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College Football has largest attendance drop in 34 years
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RUScarlets Offline
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Post: #41
RE: College Football has largest attendance drop in 34 years
(02-13-2018 03:01 PM)The Cutter of Bish Wrote:  So, an inherently flawed playoff structure only rewards four teams, and, basically, only four teams from major conferences.

There is no incentive to go to games if you have half of FBS basically kept at bay from the championship, and, if you are a major, the season may end after just one loss, but definitely two.

Yeah, no crap attendance is dropping.

But, really...I think a more explainable version is how college games are not committing to kickoff times as early as they used to, with TBD ruling the day for some programs. That is just extremely hard to have to navigate no matter what level of fan you are. Fatigued. The pro's have essentially three options on any given Sunday, and, really, it's very coordinated (and only two teams play on Sunday nights). In CFB, you may be 12, 3:30, 7-8, or that 10/10:30. Give the fans a break. Especially certain schools who almost never seem to go back to early games if they're top teams as the season rolls on. Heck, be even remotely in the playoff discussion, and kiss those noon kickoff's goodbye...and that's brutal to fans who have to go to college (note, not pro) stadiums and endure the wait.

Playoff has nothing to do with it. Schools are jacking up costs to cover these huge travel expenses with Bowl games and larger conferences. Also, the student body doesn't stay behind in these large Big 10 or Pac 12 schools. They move to the cities or urban areas and are as far removed from their school as can be. Generational fans can't afford these season tickets any longer. It's becoming more like professional league pricing with these glorified conferences and stadium upgrades.
(This post was last modified: 02-14-2018 12:07 PM by RUScarlets.)
02-14-2018 12:06 PM
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Wedge Offline
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Post: #42
RE: College Football has largest attendance drop in 34 years
(02-14-2018 10:02 AM)bullet Wrote:  
(02-13-2018 05:17 PM)goodknightfl Wrote:  The younger generations don't go to live events, they live on and through their phones. as those 55 and older die so will the crowd size. That is why the NFL has been shrinking stadium size when they rebuild
No, they shrink stadium size because they can raise ticket prices. They want to reduce supply.

I think the NFL teams' primary reason for reducing capacity is one that would also motivate a lot of college football teams: They want to sell more season tickets. When fans watch games on TV and see a lot of empty seats, and/or we notice all the ways the TV cameras try to avoid showing the empty seats, fans think, There's a few games I want to go to, but no need to buy a season ticket, or any tickets in advance, because there will always be tickets available on game day.
02-14-2018 12:13 PM
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Post: #43
RE: College Football has largest attendance drop in 34 years
(02-14-2018 12:13 PM)Wedge Wrote:  
(02-14-2018 10:02 AM)bullet Wrote:  
(02-13-2018 05:17 PM)goodknightfl Wrote:  The younger generations don't go to live events, they live on and through their phones. as those 55 and older die so will the crowd size. That is why the NFL has been shrinking stadium size when they rebuild
No, they shrink stadium size because they can raise ticket prices. They want to reduce supply.

I think the NFL teams' primary reason for reducing capacity is one that would also motivate a lot of college football teams: They want to sell more season tickets. When fans watch games on TV and see a lot of empty seats, and/or we notice all the ways the TV cameras try to avoid showing the empty seats, fans think, There's a few games I want to go to, but no need to buy a season ticket, or any tickets in advance, because there will always be tickets available on game day.

It's not so much that anyone wants to reduce capacity per se, but rather that it's much more profitable to put in a suite for 10 people that goes to a corporate account, sponsor and/or big dollar donor than to have 100 "regular" seats in the same area. As others have noted, the biggest competition that sports teams have is the living rooms of their own fans: when watching a game on TV is a more optimal experience than watching it in a stadium, then it's natural that attendance decreases. In essence, those suites are bringing the creature comforts of home to a live stadium event. It used to be enough to "just be in the building" for a lot of fans, but that's simply not true anymore. The stadium/arena experience needs to provide a much greater value proposition to justify the additional cost compared to watching the game on TV. I certainly know that my own internal personal cost/benefit analysis now is that I need to be able to take in more from a game from a seat in a stadium compared to watching it on TV or else it's not worth the time and expense. I'd rather pay for a premium experience at 1 or 2 games per year than have season tickets in cheaper seats for the entire year (but that's just me).

FWIW, I don't think the postseason system of college football has anything to do with any attendance drop. You could point out attendance drops anywhere in sports - the NFL, NBA, MLB, college basketball, etc. - and it generally boils down to the high quality and accessible TV experience is what's keeping them at home. Most critics of the college football playoff generally love the more egalitarian nature of the NCAA Tournament... but college basketball attendance issues are far worse than college football attendance issues.

To be sure, sports teams (whether college or pro) all need to make a calculation about whether to take in more TV revenue versus the potential or real loss of attendance. The advantage of TV revenue is that it provides "bird in hand" dollars that doesn't depend upon performance, so it's not surprising that it's the priority. Plus, focusing on TV and mobile is more realistic for younger fans - that's where the audience is going (and has been going for a very long time).
(This post was last modified: 02-14-2018 12:58 PM by Frank the Tank.)
02-14-2018 12:57 PM
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The Cutter of Bish Offline
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Post: #44
RE: College Football has largest attendance drop in 34 years
(02-14-2018 11:50 AM)Attackcoog Wrote:  
(02-14-2018 11:24 AM)billybobby777 Wrote:  The reasons are: Television

1.TV—why watch the game at the game when you can watch it on tv?

2. TV—have you seen how nice the tv’s are now?

3. TV—have you seen how cheap the tv’s are now?

4. TV—have you seen the times of day/night that the games are being forced to start at lately? Average families can’t go to a college football game late Sat night.

5. TV—have you seen the days of the week the games are being played on now? Every MAC game after September being played on Tuesday and Wednesday nights? Stupid.
Almost every college team has Thursday and Friday night games now because of, drumroll please....you guessed it! TV!

The chasing of television $ from ESPN has damn near ruined college football. It’ll get worse. Much worse.

We had to play a game this year in September at 11am. Few things are more miserable than sitting in the Houston sun and humidity on a balmy September afternoon. HD TV with free beer in an air conditioned living room is going to sound like a solid alternative to many fans. It is what it is. Start times make a huge difference. Put that same game at 7pm and you'll have a rollicking good time in a full stadium on comfortable summer like night. That rollicking nightime in stadium experience can offer something you cant find in your living room. You have to give the fans reasons to show up.

Oppressive heat was one of the defenses offered by TCU fans by that infamous empty stadium shot when they played Kansas a few years ago. It didn't help that R3 and the state fair was the same day, but at a different time, iirc? Again, don't put that game at noon/11, and maybe you get more people willing to come out for that.

To me, though, more television in the experience becomes a good thing if we start going back to more variety in kick-off times. Like, maybe the CTZ can actually kick off at noon instead of 11 for us shlubs along the Atlantic. Stagger games like it used to be. Play the games for the people who are there, not the hypothetical ones who could be watching.
02-14-2018 01:47 PM
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quo vadis Offline
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Post: #45
RE: College Football has largest attendance drop in 34 years
(02-14-2018 05:58 AM)The Cutter of Bish Wrote:  
(02-13-2018 09:49 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  
(02-13-2018 03:01 PM)The Cutter of Bish Wrote:  So, an inherently flawed playoff structure only rewards four teams, and, basically, only four teams from major conferences.

There is no incentive to go to games if you have half of FBS basically kept at bay from the championship, and, if you are a major, the season may end after just one loss, but definitely two.

Problem with this theory is the CFP gives the G5 schools more access and exposure than any previous system.

Your snipped section on kickoff times resonated more.

You're not wrong. I think it's perception. The marketing hasn't exactly helped. The BCS bowls were a cluster that included the championship; these were the favored/legacy bowls. The playoff is about four teams. The NY6 may be every non-title BCS bowl...they aren't marketed that way.

With respect to G5 access, it's still just one spot. Only now, yes, it's guaranteed, but, again, it's this also-ran NY6 "prize." I'd counter that the committee is kind of like protection to the playoff that the BCS didn't have repelling non-majors from those games. Utah and Boise could have been snubbed a BCS title appearance, but not a BCS game. The committee can definitely determine access by rank, practically picking and choosing who goes where.

The whole thing is convoluted, and, I'd wager there's fatigue and apathy over that, too. CFB doesn't feel genuine the way other sports are. Someone referenced professional wrestling in another post or thread...yeah, that's not an operation CFB should want to be near. Lecture us or bowl us over with stats all one wants on the major/non-major schism in college football, and its traditions, legacies, "business practices," etc.; still looks and feels a bit rigged and inauthentic.

And from a sheer competitive standpoint, nothing looks right about undefeated teams sitting out of any playoff.

The thing is though, that's college football. It wasn't any less convoluted 50 years ago when the AP and UPI and NFF were voting for their champions and the four major bowls were cutting all kinds of last-minute deals with teams to fill their slots. Plenty of unbeaten teams from lesser conferences got left out then, too.

IMO, one can't reasonably tie a decline in attendance to the nature of the current system, when (a) the current system is friendlier to the G5 then prior systems, and (b) attendance has been down significantly in the P5 the past 5 years. Heck, the SEC had the biggest attendance drop of any conference last year, and the P5 in general and the SEC in particular are supposedly the biggest beneficiaries of the "exclusionary" nature of the the current setup.

So we have to look to other things, like what younger kids are interested in, the impact of streaming games, rising prices for parking/seat licenses/tickets, and the ability to tailgate outside the stadium and watch on a TV in your RV, etc. is having.

The latter is one thing I've noticed: Twenty years ago, when I went to an LSU game, the parking lots would be packed with tailgaters, but about 45 minutes before kickoff they would start to stream in to the stadium, and by kickoff the parking lots were empty of people.

Now, the last few years when i've gone, the parking lots are as packed with tailgaters as ever before the game, but then something weird happens - while most head in to the stadium to make kickoff, a sizable portion don't, and watch the game from a TV setup in the lot. And these aren't rinky-dink setups, you see 55" hi-def TVs connected to big power generators under tents, with people in lawn chairs munching on all kinds of goodies while watching. It's the same viewing experience as at home. There's a "tailgating community" that remains in the lots during the entire game.
(This post was last modified: 02-14-2018 02:19 PM by quo vadis.)
02-14-2018 02:16 PM
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HoustonCajun Offline
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Post: #46
RE: College Football has largest attendance drop in 34 years
(02-13-2018 03:17 PM)CliftonAve Wrote:  ^ Both mentions in the posts above are factors:

- The G5 and middle to lower tier P5 games have been rendered meaningless. Life is great for the likes of Ohio State, Alabama, Clemson, et al. but for the rest of us that follow other schools the casual fans are staying home more often unless it is a special occasion.

- Technology is certainly a factor. Its just too easy and affordable to sit on the recline and watch the game on the big screen TV, where you have access to multiple cameras, instant replay, ability to slow footage and show close-ups. Moreover, we live in a society that is permanently affixed to their hand held devices and in a lot of stadiums getting access to Wi-Fi is fruitless.

- Pricing. Buying season tickets are expensive. As are concessions. Why pay all that money when you can sit on your recliner, watch the game on TV with all the angles and consume your food and beverage you buy at the store?

- Time. Going to a football game is an all day experience, even if you live in the city where your school resides. At the minimum it is a 4 hour commitment--- it is 6-7 or more if you tailgate and/or go out afterward.

A couple of other reasons for lower attendance, particularly G5 schools:

1. Conferences are not compact geographically, so fans have to travel farther to attend away games. Many are not doing that. Ex. CUSA teams go from West VA to Florida to El Paso, TX. Move to more geographical conferences where fans can actually drive to most games, local fans can better relate to their conference mates and true rivalries can be made, and attendance will increase.
2. Quit playing games on Tuesday and Thursday nights. Those are killers for attendance and oversaturate the college football market. Stick to Saturday only games. Let High Schools play on Thursday and Friday nights and the NFL on Sundays.
02-14-2018 02:43 PM
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Post: #47
College Football has largest attendance drop in 34 years
It is more profitable to have 5000 fewer seats than you need than to have 5000 to many.
Excess capacity hurts season ticket sales.


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02-14-2018 03:05 PM
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quo vadis Offline
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Post: #48
RE: College Football has largest attendance drop in 34 years
(02-13-2018 04:40 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  Football sold its soul to TV. The live experience is suffering due to less than optimum start times and long pauses for TV timeouts and reviews (for instance, most stadium dont allow the stadium audience to see the same replays that the guys at home get to see). To make matters worse, the costs involved in attending a game have exploded as AD's have worked to squeeze more and more dollars out of fewer and fewer donors.

My guess is you going to have to make some serious changes to reverse the decline. Until your catering to the ticket buying fan in the same way we currently cater to television, I would expect the declne to continue (and likely accelerate as the current generation of fans appear to be less intensely connected to the programs as the previous generations).

There's plenty of catering to the buying fan. All kinds of suites and other amenities are for sale, when i was young a 'seat' was a 18" space on a cold (or in Florida, hot) metal bleacher with a number in the middle for my arse-crack and a bag of peanuts.

I'd probably care more about start times and the like if i was a fan of sports like baseball or hoops, where there are tons of games. But football? You get 6-7 games per year, so each is an 'event'.

I can accommodate my schedule to an event.
(This post was last modified: 03-22-2018 06:29 PM by quo vadis.)
03-22-2018 06:28 PM
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solohawks Offline
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Post: #49
RE: College Football has largest attendance drop in 34 years
Ultimately it comes down to money. It's just too expensive to take a family to a game.
03-22-2018 07:04 PM
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sierrajip Offline
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Post: #50
RE: College Football has largest attendance drop in 34 years
Job mobility with travel costsand 1000in TVs, I can see the reduction.
03-22-2018 09:19 PM
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