Started By
Message
re: Do you think that expanding stadiums beyond 100,000 is a good or bad thing...
Posted on 6/11/15 at 9:14 am to Mister Tee
Posted on 6/11/15 at 9:14 am to Mister Tee
I think it's a bad idea for the vast majority of programs. Maybe all programs.
Today's technology, HD televisions, wire cams, graphics and the fact that virtually every game (even Florida vs. Eastern Directional School) is now broadcast somewhere in HD means that fans have more options than ever before.
The reality is that your average gameday attendee is getting older and older. These folks attend games because 20+ years ago, there was no alternative to watching your team play. Maybe an SD broadcast on a major network for a big-time matchup or rivalry. So it's become a tradition and habit for them and they have cultivated a sense of appreciation for being in the stadium on game day.
The younger generation is used to watching a 60"+ HD screen from the comfort of their living room with cheap refreshments, climate controls, first-down/field goal graphics and instant recap/replays, all combined with the ability to switch instantly to another game during halftime/timeouts/blowouts.
The younger generation is much less likely to fight horrendous traffic, barely-adequate parking, giant crowds, overpriced mediocre concessions and heat/cold to sit a hundred yards from the field in the top left corner of the endzone. They can stay home and have a perfect view of every snap, drinking their favorite drink and eating whatever they like.
Having a giant stadium necessarily means that there are terrible seats. Seats far from the field at an odd angle. It also necessarily means that lines for restrooms/concessions/ticketing are getting bigger and bigger. More wear on the facilities means bigger and bigger upkeep cost to keep them serviceable, much less competitive with your bathroom/kitchen/delivery driver at home.
The NFL is downsizing/building smaller and more intimate stadiums because they are 100% profit driven. There isn't an academic institution associated with, for example, the Cleveland Browns to bear the brunt of costs in the case of undersold/unsold seats. In a world where stadium owners have to compete with HD televisions, it makes sense to make a smaller, more intimate and ultimately more competitive gameday environment.
The same will be true for NCAA football in the very near future.
I'm 37 and, barring serious illness, will never miss attending a UK football game. I have a couple of buddies who are usually down to go with me, but even then they weigh whether we want to drive 7 miles from my house to CWS, which takes about an hour on gameday, spend 30+ minutes getting inside the stadium and to our seats, fight long lines at the concession stands for popcorn/peanuts/hotdogs at $6.00 per pop, attend a 3+ hour football game, spend 45 minutes walking out of the stadium and another hour and a half driving home. And this is with me footing the bill for tickets.
There will always be a certain number of die-hard stadium goers. But as the older generation of fans who find it a necessity to head out to the stadium every Saturday die or stop attending games due to health, they are going to have to be replaced by younger fans who have the option of clicking a button and watching the game from the best seat in the house.
The younger generation is also comprised of ticketholders whose gameday experience at the stadium so far (save for those with parents with great seats) is either sitting in the student section (while in school) or sitting in the nosebleeds once they graduate.
I would wager that 10 years from now, colleges (the vast majority) with big stadiums will struggle to fill the seats and see costs rise enormously as they attempt to make gameday more attractive than a 90" HD screen and a robot delivering beer to the couch.
Today's technology, HD televisions, wire cams, graphics and the fact that virtually every game (even Florida vs. Eastern Directional School) is now broadcast somewhere in HD means that fans have more options than ever before.
The reality is that your average gameday attendee is getting older and older. These folks attend games because 20+ years ago, there was no alternative to watching your team play. Maybe an SD broadcast on a major network for a big-time matchup or rivalry. So it's become a tradition and habit for them and they have cultivated a sense of appreciation for being in the stadium on game day.
The younger generation is used to watching a 60"+ HD screen from the comfort of their living room with cheap refreshments, climate controls, first-down/field goal graphics and instant recap/replays, all combined with the ability to switch instantly to another game during halftime/timeouts/blowouts.
The younger generation is much less likely to fight horrendous traffic, barely-adequate parking, giant crowds, overpriced mediocre concessions and heat/cold to sit a hundred yards from the field in the top left corner of the endzone. They can stay home and have a perfect view of every snap, drinking their favorite drink and eating whatever they like.
Having a giant stadium necessarily means that there are terrible seats. Seats far from the field at an odd angle. It also necessarily means that lines for restrooms/concessions/ticketing are getting bigger and bigger. More wear on the facilities means bigger and bigger upkeep cost to keep them serviceable, much less competitive with your bathroom/kitchen/delivery driver at home.
The NFL is downsizing/building smaller and more intimate stadiums because they are 100% profit driven. There isn't an academic institution associated with, for example, the Cleveland Browns to bear the brunt of costs in the case of undersold/unsold seats. In a world where stadium owners have to compete with HD televisions, it makes sense to make a smaller, more intimate and ultimately more competitive gameday environment.
The same will be true for NCAA football in the very near future.
I'm 37 and, barring serious illness, will never miss attending a UK football game. I have a couple of buddies who are usually down to go with me, but even then they weigh whether we want to drive 7 miles from my house to CWS, which takes about an hour on gameday, spend 30+ minutes getting inside the stadium and to our seats, fight long lines at the concession stands for popcorn/peanuts/hotdogs at $6.00 per pop, attend a 3+ hour football game, spend 45 minutes walking out of the stadium and another hour and a half driving home. And this is with me footing the bill for tickets.
There will always be a certain number of die-hard stadium goers. But as the older generation of fans who find it a necessity to head out to the stadium every Saturday die or stop attending games due to health, they are going to have to be replaced by younger fans who have the option of clicking a button and watching the game from the best seat in the house.
The younger generation is also comprised of ticketholders whose gameday experience at the stadium so far (save for those with parents with great seats) is either sitting in the student section (while in school) or sitting in the nosebleeds once they graduate.
I would wager that 10 years from now, colleges (the vast majority) with big stadiums will struggle to fill the seats and see costs rise enormously as they attempt to make gameday more attractive than a 90" HD screen and a robot delivering beer to the couch.
3
Posted on 6/11/15 at 9:57 am to JDHLaw
For those saying video option/ technology will keep people at home..... the personal viewing options at the stadium will be mazing. Imagine anything in the way of replay and alternate angles, etc. being pumped to your home tv can be available to your cell phone/tablet in the stadium. Now imagine the potential to have individual control of your replay angles,etc.
Posted on 6/11/15 at 10:27 am to JDHLaw
quote:
JDHLaw
In your analysis you dance around the issue I may be able to put in better focus.
The live experience engages all your senses while the TV version only engages your eyes and ears. We have a whole new generation who would rather experience a limited experience as long as it overstimulates the sight and sound because it it the lowest common denominator and it is the cheapest to produce to generate the most revenues.
As you note, rising cost (well beyond reason) has killed the live demand. If I attend a game in (insert local college venue here) they probably make money selling hot dogs at 50 cents and parking at a dollar yet they go to the extreme of selling the hot dog for 5 dollars and the parking for 20 dollars. I personally may love attending a live event and sitting with others like me and their families for the past 50 years but now those sitting around me are bankers and lawyers telling me how important they are and with no clue of the game actually being played.
My generation will die off, but the schools have not created the next generation to take my place. AD's are like farmers selling their current crop for the maximum value while keeping no seed back to sow for future crops. Sure all the AD's pay lip service to all that ail's modern attendance except the ones that really matter as it means making less in the short run to protect the income steam in the long run.
Look I am happy we have the SECN but several AD's and many folks within their offices have already confirmed that we have made a deal with the devil, and the due bill will come like death and taxes. When you see Commonwealth downsizing it is not for the good of the team, it is just dropping 10,000 of the poorer folks to accommodate fewer of the richer ones. In my personal observation this will create very real problems as richer folks seem to be event driven (top matchup games) and the poorer ones will attend all the games.
Posted on 6/11/15 at 1:33 pm to JDHLaw
On another note, whoever had the idea that unfilled upper deck seats will soon be turned into party decks, is really onto something.
As a millennial, one of the major reasons I still attend games is to reconnect with old college buddies who are now rarely seen due to their new "adult" commitments.
For three years out of undergrad, I purchased season tickets. Total waste of money as many of those "throw away" games are generally not very fun to sit through. Moreover, myself and others have decided that there are other fun things to do for a fraction of the price in Atlanta than what it costs to travel to Tuscaloosa for a gameday.
The SEC, and college football will eventually have to do one of two things in the next 20 years: move to the NFL model and make all 12 games against Big 6 teams (and expand to a 8 team playoff), or, change the business model on seating and stadium structure.
NFL teams can get away with a lot of things, because (and I know this will shock some of you 'college only guys') the revenue from the league TV deal and corporate sponsorship dollars absolutely crushes that of the college ranks.
Sorry, but UPS and Coca-Cola sponsorship money for the Atlanta Falcons new stadium in 2017 laps the field eight times on what LSU pulls in at Tiger Stadium.
The bubble is about to burst on these expansions, because the new generation of college students are getting shut out of games as students, can tailgate and watch games for free on 60 inch TV's outside the stadium, and be able to congregate for every game at a local alumni spot, as all games are now on TV.
As a millennial, one of the major reasons I still attend games is to reconnect with old college buddies who are now rarely seen due to their new "adult" commitments.
For three years out of undergrad, I purchased season tickets. Total waste of money as many of those "throw away" games are generally not very fun to sit through. Moreover, myself and others have decided that there are other fun things to do for a fraction of the price in Atlanta than what it costs to travel to Tuscaloosa for a gameday.
The SEC, and college football will eventually have to do one of two things in the next 20 years: move to the NFL model and make all 12 games against Big 6 teams (and expand to a 8 team playoff), or, change the business model on seating and stadium structure.
NFL teams can get away with a lot of things, because (and I know this will shock some of you 'college only guys') the revenue from the league TV deal and corporate sponsorship dollars absolutely crushes that of the college ranks.
Sorry, but UPS and Coca-Cola sponsorship money for the Atlanta Falcons new stadium in 2017 laps the field eight times on what LSU pulls in at Tiger Stadium.
The bubble is about to burst on these expansions, because the new generation of college students are getting shut out of games as students, can tailgate and watch games for free on 60 inch TV's outside the stadium, and be able to congregate for every game at a local alumni spot, as all games are now on TV.
Page 1 of 1
Popular
Back to top
Follow SECRant for SEC Football News