Football facing attendance crisis


JAG89

JAG89

THE NEW AMERICA'S TEAM
With the bowl season winding down, it’s time to once again marvel at all the empty seats.

With the exception of the Sugar Bowl on Thursday night, empty seats were as prevalent as lengthy halftime shows during the endless onslaught of bowl games.

Perhaps all the red seats, from the upper deck of the Georgia Dome New Year’s Eve, made the trek south to Tampa, Fla., for Louisiana State’s Outback Bowl victory over Iowa on New Year’s Day.

Then there were the empty metal bleachers for all to see in Shreveport at the Independence Bowl between Arizona and Boston College.

Before you think this is a problem for the college postseason, as of Friday, two of the weekend’s four NFL Wildcard playoff games had yet to sell out. The two to sell out were the Saints’ game at Philadelphia [the Saints won, 26-24] and San Francisco at Green Bay, in spite of the threat of sub-zero temperature at game time Sunday.

http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/...50016/Football-facing-major-crisis-attendance
 



number1 said:
It is called outpricing the fanbase. Something that I feel that we did at Southern too.
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Yes we did and too many damn bowl games. Why would someone from Boston College travel to Shreveport to watch their team play in a bowl game that they see not that important?
 
JAG89 said:
Yes we did and too many damn bowl games. Why would someone from Boston College travel to Shreveport to watch their team play in a bowl game that they see not that important?
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Yeah they do need to do a better job of having regional matchups.
 
number1 said:
Yeah they do need to do a better job of having regional matchups.
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The Independence Bowl in Shreveport will never get a large turnout from Arizona and Boston. Those folks doesn't see that bowl game that important to travel to.
 
JAG89 said:
The Independence Bowl in Shreveport will never get a large turnout from Arizona and Boston. Those folks doesn't see that bowl game that important to travel to.
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They should limit their participants to a certain conference like the Cotton Bowl used to do.
 
kendrick said:
It's hard to do regional matchups when bowls have conference tie-ins or can chose who they want.
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Conference USA v. Lower SEC School.....

I know La. Tech was in the Independence Bowl one year and there was a good turn out. Also the year Texas A&M bowl game there was a wonderful turn-out.
 
The Founder said:
Conference USA v. Lower SEC School.....

I know La. Tech was in the Independence Bowl one year and there was a good turn out. Also the year Texas A&M bowl game there was a wonderful turn-out.
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Like the Liberty Bowl? CUSA champ Rice vs. Mississippi State. That game had good attendance, but it was due to MSU fans. If you don't get one of the Mississippi schools (or other close school), how many folks are going to travel to watch a CUSA school get blown out like that by a lower-level SEC school?
 
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The downturn in the economy, TV and ticket pricing have all impacted sport attendance.

All sporting events have been impacted - Football, NASCAR, basketball etc...
 
I haven't read the article, or all of the responses, so someone may have pointed this out, but when it comes to bowl games, "attendance" is not as important to the bottom line as people think - - tv viewership is. Someone on ESPN pointed out a week or so ago (during the midst of all the sub-par bowls) that some of the weakest bowl games of the year would still have more tv viewers than a Carolina-Duke basketball game.

Wow. Think about that for a minute.

When it comes to football (and money) its the "butts on the couch" that matter most, not the butts in the seats.
 
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Man I have this expensive HD LED TV with this expensive direct TV. I pay for all these games and I'm gone watch them on TV unless I can get to my teams games at a reasonable price period. 10 dollar beers to sit in Lambeau my arse...
 



Deuce said:
I haven't read the article, or all of the responses, so someone may have pointed this out, but when it comes to bowl games, "attendance" is not as important to the bottom line as people think - - tv viewership is. Someone on ESPN pointed out a week or so ago (during the midst of all the sub-par bowls) that some of the weakest bowl games of the year would still have more tv viewers than a Carolina-Duke basketball game.

Wow. Think about that for a minute.

When it comes to football (and money) its the "butts on the couch" that matter most, not the butts in the seats.
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Of course someone on ESPN would say that since ESPN broadcasts almost all the bowl games.
 
Deuce said:
I haven't read the article, or all of the responses, so someone may have pointed this out, but when it comes to bowl games, "attendance" is not as important to the bottom line as people think - - tv viewership is. Someone on ESPN pointed out a week or so ago (during the midst of all the sub-par bowls) that some of the weakest bowl games of the year would still have more tv viewers than a Carolina-Duke basketball game.

Wow. Think about that for a minute.

When it comes to football (and money) its the "butts on the couch" that matter most, not the butts in the seats.
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Yeah I can agree with that Duece. Everybody got these nice big TVs and all kinds of cable or satellite packages and folks will stay at home and watch these events. All the advertisers love it. Viewership is important for sure. That's how the SEC, BigTen and others get these mega deals to televise the games and now have their own networks. Money is still flowing, just differently. But let's not get it twisted, a lot of the big programs still are selling out. I think the NFL stadiums are seeing a decrease due to ticket pricing and the fact in some areas they compete with these major football programs and folks just don't have that kind of income to be at both.
 
Deuce said:
I haven't read the article, or all of the responses, so someone may have pointed this out, but when it comes to bowl games, "attendance" is not as important to the bottom line as people think - - tv viewership is. Someone on ESPN pointed out a week or so ago (during the midst of all the sub-par bowls) that some of the weakest bowl games of the year would still have more tv viewers than a Carolina-Duke basketball game.

Wow. Think about that for a minute.

When it comes to football (and money) its the "butts on the couch" that matter most, not the butts in the seats.
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A couple of years ago, Kentucky football made about twice as much as Kentucky basketball... that is an eye opener right there...

Like some have said, people would rather experience the game at home with these expensive TV's and fancy sound systems rather than go through the experience of going to a stadium... cheaper
 
The empty seats were really glaring, especially considering most of the "big school" fans only travel to one game per year (the bowl game).
 
The internet has brought a Renaissance to the whole world. Communication is different, we are able to trade freely without federal regulations, Marijuana and Oil being cash crops...times have changed. People are self investing, no need for a middle man when you can do it yourself online. I could go on and on but people can watch any sporting event free, any movie or tv show online. I stopped buying cable last year.
 
I would like to thank the porn industry for innovating the daily practices we sports fans use like streaming HD video and online bill pay.
 
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