(06-17-2022 06:26 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  Nice photos, but that actually looks like a pretty good crowd for 42,000 out of 59,000 capacity. Sure, there weren't actually 42,000 butts in the seats, but tickets sold is what matters

That announced crowd of 42,000 was almost certainly tickets distributed (as opposed to actually bought and paid for).

Bowls — particularly mid- and lower-tier ones like the Weedeater — give away tickets like Halloween candy. Need as many butts in the seats as possible for TV and sponsorship purposes, which produces most of the funds to keep these "events" going from year-to-year

A lot of make believe numbers in the world of bowl game attendance, local economic impact and so on.