Attendance Issues

Tue Dec 16, 2014 9:29 am

It's been discussed a few times before, but I just found this article about college football attendance being down this year (lowest in 14 years).
http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootbal ... n-14-years

Essentially, the takeaway is...if you're a Top 25 FBS team...then your attendance likely went up. If you are not, then it went down.
It's not just us, not just FCS, it's most of the FBS too.
Texas, Florida, Michigan, South Carolina, Clemson, and Virginia Tech all dropped...for example.

There's a multitude of reasons though...ticket prices, "environment" (one comment from the article: not wanting to hang around with a bunch of drunk 20-year-olds), how easy and cheap it is to watch many games from home, increased competition for attention...some of which don't really apply to us.

Anyway, just thought it was interesting.

sealhall74 · Tue Dec 16, 2014 11:03 am

This is 2014. People do not need to walk into a gate and sit on cold hard metal or plastic to enjoy a sporting event. The smart ADs will start catering to their virtual game audience as well. Why not some fan games or pizza discount coupons for those watching on-line?

BobLovely · Tue Dec 16, 2014 12:28 pm

I read this same article. The in person game day experience has changed over the years. While ticket prices have gone up, the behavior of the fans has become rowdy due to binge drinking before games and a general decay in civility.

I attended four FBS games this year and I found some of the behavior of drunk, rude and obnoxious fans to be irritating. Ironically, the best behavior I witnessed this year at a FBS game was in Madison for the Wisconsin-Western game. It must been that 11:00am kickoff.

Let's just say it is not too appealing to listen to drunk idiots yell f-bombs throughout a football game that I came to actually watch - fully sober. I also attended a Division II game this year and I found the fans to be much better behaved while still being rabid fans.

Of course, if you really want to see poor fan behavior, attend any NFL game! You can even watch fans get assaulted, shot or stabbed in the parking lot...

Bob

Necks2003 · Tue Dec 16, 2014 2:05 pm

If you really want to see drunk and obnoxious behavior you can also attend any sporting event at SIU as well!

leatherface · Tue Dec 16, 2014 4:44 pm

My wife and I would take a road trip to a " big time" game once a year to experience a game day in a little different part of the country. Many of the reasons listed above have generally stopped our desire to do that much anymore. I would say the biggest disappointment which took the fun out of that was the drunks- during and after the games. Yes, even several years ago at WESTERN games we got tired of putting up with drunks. Travel, money spent and hope for a good game loses its appeal when you witness a fight or two, constant cursing and drunks yelling at visiting fans and their families.

Cost is also a huge factor anymore-tickets, gas etc. We would just as soon go see a D2 or D3 game where the athletes are likely students.

WIU0812 · Tue Dec 16, 2014 5:06 pm

If WIU gets a large indoor concourse area where the game can be watched similar to ISU's, anyone who is worried about drunk students or things like this ought to get a ticket there as it is likely to be a less drunken area. I could be wrong though since most of these areas at stadiums sell alcohol.