Report shows an almost 8% drop in college football attendance over the last 4 years

[pwaldo]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...-protests.html

According to The Wall Street Journal, Division I college football has seen a 7.6 percent decline in attendance over the last four years, but things might actually be worse than that.

Going by the number of scanned tickets at home games - and not just the number of tickets sold or given away - actual attendance numbers accounted for just 71 percent of the official announced attendance marks, meaning 29 percent of tickets 'sold' did not get used.

[Crosscheck]

I was watching the Georgia-South Carolina game yesterday and noticed a handful of empty seats and found it hard to believe a game of that magnitude would not be sold out. Or at least what it was hyped up to be.

I do not know if it’s an issue of ticket prices being more than the average working Joe can afford. It’s been 8 years since I have been to a Division 1 game so I don’t know what present day ticket prices are like. I would assume that plays into it to some extent. The crazy salaries coaches get paid these days I’m sure drives ticket prices up.

As as far as unused tickets that are sold or given away I have no answer for. Someone wants to give me tickets to see anybody play I’m going to do everything I can with In reason to use them, no matter what two teams it is playing. If not I’ll turn them down.Sure things like sickness or other life emergencies happen. Maybe people coming from out of town miss a flight or have car trouble ect. I saw a pickup yesterday with California tags and a UCLA flag taking one of the popular backroads into Norman about 50 minuets before kickoff. On a normal traffic day from where I saw them to the stadium is right about a 35 minuet drive plus there is increased traffic, parking and the long walk to the stadium. I’m sure something somewhere along the way slowed those people down.

[pwaldo]

There was a discussion on the hockey side of the forum for the start of their last season because attendance was down. Well down. It picked up but the discussion was about the reason why people in Canada and the US weren't going to hockey games. To keep the story short the easiest answer is that EVERYTHING is down. NCAA, NFL, NBA, MLB, UFC, NASCAR, WWE, etc. If you combine in the tours that bands/singers are doing that are getting cancelled because nobody is buying tickets the issue really seems to be that going to a game or event isn't the hot ticket anymore. Why we couldn't come up with a single reason but the ideas that were tossed around included the reasons being it was the cost, terrorism, people would rather watch it on TV, busy doing other things, too many sports/events, etc

Football both college and professional was seen as the unstoppable force in all this and now with them both basically seeing softening attendance it is well past the time for the canary in the coal mine talk to be happening and it is more of a growing trend that doesn't look like it is going to stop. The bubble on these things burst awhile back and nobody really seems to be talking about it in the media but it is real and probably not good for the future of some of these smaller sports and leagues.

[bakemeister52]

Cost of tickets and more wide coverage of football teams is what a lot of people are doing. There are still the diehards who will go. How about the tailgaters who don't pay for the tickets but do it outside the stadium.

[jplcom]

If I can watch at home on a big TV with comfy seating, sensibly priced food, and no lines for the rest room, I'd be hard pressed to pay $$$ for the privilege to give all that up.

[Crosscheck]

If I can watch at home on a big TV with comfy seating, sensibly priced food, and no lines for the rest room, I'd be hard pressed to pay $$$ for the privilege to give all that up.

I won’t say your wrong. That was always my dad’s stance and there is a lot of truth to that stated. However to me the game day experience is worth the money if I can fit it in my budget. I love being able to take in the game in person. The sights the sounds the speed of the game is different in person which makes it that much better. In 2010 I sat 6 rows up from the field and watched the TCU defense bury RGIII in the ground snap after snap. you could see the emotions come out of him live and in person from up close. That was worth every dime I spent.

in 1995 I was at the Texas Tech-Texas A&M game where Zach Thomas made a game winning pick 6 in the closing seconds. That stadium exploded and it was an experience I’ll never forget. I’m not a tech fan by any means but man when that stadium went crazy it an awesome experience. Especially for me since Zach Thomas and I graduated from the same high school. That was a moment in life worth every cent.

[*censored*]

Cost is the biggest thing for me.

And not just tickets either: for me parking is THE absolute killer. Arlington has no public transit to the Cowboys and Rangers stadia, and you're damn right they take advantage of that! Rangers want $15-20 to park. Cowboys are $25-75. Luckily I live close to those two and could Uber if I felt like going. Which I typically don't: at $15+ to sit in the nosebleeds for a 62-83 team, and whatever ungodly exorbitant amount the Cowboys want, I'll pass.

I'd figure college-- at least top-level D1 programs-- are similar. Ohio State plays TCU right in my backyard this weekend and I won't go. Is it supposed to be some sort of "privilege" to be there at the game, watching from a distance where a flea-flicker looks like actual fleas? I could keep my money, have whatever food and drink I want, a comfortable chair, with my wife and some of our friends, and a better view than anything they could provide being there in-person, and at a significantly lower cost.