop in attendance for all those other conferences that Alabama doesn’t play in?
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Depends on the conference I guess. I don’t know what the numbers are. You have OSU in the Big 10, there is more to do at places like the PAC 10. I do suspect that attendance is always high in the SEC and it impacts the national average the most. When it drops in the SEC it will result in a drop in the national average.
 
#49
#49
rjd970 said:
I think it has an effect. Other teams suck by comparison and by the midpoint if the season apathy sets in. Why spend money to go watch your team play a meaningless game? The champion, conference standing, playoff picture has all but been established minus a major upset or miracle.

UT and every team from the west plays Bama every year. Bama destroys every team they play, minus the occasional year Auburn pulls a win out. Other teams don’t want to go watch that, and after the second loss most years that means you are playing for a bowl game at best. Any team playing Bama means they are one in the hole before the season even starts.

All these other teams, including UT need to step up. And until they do, fan apathy will be what it is and attendance will suffer.
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Then why does every fanbase sell out their stadium when Bama comes to town? And I don’t mean like Vandy where it’s 70% Bama.
 
#50
#50
rjd970 said:
Depends on the conference I guess. I don’t know what the numbers are. You have OSU in the Big 10, there is more to do at places like the PAC 10. I do suspect that attendance is always high in the SEC and it impacts the national average the most. When it drops in the SEC it will result in a drop in the national average.
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You think Big 10 attendance is down because of Ohio State? Wisconsin and Penn State have both been nationally relevant recently.

PAC-12 attendance has always been spotty, with or without a dominant program.

To VSF’s point, I think Bama coming to town helps attendance instead of hurting it.
 
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