I thought this was an interesting read for football off-season. While there have been drops in attendance across most conferences, four have come out with increased attendance since the 2018 season. The Big 12 saw a 0.1% increase, the MAC a 0.5% increase, the AAC a 2% increase, and the Sun Belt a 5.5% increase.

While anybody can make the argument between actual attendance and reported attendance, I think there is a lot to be said as to why the Sun Belt is continuing to see growth while others are starting to see some decline. For reference, the Belt's attendance was the second lowest of all FBS conferences and CUSA saw no growth or loss.

Read more here:
https://www.cbssports.com/college-footba...ince-1996/

"South Carolina was an outlier. In a 4-8 season, it had the largest SEC attendance increase. Gamecocks fans continue to pack Williams-Brice Stadium win, lose or weather delay. The increase was the nation's 10th-largest in 2019 -- more than 4,300 per game. The reason: The home schedule was definitely better with Alabama, Florida and Clemson coming to town."

They forgot App picking up their slack one night.

With the new OCS for us, we should have an increase in attendance. Would help if we would win some games in that stadium.

I've been telling people for a while now that I suspect the overall attendance decline is mostly driven by blue blood programs who have the most expensive tickets. Attendance decline at the biggest schools mask the steady attendance at the non-elite CFB programs.

And I love to get in pot shots at CUSA as much as anyone, but I don't really think they're not really doing anything that we aren't. It's just year-to-year variations in attendance caused by how well your teams are doing.

(03-10-2020 01:40 PM)EigenEagle Wrote:  I've been telling people for a while now that I suspect the overall attendance decline is mostly driven by blue blood programs who have the most expensive tickets. Attendance decline at the biggest schools mask the steady attendance at the non-elite CFB programs.

Agreed. CFB has gotten too expensive for a lot of people. Game times are not great for a lot of people. Game lengths are too long for a lot of people.

Quote:And I love to get in pot shots at CUSA as much as anyone, but I don't really think they're not really doing anything that we aren't. It's just year-to-year variations in attendance caused by how well your teams are doing.

Possibly. However, it could be because no one in CUSA has a natural or historic rival other than the Texas Schools and WKU/MTSU. Imagine playing 5-6 home games against teams your alumni don't care about or have no interest in caring about.

(03-10-2020 02:02 PM)Yosef Himself Wrote:  

(03-10-2020 01:40 PM)EigenEagle Wrote:  And I love to get in pot shots at CUSA as much as anyone, but I don't really think they're not really doing anything that we aren't. It's just year-to-year variations in attendance caused by how well your teams are doing.

Possibly. However, it could be because no one in CUSA has a natural or historic rival other than the Texas Schools and WKU/MTSU. Imagine playing 5-6 home games against teams your alumni don't care about or have no interest in caring about.

This is also possibly the "marketz" strategy at work. In larger cities, there are other activities that are easier to do with much less of a time/money investment.

Couple that with a poor performing team and where is the motivation to attend?

I think prices are getting too high, the tax laws have changed on tickets. The length of the game and game times are meant for TV and not for people at the game. Everyone is getting bigger TVs and better experiences at home now. The experience at the game must improve. I don't think the Sunbelt is doing something better either. New Stadium should help us for next year, but we got to be better than last year. Winning helps all.

(03-10-2020 04:30 PM)kevinwmsn Wrote:  I think prices are getting too high, the tax laws have changed on tickets. The length of the game and game times are meant for TV and not for people at the game. Everyone is getting bigger TVs and better experiences at home now. The experience at the game must improve. I don't think the Sunbelt is doing something better either. New Stadium should help us for next year, but we got to be better than last year. Winning helps all.

Length of game isn't that bad honestly. ESPN has gotten really good at sticking pretty close to their time slots. You're looking at roughly 3 hours for a football game on ESPN.

FOX on the other hand? Kill me. Also CBS Sports.

Over the previous 20 years either the ACC or SEC has won the national championship 16 times. Over the previous 10 years two teams have won the title 7 times. The SEC and ACC both have suffered the least drop in attendance over the previous 20 years. Go figure and nothing on the horizon suggests things are going to change.

https://www.ncaa.com/history/football/fbs

Fans are becoming complacent. Add the cost of streaming subscriptions and contracts and higher ticket prices and that dog won't hunt. Expand the playoffs and make a big deal out those selected. Bowls should determine who's conference champion and champions should go. G5 would be ecstatic with one. Something to play for for the bottom dwellers and takes some of the monopoly away from the southeast. The NFL keeps it interesting with the draft.