Posted on 02/15/2018 10:40:52 AM PST by Colonel Kangaroo
Major-college football experienced its largest per-game attendance drop in 34 years and second-largest ever, according to recently released NCAA figures.
Attendance among the 129 Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams in 2017 was down an average of 1,409 fans per game from 2016. That marked the largest drop since 1983 when average attendance declined 1,527 fans per game from 1982.
The 2017 FBS average of 42,203 fans per game is the lowest since 1997.
That average attendance drop marked the second-sharpest decline since the NCAA began keeping track of college football attendance in 1948. For the first time in history, average attendance declined nationally for four consecutive seasons.
Even the most rabid league in the country saw a dip. In 2017, the SEC experienced its sharpest per-game decline -- down an average 2,433 fans -- since 1992. That figure led the Power Five in fans lost per game in 2017.
While the SEC led all FBS conferences in average attendance for the 20th consecutive year, its average attendance (75,074) was the lowest since 2005. The SEC has slipped an average of 2,926 fans per game (3.7 percent) since a record 78,630 average in 2015.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbssports.com ...
Both college and pro, the sport might have seen its best days.
You may be right. I don’t expect the NFL numbers will come back for years to come. I am surprised at the drop on the college side, however. Many schools are building new, larger stadiums to allow for larger attendance figures at the big games. We shall see...
However:
- Roll Tide -
You play COD online? I might have seen you. Sometimes I go by axelroseslash’.
It's all about the money...
College is much more exciting. I just wish the tue-thu night games were better picked as far as teams. It’s big business now. Players getting ripped off unless you count a free education in ethnic studies as valuable.
I dont watch college football until my Ole Miss plays. Other than that, dont care about it.
Besides, I boycotted the Super Bowl and didnt watch a second of it.
Heh. Naw. I’ve played it offline, but I don’t have the time to play it online.
I said that as a hint at why attendance is down. People have a lot of other things competing with their time now.
I used to play in classic rock bands at bars, etc. It was huge in the 60’s and 70’s. It’s nothing now. Its time passed, and a lot of the reason is that the potential customers are at home playing video games or watching movies, etc. There is just too much stuff competing for our time nowadays.
College football attendance has quietly been declining for a number of years.
Students are less interested, tickets and parking are much more expensive and jacked sky high for bigger games, and there’s much less tolerance for tailgating.
College being dragged down by pros.
I am surprised at the drop on the college side, however.
...
Perhaps it’s spillover from disgust over the NFL.
Both have the same problem - TV has been a Faustian bargain, as the devil demands more and more time to air ads.
But whereas the pros have players to pay, colleges have very few payees, mostly coaches and ADs. And, of course, all the Title IX harpies. Because they remain convinced that someone, somewhere wants to watch women’s crew.
Stretching games to 4+ hours at the college level is madness. It taxes the attention of even the most rabid fan and the ADHD crowd (read: students who would rather get high and stay in the dorms and apartments) simply aren’t going.
Throw in the cost of tickets, ‘donations’ for tickets, ‘donations’ for parking passes and college games can easily exceed the outlay for pro.
College football used to be part of a greater Saturday schedule. Now it demands that attendees give up fully half their weekends for it - sometimes the entire weekend in the case of road games.
In sum, they’ve killed their own fatted calf.
I’m sure someone else has touched on this prior to this post, but I believe the pros have essentially killed “the sport of” football’s golden goose.
When you turn the major league sport into a weekly trashing of our nation, folks aren’t going to limit their disgust to only the pro brand.
It’s killing the appreciation for the sport across the board.
And after all, isn’t that ultimately what the Leftists have wanted for the last decade.
I can’t imagine them finding a more ignorant league commissioner.
Today’s college players may come to truly resent Colin Kaperneck (sp?) whose “movement” led not only to decline in NFL viewership/revenues, but affected college sports attendance as well. Eventually, they ALL hope to play for the NFL but there may not be the financial incentives ahead for today’s college students.
Big screens and beer at home or at the sports bar. Death to stadium audience participation. Buh-bye.
I would also say that the fact that unless your favorite team is one of about 8 names, there’s no way you are going to make the playoffs. The best teams are the best teams pretty much every year. If you are Ole Miss, what is the point? You can be really good but you’re still going to the Poulan Weedeater Bowl. Sorry.
A whopping 21 percent of U.S. residents now speak a language other than English at home. Of the 23.7 million people in Texas who are five years of age or older, more than a third speak a language other than English at home.
Not to mention an ever-present Muslim terrorist threat at any large-crowd venue.
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