Coming to grips with college football’s declining attendance

[Thiefery 5017]

2 hours ago, Sidney Sherman said:

heh, forgot about that doozie. 

But still, the best Longhorn game in a while was the USC game last year, so having at DKR is going to be a treat.

I can only imagine.. Last Oct was my first RRS.  I had a blast and thought the game was great even tho we came up short.  I'll be driving to the MD game (live in VA currently).  If I didn't have this trip to England coming up I'd be in Austin vs USC.

[Bevojoe 44]

Definitely going to go to the USC game. If I can’t make any other, I’ll be at this one. 

[kopp0e 1135]

On 5/7/2018 at 1:35 PM, Bevojoe said:

Definitely going to go to the USC game. If I can’t make any other, I’ll be at this one. 

 

Quote

 

Texas releases hype video 50 days out from the 2018 season

ByTAYLOR ESTES 8 hours ago

 

Texas football is 50 days away from the kick-off of Year 2 of the Tom Herman era in Austin. The Longhorns enter the 2018 season with a lot of people drinking the Burnt Orange Kool-Aid after how Texas finished last season on a high note. With returning starters across the board on both sides of the ball, Texas is one of the more experienced teams in the Big 12 Conference. But the Longhorns will have a gauntlet non-conference schedule, which features two Power Five opponents, a road game at Maryland and a home game against USC, in addition to a Group of Five home game against Tulsa.

https://247sports.com/college/texas/Article/Texas-Longhorns-Football-Tom-Herman-UT-getting-fans-hyped-for-2018-College-Football-Season-119786981/

 

 

I'm sure there will be no "decline in attendance" anywhere near the stadium in Austin this fall for the USC game..! Looking forward to some football..!

 

[FondrenRoad 4378]

On 4/7/2018 at 1:37 AM, Bevojoe said:

Good points above. Fan attendance has been falling off the last few years. The student section is pretty vacant. Game day experience is getting too expensive. After 35 years as a season ticket holder, this or maybe next year will be the last. Besides all game are on the tube and my bar is always open. No lines to take a piss either. 

The real problem is that they rushed to squeeze maximum money from alumni-donors rather than focusing on the students who actually give more of a shit.  In the past, alumni came to experience a little campus life. It's a NFL type product and atmosphere now.  Students dont like it and alumni are bored with it. Return the game to its roots, realize it's an amateur sport that shouldn't be charging ridiculous amounts, and people will come back

[tbone_ 14147]

Not sucking at American tackle football will help too.

[David Dennison 18945]

1 hour ago, FondrenRoad said:

The real problem is that they rushed to squeeze maximum money from alumni-donors rather than focusing on the students who actually give more of a shit.  In the past, alumni came to experience a little campus life. It's a NFL type product and atmosphere now.  Students dont like it and alumni are bored with it. Return the game to its roots, realize it's an amateur sport that shouldn't be charging ridiculous amounts, and people will come back

That sounds good, but how realistic is it. If anything, we're getting a lot closer to compensating players (rightfully so, IMO) than we are to returning the game to its roots as a purely amateur sport.

[GHOSTUSER 361]

Pulled the trigger on season tickets for the first time. I think we are going to win 9 games this year and this is the beginning of us competing for Big XII and National championships again. Wanted to lock in great seats before the demand and donation increases. Fuck the pussies on this thread who don’t want to see games at DKR. Nothing beats or comes close to experiencing a college football game in person - no matter how cheap the beer is or how great your TV is at home. My veneration and love of Tom Herman will be validated this season and I get to see it in person. Hook ‘em.

[Jkwellborn 6724]

I live about 6 hrs from Austin. Unless I personally know someone or it’s gonna be a damn good matchup, fuck making that drive when it’s going to be hot on game day. Plus I hunt, so that fucks up the saturdays for me there. It’s gotta be worth the drive and lately, it hasn’t.

[Brisketexan 105276]

I live about 6 hrs from Austin. Unless I personally know someone or it’s gonna be a damn good matchup, fuck making that drive when it’s going to be hot on game day. Plus I hunt, so that fucks up the saturdays for me there. It’s gotta be worth the drive and lately, it hasn’t.

I live in town, and the same issues keep me away often.

Even living here, the all-in cost of a game is what a weekend trip to NOLA would cost. I only go when the tickets are free, and I don’t have something better to do (deer hunting with the boy).

[Michael Knight 12994]

Greed ruined college football and strangled everything we loved about it. It had always been a regional sport focused on rivalries. The obsession with one true national champion has made the golden goose a fat disgusting blob vomiting it's detritus onto the viewing public. With the breakup of traditional rivalries there is 0 reason to watch a game if it has no national implications.

Edited July 15, 2018 by Michael Knight

[ChiTownDoc 21154]

2 hours ago, Iconoclast Texan said:

Pulled the trigger on season tickets for the first time. I think we are going to win 9 games this year and this is the beginning of us competing for Big XII and National championships again. Wanted to lock in great seats before the demand and donation increases. Fuck the pussies on this thread who don’t want to see games at DKR. Nothing beats or comes close to experiencing a college football game in person - no matter how cheap the beer is or how great your TV is at home. My veneration and love of Tom Herman will be validated this season and I get to see it in person. Hook ‘em.

Yeah great, rah rah...

Just tell us who’s tailored jersey you’ll be sporting...and how’s the physique these days?

[Hurtlocker 2213]

I'm not sure attendance is the issue as much as how much one has to pay for attendance.   There is a wide variance in how much each school makes in ticket prices.   Some sell out and make next to nothing and some make multiples more of that and are not sold out.   At some point you have a supply and demand battle and I think some schools may be finding that there is a ceiling on how high its going to go.  

That being said, I don't think any of that matters at the end of the day.   Soldier Field has 50,000 less seats than the Big House.   I don't think that's a harbinger of doom for the Bears.

[kopp0e 1135]

1 hour ago, Michael Knight said:

Greed ruined college football and strangled everything we loved about it. It had always been a regional sport focused on rivalries. The obsession with one true national champion has made the golden goose a fat disgusting blob vomiting it's detritus onto the viewing public. With the breakup of traditional rivalries there is 0 reason to watch a game if it has no national implications.

Not counting the forced rivalries in some situations of teams who hardly even played before, but the conference still labels the game a "rivalry"...

 

[ImissWallyPryor 9046]

1 hour ago, Hurtlocker said:

I'm not sure attendance is the issue as much as how much one has to pay for attendance.   There is a wide variance in how much each school makes in ticket prices.   Some sell out and make next to nothing and some make multiples more of that and are not sold out.   At some point you have a supply and demand battle and I think some schools may be finding that there is a ceiling on how high its going to go.  

That being said, I don't think any of that matters at the end of the day.   Soldier Field has 50,000 less seats than the Big House.   I don't think that's a harbinger of doom for the Bears.

fewer

[Bert Orange 1120]

Don’t get to ogle over coeds on TV.  So, I’m going to the games. #creepyolddude

[Sleepygrad 1029]

33 minutes ago, Bert Orange said:

Don’t get to ogle over coeds on TV.  So, I’m going to the games. #creepyolddude

I don't know, some of those ABC camera guys know what's up

[phdhorn 6224]

9 hours ago, Michael Knight said:

Greed ruined college football and strangled everything we loved about it. It had always been a regional sport focused on rivalries. The obsession with one true national champion has made the golden goose a fat disgusting blob vomiting it's detritus onto the viewing public. With the breakup of traditional rivalries there is 0 reason to watch a game if it has no national implications.

Agree with every word of this.  In many ways, CFB was better when there was no worrying about "national champion".  The bowls were more just showcases to highlight rivalries, and oh yeah, well yeah we'll vote the #1 team in at the end of the year - I never had a problem with that, and most people didn't - except fans of the "screwed" #2 team or whatever.  Tough, now go have a life tomorrow.  Chris Fowler said this exact thing a few years ago... the best of college football is myopic... that is more regional/local and that those rivalries drive the game.  I agree.  "Playing it on the field" really will never be a 100% solution in CFB, because the only real way to decide it like that is to make every team in each tier (FBS, FCS, Div III, etc.) equally able to advance in their own levels.  There's no fucking way a UCF 12-0 team is going to get a nod above a 10-2 Alabama team or 11-1 Ohio State team.  You may say well they shouldn't either because let's face it, they're not as good.  Maybe.  But all we're really doing anyway is still subjectively deciding who gets to "play it on the field".  In a way, it's no closer than the old AP/UPI votes.  

 

[Guest]

Tix for tech-Ole Miss game at NRG in Houston to kick off the season on Sep1.

$165, in section 129 between the 20 and 30 yard lines.  the only reason I agreed to go is that some of wife's family wanted to do it and 2 of my nephews are seeing first game in person.  Otherwise, I would had rudely declined.

 

I spent $75 for Nebraska tickets and $90 at our last game at aggy, granted these games were a few years ago, but were much bigger games than this one.  I spent $75 and $90 for 2 different Army-Navy games which were about 30X better than this game could possibly be.

 

The prices are just fucked up for a mediocre product.

Edited July 15, 2018 by slorch

[Bert Orange 1120]

Slorch, the aftermarket on those near game day are certainly going below face. Bank on it. 

[Guest]

7 minutes ago, Bert Orange said:

Slorch, the aftermarket on those near game day are certainly going below face. Bank on it. 

agreed.  i have a buddy who would never, ever, ever, ever buy tix ahead of time and would almost always get decent seats/ prices on gameday. i am cool with that if it's just us.

this time we needed 8 seats together and we wanted them lower level for the boys( and maybe a little bit for us.)

I will sit anywhere.  i just want to be IN the stadium, but this time is different.

[Jkwellborn 6724]

Don’t get to ogle over coeds on TV.  So, I’m going to the games. #creepyolddude

I bet you pay for porn too.

[Bert Orange 1120]

1 hour ago, Jkwellborn said:

I bet you pay for porn too.

Do you get high speed internet for free?  Then so are you. 

[Big Frog II 511]

Reasons for declining football attendance.

1.  Expense, schools are gouging their fans on ticket prices and donations to buy those tickets.

2.  Playing day games in the South during September and early October.  Stadiums become blast furnaces.

3.  Games are too long.

4.  Half time is too long.

5.  Commercial breaks are way too long and numerous. 

[DaysOff 7969]

Number 5 (see greed) is the reason for 3 and 4. I doubt incomplete passes and running out of bounds is up. I bet chains are set faster and the clock restarted sooner with everyone sprinting to the line. There's an extra official just to set the ball now so the umpire doesn't have to.

[FondrenRoad 4378]

4 hours ago, slorch said:

Tix for tech-Ole Miss game at NRG in Houston to kick off the season on Sep1.

$165, in section 129 between the 20 and 30 yard lines.  the only reason I agreed to go is that some of wife's family wanted to do it and 2 of my nephews are seeing first game in person.  Otherwise, I would had rudely declined.

 

I spent $75 for Nebraska tickets and $90 at our last game at aggy, granted these games were a few years ago, but were much bigger games than this one.  I spent $75 and $90 for 2 different Army-Navy games which were about 30X better than this game could possibly be.

 

The prices are just fucked up for a mediocre product.

The real problem with that Tech Ole Miss game is that it's at an NFL stadium and not in Oxford or Lubbock. 

[Guest]

8 minutes ago, FondrenRoad said:

The real problem with that Tech Ole Miss game is that it's at an NFL stadium and not in Oxford or Lubbock. 

Doesn't impact Army Navy one bit.

one could contend that the Cotton Bowl isn't a 'college stadium' either, with regard to being on a campus and having home field advantage for someone.  Texas-OU does fine.

 

When we played LSU in the Texas Bowl it was almost exactly 50-50 in the crowd and it was fun.  There are plenty of alums from both schools in the h-town area, with it not being a major challenge for travel for out of towners, as well.

 

I don't have a problem with neutral site games, especially to kick-off the season or for Bowls.  As described earlier, the pricing for this regular season tilt is dumb as fuck.

Edited July 15, 2018 by slorch

[MaybeACoordinator 8349]

On 4/11/2018 at 11:23 AM, mdleast said:

If you’d like to hear (vs read) more on this topic, it’s the subject of the latest episode of The Audible podcast.

I listened to that last night and I think they whiffed on how the game day experience has been over-commercialized.  CFB is supposed to be about pageantry, not wacky hijinks and merciless advertising bombardments. 

God, I remember back in the Hornfans days when people idiots were practically jacking off about how cool Godzillatron was gonna be. 

[TtomTerrific 200]

On 4/6/2018 at 11:03 PM, Cairn Horn88 said:

Got rid of the family.  No problem going now.

going to hell for laughing at this, but I am still laughing at this. So true 

 

[TtomTerrific 200]

15 hours ago, Michael Knight said:

Greed ruined college football and strangled everything we loved about it. It had always been a regional sport focused on rivalries. The obsession with one true national champion has made the golden goose a fat disgusting blob vomiting it's detritus onto the viewing public. With the breakup of traditional rivalries there is 0 reason to watch a game if it has no national implications.

ibid

[kopp0e 1135]

Would the game of college football be better off with a clearly defined system that includes all Group of 5 schools with a legit chance at the national title (as UCF last season)..? That would seem to end the "selection process" that alienates many fans of smaller schools, sometimes even members of the Power 5 leagues, who are not considered as bluebloods...

 

[ImissWallyPryor 9046]

12 hours ago, MaybeACoordinator said:

I listened to that last night and I think they whiffed on how the game day experience has been over-commercialized.  CFB is supposed to be about pageantry, not wacky hijinks and merciless advertising bombardments. 

God, I remember back in the Hornfans days when people idiots were practically jacking off about how cool Godzillatron was gonna be. 

You misspelled “literally.”

[Guest]

We received notification from the Advocare Kick Off Classic with Ole Miss vs Tech that our tickets had been decreased from $165 to $125 and would be issued a refund.

 

Sweet!!!  Because we were going either way, but that would have been the most expensive college football game I ever attended... for a reg season neutral site tilt.  SMDH.

[Cairn Horn88 8280]

6 minutes ago, slorch said:

We received notification from the Advocare Kick Off Classic with Ole Miss vs Tech that our tickets had been decreased from $165 to $125 and would be issued a refund.

 

Sweet!!!  Because we were going either way, but that would have been the most expensive college football game I ever attended... for a reg season neutral site tilt.  SMDH.

I'm happy for y'all, really.

[kopp0e 1135]

On 7/15/2018 at 8:04 AM, Sleepygrad said:

I don't know, some of those ABC camera guys know what's up

The good thing is most of the time, the camera crew avoids getting injured by the cheerleaders in getting distracted... #StayAtSafeDistance

 

Edited July 19, 2018 by kopp0e

[MaybeACoordinator 8349]

Neutral site games in NFL stadiums suck and should be banned. 

[Bartles 769]

12 minutes ago, BurntEyes said:

I'm inundated with adds

 

#SnapchatProblems

[kopp0e 1135]

51 minutes ago, Tony Soprano said:

Those must be great seats because even $125 sounds ridiculous for that match up.

If the game was held in a home & home format, the tickets to the game would probably still sit somewhere between $75 to $90, I would guess with two name brand teams...

[Guest]

56 minutes ago, Tony Soprano said:

Those must be great seats because even $125 sounds ridiculous for that match up.

On the 25 about 20 rows up, which I don’t dig lower seats on the bowl of any stadium, so I am cool with the location.

 

Yes, the price still sucks, but as described above, it’s a family event, so I take it in the wallet...

Edited July 19, 2018 by slorch

[RD3 64]

On 4/6/2018 at 9:51 PM, Beau Vine said:

This will be pretty much preaching to the choir here based on what I've read over the past few years.

theathletic.com

 

Who wrote this? Good column and something I have been following for years.

I highly recommend John U. Bacon's book on the college football experience.  "4th & Long: The fight for the heart and soul of college football".

http://amzn.to/4thLong

[Beau Vine 54384]

Tickets for the Auburn-UDub game in Atlanta are $225.

[Horn Under a Bad Sign 20475]

On 7/14/2018 at 10:27 PM, Michael Knight said:

Greed ruined college football and strangled everything we loved about it. It had always been a regional sport focused on rivalries. The obsession with one true national champion has made the golden goose a fat disgusting blob vomiting it's detritus onto the viewing public. With the breakup of traditional rivalries there is 0 reason to watch a game if it has no national implications.

 

  I'll watch pee wee football. I'll watch spring football. I'll watch Canadian Football.  I'll watch Stony Point against Slippery Rock.  I like watching football.

[RD3 64]

On 7/14/2018 at 10:27 PM, Michael Knight said:

Greed ruined college football and strangled everything we loved about it. It had always been a regional sport focused on rivalries. The obsession with one true national champion has made the golden goose a fat disgusting blob vomiting it's detritus onto the viewing public. With the breakup of traditional rivalries there is 0 reason to watch a game if it has no national implications.

The ADs took a money grab and now they are at the behest of the tv companies who honestly don't care if the games sell out. 

As John U. Bacon wrote, fans aren't leaving college football; college football is leaving the fans.

[RD3 64]

Problems:  games are too long, DKR-TMS has way too many seats (and I hope CDC's new "rescrubbed" plan includes not adding any seats, removing the SEZ bleachers and putting in suites in its place), kickoff times need to be locked down sooner to allow fans to plan for other social activities/travel.

Easy solutions/low hanging fruit:

1. End stopping the clock after 1st downs and incomplete passes unless in the last 2 min of each half.
2. Reduce halftime duration.  CFB halftime were longer than the pros because back in the day both bands played.  When was the last time we saw the other teams band??? Maybe 1 game a year? Texas/OU let the "home" team band play at half.

People think that the tv networks want longer games; they don't!!!  It screws up their schedule. They want a good product that lasts the duration they put on the guide.  CBS hates it when the late Sunday game goes long and impacts the start of 60 Minutes.  In fact, 60 Minutes is one reason CBS sold out the rights to March Madness to TNT/TBS/TRU (one reason not the only).  Now CBS does the early Sunday games during March Madness and it frees them up for no conflict with 60 Minutes.

Edited July 20, 2018 by RD3

[RD3 64]

On 4/7/2018 at 2:49 AM, Tex Pete said:

Personally, I was pissed off about the whole thing so I dragged my feet renewing and i accidentally missed the deadline. When I realized it and called in, they passed me to a rep for new season ticket sales, despite the fact that I had been a season ticket holder for 15 years, AND that no one had purchased my seats. I told them to fuck off, that those seats weren't worth what I had been paying, much less what they wanted me to pay with the donation added on. 

I underlined the most important part. You didn't reup and they can't sell your seats at the same price you were paying. Which tells me these guys are clueless on how to make being a season ticket holder "stickier"; even Schlitterbahn reduces the cost of season tickets if you renew.

And the Athletic Dept  has no idea how to price them. 

['stache 21843]

I guess I'm old school and still enjoy getting out of the house, the outdoors on a great campus setting, drinking lots of beers, hearing the roar of the crowd, the marching band, high fiving my buddies and complete strangers, and everything that goes along with a great gameday atmosphere.  It helps that my wife doesn't like football and is fine being alone with the kids 6-7 Saturdays a year.  I can still enjoy my home setup for road games, but even then I like to get out to a bar or to a friends house to enjoy the camaraderie.  What a weirdo I am, I guess.

Edited July 20, 2018 by 'stache

[hookem48 4702]

On ‎7‎/‎15‎/‎2018 at 8:14 AM, phdhorn said:

Agree with every word of this.  In many ways, CFB was better when there was no worrying about "national champion".  The bowls were more just showcases to highlight rivalries, and oh yeah, well yeah we'll vote the #1 team in at the end of the year - I never had a problem with that, and most people didn't - except fans of the "screwed" #2 team or whatever.  Tough, now go have a life tomorrow.  Chris Fowler said this exact thing a few years ago... the best of college football is myopic... that is more regional/local and that those rivalries drive the game.  I agree.  "Playing it on the field" really will never be a 100% solution in CFB, because the only real way to decide it like that is to make every team in each tier (FBS, FCS, Div III, etc.) equally able to advance in their own levels.  There's no fucking way a UCF 12-0 team is going to get a nod above a 10-2 Alabama team or 11-1 Ohio State team.  You may say well they shouldn't either because let's face it, they're not as good.  Maybe.  But all we're really doing anyway is still subjectively deciding who gets to "play it on the field".  In a way, it's no closer than the old AP/UPI votes.  

 

A hell of a lot better now than BYU beating a shitty Michigan team to win a title or having Notre Dame jump 20 spots to #1 by winning a bowl game they only get to be in because they're independent. OK maybe exaggerating a little on Notre Dame, a little.

[Tex Pete 20430]

26 minutes ago, 'stache said:

I guess I'm old school and still enjoy getting out of the house, the outdoors on a great campus setting, drinking lots of beers, hearing the roar of the crowd, the marching band, high fiving my buddies and complete strangers, and everything that goes along with a great gameday atmosphere. 

I enjoy those things, too. The problem for me has become: I work almost every weekend through the summer, and I'm outside a lot of it. I have catch-up stuff to do at home in the fall. It's an hour and a half drive minimum, one way, to DKR for me. A game essentially takes up the whole day, and I miss all the other games on TV because of it.

When the product on the field is complete shit and tickets cost me a mint, it isn't worth it. When the AD treats the people who pay their bills like shit, fuhgeddaboutit.

Edited July 20, 2018 by Tex Pete

[DalTxHornFan 3116]

Back in the 1970's, my Dad (RIP) predicted that TV would become so influential that the football games would all effectively be played in very big TV studios -- nobody would actually go to the games but would only watch them at home on screen.  He wasn't too far off.

['stache 21843]

1 minute ago, Tex Pete said:

I enjoy those things, too. The problem for me has become: I work almost every weekend through the summer, and I'm outside a lot of it. I have catch-up stuff to do at home in the fall. It's an hour and a half drive minimum, one way, to DKR for me. A game essentially takes up the whole day, and I miss all the other games on TV because of it.

That's a different issue.  I've had to miss games during weekends I have to work, or have unavoidable family things.  I try my best to have those 6 or 7 weekends free, and I like that it takes the whole day to relax.  As far as "missing other games" everyone these days has access to ESPN on their smart phones or ipads.  You no longer need an extravagant tailgater setup to watch other games while tailgating.  I'm also in support of finding the college town watering hole instead of tailgating where the other games are on TV.,  Or you can go old school and just listen to the radio broadcasting other games or highlights.  The only games you'll really miss are the games on during the same time as your team,and I would be watching my game anyways at home and not the other games.  If it really matters, again, watch other games on your phone.  

[tbone_ 14147]

Oh the good parts are still good. It’s just that the ever increasing asswhip parts are changing the ratio.