Coming to grips with college football’s declining attendance

[Guest]

Just got a call from Tech ticket office that the tix for Ole Miss game were reduced because NRG Stadium reduced their asking price to the schools.

 

Interdasting.  I've never seen any entity around college or pro football come back and lower the price this far out from an event like this.

 

It is SURLreal...

[TornACL 7698]

I'm kind of interested in hopping over to Jerryworld for that LSU Miami game on the Sunday night of Labor Day weekend. I'm expecting to be able to get in for 20 bucks.  Miami doesn't travel for shit, and LSU fan has to be tiring of these stupid fucking neutral site openers.

 

[troph 24840]

Texas OU is bad ass, but so was playing Arky and A&M. We’ve made Baylor and TCU our replacement rivalries. That’s just dumb. We all laugh at A&M and loathe Arky but damnit if watching Colt push A&M’s shit in wasn’t all kinds of awesome and what about Tony Jones miracle catch from Stafford in Fayettenam? We don’t have that anymore. Those that talk about regional rivalries have it. Those have been largely destroyed at least for Texas fans.

You could go 8-5 but if you beat OU, Arky and A&M it was a good season. Now it’s all or nothing.

And ticket prices and TV is easy and atmosphere is shitty, etc. but in the end it comes down to hatred. I’m apathetic to Iowa State, I hate Arky and A&M and would watch those games no matter what.

Oh well.

[Guest]

I loved beating A&M.

I hope we never play a regular season football game against aggy again...unless we reuinite in conference down the road.  otherwise, they can fuck right off.

[TKS 66]

As an App State fan whose been to the last 100+ home games, it's been interesting seeing the changes on our level. Our attendance is lower than it was 10 years ago, despite moving to FBS.

In moving to FBS, all our games are now on TV, be it ESPN3.com (now ESPN+) or regular TV. In FCS, it was dodgy team-specific internet streams that sometimes didn't work. Now I can watch every game in HD from home.

I have friends who have kids now and the experience is just too expensive between tixs, concessions, parking, walking, dinner, gas, merch, etc, so they pick and choose 2-3 games a year. Hotels fill up quickly since this is a small town, despite $200-$300 price tags. 

I tailgate starting at dawn, no matter the game time, so it's a whole day no matter what. But I live 15 minutes from the stadium. A lot of our fans live 2-3 hours drive away.

Also, in moving to FBS, we left a lot of our regional opponents behind, so we're playing Texas State, Louisiana and teams that our fans have no emotional attachment to.

That being said, I'll take FBS and having 0 percent chance of winning a National Title at this level over competing for the FCS title every year. Although having no TV timeout in FCS was sweet as games could end in under 3 hours.

[TtomTerrific 200]

you've been to more than a hundred Appalachian State games?

 

dude 

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

I'm going to be in Asheville some time this fall. If the timing works out, driving up to Boone to take in an App St game is definitely something I would like to do.

[SimonBolivar 10958]

1 hour ago, slorch said:

I loved beating A&M.

I hope we never play a regular season football game against aggy again...unless we reuinite in conference down the road.  otherwise, they can fuck right off.

I don't get this. A&M beat the shit out of Baylor way more times than Baylor did to them, but I still want to play their crazy asses every year. They're fascinating and the times we did win were spectacular (...it was Ziegler)

As a fan I'd rather play Texas, TCU, A&M, Tech, SMU, and Rice every year (schools where I have friends that are alums) over anybody else but nobody cares and that doesn't make any money. 

[PatSolitanojr 518]

ITT: wet socks rationalizing their decision to stay home. 

[Guest]

3 hours ago, SimonBolivar said:

I don't get this. A&M beat the shit out of Baylor way more times than Baylor did to them, but I still want to play their crazy asses every year. They're fascinating and the times we did win were spectacular (...it was Ziegler)

As a fan I'd rather play Texas, TCU, A&M, Tech, SMU, and Rice every year (schools where I have friends that are alums) over anybody else but nobody cares and that doesn't make any money. 

Playing A&M would be fine if their fans weren't such lying, pussified bags of shit.  I guess aside from that, everything's great.

 

To paraphrase a line from Richard the Lionheart in Braveheart, The problem with A&M it is that is full of aggys.

Edited July 21, 2018 by slorch

[NeverMarryAStripper 21907]

8 hours ago, TtomTerrific said:

you've been to more than a hundred Appalachian State games?
 
dude 

I’ve been to well over 100 UT games

Also fuck aggy, but I really miss playing Arkie. I hate them almost as much as OU.

Edited July 21, 2018 by NeverMarryAStripper

[RD3 64]

10 hours ago, DalTxHornFan said:

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.

Your dad predicted the minor bowl games. I'm impressed.

[markstanco 12577]

I’ve been to well over 100 UT games

Also fuck aggy, but I really miss playing Arlie. I hate them almost as much as OU.

You sound old like me. Miss the old days of Raycom sports watching texas vs arkie back in the early 80s. Peter Gardere was my hero. According to my Dad my 1st texas game was in 75 when I was 3. It was against I didnt care and I bet I didnt want to be there.

[Hook1997 5382]

10 hours ago, TKS said:

 

That being said, I'll take FBS and having 0 percent chance of winning a National Title at this level over competing for the FCS title every year. Although having no TV timeout in FCS was sweet as games could end in under 3 hours.

This I don’t get.  If this was me as a fan of them I’d much rather be competitive in FCS then the current situation of just being in a small conference full of ex FCS teams, a conference title is the best you can hope.   Texas State really should of stayed, they weren't close to ready for FBS

[TornACL 7698]

15 hours ago, troph said:

You could go 8-5 but if you beat OU, Arky and A&M it was a good season. Now it’s all or nothing.

I'm not sure I would use the word "good". 

[troph 24840]

2 hours ago, TornACL said:

I'm not sure I would use the word "good". 

touche. it would have a silver lining though.  it's still the case it's basically all or nothing now.

[Beau Vine 54250]

6 hours ago, Hook1997 said:

This I don’t get.  If this was me as a fan of them I’d much rather be competitive in FCS then the current situation of just being in a small conference full of ex FCS teams, a conference title is the best you can hope.   Texas State really should of stayed, they weren't close to ready for FBS

Yep.  The 2005 playoffs were just an absolute blast.

[RD3 64]

10 hours ago, markstanco said:

11 hours ago, NeverMarryAStripper said:

I’ve been to well over 100 UT games

Also fuck aggy, but I really miss playing Arlie. I hate them almost as much as OU.

You sound old like me. Miss the old days of Raycom sports watching texas vs arkie back in the early 80s. Peter Gardere was my hero. According to my Dad my 1st texas game was in 75 when I was 3. It was against I didnt care and I bet I didnt want to be there.

I have a ton of old UT games on my server at home. Including a bunch of the Arky games on Raycom. And the 1995 Texas vs UVa game with Phil Dawson kicking the 50 yard winning field goal; that was Raycom as well. And I was an undergrad in the stands...

[RD3 64]

22 hours 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.  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.

You're not old school; there are 90,000+ at basically every home game.

We only have 6 home games a year and at this point my oldest son (9 years old) wants to go to EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM.

I hope that CDC improves our gameday experience and figures out ways to improve the student attendance issues. Those kids are the future season ticket holders and if they don't have great memories of going to games as an undergrad, they won't be buying season tickets in the future...

Some of those things are out of CDC's hands (shortening games) but much is in his control...

[RD3 64]

22 hours 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.

Don't go to every game but make a couple.

[RD3 64]

17 hours ago, SimonBolivar said:

As a fan I'd rather play Texas, TCU, A&M, Tech, SMU, and Rice every year (schools where I have friends that are alums) over anybody else but nobody cares and that doesn't make any money. 

You hit up on a great point. Fans want to play colleges that we interact with their alumni.  TAMU has no real rival now.  They are trying to do LSU but the LSU fans look at TAMU look gum on the bottom of their shoes.  Even if TAMU finally beats them, LSU doesn't want this as a rival.

Alumni relations is a big part of conference realignment that the ADs were completely oblivious to.  Maryland fans are/were up in arms of the move out of the ACC.  And I promise you -> deep down the Mizzou fans regret moving to the SEC.  They will tell you "fuck Texas, fuck Kansas" but deep down they miss having the Big 12 basketball tournament in their backyard. That event was like their Texas/OU weekend. Imagine if we moved out of the Big12 but lost Texas/OU?  Fuck that.

But I don't really interact with many SMU or Rice fans. And even the alums I know, they have long given up on football.

[RD3 64]

12 hours ago, NeverMarryAStripper said:

I’ve been to well over 100 UT games

Also fuck aggy, but I really miss playing Arkie. I hate them almost as much as OU.

Yeah I'm over 200 games at this point.  Since my freshman year at UT in 1993, I have missed maybe 5 home games. And every Texas/OU game in that stretch except 2.  And a ton of road games.  I will say that UT has improved their concessions big time in that stretch...

I went to the Texas @ Arky game in 2004.  It was a good time but I'm ok with not playing them all the time.  I miss Nebraska & Colorado more than Arky.

I know it isn't sexy but if I'm CDC, I meet with the Tech guys and make the Tech game our "end of year rival". I know it isn't TAMU or a sexy opponent but it is probably the school most of us interact the most with (other than TAMU).

[GHOSTUSER 361]

20 hours ago, TornACL said:

I'm kind of interested in hopping over to Jerryworld for that LSU Miami game on the Sunday night of Labor Day weekend. I'm expecting to be able to get in for 20 bucks.  Miami doesn't travel for shit, and LSU fan has to be tiring of these stupid fucking neutral site openers.

 

I don’t think you are going to be able to do that. Had do spend several hundred dollars  on a ticket to that game because of the demand.

[GHOSTUSER 361]

41 minutes ago, RD3 said:

Yeah I'm over 200 games at this point.  Since my freshman year at UT in 1993, I have missed maybe 5 home games. And every Texas/OU game in that stretch except 2.  And a ton of road games.  I will say that UT has improved their concessions big time in that stretch...

I went to the Texas @ Arky game in 2004.  It was a good time but I'm ok with not playing them all the time.  I miss Nebraska & Colorado more than Arky.

I know it isn't sexy but if I'm CDC, I meet with the Tech guys and make the Tech game our "end of year rival". I know it isn't TAMU or a sexy opponent but it is probably the school most of us interact the most with (other than TAMU).

I miss playing Nebraska and A&M the most. Nebraska is a traditional power program and their absence has really hurt the Big XII. We used to be unique by having 3 huge rivalry games every year. Now we just have 1. Fuck conference realignment.

[Guest]

LOLz at the thought of LSU Fan ever getting tired of tailgating and football opportunities, 

 

but yeah, the lack of a solid Miami contingent will likely have some street tix at low prices on gameday.

[Tex Pete 20398]

Huge rivalry game?

Playing A&M was more like stepping in dog shit. I don’t miss the smell. 

[tbone_ 14128]

Huge rivalry game?
Playing A&M was more like stepping in dog shit. I don’t miss the smell. 

This man gets it.

[TornACL 7698]

2 hours ago, Iconoclast Texan said:

I don’t think you are going to be able to do that. Had do spend several hundred dollars  on a ticket to that game because of the demand.

Why in the world did you already buy a ticket? There are already 4000 tickets listed on Stubhub and I would imagine the schools fans haven't even received their tickets in the mail yet. 

I will be stunned beyond belief if the 400 level is even 3/4 full for that game. 

[HtownHorn 14721]

Easiest way to fix it, stop letting a committee determine who plays for the title, make it 8 teams, every P5 conference conference champ + the highest G5 conference champ + 2 at large. Then bring back the inter-sectional rivalries that made college football great. I'd also change it so the clock only stops in the last 2 minutes on 1st downs.

[ruitxn 298]

14 hours ago, markstanco said:

15 hours ago, NeverMarryAStripper said:

I’ve been to well over 100 UT games

Also fuck aggy, but I really miss playing Arlie. I hate them almost as much as OU.

You sound old like me. Miss the old days of Raycom sports watching texas vs arkie back in the early 80s. Peter Gardere was my hero. According to my Dad my 1st texas game was in 75 when I was 3. It was against I didnt care and I bet I didnt want to be there.

Sorry dude but if you were three in 75 you aren’t old. You are right about Arkie games being a fun shitfest.  And Arkie will always suck

[troph 24840]

I’d be up for playing Arky every year no question.

[joeycovers 391]

My ideal situation that has 0 chance of happening. 

Drop to 8 conference games. 

Play ATM every year on turkey day

Play Ark every year to open the season 

schedule traditional power 3rd week of year

[trza-hawk 269]

I am just now coming to grips with it.

[troph 24840]

My ideal situation that has 0 chance of happening. 
Drop to 8 conference games. 
Play ATM every year on turkey day
Play Ark every year to open the season 
schedule traditional power 3rd week of year

I would love that, easily 4 games to really care about every year no matter what.

[bluto 4932]

I'm actually surprised buying season tickets is still a thing at all for individuals (I get the corporate thing), I know one person who has season tix for any team/school (cowboys fan). And 95% of my social circle are big sports fans and wouldn't be classified as the poors. 

[Beau Vine 54250]

7 hours ago, Iconoclast Texan said:

I don’t think you are going to be able to do that. Had do spend several hundred dollars  on a ticket to that game because of the demand.

Hahaha... "the demand!"

IT'S JULY.

 

[GHOSTUSER 361]

6 hours ago, TornACL said:

Why in the world did you already buy a ticket? There are already 4000 tickets listed on Stubhub and I would imagine the schools fans haven't even received their tickets in the mail yet. 

I will be stunned beyond belief if the 400 level is even 3/4 full for that game. 

I’m with a big group that’s why.

[mdmost 43004]

There’s a point where these neutral site shitfests will lose their meaning. There is no reason Texas should be playing Maryland at Fed Ex. It should be at College Park. I’m okay with it since I’m staying in DC for the weekend and can do a lot more because of the location. But I’m happy Texas limits those to very few and most our marquees are home and home. That’s what our fans want. USC will be a sellout. 

[MNLonghornFUKM 8817]

As an App State fan whose been to the last 100+ home games, it's been interesting seeing the changes on our level. Our attendance is lower than it was 10 years ago, despite moving to FBS.
In moving to FBS, all our games are now on TV, be it ESPN3.com (now ESPN+) or regular TV. In FCS, it was dodgy team-specific internet streams that sometimes didn't work. Now I can watch every game in HD from home.
I have friends who have kids now and the experience is just too expensive between tixs, concessions, parking, walking, dinner, gas, merch, etc, so they pick and choose 2-3 games a year. Hotels fill up quickly since this is a small town, despite $200-$300 price tags. 
I tailgate starting at dawn, no matter the game time, so it's a whole day no matter what. But I live 15 minutes from the stadium. A lot of our fans live 2-3 hours drive away.
Also, in moving to FBS, we left a lot of our regional opponents behind, so we're playing Texas State, Louisiana and teams that our fans have no emotional attachment to.
That being said, I'll take FBS and having 0 percent chance of winning a National Title at this level over competing for the FCS title every year. Although having no TV timeout in FCS was sweet as games could end in under 3 hours.

I'm an ndsu fan and still mad App, GSU, old dominion etc bounced from FCS to never be heard from again.

[kopp0e 1135]

9 hours ago, RD3 said:

You hit up on a great point. Fans want to play colleges that we interact with their alumni.  TAMU has no real rival now.  They are trying to do LSU but the LSU fans look at TAMU look gum on the bottom of their shoes.  Even if TAMU finally beats them, LSU doesn't want this as a rival.

Alumni relations is a big part of conference realignment that the ADs were completely oblivious to.  Maryland fans are/were up in arms of the move out of the ACC.  And I promise you -> deep down the Mizzou fans regret moving to the SEC.  They will tell you "fuck Texas, fuck Kansas" but deep down they miss having the Big 12 basketball tournament in their backyard. That event was like their Texas/OU weekend. Imagine if we moved out of the Big12 but lost Texas/OU?  Fuck that.

But I don't really interact with many SMU or Rice fans. And even the alums I know, they have long given up on football.

This is one of the many reasons I normally advocate for the XII to expand/ merge with the PAC... As the alternative (other than the XII staying as is, or adding a couple G5 schools), advocated by some is the SEC and/ or B1G parsing the XII... Then we are stuck with weird division games as Minnesota or Vanderbilt...

Most years in the old SWC & Big8, there were 4 non conference games a year, where most of the schools played (on average) by UT/ OU were each other, another Big8/ SWC school and an opponent from the old WAC or PAC, with the SEC in some years...

The networks screwed the system when using the cable tv market setup to expand into new states, like the SEC adding Mizzou and A&M, the Tigers if they just had to leave would have fit better in the B1G, and aggy pretty much shut themselves out of playing any opponent in the state of Texas... I think I would like to see aggy rotate a non conference opponent in the Lone Star State about every year, most old XII south schools play aggy once every 5 or 6 years... The same with Colorado and Missouri playing a rotation of old Big8 schools in Kansas/ Kansas State/ Iowa State/ Oklahoma/ Oklahoma State every 5 or 6 years as well...

Having a rotating rivalry as: Texas/ Texas Tech/ TCU/ Oklahoma/ Oklahoma State, in years aggy isn't on schedule, schools play Rice/ Houston/ UTEP/ SMU/ Texas State; while Texas vs Arkansas & Oklahoma vs Nebraska is renewed for every year... 

 

 

 

Edited July 22, 2018 by kopp0e

[kopp0e 1135]

1 minute ago, MNLonghornFUKM said:

On 7/20/2018 at 4:41 PM, TKS said:

As an App State fan whose been to the last 100+ home games, it's been interesting seeing the changes on our level. Our attendance is lower than it was 10 years ago, despite moving to FBS.
In moving to FBS, all our games are now on TV, be it ESPN3.com (now ESPN+) or regular TV. In FCS, it was dodgy team-specific internet streams that sometimes didn't work. Now I can watch every game in HD from home.
I have friends who have kids now and the experience is just too expensive between tixs, concessions, parking, walking, dinner, gas, merch, etc, so they pick and choose 2-3 games a year. Hotels fill up quickly since this is a small town, despite $200-$300 price tags. 
I tailgate starting at dawn, no matter the game time, so it's a whole day no matter what. But I live 15 minutes from the stadium. A lot of our fans live 2-3 hours drive away.
Also, in moving to FBS, we left a lot of our regional opponents behind, so we're playing Texas State, Louisiana and teams that our fans have no emotional attachment to.
That being said, I'll take FBS and having 0 percent chance of winning a National Title at this level over competing for the FCS title every year. Although having no TV timeout in FCS was sweet as games could end in under 3 hours.

Read more  

I'm an ndsu fan and still mad App, GSU, old dominion etc bounced from FCS to never be heard from again.

I think North Dakota State should look at joining the FBS, there is a darth of unrepresented area in North Dakota/ South Dakota/ Montana, & even Idaho should have not dropped down to the FCS... It would be better if those schools I just named played football in either the WAC as football members or in the MWC...

[MNLonghornFUKM 8817]

51 minutes ago, kopp0e said:

I think North Dakota State should look at joining the FBS, there is a darth of unrepresented area in North Dakota/ South Dakota/ Montana, & even Idaho should have not dropped down to the FCS... It would be better if those schools I just named played football in either the WAC as football members or in the MWC...

Zero chance unless Carson Wentz donates a stadium from his own pocket. Their current stadium isnt expandable despite the demand and theyre not going to get any federal help.

 

Plus theyre in wasteland part of the country with MPLS/StP being the closest metro about 3.5 hrs away so the market isn't there.

 

It is fun to beat the FBS schools tho, Ive been to all of them since 2010. Looking forward to Oregon in 2020

[kopp0e 1135]

2 minutes ago, MNLonghornFUKM said:

Zero chance unless Carson Wentz donates a stadium from his own pocket. Their current stadium isnt expandable despite the demand and theyre not going to get any federal help.

 

Plus theyre in wasteland part of the country with MPLS/StP being the closest metro about 3.5 hrs away so the market isn't there.

 

It is fun to beat the FBS schools tho, Ive been to all of them since 2010. Looking forward to Oregon in 2020

Hell, some the old XII north schools would probably get out recruited by the Bison, I even remember when the team trotted into Manhattan like Jason Voorhees and macheted the Wildcat defense on the last drive, to pull an "upset" that NDSU expected..! 

 

[Tex Pete 20398]

6 hours ago, joeycovers said:

My ideal situation that has 0 chance of happening. 

Drop to 8 conference games. 

Play ATM every year on turkey day

Why? Fuck them. 

[TKS 66]

20 hours ago, Hook1997 said:

This I don’t get.  If this was me as a fan of them I’d much rather be competitive in FCS then the current situation of just being in a small conference full of ex FCS teams, a conference title is the best you can hope.   Texas State really should of stayed, they weren't close to ready for FBS

We use to play Wofford, The Citadel, Furman and Elon every year. Now we've played Wake Forest and Miami at home and have North Carolina, South Carolina, Marshall, etc on future home schedules. That alone made the FBS move worth it.

In our last full FCS season, the SoCon replaced its Fox Sports regional TV deal with PBS.

While the Sun Belt isn't perfect, we got a seat at the adults table. The FCS playoffs are exciting, but the lack of ambition by 70 percent of the subdivision doesn't make being a big fish there exciting.

The big negative is the lack of regionalism in the conferences, but I feel at our level that could change in the next few years.

Edited July 22, 2018 by TKS

[joeycovers 391]

46 minutes ago, Tex Pete said:

Why? Fuck them. 

Because of that reason. If I were to suggest playing 95% of schools you wouldn’t say fuck them. Fact is we hate em and love nothing more than beating them. What is more entertaining.  Week 1 vs Maryland or week 1 at Fayetteville.  Turkey day vs tt/tcu. Or homecoming vs ATM. I know the answer and that is the reason I love college football. Rivalries 

[Tex Pete 20398]

I love nothing more than not having to deal with them. Win, lose, or draw, they’re annoying retards. Games against them have hardly ever had any conference or national implications.

They’re a historically mediocre team. Fuck them. 

[ChiTownDoc 21154]

13 hours ago, RD3 said:

I know it isn't sexy but if I'm CDC, I meet with the Tech guys and make the Tech game our "end of year rival". I know it isn't TAMU or a sexy opponent but it is probably the school most of us interact the most with (other than TAMU).

Wtf?  The tech guys can contact CDC and beg for that.  You’re Texas.  Why in the fuck do you want to manufacture a rivalry with Tech?  

[RD3 64]

8 hours ago, ChiTownDoc said:

Wtf?  The tech guys can contact CDC and beg for that.  You’re Texas.  Why in the fuck do you want to manufacture a rivalry with Tech?  

Because we are playing Kansas on rivalry weekend this year. Obviously something is broken.

[ChiTownDoc 21154]

2 minutes ago, RD3 said:

Because we are playing Kansas on rivalry weekend this year. Obviously something is broken.

Just because some marketing clowns at ESPN or wherever call something rivalry week doesn’t mean you need to manufacture a rival to play that week.  Let the children play those games.  Just worry about properly buttfucking Kansas.