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College football attendance — specifically, student attendance — has been on the decline, and even hit a 14-year low in 2014 (for background, click
[See the full post at: College Football’s (Continued) Student Attendance Problem]“Our data tells us that the most important things for fans coming to the game are parking, restrooms and concessions,”
After all of the funding drives, stadium expansions, and millions of dollars poured into the opposite side of the stadium, the East Side of CFS looks essentially like it did in 1972. It has the same entrances, the same bathrooms and the same concession stands that were there when I was 12…and I will turn 54 before we play our last game.
And that’s also the part of the stadium where most of the students sit.
Go figure.
Which doesn’t mean they don’t want better connectivity. It just means that if they have to choose between adequate facilities and internet, they’ll take adequate facilities. It is definitely time for Carter-Finley to step up its facilities game AND its connectivity game.
Get rid of all the commercials that have a volume level that people in Wilmington can hear. Bring more of the traditional pageantry, more band music and have it become what college football was built on.
It’s good to see a focus on the problem with declining attendance. The surveying method is part of the problem. The stats people on here will tell you the sampling methods, framing of questions, etc. can greatly influence the results. For example, if the questioning starts off with: “What don’t you like about attending college football games?” already biases the responder towards not liking games, when in fact, they may or may not.
A better set of questions may be: how do you like to spend your Saturday afternoons in the fall? From there, the surveyor may realize that football is now lower on people’ list of things to do due to competing venues of entertainment. From there, they can seek to determine why college football is losing ground to alternatives.
If i had to guess, the arms race of tv contracts, being paid for more and more commercials, is diluting the experience. Winning also helps; especially if you haven’t historically been a winning program. I.e. a change in experience.
I absolutely agree with the above statement! Get rid of all the jackass music and let the band play. If I hate anything, I hate the Smithfield sizzle.
The band would have to learn a fifth song if that happens.
I kid, I kid. But they do repeat themselves quite a lot.
Quality comedy here, good people. We are staying in shape for September!
Let nobody forget the first time I remember the Pack making Deadspin (before it started to suck), the Thursday nighter where the students were all crammed into one section and essentially couldn’t leave without losing their seats…so they started making tinkle where they stood.
That might not have made me a repeat customer if I were a more casual student fan.
I presume we still herd all the students through a ridiculously small number of gates, and with a ridiculously invasive security process, too.
I enjoy the video board, and have no problem with it, especially since quite a bit of money was spent on it, for it’s use, and think the band gets its share of playing, as I am a former marching band player. Bathroom, and facility upgrades are vital, but I think some work on the scheduling, with big name schools, would help improve attendance, as well as winning, along with game promotions.
Let me get this straight, you like the video board because alot of money was spent on it?? I like the board also, but the volume is obscene and the announcer and the hype and the music is retarded.
Ok – has anyone really looked at these #s critically? First off, they mentioned that in 2014 lots of little d1a schools were added…and when you take away that – oh my heavens, you see attendance was down from a peak roughly 4%. That’s not good – but sky isn’t falling either. Part of the problem is the extra game..there are other factors too. Finally, there is the college football playoff…the media told us that college football had to have it.
Well, it did – but it didn’t buy a bump – because the extra eyes watching were sports fans – not college football fans. And sport fans aren’t going to put up with the inconveniences a college football game brings.
I predict the college football playoff will get bigger and attendance will drop off… And you’ll see interest wane for the middle-tier majors of the world.
These days I do not attend in person with any regularity. The reason – HD TV and the fact most any game is available to see from the comfort of my living room. Granted you loose the game day feel. But you also loose the traffic, the crowded conditions, the lack of facilities, the issue of the drive home afterward, etc. I find as I’ve gotten older the game day experience no longer outweighs the negatives.
It is a thorny issue for programs I’m sure. The TV experience of a game in a half full stadium is not the best.Both of my kids have been faithful attenders of CFB. The oldest at tOSU got to see a great product. The youngest so far at UH, not so much. They both just love the atmosphere. There’s nothing like being in YOUR stadium when the band plays YOUR fight song. It’s just that simple.
It seems like a pretty simple scenario to me. When you:
– Charge students to show up to games, and raise student fees or actually charge ticket prices on top of student fees
– Make it hard for them to get there (off campus stadiums)
– Constantly interrupt the experience inside the stadium for TV interruptions
– Schedule games around TV, with their actual kick off time sometimes not decided until about a week before
– Charge $5 for a drink and $10 for a sandwich
– Have 1/3rd the games against opponents that no one cares about (and everyone does this, including the SEC except ironically the independents like ND or BYU)
– Chase the almighty dollar by catering to TV, but also over saturating the product
– Have a 4+ hour game experience for what amounts to about 45 minutes of actual on the field action.
– Have set up a system where 4/5s the games at the latter part of the season really don’t matter outside of local rivalries.You create a cocktail where college football has to compete against other ways to spend time and often comes out behind. The students aren’t dumb and they’re not a captive audience. I’m not surprised they’re taking their dollars and time elsewhere.
College football should look at golf. There are some striking parallels there.
The Universities should really care about this because of long term donations. One of the ways they surely justify the college sports investment (most running in the red) is for return on the back end with alumni giving. If people aren’t showing up to college events that “draw them to the school” then I suspect they’re not going to give as much down the road (at least at these large state schools).
I think ryebread has hit several excellent points.
The decline of rival games against teams that nobody gives a damn about seeing is a big reason that not only students but donors have been driven away. I’ll ask again- why is it that we have to play the likes of Boston College and Syracuse EVERY season, and get to play Duke, Ga. Tech, Va. Tech, UVA and Miami at home only once every DECADE?
Look at this season’s schedule- only 6 home games and FOUR games vs non-power conference schools. The biggest head-scratcher to me is playing Old Dominion and South Alabama on the road, in successive games no less. What in hell do we hope to accomplish from this? Lose ONE of those games, and State football will likely be back to square one.
The 4-hour games, some even longer, usually require students to sit in the sun during the hottest time of the day. With shorter attention spans than the seasoned fans, who usually get the shaded seating, it’s no wonder that more students are saying “no thanks” to being baked all afternoon while pretending that they actually care about their team beating up on some faraway small school that many have never heard of.
well…. if you want to get down with nuts and bolts….
let’s back up and start here…Let’s just say that when most of us were students…
The Student Body on most Power5 schools, not just NCState, was 60% Male or better…
and on today’s campus … the student bodies are 50% Female or better…Which may lead to several astounding conclusions…
1. Duh… Boys like football better than boys…
2. Girls will go where ever Boys take them… if the Boys are spending money…
3. Boys make more noise than Girls…. Boys fart… Girls poot… especially at football games…
3. Bathrooms don’t matter… ya’ll remember Hillsborough Square (Upstairs)…
4. Cellphones don’t matter… if you can’t hear…and the BOTB “solution”….
More Nuts…. Fewer Bolts….
In other words, If you’re a Male NCState Student with a Date… you ought to get in the damn game for free…
#NCSU-North Carolina's #1 FOOTBALL school!Good discussion here – I think both rye and bill make some excellent points.
Regarding the schedule, that’s definitely part of the problem… But schedules have usually been mediocre…but when factor that it into the other factors brought up on this thread, coupled with the new playoff – and you get that 4% drop.
it’s demographics:
1. at Duke…look at the Cameron Crazy Asians. or not.
2. at UNX…there’s the women. they’re 70% incoming.
3. at NCSU…it’s our cricket/soccer class.I can’t help but think of the game where they ran out of water.
Basic survival probably wasn’t one of the options on the survey. I guess they just assume that at some places.
I think ryebread has hit several excellent points.
The decline of rival games against teams that nobody gives a damn about seeing is a big reason that not only students but donors have been driven away. I’ll ask again- why is it that we have to play the likes of Boston College and Syracuse EVERY season, and get to play Duke, Ga. Tech, Va. Tech, UVA and Miami at home only once every DECADE?
Look at this season’s schedule- only 6 home games and FOUR games vs non-power conference schools. The biggest head-scratcher to me is playing Old Dominion and South Alabama on the road, in successive games no less. What in hell do we hope to accomplish from this? Lose ONE of those games, and State football will likely be back to square one.
The 4-hour games, some even longer, usually require students to sit in the sun during the hottest time of the day. With shorter attention spans than the seasoned fans, who usually get the shaded seating, it’s no wonder that more students are saying “no thanks” to being baked all afternoon while pretending that they actually care about their team beating up on some faraway small school that many have never heard of.
You’re right…I never understood why South Carolina would bother scheduling NC State, North Carolina and Clempson as out of conference games…assuming those teams are part of those 1/3 of the games you mention. Actually I’ll give Spurrier credit, he’s locked into Clempson as a permanent in state rival for obvious reasons, brings in a second in state school to give them a big revenue source, and is limited in other non conference rivals since the SEC brought in Missouri and the AgHeads! I’ll agree on State’s scheduling, but that’s because that goes to the Conference Commish and AD’s..I’d be pissed too, but I don’t buy season tickets at State.
And Dude, you hit the nail on the head about students sitting in the sun sweating.. Poor things, go back to the dorm and study…you might have a heat stroke.
"Whomp 'em, Up, Side the Head"!
You’re worried about heat stroke when the little ADD darlings are at risk of cramps in their texting thumbs. Back when I was their age we had to keep our thumbs strong by cropping “baccer.” In the direct sunlight… But never for 4 hours. Nope, never.
We used to pick pole beans for 25 cents per bushel. Or you could get paid in soda. Them cheap grape and scrawberry sodas. Me and my brother drank so many sodas one day that when we bent over to pick beans on the lower branches, soda would come out our nose.
And don’t get me started on Grandpa. When he and Granny would be hoeing the baccer or the beans, she would leave at about noon to go fix dinner. Grandpa would count the rows she “missed.” He’d quit that many rows early in the evening so she could do her share. He was awful sweet though. If it got dark, he would hold the lantern for her.
Kids these daze. Sheesh.
DANG, somebody nailed it above…win and we’ll all be there! It doesn’t take a survey, it’s simple pride. Pride brings us out to the game, just as disappointment redirects our attention, such as a/c and HDTV. Students will brave anything if we are winning, and lose interest otherwise…just like most fans do. It’s fickle, but it’s reality. Students are the most FANATIC…I know, I was there as a student in the early 80s, and we camped out in the snow to get tix to bball games. And we couldn’t wait to get our allotment of football tix every season. We were good then in all sports, and we didn’t experience “State Sh!t”…didn’t happen. For the most part we won games we were supposed to win, and a lot of games we weren’t, but didn’t see many colossal fails like we witness almost every season, across most sports (baseball2015). These collective fails and aggregate disappointment weighs on everybody, especially ADD students (didn’t have ADD when I was growing up) who are easily drawn elsewhere. When you have a bagfull because you are winning, you’ll go to all the games because its fun to talk crap when you can back it up. Now all you get is being put down by the holes and dookies and pirapes and defending yourself with, “well, that’s State Sh!t” and move on with your tail between your legs. I hope I live long enough to see my beloved Wolfpack surge to prominence in a way that not only I, but my boys can be proud of, like it was in the 80s. Our notoriety has become embedded in “State Sh!t”…when it changes to winning pride, the students will flood the gates to get in.
Has anyone been on campus lately? Why would you attend a football game when you are essentially living at a country club? Fast food, pool, weight room, wifi, etc. Lomg ago, going to a game was the thing to do on Saturday. Now, you can just go to your tablet or phone and watch from anywhere. Seems pretty obvious to me why attendance has dropped.
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