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College Football Attendance

AZGrizFan

AZGrizFan

Well-known member
DONOR
Given some of the discussions around here regarding the decline in attendance at Griz games in recent years, I thought this was an interesting article....seems we're not alone, and the issue may be bigger than just "having a winner on the field" or having a coach who "understand what it means to be a Grizzly"...

https://www.si.com/college/2020/01/10/college-football-attendance-decline-ncaa?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=si-ncaafb&utm_medium=social&xid=socialflow_twitter_si

....fans aren’t showing up the way they used to. Average attendance in 2018 was the lowest it’s been for Florida since 1990. While the ’19 season saw an uptick of about 2,000 fans per game—for an average of 84,684 in a 91,916-capacity stadium—attendance has still fallen nearly 6% over five years.
Florida isn’t alone—and plenty other schools have it much worse. From 2014 to ’18, attendance across the FBS fell by 7.6%. Last year, on average, 41,856 fans went to games. That’s the lowest turnout since 1996; even major programs like Ohio State, Virginia Tech and Ole Miss suffered declines of greater than 5%. The NCAA has yet to release its full report on 2019’s numbers, but pictures of nearly-empty stadiums, from big to small programs, popped up every fall weekend on Twitter. During bowl season, as games moved to neutral sites, the stands were so empty it looked more like spring football. Even athletic directors will openly admit it: College football is facing an attendance crisis.
Click to expand...

Then there's this little nugget, which also applies to Griz fans (mainly season ticket holders, I would presume):

But college football, steeped in culture and tradition, is supposed to be impervious to change. Yet the numbers might be even worse than they seem: A 2018 Wall Street Journal report found that only 71% of the people who bought tickets to FBS games actually went.
Click to expand...

Discuss....
 
I went to the S Eastern LOUISIANA game. Didn’t attend any last year so that is a personal 100 percent increase in attendance.
 
AZGrizFan said:
Given some of the discussions around here regarding the decline in attendance at Griz games in recent years, I thought this was an interesting article....seems we're not alone, and the issue may be bigger than just "having a winner on the field" or having a coach who "understand what it means to be a Grizzly"...

https://www.si.com/college/2020/01/10/college-football-attendance-decline-ncaa?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=si-ncaafb&utm_medium=social&xid=socialflow_twitter_si

....fans aren’t showing up the way they used to. Average attendance in 2018 was the lowest it’s been for Florida since 1990. While the ’19 season saw an uptick of about 2,000 fans per game—for an average of 84,684 in a 91,916-capacity stadium—attendance has still fallen nearly 6% over five years.
Florida isn’t alone—and plenty other schools have it much worse. From 2014 to ’18, attendance across the FBS fell by 7.6%. Last year, on average, 41,856 fans went to games. That’s the lowest turnout since 1996; even major programs like Ohio State, Virginia Tech and Ole Miss suffered declines of greater than 5%. The NCAA has yet to release its full report on 2019’s numbers, but pictures of nearly-empty stadiums, from big to small programs, popped up every fall weekend on Twitter. During bowl season, as games moved to neutral sites, the stands were so empty it looked more like spring football. Even athletic directors will openly admit it: College football is facing an attendance crisis.
Click to expand...

Then there's this little nugget, which also applies to Griz fans (mainly season ticket holders, I would presume):

But college football, steeped in culture and tradition, is supposed to be impervious to change. Yet the numbers might be even worse than they seem: A 2018 Wall Street Journal report found that only 71% of the people who bought tickets to FBS games actually went.
Click to expand...

Discuss....
Click to expand...
--- traditional zealous fanbase aging, finding driving and game attendance more challenging
--- generational change; fanbase not being completely replaced
--- soccer moms discouraging football among youth; participation levels decreasing
--- tailgating less attractive to emerging generation less into alcohol
 
One possibility that hasn't been mentioned is the increasing mobility of people and jobs due to technology. Both my wife and my oldest daughter work remotely. College allegiances are often fostered in one's youth (I grew up a Ute fan - still am) or where they went to school.

My guess is there are a lot of people moving into Missoula and western MT who, if they are fans of college FB have their allegiance somewhere else. Plus it 's easy now to find TV somewhere and paying a subscription somewhere to watch it.

Just a thought
 
I just happened to check NCAA FCS attendance numbers this morning for 2018 and 2019. Montana declined By about 2,000 from the prior season and finished 2nd in average attendance both years. A lot of the decline is attributable to the sparsely attended playoff game. Note that JMU also declined significantly, losing close to 3,000 per game. I believe NDSU also declined slightly. Crazy that both national championship teams are losing attendance. The cats were one of the few to increase among the top 10.

Side note, Jacksonville State has led the FCS in attendance the last two years. I thought I heard they have a highly attended neutral site game that counts as a home game. Can anybody confirm?
 
The state of Montana seems unique. When we were the dominate team beating the cats at will we saw a frenzy with the fans. Swagger if you will. That enthusiasm has decreased with the past 7-8 years of fielding non playoff teams and the cats making a mockery of us. Negative publicity hasn’t helped either. Until we can become a consistent top 4 team with several Montana kids leading the charge we will stay in this holding pattern. Say what you want but Griz/cat has a huge impact with the fans throughout the state. This would you rather make the playoffs or beat the cats discussion is stupid. 1. Win the Big Sky. 2. Pound the cats. 3. Win the National Championship. If you want to see new, younger, fans.......become dominate.
 
I can only say why we don't attend games as often as we did before. We live out of state and we used to attend 3-4 games in Missoula each year. Little by little we started attending fewer games until the past few years where we did not attend a single game in Missoula. We still watch or listen to every game we can. We quit attending because only the absolute worse seats are available whenever we try to attend. Even season tickets are available only for the worse seats. It isn't worth it to travel and put up with the crowds for awful seats. We still make it to an occasional away game because we can get fairly good seats in Greeley, Sacramento, or even Portland in their awful stadiums. We would love to attend but not for the seats available at WaGriz.
 
lshaneg said:
I can only say why we don't attend games as often as we did before. We live out of state and we used to attend 3-4 games in Missoula each year. Little by little we started attending fewer games until the past few years where we did not attend a single game in Missoula. We still watch or listen to every game we can. We quit attending because only the absolute worse seats are available whenever we try to attend. Even season tickets are available only for the worse seats. It isn't worth it to travel and put up with the crowds for awful seats. We still make it to an occasional away game because we can get fairly good seats in Greeley, Sacramento, or even Portland in their awful stadiums. We would love to attend but not for the seats available at WaGriz.
Click to expand...
We sit on the 30 in the east side upper deck. Wonderful seats with a perfect view of the field, and in the sun on the cooler days. There are both season and individual tickets always available near us; I know, because I often buy some when we have guests. During the playoffs, many season ticket holders don't opt for their seats, so they become available, often near the 50. So I have a hard time understanding your dilemma. The thread is about declining attendance; that leads to better seat availability, not worse.
 
Is it realistic to think that attendance would increase every year? The big schools in the SEC and other Power 5 conferences can't continue to raise prices, pack more people into the same space, charge more for parking and expect there to be no affect on how the fan base will react. It seems to me its kind of like the stock market, moves up and down with lots of factors influencing the result. Number one of which is what value the fan places on the experience of attending and not whether the team wins or loses. More about how he/she feels about being part of a much bigger community with an affinity (college football) that rivals nothing else out there! Speaks a lot to how Griz nation has supported the team for an extended period of time and didn't abandon the games when the team wasn't winning.
 
kemajic said:
lshaneg said:
I can only say why we don't attend games as often as we did before. We live out of state and we used to attend 3-4 games in Missoula each year. Little by little we started attending fewer games until the past few years where we did not attend a single game in Missoula. We still watch or listen to every game we can. We quit attending because only the absolute worse seats are available whenever we try to attend. Even season tickets are available only for the worse seats. It isn't worth it to travel and put up with the crowds for awful seats. We still make it to an occasional away game because we can get fairly good seats in Greeley, Sacramento, or even Portland in their awful stadiums. We would love to attend but not for the seats available at WaGriz.
Click to expand...
We sit on the 30 in the east side upper deck. Wonderful seats with a perfect view of the field, and in the sun on the cooler days. There are both season and individual tickets always available near us; I know, because I often buy some when we have guests. During the playoffs, many season ticket holders don't opt for their seats, so they become available, often near the 50. So I have a hard time understanding your dilemma. The thread is about declining attendance; that leads to better seat availability, not worse.
Click to expand...
I always seem to get decent seats. I have found over the years that calling the box office and talking to a human is the key. I travel a fair ways so I always buy in advance by a week or two and I think only once out of 15 or 20 games have I ever had to "settle" for the upper decks (and those are IMO still great seats, especially for a geek like me, who likes to try to watch formations and coverages) I got two seats this year for Monmouth on the 40 yard line six rows up from the Griz bench.
 
kemajic said:
lshaneg said:
I can only say why we don't attend games as often as we did before. We live out of state and we used to attend 3-4 games in Missoula each year. Little by little we started attending fewer games until the past few years where we did not attend a single game in Missoula. We still watch or listen to every game we can. We quit attending because only the absolute worse seats are available whenever we try to attend. Even season tickets are available only for the worse seats. It isn't worth it to travel and put up with the crowds for awful seats. We still make it to an occasional away game because we can get fairly good seats in Greeley, Sacramento, or even Portland in their awful stadiums. We would love to attend but not for the seats available at WaGriz.
Click to expand...
We sit on the 30 in the east side upper deck. Wonderful seats with a perfect view of the field, and in the sun on the cooler days. There are both season and individual tickets always available near us; I know, because I often buy some when we have guests. During the playoffs, many season ticket holders don't opt for their seats, so they become available, often near the 50. So I have a hard time understanding your dilemma. The thread is about declining attendance; that leads to better seat availability, not worse.
Click to expand...

I should know better than to join a discussion on EGriz. The thread is about declining attendance. I shared my experience and my reason for no longer attending and some clown in his mothers basement tells me I am wrong. Trust me, if we could get decent tickets, we would still attend. I support the Griz 100% but I no longer make it to games because we can't get decent tickets. In spite of your judgment on my reality, attendance is going down and in my case, it is because of seating regardless of your meaningless judgment.
 
lshaneg said:
I can only say why we don't attend games as often as we did before. We live out of state and we used to attend 3-4 games in Missoula each year. Little by little we started attending fewer games until the past few years where we did not attend a single game in Missoula. We still watch or listen to every game we can. We quit attending because only the absolute worse seats are available whenever we try to attend. Even season tickets are available only for the worse seats. It isn't worth it to travel and put up with the crowds for awful seats. We still make it to an occasional away game because we can get fairly good seats in Greeley, Sacramento, or even Portland in their awful stadiums. We would love to attend but not for the seats available at WaGriz.
Click to expand...

We sit on about the 22 yard line on the east side upper deck. We love our seats, but have sat all over the stadium and never had a bad view!
 
Ok, I give in. I am wrong. Everything is perfect. I don't know why I no longer attend games. There is absolutely no reason that attendance is down.
 
kemajic said:
lshaneg said:
I can only say why we don't attend games as often as we did before. We live out of state and we used to attend 3-4 games in Missoula each year. Little by little we started attending fewer games until the past few years where we did not attend a single game in Missoula. We still watch or listen to every game we can. We quit attending because only the absolute worse seats are available whenever we try to attend. Even season tickets are available only for the worse seats. It isn't worth it to travel and put up with the crowds for awful seats. We still make it to an occasional away game because we can get fairly good seats in Greeley, Sacramento, or even Portland in their awful stadiums. We would love to attend but not for the seats available at WaGriz.
Click to expand...
We sit on the 30 in the east side upper deck. Wonderful seats with a perfect view of the field, and in the sun on the cooler days. There are both season and individual tickets always available near us; I know, because I often buy some when we have guests. During the playoffs, many season ticket holders don't opt for their seats, so they become available, often near the 50. So I have a hard time understanding your dilemma. The thread is about declining attendance; that leads to better seat availability, not worse.
Click to expand...

I have to think it’s horrible seats for what he’s willing to pay, because I’ve NEVER had an issue getting a seat—a GOOD seat—whenever I’m in town. Other than Cat/Griz, it doesn’t matter the opponent either.
 
lshaneg said:
Ok, I give in. I am wrong. Everything is perfect. I don't know why I no longer attend games. There is absolutely no reason that attendance is down.
Click to expand...

When you say “absolute worst seats”, which seats/sections are you referring to?
 
lshaneg said:
kemajic said:
lshaneg said:
I can only say why we don't attend games as often as we did before. We live out of state and we used to attend 3-4 games in Missoula each year. Little by little we started attending fewer games until the past few years where we did not attend a single game in Missoula. We still watch or listen to every game we can. We quit attending because only the absolute worse seats are available whenever we try to attend. Even season tickets are available only for the worse seats. It isn't worth it to travel and put up with the crowds for awful seats. We still make it to an occasional away game because we can get fairly good seats in Greeley, Sacramento, or even Portland in their awful stadiums. We would love to attend but not for the seats available at WaGriz.
Click to expand...
We sit on the 30 in the east side upper deck. Wonderful seats with a perfect view of the field, and in the sun on the cooler days. There are both season and individual tickets always available near us; I know, because I often buy some when we have guests. During the playoffs, many season ticket holders don't opt for their seats, so they become available, often near the 50. So I have a hard time understanding your dilemma. The thread is about declining attendance; that leads to better seat availability, not worse.
Click to expand...

I should know better than to join a discussion on EGriz. The thread is about declining attendance. I shared my experience and my reason for no longer attending and some clown in his mothers basement tells me I am wrong. Trust me, if we could get decent tickets, we would still attend. I support the Griz 100% but I no longer make it to games because we can't get decent tickets. In spite of your judgment on my reality, attendance is going down and in my case, it is because of seating regardless of your meaningless judgment.
Click to expand...
Dude, you shared your experience and some of us shared ours. Take it easy. I don't know how you buy your tickets so I shared that I find better seats when I talk to someone on the phone, just a tip. You can take it or leave it. And in terms of living in Mom's basement, that would have been luxury. There were a hundred and fifty of us living in t' shoebox in t' middle o' road
 
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