Dropping attendance nationwide

by beal99 2014-12-15, 15:20

Not just a MSU problem as most of the "woe is me" crowd at RCMB would have you believe.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/writer/jon-solomon/24891415/college-football-attendance-home-crowds-drop-to-lowest-in-14-years

by **Robert J Sakimano** 2014-12-15, 15:24

yeah it's a national problem.. lots of factors associated with it - cost of tickets, parking, etc - the fact that every game is on TV, the convenience of watching games at home..

I'm sure the athletic department is looking at ways to fill the stadium - and to keep the fans there through the end of the game. It would make the one former player who threw a little Twitter fit happy if fans stayed longer. Maybe he could be elected some sort Czar of Attendance...

by **Watch Out Pylon!** 2014-12-15, 15:32

I've always wanted to be a Duke. Can I be the Duke of Attendance?

by **steveschneider** 2014-12-15, 15:39

Robert J Sakimano wrote:yeah it's a national problem.. lots of factors associated with it - cost of tickets, parking, etc - the fact that every game is on TV, the convenience of watching games at home..

I'm sure the athletic department is looking at ways to fill the stadium - and to keep the fans there through the end of the game. It would make the one former player who threw a little Twitter fit happy if fans stayed longer. Maybe he could be elected some sort Czar of Attendance...

The fact that every game is televised makes it terrible live. There are way too many stops in a game for commercial breaks and reviews. You sit around for 4 hours for only 11 minutes of action.

by **Turtleneck** 2014-12-15, 15:45

steveschneider wrote:. You sit around for 4 hours for only 11 minutes of action.

Football is like picking up chicks at the bar?

by **steveschneider** 2014-12-15, 15:48

Turtleneck wrote:

Football is like picking up chicks at the bar?

Minus the std's yes.

by **Robert J Sakimano** 2014-12-15, 15:52

steveschneider wrote:

The fact that every game is televised makes it terrible live. There are way too many stops in a game for commercial breaks and reviews. You sit around for 4 hours for only 11 minutes of action.

yeah, I agree completely. Not to mention official reviews, etc - games can definitely drag on and on..

by **Robert J Sakimano** 2014-12-15, 15:54

Watch Out Pylon! wrote:I've always wanted to be a Duke. Can I be the Duke of Attendance?

sure, man... I'll run it by Hollis..

the one former player can work under you - maybe you could be the Royal Duke of Attendance and he could be the Assistant to the Royal Duke of Attendance.. you could have him get you coffee and stuff.

by Rodeo Burger 2014-12-15, 16:23

steveschneider wrote:

The fact that every game is televised makes it terrible live. There are way too many stops in a game for commercial breaks and reviews. You sit around for 4 hours for only 11 minutes of action.

The night games on Fox seem to be worse than the others. I would have thought the NCAA has a standard for how many commercial breaks to have, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Fox (it seems anyway) has more commercials, and they last longer.

by LoneWolfSparty 2014-12-15, 16:24

Turtleneck wrote:

Football is like picking up chicks at the bar?

11 minutes, dang you are good. Minute man here.

by **Turtleneck** 2014-12-15, 16:26

LoneWolfSparty wrote:

11 minutes, dang you are good. Minute man here.

You went to UMass?

by **Other Teams Pursuing That** 2014-12-15, 20:27

TV has upped it's experience. Time for stadiums and gamedays to do the same. Catch up.

by **Turtleneck** 2014-12-15, 20:33

Other Teams Pursuing That wrote:TV has upped it's experience. Time for stadiums and gamedays to do the same. Catch up.

By letting me lay on a couch in my underwear while eating potato chips....?

by **Other Teams Pursuing That** 2014-12-15, 20:45

Turtleneck wrote:

By letting me lay on a couch in my underwear while eating potato chips....?

HD, can get any game you want (stream for free), TVs have gotten cheaper, 10 different channels talking about different games (CBS, BTN, ESPN, ABC, ESPNU, ESPN The ocho), and I'll come back when I think of more.

It's just really fucking easy to watch every/any game you want on a given Saturday very comfortably. It's not as easy as it once was, remember HAVING to go to the bar to watch a game cause it was on ESPN plus?

Has TV numbers went up while attendance went down? I didn't read the article.

by **Turtleneck** 2014-12-15, 20:54

Other Teams Pursuing That wrote:

HD, can get any game you want (stream for free), TVs have gotten cheaper, 10 different channels talking about different games (CBS, BTN, ESPN, ABC, ESPNU, ESPN The ocho), and I'll come back when I think of more.

It's just really fucking easy to watch every/any game you want on a given Saturday very comfortably. It's not as easy as it once was, remember HAVING to go to the bar to watch a game cause it was on ESPN plus?

Has TV numbers went up while attendance went down? I didn't read the article.

I don't have cable so it's not all that easy for me. I usually listen to the games via the Internet, or to a bar when it is a big deal.

by **Blanch32** 2014-12-16, 10:12

Let's start with the obvious. Cell phone coverage.

by **steveschneider** 2014-12-16, 10:18

Other Teams Pursuing That wrote:TV has upped it's experience. Time for stadiums and gamedays to do the same. Catch up.

I agree...I mentioned it before, and I'll beat the drum again.

There's so many parts of the broadcast where you are just watching replays at different angles. When you are in the stadium it's hard to catch all the action especially during penalties. Instead of replaying it, they just play a bunch of announcements on the screen. You are left to sit there for 3-4 minutes trying to figure out what the fuck happened.

I understand they are afraid fans will throw shit on the field during bad calls but come on show that shit. You have the big screen tvs show the f'n replay.

by **NigelUno** 2020-01-20, 10:34

Unexcused Absence: Why Is College Football Attendance Tanking?

by **steveschneider** 2020-01-20, 10:38

NigelUno wrote:Unexcused Absence: Why Is College Football Attendance Tanking?

No one is talking about the real issue. The scheduling sucks. The regular season is abysmal and most of the games are blow outs/unwatchable.

The non conference games are a joke, and the conferences have expanded with substandard competition. It's a real problem.

by AvgMSUJoe 2020-01-20, 10:52

Free market

by **NigelUno** 2020-01-20, 10:57

steveschneider wrote:
NigelUno wrote:Unexcused Absence: Why Is College Football Attendance Tanking?

No one is talking about the real issue. The scheduling sucks. The regular season is abysmal and most of the games are blow outs/unwatchable.

The non conference games are a joke, and the conferences have expanded with substandard competition. It's a real problem.

She talked about it a little in the article.

It sounds obvious, but what did you think would happen when students facing astronomical tuition bills were asked to pay more to watch less competitive games? Declining attendance isn’t a sign of moral weakness or a lack of emotional investment, it’s a sign of shifting realities. If I learned anything on college campuses this fall, it’s this: Fans still believe in the gospel of football. They’ll even pay for it. It just has to be worth the cost.

by Banks2Mason 2020-01-20, 11:03

steveschneider wrote:
NigelUno wrote:Unexcused Absence: Why Is College Football Attendance Tanking?

The regular season is abysmal and most of the games are blow outs/unwatchable.

this could have been the slogan for 2019 MSU football

by **Other Teams Pursuing That** 2020-01-20, 11:09

If we are being honest, there are much better ways to spend your time. A few bigger games a season? Sure. But going to every home game including Tulsa, western, and some fcs school? Whatever floats your boat, but i think the younger generations are less invested into sports as the older ones.

by Banks2Mason 2020-01-20, 11:10

Other Teams Pursuing That wrote:If we are being honest, there are much better ways to spend your time. A few bigger games a season? Sure. But going to every home game including Tulsa, western, and some fcs school? Whatever floats your boat, but i think the younger generations are less invested into sports as the older ones.

yes. there are many reasons this is happening and most can't really be stopped.

by **steveschneider** 2020-01-20, 11:13

Other Teams Pursuing That wrote:If we are being honest, there are much better ways to spend your time. A few bigger games a season? Sure. But going to every home game including Tulsa, western, and some fcs school? Whatever floats your boat, but i think the younger generations are less invested into sports as the older ones.

There was a time I used to watch multiple college games a Saturday. Would meet a group of friends and watch multiple games drinking and eating unhealthy bar food. I loved it. You nailed it. I couldn't be bothered to watch a dull game where I know it will be over by the second quarter.

by **GRR Spartan** 2020-01-20, 11:14

After reading the article, in my opinion the schedule hits the hard core football fan students, football fan ticket buying alums and non-grad fans.

It touches on important demographic and social changes for the student population. School costs a ot more and is serious business to more students than it was. More students work. The students choices of entertainment have exploded with the internet, streaming, online gaming etc.

The days of going to football games as a student because its a must are gone. My brother-in-law is a Stanford grad. If you were a student who went to every home game you were an outlier. He knew more students who didn't attend any football games than students who went to all home games in a season. A family member lived in Cambridge MA for almost a decade and Ivy League football was the same.

Places like Alabama have increased the non-athlete recruiting to increase their academic reputation. When that happens so does the possibility those new students aren't going to embrace the idea the "have" to go to football games.

Maybe the

by **Watch Out Pylon!** 2020-01-20, 11:27

We're giving up our season tickets for the coming season. We'll grab individual tickets for the big games but we're done paying $343 + donor fees to watch games like fucking Western Michigan. First time in 12 years we won't have season tickets.

by **steveschneider** 2020-01-20, 11:32

Watch Out Pylon! wrote:We're giving up our season tickets for the coming season. We'll grab individual tickets for the big games but we're done paying $343 + donor fees to watch games like fucking Western Michigan. First time in 12 years we won't have season tickets.

You know who has it even worse? Ohio State. I can't imagine sitting in that horse shoe watching that level of talent annihilate a small DII school. During the Jim Tressel era they used to play a one and one game vs University of Texas or USC.

by Bill Cain 2020-01-20, 11:38

Lowered head and hand size. A generational decline in testosterone inhibiting secondary sexual characteristics. It’s a problem no one dares to face, we just look the other way and pretend it doesn’t exist. These kids have a lot of familial and social pressure to perform in school. Instead of going to a football game on a Friday or Saturday night, these kids are studying because theres a lot of pressure to perform...ahem especially when their generation lacks focus and brain power

A lot of black and white thinking conducted by parents. If little Johnny isn’t an engineer daddy’s gonna flip his lid

by **steveschneider** 2020-01-20, 11:41

Dropping attendance nationwide 1966794946

by **NigelUno** 2020-01-20, 13:15

Other than Toledo (and maybe Rutgers?), it's actually a very good home schedule.

Northwestern
Toledo
Miami
Michigan
OSU
Minnesota
Rutgers

by **steveschneider** 2020-01-20, 13:29

NigelUno wrote:Other than Toledo (and maybe Rutgers?), it's actually a very good home schedule.

Northwestern
Toledo
Miami
Michigan
OSU
Minnesota
Rutgers

It is, but honestly.... and this is going to get into beating a dead horse territory but our offense is painful to watch. That Michigan game a two years ago? Watching three hours of a qb not able to throw 5 yards just isn't fun to watch. So we have our own issues that make wanting to go to a game not so desirable.

by **NigelUno** 2020-01-20, 14:05

steveschneider wrote:
NigelUno wrote:Other than Toledo (and maybe Rutgers?), it's actually a very good home schedule.

Northwestern
Toledo
Miami
Michigan
OSU
Minnesota
Rutgers

It is, but honestly.... and this is going to get into beating a dead horse territory but our offense is painful to watch. That Michigan game a two years ago? Watching three hours of a qb not able to throw 5 yards just isn't fun to watch. So we have our own issues that make wanting to go to a game not so desirable.

It's all about the Ws.

by **steveschneider** 2020-01-20, 14:11

NigelUno wrote:
steveschneider wrote:

It is, but honestly.... and this is going to get into beating a dead horse territory but our offense is painful to watch. That Michigan game a two years ago? Watching three hours of a qb not able to throw 5 yards just isn't fun to watch. So we have our own issues that make wanting to go to a game not so desirable.

It's all about the Ws.

True and as of today I'm probably counting 4-5 losses on that home schedule.

by **tGreenWay** 2020-01-20, 14:24

Bill Cain wrote:Lowered head and hand size. A generational decline in testosterone inhibiting secondary sexual characteristics. It’s a problem no one dares to face, we just look the other way and pretend it doesn’t exist. These kids have a lot of familial and social pressure to perform in school. Instead of going to a football game on a Friday or Saturday night, these kids are studying because theres a lot of pressure to perform...ahem especially when their generation lacks focus and brain power

A lot of black and white thinking conducted by parents. If little Johnny isn’t an engineer daddy’s gonna flip his lid

Dropping attendance nationwide 502811600

Plus, we’re getting fatter and taller, so we look funnier with bigger bodies and smaller heads.

by **NigelUno** 2020-01-20, 14:37

steveschneider wrote:
NigelUno wrote:

It's all about the Ws.

True and as of today I'm probably counting 4-5 losses on that home schedule.

I'll allow you to count 3 as of now.

by **tGreenWay** 2020-01-20, 14:38

It’s Ace Abender’s fault.

by **Nordic** 2020-01-20, 20:02

steveschneider wrote:
NigelUno wrote:Unexcused Absence: Why Is College Football Attendance Tanking?

No one is talking about the real issue. The scheduling sucks. The regular season is abysmal and most of the games are blow outs/unwatchable.

The non conference games are a joke, and the conferences have expanded with substandard competition. It's a real problem.

I didn't read the article, but competition is not the reason. The reason is cellphones, attention spans of gnats, Twitter, big screen TVs, streaming, etc. Add in cost of attendance and the pain in the ass it is to get off the couch, drive, park, etc... why would anyone go to a game now-a-days?

I rarely go to anything outside of college football any more. And that is more to be with fam.and friends than be at the game.

by **tGreenWay** 2020-01-20, 20:07

Nordic wrote:
steveschneider wrote:

No one is talking about the real issue. The scheduling sucks. The regular season is abysmal and most of the games are blow outs/unwatchable.

The non conference games are a joke, and the conferences have expanded with substandard competition. It's a real problem.

I didn't read the article, but competition is not the reason. The reason is cellphones, attention spans of gnats, Twitter, big screen TVs, streaming, etc. Add in cost of attendance and the pain in the ass it is to get off the couch, drive, park, etc. and why would anyone go to a game?

I rarely go to anything outside of college football any more. And that is more to be with fam.and friends than be at the game.

As much as I love seeing our team playing night games on national tv, especially at SS, I do wonder if that also plays a role because of the hardship of having to drive home after the game. Not everyone can afford to stay overnight.
People also realize the risks and dangers of getting behind the wheel after drinking all day, and as we know from reading here, a lot of people don’t have the same amount of fun if they can’t drink like they used to at home games.

by **Travis of the Cosmos** 2020-01-20, 20:14

Watch Out Pylon! wrote:We're giving up our season tickets for the coming season. We'll grab individual tickets for the big games but we're done paying $343 + donor fees to watch games like fucking Western Michigan. First time in 12 years we won't have season tickets.

Same boat pylon. Last season it felt absolutely stupid to have season tickets to go to a game that you could have gone to for $15 tops. Gonna drop them and just pick up tickets when I want to go

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