College football attendance continues to decline

Sideways

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My daughter went to graduate school at South Carolina and loved Columbia but she could hear Williams Brice Stadium from across town and the traffic was a huge mess on game days which was often when she had to work at the university library (she got a master's in library science). But the food, literary scene, and things for young people to do in Columbia were pretty cool. She enjoyed her time at South Carolina and I got a Gamecock shirt out of it. She usually gets me Tech stuff for Christmas.
 
Eastman

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If she wants to attend a game and beat the traffic, let me know. My son's condo is at the stadium and he always has a gang of friends hang out before and after so as not to have to deal with the worst traffic.
 
awbuzz

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Coloradojacket said:
Ok, so here is why.
1. Too many games on TV so you can stay home and watch your team
2. The rise of the group of five. The stat shows drop by team but I would bet that overall there are more people going to games. KSU, Georgia State etc did not exist 5 years ago.
3. Students just aren't the same as when we went to school. How many parents took their kids to games. I started at Tech games when I was 7
4. Well, it is expensive. Season tickets for me are $2,400 when you include donation that is required.
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Will be interesting if anyone rebuts any of these as I catch up reading this thread.
 
awbuzz

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AUFC said:
How come nobody has brought up game length in this thread? There seems to be a drop in both NFL and NCAAFB viewership/sport interest.

I am very spoiled by the sports I watch lasting the length of a standard movie. I mainly watch highlights in addition to the full Georgia Tech game, not 2+ full games like I used to. If they brought game length down to 2-2.5 hours, football would see a huge resurgence. This is a pretty common complaint I see around my demographic.

I didn't even bother watching the Alabama/Clemson game this playoff because I was so wiped after OU/UGA.
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Follow the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ trail. Too many TV timeouts for commercials to pay for broadcasting rights. No one in the stands likes it when "the guy in the red shirt" is tanding on the field.
 

croberts

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g0lftime said:
When I was a freshman in 1964 Grant field had a horseshoe in the south end and I believe it held about 60k. Student body was about 6500 and we had to fight it out for student tickets. Most of us got date tickets since there were only about 70 coeds on campus. The stadium was usually full back then. I have a wooden seat from the horseshoe mounted in my family room that I got when they renovated. The game was the highlight of the week. I do think adding seat backs should be added.
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Two years before the Falcons came to town I believe.
 

Sideways

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Eastman said:
If she wants to attend a game and beat the traffic, let me know. My son's condo is at the stadium and he always has a gang of friends hang out before and after so as not to have to deal with the worst traffic.
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Thank you for your kind offer but she is long gone and now lives in Decatur working with some kind of company in Tucker. We went to a Tech game last year. She loves the Jackets just not as much as her father and grandfather.
 

Wrecked

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If the powers that be cared about in stadium attendance, and I personally believe they don't, they would go to a block system the way the NFL does. The ACC could have starting times at 1, 4, and 730 PM on Saturday (no other days). A school's game would have to start in one of those three blocks regardless of whether the game was conference or out of conference (although I would prefer ten conference games, but thats another post). TV could dictate the block two weeks in advance. This way you allow fans to tailgate, they know the possible start times in advance and noon kicks go away.
 
Old South Stands

Old South Stands

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Ticket prices used to be cheaper. Adjusted for inflation, I think they were still a lot cheaper than today. Concessions weren't nearly as expensive, either. And you could park in any one of the deserted lots around Midtown for about $5 or so.

I think ColoradoJacket hit the nail on the head. When I was growing up (no cable), Tech was on TV maybe once or twice a year, when they played Alabama or UGA. After joining the ACC, they were on TV a little more (JP Sports Network), but now you can catch even the cupcake games.

Years ago it was a big deal to go see a college game, whether it was in Athens or at Grant Field. The Tech campus wasn't far from where I grew up, yet it still seemed like a huge adventure to go "Downtown" and see them play.
 
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