(11-15-2014 04:24 PM)BoiseStateOfMind Wrote:  

(11-15-2014 02:20 PM)Wedge Wrote:  You still need a stadium crowd (a "live studio audience") to create the best atmosphere for TV.

Now? Yeah, we like to hear crowd noise because that's what we're used to. But 50-100 years from now? I bet people will be so used to watching games from home that they won't even miss the sound of a live audience. I'm not saying I like it, but that's where we're headed for both college and pro sports.

I don't think it'll be that drastic. But, the bigger issue really is the ticket prices and squeezing out the students from the game experience. Having a college acting more and more like a professional program will turn away more fans as well as students who pay fees to subsize the athletic programs.
I think it'll come back around to be a colligate atmosphere but not until more pain is felt.

In regard to stadiums themselves, if the restrooms, concessions and seats are poor then yes, that will keep the crowd from coming but those can also be fixed.

There is still an unmatched experience being in the stadium than watching on TV.

People laughed at my alma mater for keeping stadium size roughly the same in a new build ("Why would you spend $XXX million to build something the same size?") but one of the reasons they did this was precisely because of this trend.

Baylor could've sold out a lot of games in a much bigger venue this year but when you take 50,000ft view and look at future influences on attendance, I think it was wise to build something that they'd be able to consistently fill as opposed to something that maximized capacity only a few times a year when things were going well.

Ticket prices are running off casual/bandwagon fans. Long TV time-outs are boring the in house crowds. 4+ hour games are hurting attendance. Football is now geared to TV, period. That is where the money is now and the future. Only the die-hards will spend $75+/ticket and who knows what for parking and concessions. Those that have really large stadiums will have empty seats in the future. The schools that make the most money will be those that make it on suites and club seats.

I don't think college football is any less popular. I think just the opposite. The way people watch it is what has changed.

(11-17-2014 12:02 PM)Big Frog II Wrote:  Ticket prices are running off casual/bandwagon fans. Long TV time-outs are boring the in house crowds. 4+ hour games are hurting attendance. Football is now geared to TV, period. That is where the money is now and the future. Only the die-hards will spend $75+/ticket and who knows what for parking and concessions. Those that have really large stadiums will have empty seats in the future. The schools that make the most money will be those that make it on suites and club seats.

I don't think college football is any less popular. I think just the opposite. The way people watch it is what has changed.

Ticket sales still pay the bills now, though, rather than waiting for nebulous network payouts months out. That's what's so concerning about Michigan...it's money that's usually a given, then isn't. Television money is so conditional, or, rather, murky to exact, as, IIRC, there is a lot of work and added cost to the schools to get their games ready for the cameras. It's not as simple as hosting and networks doing all of the work.

I agree with the majority of what you said. I believe television's impact is only just a little overstated, because the coverage can suck or be inaccessible, there's costs involved with it, and the games themselves have lost so much importance because of how irrelevant programs become due to the bowl and +1 system in place.

This game, before the CCG and playoff, could have had Rose Bowl implications. No way those seats stay vacant with more riding on the game. Expand the playoffs or return to the old bowl structure, I bet those seats fill, too.

The game's just a mess now. It's a supply without any demand; the schools just don't give a crap what people want, and kowtow to these other stakeholders, like the bowls and networks, who are out for their own existence and nothing more.

I an foresee the day when holographic 3D image technology will allow the person sitting at home to have there 3D holographic image pumped into the stadium along with the sound into the stadium as if they were there, while they watch the game from home. It will be a loop feedback system, people literally will part of the show and they can see themselves, as being such