10 suggestions for college football's attendance problem

it is just so easy and cheaper to be a loyal fan today from the comforts of your own home and flat screen tv in HD

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Well they’re parallel effects of similar causes. The consequences of young alumni and dropouts having no money is a hollowing out of a major section of the fanbase for at least a decade. I think that sounds familiar to us. That’s the prime age group for marketing, especially for sports. If the school makes those alumni suffer, the athletics department will suffer too.

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I’ve missed a minimal amount of home games since moving here in 2010. For the record, I have no other affiliation with the school as a student/alumni/faculty/etc. That said, my biggest complaints are morning and mid afternoon games. If you want to tailgate, you gotta wake up early, be there by 8-9:00. Game starts at 11. You’re done by 2. Then what do you do with the rest of your day? The mid afternoon games where you’re out by 8 are even worse for that reason. The night games have a much better party atmosphere. Not to mention the first half of the season where its still 90 degrees outside.

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Joe . . . . . school and athletic department have little to NO influence concerning “game time” . . . . . all up to TV Networks . . . . .

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Most schools have dreams of just winning their conference, and for most a dream is all they will have at the end of the season. When was the last time Kansas, Kansa State, Iowa state, Vandy, Illinois, Miss State, Mizzou, South Carolina, Oregon State, etc. won their conference in football? Yeah, they can dream of the CFP, but in reality they have no shot and their fans know it.

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You left out a$m …He He !!!

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I can see your point, and agree it can have an influence. However, it is probably slight compared to other attendance factors. I know enough 20 somethings that find a way to treat themselves to an entertainment expense they really want. Making the game something they really want, and they will find a way - name opponents is one way, great in (and around) stadium experience, social aspect, etc.

Suggestions such as reducing affiliated expenses such as food and parking will make games more affordable (as with lower debt from other side of equation), not just for recent grads, but all fans including those that live near but did not attend. Thus more people affected.

Most students that will be fans after college do so because they were big fans while in school, before even knowing if they would be able to afford season tickets.

As for dropouts, most drop outs I know of, do so for many reasons, debt only being one, and I believe very few would have been alternately considering season tickets or such anyway.

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https://twitter.com/ESPN_BillC/status/1170000792708878338?s=20

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read an article somewhere about how colleges are now selling beer in stadiums to increase gameday revenue, luckily UH was the leader in this.

one thing I would suggest is allow free student parking in some designated areas. you do not give them the close up parking, but if you can cut out the cost of a ticket and parking for students, should encourage more to go and will make them more likely to come back as alumns.

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What about the growth of the stadium seating? What is the average stadium size now compared to 2000?

A team can fill it when they win but if the team is average it’s a tough job.

I know we built TDECU to compete size wise, getting us over 40k.

But historically we haven’t needed that capacity. (Don’t argue future conferences). Sell outs make games the hot ticket…look at UH basketball.

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They do have free parking. Everyone before a certain time before the game can park in any of the Garages. Not including the stadium garage.

I think you’re right. A smaller stadium that is consistently packed is a better atmosphere than being up in the clouds in a 100k capacity stadium. Theres no need to expand, the atmosphere and demand for sold out tickets is a good thing.

well I do not consider it free if they are going to charge for the spot at some point on that gameday.

i’m talking about leaving a section open by the college of business that I know becomes a pay lot for studebnts. will some non-students try an get in ? yes, but there’s always those that will. one of UH’s problems is getting more students out and coming back after grad, seems cutting prking is good help

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You mean like the old Coogfans tailgate :blush:

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#1
GET RID OF THE CFP
#2
MAKE IT CLEAR TO EVERY FAN THAT EVERY SCHOOL BE P5 OR NOT HAS A REAL CHANCE TO WIN THE ULTIMATE PRIZE

Do not under estimate the psychological impact that the cfp has created. Yes there will always be a home base fan but having a cfp the way it is decided is hugely detrimental to fan interest. This is especially true with 1 second attention span generation.

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Many college stadiums are significantly bigger than NFL stadiums now.

Has the college game peaked from a game day level? The demand was there when fewer games were on TV, so the arms race led to escalating stadium sizes.

Yeah, why sit at the top row of a 100k stadium to see your team play a ‘rent a win’ team when you can watch it from home.

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Like be able to come in and out at will. Stuck inside is a pain!

Tickets for two free beers/drinks and a hot dog. Done.

Maybe it’s too small of a sample size to say this is normal, but I work in b2b sales and now more than I’ve ever seen before people are working on Saturday as if it were a business day. This is especially true with people working in the service sector. I have found it impossible for many games, including today’s game to bring people to the game. Lots of asks for a lot of maybes.

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Add Nebraska and Tamu to that as well. 20 plus years for both of them.