article about declining football attendance

[Bo Darville]

http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2013/06/why_are_some_of_you_staying_ho.html

[WeWillScrewItUp]

I just assume sitting under my tent drinking and grilling while watching it on my tv over going into the stadium.

[Esmerelda Villalobos]

Im a gamer. I love going to the games. I love tailgaiting and drinking all day and then watching 4 hours of football. That said, out of the 30 people that tailgate with us, Id say maybe 10 or 12 actual go in. 3 or 4 of those leave at half time, no matter what, to go back tailgaiting. I give away a minimum of 2 tickets to each game. Sometimes it is hard to even get rid of those...and they are club level.

People just like to sit and drink and socialize. They can hear the game. A lot of it boils down to drinking and food. They need to start serving alcohol at football. Baseball is a no brainer. Having a beer and watching baseball is as american as it gets. Hell, Ole Miss HAS a baseball program only because 10 years ago, they let students come in for free with coolers (Tailgaiting football style) and get wasted and turned their atmosphere and program around.

I always bring my own booze into the game any way and have never really had a problem with it. Nobody in our section really is drinking but us but they dont care. We do have a "sit down pentecostal" type family that is 2 rows up but they have generally learned to deal with us. A 100 yard stare from a 65 year old man in khakis aint gonna do much to me. He learned that after about 4 years in a row.

Edit - Our football atmosphere has gone to the crapper the past 3 years. In 2009 it was special. It has gotten progressively worse every year. I have my theories on why.

[Ronny]

...I'll fill you in on a big secret:

If you keep ****ing over SEC fanbases by constantly having games start @ 11am in the morning, there is going to be a decline in attendance. It really takes an Albert Einstein to figure that one out, doesn't it?

Also, Thursday nights games are contributing to your decline in attendance.

I know the executives @ ESPN & the chairmans of the board in the SEC office might find this hard to believe, but if you miss Friday work because you attended a Thurs. night football game, at many American workplaces, that's grounds for dismissal.

[gravedigger]

Heck, I'll buy the two you dont use instead of you giving them away.

[FlabLoser]

We've best this to death, but we need (and have gotten) new powers in charge of stadium audio/video. And we need less commercials and more music.

I would also like to see situation-appropriate movie clips. I've been to NHL games that did this. Sponsored by Blockbuster with their logo in the corner, they'd play something like Braveheart pumping up his men, some guy complaining (bad call), or some locker room speech or slow clap scene. Etc etc etc

[Hump4Hoops]

I just assume sitting under my tent drinking and grilling while watching it on my tv over going into the stadium.

This eggcorn bothers me immensely. It's "just as soon," not "just assume."

[War Machine Dawg]

Pretty simple, really. At all but a few SEC schools, the average fan has been priced out of attending games. When it's $80 bucks per ticket per game + $3.50/gal gas + food + (maybe) parking pass + (maybe) hotel......you can see how not many can afford that. Especially when you have to shell out money to a booster program on top off all that. Throw in a declining economy, and it's really pretty unsurprising attendance is declining at some places. It's the average fan that is passionate about the school, probably went there, and WANTS to be at the games. But they can't afford it anymore due to skyrocketing prices. Only businesses can afford seats at the ridiculous pricing levels some schools are asking now. It's the price of big business college football, and it isn't changing, but it still sucks.

[Political Hack]

the game atmosphere was great in 09 and 10.' then... new blood took over the game day and we went commercial.

LT-esq "we're in the black" mentality will kill morale. When our administrators start caring as much about winning as the fans, they'll realize what they can accomplish. Unfortunately, they're small minded and think selling another $2,000 add on the big screen is more valuable than having an ESPN announcer say that Oregon and Miss State were the two best venues he'd been to all year.

[codeDawg]

the game atmosphere was great in 09 and 10.' then... new blood took over the game day and we went commercial.

LT-esq "we're in the black" mentality will kill morale. When our administrators start caring as much about winning as the fans, they'll realize what they can accomplish. Unfortunately, they're small minded and think selling another $2,000 add on the big screen is more valuable than having an ESPN announcer say that Oregon and Miss State were the two best venues he'd been to all year.

I don't mind making money, but it is possible to do it without jacking up a stadium followed by a comma inducing visit Mississippi commercial.

[AlSwearengen]

For me, last season, games were something that I endured. Between driving three hours to and from Starkville to watching Wilson's idea of a defense to the unbearable misery of watching crappy commercials on the jumbotron, it was too much for me. I have actually missed more games over the last two years than I did during the late jackie and early croom years when we couldn't win more than three a year. During the late croom years, I was boycotting until he and l.t. were gone, so I don't really count them.

Some of the problem might be that during my boycott, I discovered other things to do on a saturday that are much cheaper and less time consuming. So, if I'm not getting at least a decent return on my investment for a game, I'm not going. I guess i've become a bad fan.

[The Croom Diaries]

I think it's like WMD said, it's expensive and some might say inconvenient. You can watch the game in the stadium or you can watch it in HD with cold beer close by and you can pause the game when you have to piss instead of standing in line and missing some action.

If you have kids, it's way easier to just stay at home and watch it. If you're coming in from 2+ hours its really expensive. I live in GA so if I want to go to a game I'm looking at a $500 minimum. No way I can afford to go to 6-7 games. When I figure that I could stay home and watch it on TV and buy a computer with that kind of money instead it's hard to justify sometimes. Especially when we lose. One year I spent a couple thousand going to games and we lost every one of them and it made it no fun...but I'm pretty cheap.

[32 Dive]

I'm putting away thousands per year, towards my two preteens education through MPACT (hopefully at Mississippi State). This casino employee has nothing left after that. While I'd love to have season tickets, that education investment is more important. I want THEM to be able to afford their families' season tickets, when the time comes. Meanwhile, I still watch our games on TV, in Standard Definition.

[Dawgface]

All the above. Too expensive, takes a full day, easy to watch on TV, too many 11am games, traffic headaches and for me......slowing down as I age. Having said all that, I will go to a couple of games per year. Love getting back on campus, but won't be going to every game. A full day of it just wears me out.

[BogeyGolfer]

I used to go to every game as well but with wife and kids it's a lot easier to fire up the grill, eat and drink all we want while watching our game and the other games played throughout the day in HD on a large screen. This has been our system the last couple of years, and we usually rotate between our friends houses. It's a lot cheaper than shelling out money on tailgating necessities and hauling all of it to campus and arriving on campus five hours before the game etc... There is no way in hell I would travel to campus and put my self through that misery to watch us play someone like South Alabama or Alcorn St. I do try to make at least a couple of the big games on campus each year. Honestly, the NFL is facing similar issues because the TV product is excellent with replays, different on the field camera angles etc...It's just too easy to stay at home. I know this probably makes me a bad fan but I really don't care.

[WPDawg]

Echo what most have replied. Being three hrs away, its too time consuming and expensive. I may just be getting old. I do love the atmosphere of being on campus and at a game. I could care less about all the big screen, music theatrics and think most people could care less for having an "NBA" experience while watching a football game in Starkville. They want more people to attend? Keep the pricing down and provide a pure college football atmosphere on a Saturday afternoon. Give the fluff to the skybox crowd if they have the money to spend.

[Political Hack]

the hotel expense kills a lot of attendance. $500 for a weekend is too high when the ticket is only $70.

[Coach34]

the hotel expense kills a lot of attendance. $500 for a weekend is too high when the ticket is only $70.

yep- the mandatory 2 nights is bullshit.

[Pollodawg]

When you drop $1,000 on a hotel room, then another $150 in gas, then another $100-$150 feeding everybody....Not to mention the tickets, you're a good $1,500 in when the dust settles. With the economy the way it is, people either can't or won't drop that kind of coin on one weekend. Can you blame them?

[War Machine Dawg]

When you drop $1,000 on a hotel room, then another $150 in gas, then another $100-$150 feeding everybody....Not to mention the tickets, you're a good $1,500 in when the dust settles. With the economy the way it is, people either can't or won't drop that kind of coin on one weekend. Can you blame them?

No doubt, Pollo. But let's be completely honest: Even in a very good economy, that's a hell of a lot of dough to shell out for 1 weekend. The article the OP linked mentioned the AD's knowing that ticket prices are an "elephant in the room." I don't expect games to be $20 bucks anymore, but $40+ is ridiculous. $75 for the Egg Bowl is absolutely outrageous - and I don't care that the Black Bears started that (after Memphis did it to them). I can't imagine being a fan of somewhere like UGA or Bama where tix are $60+ for even the shitty games.

I still buy my tickets and go, because I can drive down and back the same day. If I had a wife and kids, I likely couldn't. And I do miss seeing all the other good games being played that day. Sometimes it's damn tempting to just sit at home instead of make the drive to Starkville. I go because I love State. But it won't be long before I'm priced out of it. To me, it's a really sad state when people who love their school and love football can't go because outrageous prices keep them from it. That's also a big reason game day atmosphere suffers - businesses give tickets to clients and such who aren't invested in the school. They could care less if a shitty commercial plays during a media break, because it doesn't affect their overall gameday experience.

None of this will change - the big business college football train left the station a long time ago. It's way too far down the tracks to reverse the course. But the overall product is reaching a breaking point in terms of fan involvement because of it. It's a shitty situation that doesn't have a clear or easy answer.

[Maroonthirteen]

+1 here. I went to just about every home game from 1990 to around 2005. Tickets went up. I had kids. Gas soared. Now tickets are even higher...... I will go to 1-2 home games a year now. There is just no way to justify spending 1,000s when the kids and wife need things and the game is on TV.

[FlabLoser]

I know its gotten expensive. Still not gloom & doomy IMO. We're selling out. We have waiting lists for tickets.

That said, years ago I watched the NFL and NHL convert from fan events to corporate events and I hated it. Fans used to attend. Now it's just wealthy people and clients of corporates. It sucks. And it rips the passion and atmosphere out of the stadium.

I thought to myself years ago that it would suck real bad if the college game went to that. We aren't there yet, but we are clearly on that path.

[Will James]

Hopefully baseball will resurge as a sport where the average fan can attend on the cheap in both college and pro. I hope Americas pastime becomes Americas sport again. With the liberalism of football taking over its only a matter of time.

[gravedigger]

Interesting comment. I see every facet of attending games being too expensive for the average joe and catering to the financially elite. Hardly the socialist liberal mentality that would be characterized as taking from the wealthy and giving priority to the financially less fortunate.

[Will James]

Interesting comment. I see every facet of attending games being too expensive for the average joe and catering to the financially elite. Hardly the socialist liberal mentality that would be characterized as taking from the wealthy and giving priority to the financially less fortunate.

I meant liberalism in the nanny state sense. Throwing flags for hard hits, the whole concussion movement etc. Soon football won't be football anymore and baseball will still be there for the fan. I don't watch NFL anymore.

[Coach34]

It used to be that you missed things if you werent at the game- now, with the extra cameras and the way TV coverage has evolved, you miss too much if you go.

I know for myself and also I Seen It Dawg- Saturday is a holy day. My whole day is planned around grilling, drinking, and that Saturday's football schedule on TV. I live for Saturdays in the Fall. Being 5 hours away from Starkville is just too far to spend that kind of money and effort multiple times per season.

[gravedigger]

I don't disagree on the concussion thing. They need to make the equip better not the game weaker. Baseball just needs to lessen time it takes to make pitching changes and a few more housecleaning issues to keep the game moving and people would be more apt to go to games.

I'd love to see baseball reemerge. Ped's got to go though.

[Political Hack]

Pretty soon NFL players will be rolling around in hamster balls.

The commercials are financial focus of the game is killing it. Period.

[Todd4State]

Hopefully baseball will resurge as a sport where the average fan can attend on the cheap in both college and pro. I hope Americas pastime becomes Americas sport again. With the liberalism of football taking over its only a matter of time.

Baseball needs an iconic Babe Ruth/Michael Jordan type player than transcends sports to get like that. The home run will do that. See Mark McGwire/Sammy Sosa/Ken Griffey, Jr./Barry Bonds. You had four very interesting and talented players and in 1998 America really got into it. I know Barry came in later, but you had the two All-American guys in Big Mac and Griffey, you had the loveable foreign guy in Sammy, and then you had the bad guy in Barry. You also had some other great personalities like the big three shortstops in Jeter, A-Rod, and Nomar, you had Piazza, and there was even a small ball guy like Craig Biggio. And then you had some good pitchers like Clemens, Randy Johnson, Maddux, Schilling, and then Mariano at the height of his powers as well as Trevor Hoffman.

AND THEN.....

Congress got all pissy about steroids. I have to kind of wonder if part of it wasn't pressure from the other sports like the NFL's lobbyist who were worried about fans leaving their sport for baseball. I'm just saying I'm 100% sure that there are PEDS in other sports, but by God baseball players shouldn't use them because it taints the game.

Baseball has some talented players right now like Bryce, Trout, Posey, and some more really talented guys on the way soon. But unless they do something to get more home runs, it is going to be a somewhat uphill struggle.

If I was the commissioner, I would basically do selective enforcement of testing and things like that. Suspend a few guys a year that aren't major stars to just show the public we're doing something, but at the same time turning a blind eye to the big name guys. I would probably end up in Federal Prison, but I think everyone would like baseball more.

[Todd4State]

I don't disagree on the concussion thing. They need to make the equip better not the game weaker. Baseball just needs to lessen time it takes to make pitching changes and a few more housecleaning issues to keep the game moving and people would be more apt to go to games.

I'd love to see baseball reemerge. Ped's got to go though.

They need to fire most of the umpires. Angel Hernandez needs to be at the front of the line. I hate to say it, but PEDS are here to stay, and that's for all sports. You just might as well accept it.

And as far as the time of pitching changes and things like that- the REAL problem with that ironically is TV. They need to make baseball like soccer as far as ads. No commercials, just put a Coke, Ford, Snickers, whatever logo up on the thing that show the score for each inning. I think the umpires move the game along pretty well in general.