Here are the attendance figures for the top 5 and bottom 5 bowls, and for Big East bowls, in order of attendance in terms of tickets sold and with capacity in parentheses for the top bowls. The link provides a list of all the bowls:

Top 5:

1) Rose: 94,118 (SOLD OUT)
2) Cotton: 83,514 (SOLD OUT)
3) BCS Title Game: 78.603 (SOLD OUT)
4) Gator: 77,497 (84,000)
5) Sugar: 73,879 (SOLD OUT)

Big East bowls:

Fiesta: 67,232 (93% capacity)
Champs:48,962 (69% capacity)
BBVA Compass:41.207 (57% capacity)
Meineke:41,122 (57% capacity)
Pinstripe:38,274 (70% capacity)
Beef O Brady: 20,017 (46% capacity)

I'm not sure how the Beef Bowl can survive?

Bottom 5:

1) Beef O Brady's: 20,017
2) Humanitarian: 25,449
3) R-L Carriers: 29,159
4) New Mexico: 32,424
5) Little Caesars: 32,431

Not surprisingly, four of these bowls featured two non-AQ teams. and the lowest-attended had a non-AQ team as well.

http://helmetstickers.blogspot.com/2011/...gures.html

It's more proof that some bowls need to be eliminated. People want to see good games, and not games among marginal teams...

(01-14-2011 10:34 AM)bitcruncher Wrote:  It's more proof that some bowls need to be eliminated. People want to see good games, and not games among marginal teams...

Indeed. No one goes to them, no one watches on TV, so why do they exist except that they fit somehow into a grand disney/espn programming plan that doesn't benefit us?

The non-AQ schools complain about money distribution, but why should you get a larger share than you are helping to generate?

(01-14-2011 10:34 AM)bitcruncher Wrote:  It's more proof that some bowls need to be eliminated.

Since ESPN owns/manages most of the bowl games...ESPN has a model for success...and most of it relies on TV $$$$$.

Some bowls will fail on their own (i.e. International Bowl) but as long as ESPN continues to make $$$$ off bowl games...they will still continue to schedule/run them.

ESPN has a model for suckcess, if you want my opinion on the matter, which is a big problem for everyone except the chosen few...

(01-14-2011 11:23 AM)KnightLight Wrote:  

(01-14-2011 10:34 AM)bitcruncher Wrote:  It's more proof that some bowls need to be eliminated.

Since ESPN owns/manages most of the bowl games...ESPN has a model for success...and most of it relies on TV $$$$$.

No one questions whether this bowl proliferation is good for ESPN. It's what it does for us.

(01-14-2011 10:17 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  Beef O Brady: 20,017 (46% capacity)

I'm not sure how the Beef Bowl can survive?

That's 46% capacity based on regular seating at the Trop (around 45,000). They obviously don't use the entire seating area for the bowl game. The 2009 Beef O'Bradys Bowl was practically sold out and the attendance was still only around 28,800. And that's after they opened up obstructed view seating at the top.

(01-14-2011 10:17 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  Beef O Brady: 20,017 (46% capacity)

Tropicana Field's capacity for baseball is 42,735. However, for the bowl game, the stadium only seats only around 28,000 as the uppermost decks and left field seating are not utilized. So in actually, the bowl game was at 71.49% capacity.

(01-14-2011 10:17 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  I'm not sure how the Beef Bowl can survive?

St Pete is an okay location, but I think the game would do a lot better in Tampa. The biggest problem the bowl is going to have is if C-USA schools (excluding UCF) travel like USM did this year. Bringing 2-3K in fans was absolutely pathetic.

(01-14-2011 10:34 AM)bitcruncher Wrote:  It's more proof that some bowls need to be eliminated. People want to see good games, and not games among marginal teams...

I agree that the number of bowls is ridiculously high, and should be scaled down even if it is at cost to some BCS conference teams with sub. 500 records. I think all the contracts to the tie in bowls to conferences should ALL be ripped up, and opened to all conferences even the precious Rose Bowl. For this would make for way better ratings as well IMO.

(01-14-2011 12:54 PM)UofL07 Wrote:  

(01-14-2011 10:17 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  Beef O Brady: 20,017 (46% capacity)

Tropicana Field's capacity for baseball is 42,735. However, for the bowl game, the stadium only seats only around 28,000 as the uppermost decks and left field seating are not utilized. So in actually, the bowl game was at 71.49% capacity.

(01-14-2011 10:17 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  I'm not sure how the Beef Bowl can survive?

St Pete is an okay location, but I think the game would do a lot better in Tampa. The biggest problem the bowl is going to have is if C-USA schools (excluding UCF) travel like USM did this year. Bringing 2-3K in fans was absolutely pathetic.

I think you know that ECU would have probably taken 8-10,000 to St. Pete. But that is beside the point.

A bad bowl rating of 1.** is still better than any other program that could be shown on a weekday afternoon. Getting 20,000 people, even though a small crowd, is a big boost to any economy especially during typically slow winter months. There will be some constant shifting in the bowl lineups but there is a reason we have so many of them and NO PLAYOFF. There is tons of money being made.

(01-14-2011 12:14 PM)KnightTower Wrote:  

(01-14-2011 10:17 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  Beef O Brady: 20,017 (46% capacity)

I'm not sure how the Beef Bowl can survive?

That's 46% capacity based on regular seating at the Trop (around 45,000). They obviously don't use the entire seating area for the bowl game. The 2009 Beef O'Bradys Bowl was practically sold out and the attendance was still only around 28,800. And that's after they opened up obstructed view seating at the top.

Any way you slice it, it's 20,000 sold, which is pathetic.

Heck, i could rent a 70,000 seat stadium, rope off and blanket over 60,000 of them, then sell 8,000 tix, and declare we were at "80% capacity", which would be a joke, right?

Actually tickets sold/distributed for the Pinstripe was around 44k the turnstile count was 38k.

Some of the bottom bowls were lucky to have 10k actual in the stadium.

(01-14-2011 01:07 PM)TexanMark Wrote:  Actually tickets sold/distributed for the Pinstripe was around 44k the turnstile count was 38k.

I know the PSB gave away (donated) 6,000 tix to NYC area community groups. That would mean more fans in the stands than tix sold.

Add it all up and 38k is probably correct as far as tickets sold, which is pretty bad considering that non-military fans had to buy tix to the PSB to see Army-Notre Dame, a game which obviously drew many more fans than the PSB.

(01-14-2011 01:04 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(01-14-2011 12:14 PM)KnightTower Wrote:  

(01-14-2011 10:17 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  Beef O Brady: 20,017 (46% capacity)

I'm not sure how the Beef Bowl can survive?

That's 46% capacity based on regular seating at the Trop (around 45,000). They obviously don't use the entire seating area for the bowl game. The 2009 Beef O'Bradys Bowl was practically sold out and the attendance was still only around 28,800. And that's after they opened up obstructed view seating at the top.

Any way you slice it, it's 20,000 sold, which is pathetic.

Heck, i could rent a 70,000 seat stadium, rope off and blanket over 60,000 of them, then sell 8,000 tix, and declare we were at "80% capacity", which would be a joke, right?

As UofL07 said, you can't look to the Big East this year. UofL was 75% of the 20,000, despite it being a 900 mile trip.

Military Bowl 38,062 45,596 83.48%

ECU & Maryland

(01-14-2011 11:14 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(01-14-2011 10:34 AM)bitcruncher Wrote:  It's more proof that some bowls need to be eliminated. People want to see good games, and not games among marginal teams...

Indeed. No one goes to them, no one watches on TV, so why do they exist except that they fit somehow into a grand disney/espn programming plan that doesn't benefit us?

The non-AQ schools complain about money distribution, but why should you get a larger share than you are helping to generate?

disagree that no one wacthes them
2 million plus watched the beef bowl

(01-14-2011 11:43 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(01-14-2011 11:23 AM)KnightLight Wrote:  

(01-14-2011 10:34 AM)bitcruncher Wrote:  It's more proof that some bowls need to be eliminated.

Since ESPN owns/manages most of the bowl games...ESPN has a model for success...and most of it relies on TV $$$$$.

No one questions whether this bowl proliferation is good for ESPN. It's what it does for us.

As in fans?

How does a few extra TV shows (football games) bother you?

Did you want to watch POKER or Bull Riding on ESPN2 during the holidays instead?

There's been recent talk of letting teams with losing records go to bowls if there aren't enough bowl eligible teams. If we're going to go that route, why not have a playoff for the championship, and let everyone else play it out in the bowls to determine which conferences are the best? That way nobody gets left out, and we aren't celebrating mediocrity to do it...

If they cut the number of bowl games down to around 25-30 then attendance and tv ratings would go up because of supply and demand. When average low-bcs team or mid-major teams make multiple bowl games over a few years they most likely won't sell a lot of tickets because why would their fans want to spend a lot of money every year to travel and watch their average team play? But E$PN will never cut down the number of bowl games, just like the nfl will never cut down the number of preseason and regular season games.

(01-14-2011 04:31 PM)KnightLight Wrote:  

(01-14-2011 11:43 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(01-14-2011 11:23 AM)KnightLight Wrote:  

(01-14-2011 10:34 AM)bitcruncher Wrote:  It's more proof that some bowls need to be eliminated.

Since ESPN owns/manages most of the bowl games...ESPN has a model for success...and most of it relies on TV $$$$$.

No one questions whether this bowl proliferation is good for ESPN. It's what it does for us.

As in fans?

How does a few extra TV shows (football games) bother you?

Did you want to watch POKER or Bull Riding on ESPN2 during the holidays instead?

There's another sport called basketball that has games going on. But no, E$PN would rather have 6 nba games on christmas day