Started By
Message
1982 Hall of Fame Bowl - Vanderbilt vs Air Force had 75,000 in attendance
Posted on 6/20/22 at 8:23 am
Posted on 6/20/22 at 8:23 am
I ran across highlights of this game recently. The Hall of Fame Bowl in Birmingham, Alabama had a crowd of 75,000 for this game. Growing up in Birmingham, I use to always go to the bowl games there. It didn't matter who was playing. While I love having a lot of television choices on Saturdays, it has pretty much killed the interest in people actually attending games. What needs to be done to bring fans back to the games? Is it too late? Has this ship already sailed?
10
Posted on 6/20/22 at 8:25 am to Ramblin Wreck
quote:
What needs to be done to bring fans back to the games?
How much was the ticket back then ? 15 bucks ?
Posted on 6/20/22 at 8:28 am to Ramblin Wreck
has hard as it is to believe,Vandy had about 40,000 fans for that game. Nashville and Mid Tenn emptied out for that one.
Posted on 6/20/22 at 8:30 am to Ramblin Wreck
quote:
What needs to be done to bring fans back to the games?
Outlaw streaming packages and TV’s larger than 27” and more than 480 lines of resolution?
Posted on 6/20/22 at 8:37 am to Ghost of Barnwell
quote:
How much was the ticket back then ? 15 bucks ?
I don't think that is the issue. With the exception of some of the blue bloods that are still highly successful, most tickets are not that expensive these days (minus the outrageous ticket master add ons). The USFL games in Birmingham had sparce attendance this season in a new stadium, a team with a great record and chance to win the championship, and even having a former popular Alabama running back on the team. I think people just don't care to go to live games anymore.
I live in Baton Rouge and have paid between $50 and $100 on several occasions to watch a LSU game. Parking is free and you get free refills on soft drinks. It's really not that expensive.
Posted on 6/20/22 at 8:46 am to Ramblin Wreck
They used to give away tickets to minor bowl games.. by the tens of thousands
Posted on 6/20/22 at 8:49 am to Ramblin Wreck
Going to bowl games then was sooooo different.
First, you only had like 15 or so so it was a big deal. Nobody "opted out". Barry Sanders played his last bowl game in the Holiday bowl knowing he would be an early first rounder. It meant you had a good season. Not 6-6.
Second, tix were like 12 bucks, you could park wherever you wanted and there was no corporate sponsors charging you for their sponsorship.
3rd, ESPN didn't own the bowl games. The big ones, Rose, Cotton, Sugar, orange were ABC, CBS and NBC. The rest were syndicated through Mizlou which only certain cable providers/local stations partnered with.
The bottom line though was it was a really big deal to go to any bowl.
First, you only had like 15 or so so it was a big deal. Nobody "opted out". Barry Sanders played his last bowl game in the Holiday bowl knowing he would be an early first rounder. It meant you had a good season. Not 6-6.
Second, tix were like 12 bucks, you could park wherever you wanted and there was no corporate sponsors charging you for their sponsorship.
3rd, ESPN didn't own the bowl games. The big ones, Rose, Cotton, Sugar, orange were ABC, CBS and NBC. The rest were syndicated through Mizlou which only certain cable providers/local stations partnered with.
The bottom line though was it was a really big deal to go to any bowl.
Posted on 6/20/22 at 8:54 am to Ramblin Wreck
Too much televising of the games, changes in determining a national champion, transfer portal that effectively makes college players free agents from one season to the next, and now the NIL, effectively making college football the NFL-Lite.
Schools across the country are now resorting to carnival-like efforts to draw people to the games. It ain't gonna work. With $50-$75 parking charges, walking 1-2 miles to get to the stadium, poor concessionaires at stadiums and such.....who wants to do and spend all this money every week just to fund and fill some player's pockets in order to keep him for just one year possibly?
Throw in skyrocketing fuel, hotel and food prices....this coming season could be an attendance disaster on our hands.
The pageantry and traditions of college football that made it unique and exciting are gone. So is college football, imo.
Schools across the country are now resorting to carnival-like efforts to draw people to the games. It ain't gonna work. With $50-$75 parking charges, walking 1-2 miles to get to the stadium, poor concessionaires at stadiums and such.....who wants to do and spend all this money every week just to fund and fill some player's pockets in order to keep him for just one year possibly?
Throw in skyrocketing fuel, hotel and food prices....this coming season could be an attendance disaster on our hands.
The pageantry and traditions of college football that made it unique and exciting are gone. So is college football, imo.
This post was edited on 6/20/22 at 8:55 am
Posted on 6/20/22 at 9:23 am to Ramblin Wreck
Yeah I recall going to some Arkansas games in the late 1980s as a kid and you could get end-zone seats for either 5 or 10 bucks.
It was easy for a whole family to go on the fly.
No way that's possible now.
It was easy for a whole family to go on the fly.
No way that's possible now.
Posted on 6/20/22 at 9:24 am to JetDawg
Money and greed are killing the game. Everyone knows it but each little group only cares about their paycheck or bottom line... from the coaches to the athletic directors and now the players. Insane coaching salaries created NIL and the player compensation movement. When Chad Morris is paid $10 million to leave after sucking a$$, it's hard to say Johnny QB can't get paid by the local BMW dealership.
Posted on 6/20/22 at 9:26 am to Ghost of Barnwell
quote:
How much was the ticket back then ? 15 bucks ?
Maybe not even that. For a comparison I have a ticket stub from a Van Halen concert in 1982. The price: $7.50
Posted on 6/20/22 at 9:31 am to Ramblin Wreck
Football fans are pampered and have become lazy. They are not use to nosebleed views of the game and now prefer that 50 yard line seat from their living room. Stadiums are now going to have to shrink in order to shift the supply and demand formula for the future of the game. People under 30 do not have an interest in attending.
Posted on 6/20/22 at 9:41 am to TouchdownTony
quote:
The bottom line though was it was a really big deal to go to any bowl.
This. It was only the 3rd time in their history Vandy had went to a bowl. There were only 15 bowls that year(not counting the California Bowl which always took a MAC and PCAA team), so only 30 teams got to go. Compare that to the anywhere from 41-43 bowls we now have.
Posted on 6/20/22 at 9:44 am to JetDawg
quote:
Too much televising of the games,
Yep. I was in elementary/middle school from 1977-85. These were my formative years of CFB. It was a HUGE deal if State or Ole Miss got to play on TV. I mean like you'd have a party and invite 20-40 people to watch. It was a bigger deal to actually get to go to a game. Times have changed. Much of it not for the good.
Posted on 6/20/22 at 9:46 am to Ramblin Wreck
Airforce used to bring alot of fans with bases all over.
They filled up the independence bowl a bunch back in the day with Barksdale there.
They filled up the independence bowl a bunch back in the day with Barksdale there.
Posted on 6/20/22 at 9:55 am to Ramblin Wreck
Lots of free tickets. And maybe Vandy's first ever bowl game.
As an aside, that game eventually moved to Tampa and became the Outback Bowl.
As an aside, that game eventually moved to Tampa and became the Outback Bowl.
Posted on 6/20/22 at 11:13 am to Irons Puppet
quote:
Football fans are pampered and have become lazy.
That's not what chased me out of the stadium.
It's all the piped in music and commercial timeouts. Too much sitting around with horrible music, not enough football.
And now with the transfer portal and NIL, I just don't have as much interest in college football as I used to. I may as well just stick with the Saints on Sunday and keep my Saturdays free.
Posted on 6/20/22 at 11:19 am to Ghost of Barnwell
probably not even that, i could attend razorbacks games for 5 dollars back then, i would imagine the hall of fame bowl was not much more than that, maybe 10 tops
Posted on 6/20/22 at 11:20 am to Irons Puppet
That is not true there are plenty of young peopme who attend games in person have you even seen the crowds on television?
Posted on 6/20/22 at 11:27 am to bruce hog
quote:
That is not true there are plenty of young peopme who attend games in person have you even seen the crowds on television?
Seen the crowds on TV and in person. Kids will go for the first half of the game and then leave. Schools are now making Frats stay for the alma mater or lose their seats for the next game.
Page 1 of 2
Popular
Back to top
Follow SECRant for SEC Football News