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SEC football Attendance is dropping, spinoff thread. What is causing the drop?
Posted on 7/6/19 at 12:53 pm
Posted on 7/6/19 at 12:53 pm
I know many will blame TV and costs but the 2 main things are probably...
Greed & Indifference
TV is not the problem, the greed of advertising dollars is the problem. If TV advertising is rising 6% to 12% per year and real wages are stagnant then consumers are footing a growing debt on less wages.
Students are not the problem, the indifference to the sport is fast becoming the problem. Both my grandfathers were professional athletes in and era before pro football and most college football. My old man was NFL level talent in an age of leather helmets. I was D1 level in the postwar era. The generation behind me were high school level talent, and the generation below them don't play anymore.
Farmers in my day that were worth their salt held back a percentage of their seed to sow the next years crop. Wealth was created at the production level and not the "middleman" level where trade on the CBoT creates the wealth for folks who have never planted the first seed. Same has happened in college football where the "middlemen" of advertising and AD's have adopted strategies of short term wealth at the expense of long term growth. End the end the market will collapse because the greed and indifference will not allow the market to reset before it collapses.
Fix indifference and greed and you fix the problem no matter how they place the blame no.
Some points.....
The importance of poor folks and middle class folks
Fix how to get the corporations and uber wealthy out and bring back the masses
Have AD's spend like Scottish bankers and not like drunken spendthrifts
Engage immigrants in the sport so their kids will fill the future rosters
The importance of engaging the viewers over just the advertisers
Return it to the game and not all the corporate distractions around the game
Bring back individual school customs and not corporate hooks at all schools
Abandon the NFL model for a strengthening of local and regional business model
If you attack greed and indifference first, the rest will fix itself.
Greed & Indifference
TV is not the problem, the greed of advertising dollars is the problem. If TV advertising is rising 6% to 12% per year and real wages are stagnant then consumers are footing a growing debt on less wages.
Students are not the problem, the indifference to the sport is fast becoming the problem. Both my grandfathers were professional athletes in and era before pro football and most college football. My old man was NFL level talent in an age of leather helmets. I was D1 level in the postwar era. The generation behind me were high school level talent, and the generation below them don't play anymore.
Farmers in my day that were worth their salt held back a percentage of their seed to sow the next years crop. Wealth was created at the production level and not the "middleman" level where trade on the CBoT creates the wealth for folks who have never planted the first seed. Same has happened in college football where the "middlemen" of advertising and AD's have adopted strategies of short term wealth at the expense of long term growth. End the end the market will collapse because the greed and indifference will not allow the market to reset before it collapses.
Fix indifference and greed and you fix the problem no matter how they place the blame no.
Some points.....
The importance of poor folks and middle class folks
Fix how to get the corporations and uber wealthy out and bring back the masses
Have AD's spend like Scottish bankers and not like drunken spendthrifts
Engage immigrants in the sport so their kids will fill the future rosters
The importance of engaging the viewers over just the advertisers
Return it to the game and not all the corporate distractions around the game
Bring back individual school customs and not corporate hooks at all schools
Abandon the NFL model for a strengthening of local and regional business model
If you attack greed and indifference first, the rest will fix itself.
18
Posted on 7/6/19 at 1:06 pm to Cheese Grits
quote:
SEC football Attendance is dropping, spinoff thread.
This might be true, but if you’re going to provide a ton of context for why, could you at least have some stats that back it up? I feel like almost every game is sold out unless your team sucks.
Posted on 7/6/19 at 1:13 pm to Cheese Grits
Ticket prices, ticket fees, and all associated costs (food, travel, lodging, etc) going up. I literally use my grandmother's dish password for WATCHESPN - I cut the cord years ago
- and literally enjoy the comfort of my house on game day.
- and literally enjoy the comfort of my house on game day.
Posted on 7/6/19 at 1:22 pm to Cheese Grits
1. The at home experience is pretty amazing now. I can watch three games at home or at the office at once.
2. The 20-35 range of people do not have as much available income it seems as older generations. So they can only do a few games a year. Cost of tickets seems to go up so it loses a lot of this market
3. Availability of tickets is far to easy. Why buy season tickets including games you don't care about if you can just buy a few games. Most common fans really don't care about FCS games.
Think those are some more obvious reasons. I mean Florida sold out games for 3 decades then suddenly stopped even with a very good team in 2012. Demand just isn't as high to see the live events anymore.
2. The 20-35 range of people do not have as much available income it seems as older generations. So they can only do a few games a year. Cost of tickets seems to go up so it loses a lot of this market
3. Availability of tickets is far to easy. Why buy season tickets including games you don't care about if you can just buy a few games. Most common fans really don't care about FCS games.
Think those are some more obvious reasons. I mean Florida sold out games for 3 decades then suddenly stopped even with a very good team in 2012. Demand just isn't as high to see the live events anymore.
Posted on 7/6/19 at 1:25 pm to Dawgsontop34
quote:
I feel like almost every game is sold out unless your team sucks.
That is old world thinking
Lots of tickets are silently resold in blocks to corporations or attached to donations that are not reflected in face value printed on tickets. If the NCAA went to actual turnstile turns and not inflated ticket sales the numbers would be more glaring.
I have been to "sold out" venues in the past decade that were no where near sold out. The "downsizing" and corporate seating will continue this trend but long term it will just kill affinity for the sport to attend a live game of the moderate income folks who have historically driven the atmosphere and seats actually occupied come kickoff.
Posted on 7/6/19 at 1:25 pm to Cheese Grits
The options for leisure time are numerous now. Time and money drive many decisions.
Would you rather have season tickets for 4 people or go to the beach for a week and the mountains for a week?
Traveling to a game every week as a family is unrealistic given kids sports/activities and both parents working. I gave up my season tickets and I doubt I will ever buy season tickets again. Stub hub is easy and even if you pay more than face for the game you want (which is unlikely) you save big money.
Time is limited for all of us.
Money is limited for most of us.
Season tickets and attending every game is a big commitment of time and money.
Perhaps many people are just deciding to spend their time and money on other things.
Would you rather have season tickets for 4 people or go to the beach for a week and the mountains for a week?
Traveling to a game every week as a family is unrealistic given kids sports/activities and both parents working. I gave up my season tickets and I doubt I will ever buy season tickets again. Stub hub is easy and even if you pay more than face for the game you want (which is unlikely) you save big money.
Time is limited for all of us.
Money is limited for most of us.
Season tickets and attending every game is a big commitment of time and money.
Perhaps many people are just deciding to spend their time and money on other things.
Posted on 7/6/19 at 1:26 pm to Cheese Grits
I think there is a difference in stadium attendance and actual audience size.
Posted on 7/6/19 at 1:29 pm to momentoftruth87
I had UT season tickets for many years...most all those years were in the days of just a very few games on TV. I gave them up in 1994 when my son played D2 football for 4 years and I was going to be watching and following him for those 4 years....I had all intentions of renewing them after my son graduated but I found it was too easy to stay at home and watch every game on TV plus all the other games I'd miss traveling to Knoxville..And I didn't miss that 650 mile round trip one bit. It was fun for those many years I had season tickets but I've never looked back since I dropped them.
Posted on 7/6/19 at 1:30 pm to Gatorbait2008
I really think that the number of games on TV along with the quality of the at-home experience is the major reason.
Also, I'm not sure if this is true or not but I think it might play a role: It seems like these days a lot of graduates end up further away than in the past.
From my friends group at Auburn a few went to Atlanta and a few to Birmingham but lots of others ended up much farther afield. I'm in Raleigh, I've got friends from Auburn who moved to Texas, DC, Arizona, etc. I try to go to a game every year but it's not like I'm going to get season tickets when I am so far away, and it is the same for a lot of other people I know. Seems like maybe in the past people were a little closer and we're more likely to go from graduate to season ticket holder
Also, I'm not sure if this is true or not but I think it might play a role: It seems like these days a lot of graduates end up further away than in the past.
From my friends group at Auburn a few went to Atlanta and a few to Birmingham but lots of others ended up much farther afield. I'm in Raleigh, I've got friends from Auburn who moved to Texas, DC, Arizona, etc. I try to go to a game every year but it's not like I'm going to get season tickets when I am so far away, and it is the same for a lot of other people I know. Seems like maybe in the past people were a little closer and we're more likely to go from graduate to season ticket holder
Posted on 7/6/19 at 1:31 pm to Cheese Grits
Because football is dying and because of the global basketball takeover
Posted on 7/6/19 at 1:31 pm to Cheese Grits
TV is definitely the problem.. i love watching games in my recliner in the AC
Posted on 7/6/19 at 1:40 pm to Cheese Grits
The anti-football liberal propaganda machine - that has to be the only valid reason. frick the liberals. 
(kidding)
(kidding) Posted on 7/6/19 at 1:41 pm to momentoftruth87
quote:
I literally use my grandmother's dish password for WATCHESPN - I cut the cord years ago
What happens when grandma slips the earthly coil and the dish dies?
TV may get you a picture but it can not replace the benefits of a live event
+ Multiple generations of fans sitting around you you know and engage in person
+ Gets you outside in the elements
+ TV engages just vision and hearing, live game adds smell, touch, and taste
+ TV you see what somebody else wants you to see, live you see what you want to see
+ TV means no exercise, live gets you climbing stairs and walking
Posted on 7/6/19 at 1:47 pm to ThaiTiger24
quote:
The anti-football liberal propaganda machine - that has to be the only valid reason.
Not sure where you are going with this but something I have observed over time...
Games played on the streets in neighborhoods with nearby kids and some occasional blood and bruises have been replaced with minivan chauffeured kids playing minimal contact ball with "rent a win" kids across town.
Older folks got a car as it meant freedom to go where you wanted, when you wanted. We have a whole generation of kids who don't want to drive because mom and the min Ivan was their transportation for their youth. They literally have lost the drive to drive.
Posted on 7/6/19 at 1:51 pm to Cheese Grits
quote:
They literally have lost the drive to drive.
Good, it will make the transition to self driving cars easier.
Posted on 7/6/19 at 1:55 pm to Hailstate15
quote:
TV is definitely the problem.. i love watching games in my recliner in the AC
Yep
To go to a game costs a lot of money and an entire day of your time.
Local venues must improve the game day experience.
Cost of tickets
Cost of food and drink
Sell alcohol please
Parking
Traffic
I don’t look forward to sitting in 100 degree heat, or the rain, or the occasional freezing your arse off.
How many games a year does your team play at home that is worth all the negatives?
Having said that, I always have a great time when I go.
You can’t beat the live experience with 90,000 fans!
I can’t see myself getting season tickets again in any sport.
This post was edited on 7/6/19 at 1:58 pm
Posted on 7/6/19 at 2:05 pm to Cheese Grits
quote:
What happens when grandma slips the earthly coil and the dish dies?
I'll figure it out then.
quote:
TV may get you a picture but it can not replace the benefits of a live event
I dont disagree. I still go to live sport venues.
quote:
Multiple generations of fans sitting around you you know and engage in person
This isn't always a pro.
quote:
+ Gets you outside in the elements
I leave my house every day, I get plenty of elements lol
quote:
+ TV engages just vision and hearing, live game adds smell, touch, and taste
True, but I also don't have to smell body odor of creatures who are nut to butt with me
quote:
+ TV you see what somebody else wants you to see, live you see what you want to see
Most games broadcasted are pretty "live". I don't like WATCHESPN because I can click a thread on here and know what happens before the delay, but my WATCHESPN is free, so I don't care too much.
quote:
TV means no exercise, live gets you climbing stairs and walking
I go to the gym and play with my kids. Walking in 90+ degree heat or balls cold for miles isn't always fun.
Posted on 7/6/19 at 2:27 pm to Cheese Grits
The cost of going to see one football game and miss out on viewing the 2 dozen other games is what stands out to me. People don’t want to load up the entire family and spend 1/2 their month’s paycheck on a weekend for one football game. Auburn IMO has been the worst about this bc we have the highest ticket prices in the conference.
Posted on 7/6/19 at 2:28 pm to Cheese Grits
Crappy Non-conference games. Who wants to drive a couple of hours, pay $40 to park, spend $150+ on food and beverages pre-game, spend another $25+ during the game on overpriced stadium food and drinks to watch a game with Georgia Southern, Tennessee Tech, etc when you can stay at home in far more comfortable surroundings and eat far better food cheaper at home.
Posted on 7/6/19 at 2:29 pm to Cheese Grits
Aggie is driving the average up
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