College Football Attendance

[Cajun 11,740]

^^Spot on.
 

I hate the NFL-lite atmospheres of college football today.  

That is not a problem at the Cotton Bowl.

Edited September 20, 2021 by Cajun

[Johnny Sack 8,397]

I remember telling my aggie friends they were stupid for expanding their stadium to over 100k with all the nonpremium seats they added.  Stadium renos should result in less seats overall but more premium seats (suites, club level, wait service, etc.).  The attendance decline started years ago.

[4th&Five 41,590]

21 hours ago, Aqua Buddha said:

Also, let me add this.  I think these college programs are being very short sighted with the price gouging regarding tickets.  Anyone over 40 remember going to a game with their dad/family and being emotionally attached to that team after that.  You're a lifelong fan.  Now, with the cost of games, it's hard to take your family of 4 or 5 people if you're middle class.  These programs are sacrificing long term fandom at the expense of short term ticket sales.  Get more people in the stadium, sell more concessions while you're at it, and build a fan base.

They get enough TV money as it is.  They need to stop gouging Joe Fan.

So true.  I went to so many $5 Randall's ticket games with my dad and brother growing up.

[hookem48 4,703]

2 hours ago, WhatTheBuck said:

Then why does anyone watch Miami U games? I watched the Michigan State vs. Miami game because I was interested in the game. That was played in front of a half empty stadium, at best (which is often the case at “The U”).

Most of the white out games I’ve watched at PSU have been when the Buckeyes are playing there. (And then when PSU plays in Columbus it’s an afternoon game but that’s a subject for a different thread.) I watch Texas vs. OU because it’s a meeting between top brands, not because of the crowd. Sure, the colors and the bands and the atmosphere are part of what make college football great. And PSU only schedules a white out when it’s a night game against a name brand opponent. But are there really that many viewers who wouldn’t tune into the game if it wasn’t a white out? ‘Oh, Penn State is playing Auburn. Who cares? Wait, what? Oh, it’s a white out? Now I’ve got to see it!’ I don’t think that happens.

 

the white out absolutely made me watch, for a few minutes anyway

[bullet 1,598]

5 hours ago, BurntOrange&White said:

I'm interested to see DKR when we play a SEC schedule next year with the teams that we will be seeing rotated through the schedule. 

Well if we are ever on SEC Network, then you will REALLY see commercial timeouts.  They have to drag out the girl's club lacrosse team and every teacher who got an award in the last month to fill the time during their TV timeouts.

The last minute decisions on start time hurt attendance too. Afternoon games were easy from Houston or Dallas.  But evening you have to plan for.  Its pretty late to be driving back.  And you have to get up pretty early and don't have much tailgate time with those 11 am starts unless you stay the night before.  Its even a bit of a pain if you are trying to coordinate watching with friends at home.  The game time could be anywhere from 12 eastern to about 11 pm eastern before its over, but you don't know until a week or so in advance.

 

[wood 11,265]

1 hour ago, ImissWallyPryor said:

Like we are now? Lol

It’s all about extremes. I can go an entire game along with pregame and post game without looking at my phone. I see many others (mostly blue hairs) doing the same.

It’s more of a female thing, because I see plenty of younger males paying attention to the game on the field. My thoughts as I composed my post above is that colleges THINK they have to create a constant, artificially stimulating atmosphere. Maybe having crappy cell service in the stadium has an upside. 

Yep. I noticed a lady and her extremely hot 20-ish daughter (sorry, no creeper pics) come in just before Rice kickoff. I was tryna check out hot daughter when Mrs. wood (no pics) wasn't looking, but fatass mom was in the way. Literally 90% of the time when I looked over, they both had their heads buried in their phones, scrolling & typing like mad. 

It's a bizarre phenomenon. They spent the considerable time, energy, and money it took to come to the game together, then hardly talked to one another and ignored the game.

[Eskimohorn 5,642]

Yup and out last game against them was something like 1926 I think?
 
Chigariggaree, chiggariggastilt
All to hell with Vanderbilt!
 

I bet Cornelius Vanderbilt was in the stands. Hopefully we rebounded nicely against Fort Sam Houston.

[wood 11,265]

57 minutes ago, utee94 said:

Every year I go to TX-OU in the Cotton Bowl, I'm reminded of what games were like 20+ years ago.  It's so refreshing.

There's still some advertising but not anywhere close to what we get in Austin.  A lot more of the bands, and fans, participating in the game.  It's fantastic and then every time I come back to a game in Austin, I just shake my head at the difference in experience.

 

 

47 minutes ago, Cajun said:

^^Spot on.
 

I hate the NFL-lite atmospheres of college football today.  

That is not a problem at the Cotton Bowl.

Yeah trying to recreate the 'pro spots experience" at a college football game is one of the best examples I've ever seen of completely missing the fucking point of what we're there for.

I was on the fence for years between just going to Texas-ou and the occasional good home game - or getting season tickets & face value (for a change) Texas-ou tickets. After about 30 years since I last had them, I finally broke down and bought season tickets for Texas Football this year, to have something fun to do with the family in this covid era of having so little to do in general. I'm already questioning whether to renew next year, because it's just not that fun now. The two biggest reasons, again, are the constant pro sports barrage of commerciality and so many got damn long-ass stoppages of play.

Maybe next year I'll re-up, hopefully with an SEC move bringing a better home schedule. But if it doesn't get considerably better than this, I'll just go back to just Texas-ou & the big home games.

[Hornius Emeritus 12,488]

It's an un-virtuous circle:  We want the best recruits and wail and gnash our teeth when we don't get them.  Recruits, in turn,  want to play in the best stadiums, have the best locker rooms, the most bling etc...   The best stadium/locker rooms cost big money. Companies and individuals who are willing to give that money frequently do so under the condition that we advertise them all over our stadium. Then we bitch about the advertising that was necessary to get the money to bling out the stadium to get the recruits that we won't get if we don't do all of that.

Glad I don't have to figure it out.

[wood 11,265]

1 minute ago, Hornius Emeritus said:

It's an un-virtuous circle:  We want the best recruits and wail and gnash our teeth when we don't get them.  Recruits, in turn,  want to play in the best stadiums, have the best locker rooms, the most bling etc...   The best stadium/locker rooms cost big money. Companies and individuals who are willing to give that money frequently do so under the condition that we advertise them all over our stadium. Then we bitch about the advertising that was necessary to get the money to bling out the stadium to get the recruits that we won't get if we don't do all of that.

Glad I don't have to figure it out.

I don't think this is all down to recruiting. I'm sure the AD is making big $$$ off this stuff too.

[bad_teammate 13,224]

The answer is for the fans to buy the recruits for the program and then demand a more streamlined game experience for the athletes we just bought. Power to the people... or something.

[Beau Vine 54,428]

15 hours ago, cochamps said:

Yeah, I was at UW for a quarter before the rain started.  Since we only had $22 invested (including fees), we left.  Sparse is the only adjective that applies...

Nice view of Puget Sound though.

 

That was Lake Washington.  

[n64ra 1,089]

On 9/19/2021 at 6:07 AM, Horn Under a Bad Sign said:

On Texags they are talking about how empty the stadium was against New Mexico.  They had an announced attendance of 84,748.  Kyle Field holds more than 100k.

I looked up 2019 aggy. If Wikipedia is to be believed, they started the season with 98k fans against Texas St, 97k against Lamar in week 3, and over 100k for each conference home game. I find it hard to believe fans are less excited in 2021 since they're top 10 with some conference and national championship predictions. Did prices skyrocket in aggyland or is it COVID hangover for over a 13k drop in attendance? Maybe both...

[TrashMaster G 17,599]

On 9/19/2021 at 9:54 AM, Vic Mackey said:

On 9/19/2021 at 7:47 AM, StruggleBus said:

I haven’t been to a college football game since the 2009 Big 12 championship vs Nebraska. And I don’t think I’ll ever go to another one. Even though I love college football I have zero interest in attending the game. Watching at home is superior in almost every way. 

This is how I feel about football in general. It's superior on tv in every way. You miss so much at the game compared to the tv. I haven't attended a game since 2012 and really never plan on going back. Well in terms of college and pro. I still go to high school games here and there.

Lowell Galindo

Tim Brando

Spencer Tillman

Rod Gilmore

 

 

5 hours ago, 27-25 said:

Well, we really owe Vanderbilt.  3-8 (IIRC) record against them needs to be addressed.

Our move to the SEC is really all about fixing this historical black eye.

[wood 11,265]

42 minutes ago, TrashMaster G said:

Lowell Galindo

Tim Brando

Spencer Tillman

Rod Gilmore

They definitely suck, but the counterpoint is: Bob Cole.

[WhatTheBuck 28,798]

5 hours ago, ImissWallyPryor said:

If you are referring to potential future fanatics who are being introduced to the stadium games for the first time, I agree. Some will never get the bug, but some will, and that’s who you’re after.

I have three daughters. One who couldn’t care less, one who could pose as a Surly expert, and one somewhere in between because she can at least name the head coach and key players. 

I’m talking about people from students to adults who are there for the experience, who don’t know anything about the opposing team, who don’t know a cupcake from a conference rival outside of the big one or two, who don’t watch SportsCenter, who don’t read message boards, who are just there to see a game. It’s a thing to do.

[Horn Dogg 3,965]

5 hours ago, ImissWallyPryor said:

If you are referring to potential future fanatics who are being introduced to the stadium games for the first time, I agree. Some will never get the bug, but some will, and that’s who you’re after.

I have three daughters. One who couldn’t care less, one who could pose as a Surly expert, and one somewhere in between because she can at least name the head coach and key players. 

This probably goes without saying, but I recommend keeping your daughter away from Surly!

[Deej 76,919]

6 minutes ago, Horn Dogg said:

This probably goes without saying, but I recommend keeping your daughter away from Surly!

[bullet 1,598]

4 hours ago, wood said:

Yep. I noticed a lady and her extremely hot 20-ish daughter (sorry, no creeper pics) come in just before Rice kickoff. I was tryna check out hot daughter when Mrs. wood (no pics) wasn't looking, but fatass mom was in the way. Literally 90% of the time when I looked over, they both had their heads buried in their phones, scrolling & typing like mad. 

It's a bizarre phenomenon. They spent the considerable time, energy, and money it took to come to the game together, then hardly talked to one another and ignored the game.

Have you been in a restaurant lately?  Groups of young people often look like they were randomly put at the table together.  Glued to their phones.

[WhatTheBuck 28,798]

4 hours ago, hookem48 said:

the white out absolutely made me watch, for a few minutes anyway

If you only tuned in for a few minutes because of the white out and not because it was a meeting between two name brand teams in a game that could have potential playoff implications then I would argue that you are just a casual football fan. 

[bullet 1,598]

2 minutes ago, bullet said:

Have you been in a restaurant lately?  Groups of young people often look like they were randomly put at the table together.  Glued to their phones.

For that matter, sometimes at dinner with spouse and two teenage kids and I'm the only one not looking at a phone.

[notre dame joe 196]

On 9/19/2021 at 8:18 AM, 956 Worldwide said:

Attending a game at a big school in person is absolutely not in the same universe as sitting on your couch. If you can’t get into the energy of a stadium when it’s rocking, I don’t know what to say. We just like the game for completely different reasons.

That said, turning the whole thing into a “game day experience” is a beating. Sitting through TV timeouts in a stadium sucks. DJs suck. Endless advertisements on the Jumbotron suck especially when the band has to shut up so the sponsor gets their time. And yeah, it’s expensive.  As someone up thread said, bilking every dollar you can now means that ordinary people won’t turn their kids into lifetime fans because going to games is just what you “do.”

The thing that used to be great about college football is that it combined the local earnestness and lack of polish of a high school game with massive crowds. As the sport gets more “professionalized” that includes turning game day into a pro-type spectacle where your job is to watch and consume, not participate. 

Its like going to a strip mall that tells you it's a 'community '

[notre dame joe 196]

3 hours ago, Hornius Emeritus said:

It's an un-virtuous circle:  We want the best recruits and wail and gnash our teeth when we don't get them.  Recruits, in turn,  want to play in the best stadiums, have the best locker rooms, the most bling etc...   The best stadium/locker rooms cost big money. Companies and individuals who are willing to give that money frequently do so under the condition that we advertise them all over our stadium. Then we bitch about the advertising that was necessary to get the money to bling out the stadium to get the recruits that we won't get if we don't do all of that.

Glad I don't have to figure it out.

Can you figure out if there is any evidence that recruits go to the newest stadia??  Horse vs Cart.  It sounds like something the athletic department says to justify the expense.

 

[Lat22 4,017]

4 hours ago, bullet said:

Well if we are ever on SEC Network, then you will REALLY see commercial timeouts.  They have to drag out the girl's club lacrosse team and every teacher who got an award in the last month to fill the time during their TV timeouts.

I don’t think I’ve missed a Texas game live (in person or on TV) since the early 80s. Wait, Clark got married during the 1995 Tech game so I wore a wire. But I digress. The TV timeouts during the Rice game were the worst I’ve ever seen. I was wondering if the TV timeout guy on the field was holding a timer. If so, I bet it started at 5 minutes on some of them. Hell, they went so long one time that we missed Casey’s INT. There’s no way an SEC network game could be worse than ours the other night. 

[Underdog 28,773]

9 hours ago, utee94 said:

Joke's gonna be on all of us when we replace Kansas, Baylor, TCU, and KSU with Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Miss State, and South Carolina. 

 

Tap the brakes, big boy.  3-0 and beating Bama in the SECCG this season...  book it. 

[hookem48 4,703]

39 minutes ago, WhatTheBuck said:

If you only tuned in for a few minutes because of the white out and not because it was a meeting between two name brand teams in a game that could have potential playoff implications then I would argue that you are just a casual football fan. 

Penn State or Auburn ain't making the playoffs, only a casual fan could believe that.

Edited September 20, 2021 by hookem48

[Underdog 28,773]

 

7 hours ago, Vertigo said:

That will be an orange out game. Night game. Storm the field. 

Fuck with them and wear UTenn orange. 

[wood 11,265]

1 hour ago, bullet said:

Have you been in a restaurant lately?  Groups of young people often look like they were randomly put at the table together.  Glued to their phones.

Yep, texting each other while sitting at the same table.

The worst is when you see families like that, or little ones totally checked out on the ipad while Mom & Dad completely ignore them. Fucking hell ...

Edited September 20, 2021 by wood

[BurntOrange&White 40,008]

9 minutes ago, wood said:

Yep, texting each other while sitting at the same table.

The worst is when you see families like that, or little ones totally checked out on the ipad while Mom & Dad completely ignore them. Fucking hell ...

Tbh if I see a family at a restaurant I’d rather have their kid focused on an iPad instead of screaming and crying 

[WhatTheBuck 28,798]

2 hours ago, hookem48 said:

Penn State or Auburn ain't making the playoffs, only a casual fan could believe that.

At the moment I’d put Penn State’s chances of making the playoff higher than those of Ohio State or Texas.

[4th&Five 41,590]

Are those the only choices?

[bullet 1,598]

4 hours ago, Underdog said:

 

Fuck with them and wear UTenn orange. 

They wear gray a lot and it looks blue on TV.

Don't know what the deal is with gray.  UGA cheerleaders wear gray uniforms.

[ImissWallyPryor 9,046]

5 hours ago, BurntOrange&White said:

Tbh if I see a family at a restaurant I’d rather have their kid focused on an iPad instead of screaming and crying 

I don’t think he was talking about toddlers when he said little ones. 

Edited September 21, 2021 by ImissWallyPryor
But who knows?

[dec3169 504]

On 9/19/2021 at 2:26 PM, Armybrat said:

Beers in the new Las Vegas Raiders stadium are $13.

What dumbass thought anything with the number 13 would be a good idea in Vegas?  I bet if they changed the price to $12 they would actually double their beer revenue.  Hell - make the hot dogs $7 and people will buy 3 thinking they'll hit 7s in their casino hotel later.

[kopp0e 1,135]

ACC & PAC have an "attitude" problem long term..? How to fix whole coast (other than Clemson/ Oregon & Florida State/ USC who are "meh" on football..?
I wouldn't be too surprised if in 2024 we look up & USC is indy/ Colorado joins B1G with Kansas, and suddenly PAC is behind both ACC & XII in relevance...

 

[Underdog 28,773]

4 hours ago, dec3169 said:

What dumbass thought anything with the number 13 would be a good idea in Vegas? 

 

[Your Mom 4,852]

Just chiming in that my teenage son bought 2 tickets to Rice for $20 each.  Not some last-minute scalping deal either; he bought them right after the LA game.  Section 1, so not great but not upper deck either.  Say what you want about corner endzone seats but having 25% of the touchdowns happen right in front of you doesn't suck.  He and a buddy were perfectly content to grab a Coke and enjoy the game.  They were both in for about $30 total.  You can catch a game like this any year.  I've taken my kids to a cheap game just about every year.  I'll splurge for a big game, OU, Rose Bowl, etc... but there are absolutely cheap ways to watch a game or two each season.  

Years ago, I was a season ticket holder.  I have no desire to attend more than about 1 game a year now.  Too many people.  There's really no kind of event where I want to spend that much time that close to that many people.  It's still fun, but only about once a year.  A whole season's worth would be a beating even if they were all $20 a ticket.

[n64ra 1,089]

6 hours ago, kopp0e said:

ACC & PAC have an "attitude" problem long term..? How to fix whole coast (other than Clemson/ Oregon & Florida State/ USC who are "meh" on football..?
I wouldn't be too surprised if in 2024 we look up & USC is indy/ Colorado joins B1G with Kansas, and suddenly PAC is behind both ACC & XII in relevance...

 

Maybe if they had stayed in the Big 12, they'd be an conference with OU, NU, and UT. If those three left later, the Pac-X would still take CU.

[Hermanator 7,172]

On 9/19/2021 at 8:25 PM, JimmyJames said:

Bring in a flask?

My go to for a few years now is I have 3 of those plastic tiny airline type liquor bottles that I fill with an aged rum, a bourbon, or a smokey scotch to take into the game in my pockets. I go to the concessions and buy a Sprite or coke then load it up and I'm good to go. Minimal cost and much better. 

[Guest]

On 9/20/2021 at 11:28 AM, Cajun said:

^^Spot on.
 

I hate the NFL-lite atmospheres of college football today.  

That is not a problem at the Cotton Bowl.

Agreed. That’s what I hate about college games at Jerryworld or NRG.  Yeah, they’re nice, but it does not feel like a college game.

[WhatTheBuck 28,798]

1 hour ago, Hermanator said:

My go to for a few years now is I have 3 of those plastic tiny airline type liquor bottles that I fill with an aged rum, a bourbon, or a smokey scotch to take into the game in my pockets. I go to the concessions and buy a Sprite or coke then load it up and I'm good to go. Minimal cost and much better. 

I guess that’s the more environmentally friendly approach. I used to buy a few mini bottles of Jim Beam to smuggle in and add to my soda. Then I’d just throw them in the trash on my way out of the stadium.

Gosh, the last time I did that was probably 20 years ago. Good times.

[Guest]

On 9/19/2021 at 7:47 AM, StruggleBus said:

I haven’t been to a college football game since the 2009 Big 12 championship vs Nebraska. And I don’t think I’ll ever go to another one. Even though I love college football I have zero interest in attending the game. Watching at home is superior in almost every way. 

Tv superiority Exception: Army- Navy in person.  Some of it doesn’t translate to TV, or you just don’t feel it as much.

[Vic Mackey 47,151]

4 hours ago, n64ra said:

Maybe if they had stayed in the Big 12, they'd be an conference with OU, NU, and UT. If those three left later, the Pac-X would still take CU.

It's almost like switching the conference you were in forever and going to a conference with zero rivalries was not the best idea. See Nebraska. Both of those schools had their entire foundation stripped. Both of their rivals were in the Big 8/12. Both stepped away from it and for sure regret it.

[Guest]

On 9/19/2021 at 10:28 AM, Cairn Horn88 said:

All teams seem to be “fine” when The Texas Longhorns come into pay a visit.  That was Arky’s first sellout in 5 years.

It didn’t protect Tech from yet another 11:00 am kick off.  They are bullshit. It affects gameday experience for sure.

[Guest]

21 hours ago, WhatTheBuck said:

If you only tuned in for a few minutes because of the white out and not because it was a meeting between two name brand teams in a game that could have potential playoff implications then I would argue that you are just a casual football fan. 

What if I didn’t watch it at all because…

Fuck Penn State forever?

[notre dame joe 196]

4 hours ago, Hermanator said:

My go to for a few years now is I have 3 of those plastic tiny airline type liquor bottles that I fill with an aged rum, a bourbon, or a smokey scotch to take into the game in my pockets. I go to the concessions and buy a Sprite or coke then load it up and I'm good to go. Minimal cost and much better. 

I guess FAA regulations do not apply to football games.  Still does anyone know if the stewardess will actually cuff you if you mix your own?

[Cajun 11,740]

^^Oh, and uh, Dude.  

The preferred nomenclature is "sky waitress", please.

[Hermanator 7,172]

8 hours ago, WhatTheBuck said:

I guess that’s the more environmentally friendly approach. I used to buy a few mini bottles of Jim Beam to smuggle in and add to my soda. Then I’d just throw them in the trash on my way out of the stadium.

Gosh, the last time I did that was probably 20 years ago. Good times.

Only reason I reuse them is because the liquor I want doesn't come in tiny bottles. Only the most popular generic brands. There's no Diplomatico reserva, Wild Turkey Rare Breed, or Lagavulin 8/16 sold in small bottles

[Bernard 879]

On 9/20/2021 at 11:28 AM, Cajun said:

 

I hate the NFL-lite atmospheres of college football today. 

Don’t kid yourself. The BS at DKR-TMS has surpassed the NFL already. Jacksonville @ Texans last weekend was a FAR SUPERIOR game day experience than ULA-LA or Rice @ Texas.

Bernard

Edited September 22, 2021 by Bernard

[WhatTheBuck 28,798]

1 hour ago, Hermanator said:

Only reason I reuse them is because the liquor I want doesn't come in tiny bottles. Only the most popular generic brands. There's no Diplomatico reserva, Wild Turkey Rare Breed, or Lagavulin 8/16 sold in small bottles

This isn’t really relevant but a friend and I attended the OSU-Michigan game in 2000. I snuck in some mini bottles of Jim Beam and shared them with him. It was a cold day in late November. I had my drink sitting on the ground. The Buckeyes scored first and my friend went crazy, tried to hug me, and kicked over my drink. Fucking spaz. Being the John Cooper years, of course, the Bucks went on to lose 38-26. And I had to sit there with that spilled drink under my feet the whole time.

That was the last time Michigan beat Ohio State in Columbus. And as far as I know that was the last game my friend attended. He still goes down to campus to party every football Saturday but he’s not really interested in attending or even watching the games other than casually at a tailgate.

I think the last time I took mini bottles of Beam into the stadium was for the “Celebration at the ‘Shoe” after the Bucks beat Miami in the Fiesta Bowl to win the national championship after the 2002 season. It was bitterly cold. I don’t think it’s ever been that cold in Columbus since. I went and bought a sweatshirt just to sit on because the aluminum bleacher was sucking the heat out of me. I set my plastic bottle of Diet Coke on the ground and it only took a few minutes for it to turn to slush. The Jim Beam solved that problem.

I’m pretty sure that was the last time I brought my own liquor into the stadium.