Attendance for college football decreases again.

TIDEnGA

All-American
Sep 25, 2007
3,247
56
67
Opelika, AL
while a lot of money was spent the weeks my wife and I had in atlanta and pasadena were well worth the costs although i probably wouldn't feel the same if we had lost :cool2:
I totally agree. Hope we don't find out anytime soon about the last part. I'll admit I'm not planning on spending tons of money to get to Miami to see anything but #15. :)
 

BamaFan1961

All-SEC
Oct 26, 2005
1,220
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Hayden, Al
there were other reasons that the attendance (not ticket sales)at the Alabama games were down slightly. those 7 and 8 pm kickoff times was too late for some. people not wanting to spend the big bucks to watch Bama play a Western Carolina or FAU
 

AlistarWills

All-American
Jul 26, 2006
4,768
2,083
187
I gotta be honest. With the costs associated with going to the game and the hassles of getting home, and the fact that most if not all of Bama's games are on TV, I can see attendance dwindling.
 

BamaMoon

Hall of Fame
Apr 1, 2004
20,931
15,930
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Boone, NC
there were other reasons that the attendance (not ticket sales)at the Alabama games were down slightly. those 7 and 8 pm kickoff times was too late for some. people not wanting to spend the big bucks to watch Bama play a Western Carolina or FAU
Good point. We also had a couple early games. We went to one of those and it was about all we could do to get there, grab a bite to eat at a tailgate with friends and get inside the stadium by 11:00 and that was just from B'ham.

We were planning to go to another game until it was announced to be 7:00 or 8:00 and decided against it.
 

BamaMoon

Hall of Fame
Apr 1, 2004
20,931
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Another thing though: The "not so big games" allows a family to go to a game and, if you buy your tickets in the secondary market, you can go for pretty cheap. I picked up 6 tickets for $150 for a friend for one of those games this year and was able to take his whole family and extras.
 

BamaFan1961

All-SEC
Oct 26, 2005
1,220
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Hayden, Al
Another thing though: The "not so big games" allows a family to go to a game and, if you buy your tickets in the secondary market, you can go for pretty cheap. I picked up 6 tickets for $150 for a friend for one of those games this year and was able to take his whole family and extras.
I agree that deals are to be had on the "not so big games". I had a friend that had eight tickets that no one used because they didn't find any takers. There were lots of tickets for the Western Carolina game.
 

CrimsonChuck

Hall of Fame
Nov 15, 1999
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I am definitely part of the problem here

Family and I were planning on going to one game this year, haven't been to Tuscaloosa in years though I have gone to the SEC Champ games we were in prior to this year and the Clemson/VT games in Atlanta. We targeted the A&M Game

Looked at the cost of Tickets + Hotel + travel + food and figured the weekend would set me back $1,500 - $2,000. Took the lower amount and used it as a budget to put in a 1080p projector, screen and new home theater sound system instead. Spent just over $1,500 and now watch games on a 120 inch screen and got to avoid spending all that money on watching us lose to A&M
Actually you are not. That game was sold out. Bama has a "minor decrease" this year. I am guessing it is because we had one game, Western Kentucky, that did not sell out. Last year, every game sold out.
 

RJ YellowHammer

Hall of Fame
Sep 1, 2009
7,117
32
67
Memphis, Tn
Yeah, clearly it's all cost of tickets...

Because adding programs like South Alabama, with their dirt cheap tickets, and their average attendance of 16,793 absolutely couldn't do anything to bring down average attendance numbers.
The johnny come lately South Alabamas and Georgia States of the world do bring down the average attendance because of their home games. They also hurt the power team's attendance because, though the tickets are sold as part of a season ticket package, I'm not driving 200 miles one way to watch the starters destroy directional Kentucky for a quarter.
 

mittman

All-American
Jun 19, 2009
3,942
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Game day attendance and selling tickets are two different things. IIRC, Alabama has essentially sold out its stadium every year since the inception of Tide Pride in 1988.
I agree, however I know several people that have been buying more tickets than they use every year for decades to sell at a profit. They are having an increasingly difficult time doing it with the less appealing games recently, but no more of a problem than they did when we were not as competitive week in and week out. Personally it kind of upsets me that they do it, but when there is demand this is going to happen. Just because a game is 'sold out' does not mean every ticket was sold to people planning to attend.

I don't disagree with Krazy that more programs (thus more venues and competition for a game day experience) is not a large factor. I guess what I was saying was about me. My budget allows me to go to one or two games a year now instead of 3 or 4. I have never been able to get season tickets so I would buy from scalpers or those people I referenced above. I no longer have the means to go to our bowl or championship games as I did in the past. That is ALL on based on the increased cost of acquiring a ticket. In the past I would sometimes go to two SEC games on a single Saturday. I haven't done that in years. Most of that is on the increased cost of travel/staying wherever the night game was.
 

Chukker Veteran

Hall of Fame
Feb 6, 2001
10,594
5,067
287
The trend towards building bigger and bigger stadiums is on a collision course with how attendance is dwindling.

It would be sad to see lots of places have the problem Tennessee is now having. A huge stadium, and not enough interested fans to fill it.
 

KrAzY3

Hall of Fame
Jan 18, 2006
10,615
4,540
187
44
kraizy.art
Well, there's the fact it's not a real game . . .
But it's free!

I've heard so many excuses for people not going to games, and the ironic thing is the worst attendance was to the A-Day game and a FCS opponent which was also the cheapest ticket. It can't be both, it can't be oh pity us we can't afford free.

Fact is you can go to games on the cheap, even "real" ones since us fan's can't appreciate what the A-Day game means to players and recruits. You just can't go to big games on the cheap, and apparently that's the real problem. People want cheap tickets for good seats to big games and that just isn't how it works.

That's the problem in general. There are a lot of crappy games, some conferences exclusively serve those and of course people don't want to pay to see those. I had free tickets to a South Alabama game, and I didn't go. But, as fans of specific teams is it our role to fill those seats...
 
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Tide1986

Suspended
Nov 22, 2008
15,670
2
0
Birmingham, AL
It would be sad to see lots of places have the problem Tennessee is now having. A huge stadium, and not enough interested fans to fill it.
Yes, having a "fair weather" fan base, plus a few crappy seasons, plus having built up your stadium on the sands of "fair weather" fans makes for a lethal combination.
 

CLINT

1st Team
Aug 11, 2010
324
0
0
Central Illinois
I am definitely part of the problem here

Family and I were planning on going to one game this year, haven't been to Tuscaloosa in years though I have gone to the SEC Champ games we were in prior to this year and the Clemson/VT games in Atlanta. We targeted the A&M Game

Looked at the cost of Tickets + Hotel + travel + food and figured the weekend would set me back $1,500 - $2,000. Took the lower amount and used it as a budget to put in a 1080p projector, screen and new home theater sound system instead. Spent just over $1,500 and now watch games on a 120 inch screen and got to avoid spending all that money on watching us lose to A&M
X2 with me. I was fortunate enough to go to the Iron Bowl this year, but living out of state (Illinois) 700 miles away from T-Town, and the cost of the tickets, parking, food, hotel.....it really is just packing a weeks worth of vacation expenses into 1 game. A BBQ Nacho, Dog, and Souvenier cup would easily pay for a couple of pizzas delivered to the house. Once a year is amazing, but like Jon...I have a 1080p projector that is at 107" as well as Directv...which is the other problem..I watch about 15-20 games from Thursday night to Saturday night..When I go to Bryant-Denny, by the time I get to the hotel there might be 1 game left on. I could buy (4) Season ticket to the Illini for (1) ticket to the Iron bowl...:eek:

-CLINT
 

BamaAlum97

1st Team
Dec 13, 2002
335
0
0
Tulsa, OK
I haven't been to a live Bama game in many years. I can watch them all at home in my home theater for a fraction of the cost.

It might be different if I still lived in Tuscaloosa. I typically go to 1 or 2 University of Tulsa games a year. This year I paid $50 to sit on the 50-yard line of the Tulsa/Central Florida game. I can't imagine what those same seats in BDS would have cost.
 

BigEasyTider

FB | REC Moderator
Nov 27, 2007
10,029
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0
The Pac-12 (53,586) was the only BCS conference with an increase. But that's largely due to California returning to its renovated stadium after playing last season in a smaller stadium. The Pac-12 average has declined 8 percent since setting a record in 2007.
That alone defeats the claim that the declining attendance is due to the admission of several small school programs bogging down the overall numbers. Fact of the matter is that attendance is down everywhere, including the SEC, and that has been the case for years now. And it's not just struggling programs, either, we saw a lot of empty seats this year even at powerhouse programs that were having a lot of success (Florida comes to mind, in particular).

The Great Recession kind of kicked things in the rear from the outset, and that was met with the ill-timing of expansions of several stadiums (including our own) and increases in not only ticket prices but also overall cost of attendance. Combined, you see attendance coming down a good bit, and significantly so for lesser opponents.

Long-term, I think schools have overbuilt, and we have excess capacity in terms of stadium seating at countless venues. In time, I think a lot of schools will eventually run into the problem that Tennessee has in recent years. No program is going to consistently sell 100,000+ tickets every weekend to watch an 8-4 team hoping to make the Peach Bowl, and eventually every program runs into that on-field situation. 100,000 seat stadiums are fine for ongoing powerhouse dynasties like we have, but that is a big burden even for programs otherwise having only decent success.

Beyond that, schools are going to have to take direction from the NFL and making serious effort to greatly improve the game day experience, which is downright terrible in most places now. It's largely a parade of horribles in many places, and a lot of people ultimately invest the entire weekend, hundreds (and ultimately thousands) of dollars, and in return they get bad parking, horrendous traffic, no cell phone service, bad seats in cramped quarters, high dollar concessions, sporadic replays, and a few infrequent score updates from around the country. And that's all the case even if you have a decent game on the field to watch. No surprise, then, that a lot of people choose to stay home and watch it on their big screen TV in high-def.

Again, at some point schools are going to have to start paying real attention to the quality of game day experience.
 

KrAzY3

Hall of Fame
Jan 18, 2006
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kraizy.art
I don't see your point here. It's getting more expensive to go to games. It's getting more of a hassle to go to games (parking, for one, is a bigger issue now than it was before). These are facts. It's a down economy. There have always been bad games on the schedule. That doesn't account for a downturn in attendance.
The point is there is free admission, free parking available, Alabama players on the field, the coaches and players want them there, there are festivities, did I mention free? And yet, they don't fill up the stadium. This means quite simply that in this instance it's not money. No Alabama game has empty seats because of the cost of a game, period. May be other places, but not Alabama. The only Alabama games with empty seats is because of lack of interest.
 
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RTR91

Super Moderator
Nov 23, 2007
39,407
6
0
Prattville
Cost of a game:
Tickets: no cheaper than $55 from UA
Gas: $50 for a tank
Food: At least $50 for a family of 4
Time: All day affair

For a family of four to a cupcake, the total cost is: roughly $300+

I'm a college student in Montgomery and would love to attend more games with my girlfriend. I've had opportunities to pay face value for tickets. I could afford that. Then, I would factor in the other costs. My paycheck would disappear after paying for two tickets, a tank of gas, and food. Plus, the travel to and from the game isn't the easiest.

If I'm going to pay a couple hundred dollars for a game, I'm not going to watch Bama destroy Directional Podunk U. I really don't enjoy the idea of paying about $100 to go see a scrimmage in the blazing hot April sun. Sorry if that makes me a poor fan. I'm just not willing to pay that much money when I can use it in more necessary ways.
 

KrAzY3

Hall of Fame
Jan 18, 2006
10,615
4,540
187
44
kraizy.art
Cost of a game:
Tickets: no cheaper than $55 from UA
There are cheaper ways, and once again there is one day a year they let you in for free.
Food: At least $50 for a family of 4
What are you feeding them? That's ten Little Cesar's pizzas. I'm not saying everyone should eat that, but if you're poor then may be you should. It's also funny to me that people act like they only eat when they go to Alabama games. Yeah, no one was going to eat unless they went to see Alabama play. Also, if I recall they were offering face value Western Carolina tickets with free food, and they didn't sell them all.
Time: All day affair
You say that like that's a bad thing.
I really don't enjoy the idea of paying about $100 to go see a scrimmage in the blazing hot April sun.
We rent a car and drive from Mobile. It doesn't cost us $100. As to blazing hot sun, Packers fans show up in freezing temperatures. Dedication is not always about comfort.

You're making my point. It's not can't, it's just not important enough. I don't go to everyone game, I understand the notion of priorities. But, the idea I keep getting is that people won't pay for a tank of gas to go to A-Day, or for a $50 (or less) ticket to see Western Carolina, but they will pay twice that much to see other games. It's not the money...
 
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