Students' Attendance at Football Games
 

Student attendance at football games: is it declining at some colleges and universities? University of Minnesota observations, quotes, etc:

http://www.startribune.com/sports/go...279516792.html

At my school a lot of people go to games! I'm not sure how it works but some of the fraternities do on campus tailgates and what not before the game and everyone goes over (its great because they are closer than the fraternity houses). Our last game actually sold out of student tickets.. Greek life here is moderately involved in sports but those who are really go all out! Its one of the many reasons that I am excited for recruitment in the spring! :)

Back when I was in college *ahem* years ago, a new sound system was installed in the football stadium. According to the student newspaper, it was stereo, so that you could hear both fans cheering.

Yeah ... my alma mater wasn't exactly Division I.

My alma mater has no trouble with student attendance…but that's what you get for only needing your student ID to get in to the game. Yes, that's right. Free admission with ID. No, it's not D-I…but it is a pretty awesome perk to have at a high-ranked D-II school. :D

How strict are the police on tailgaters? I think that might be a factor. At any rate, I think it's ridiculous to say that this generation only watches highlight reels and can't sit through a 4 hour football game.

I haven't heard of a Canadian school that has any great number of game attendees (we just don't do the school spirit thing like American schools :( ), so hearing about people knocking themselves over to attend is kind of crazy to me (still). Is football still the biggest sport for students to go to? The hockey thing makes sense in Minnesota, but I wasn't sure about the rest of the US.

IU struggles with student attendance, but that's because they suck. They have been known to give away football season ticket packages with basketball ticket purchases...

At lots of schools, yes. But there are a number of schools where basketball is a much bigger deal.

*cough* UConn *cough*


The football stadium would sell out if we started playing basketball games there. Conversely, the football program could never sell out the basketball pavillion.

Indeed.

About a decade ago (I think it was 2003), both the men's and women's basketball teams won their respective NCAA tournaments. When you drive across a state border (especially on a major highway) there's usually a sign that says "Welcome to ______". For at least a couple of years, the signs at the Connecticut borders read, "Welcome to Connecticut - Home of the 2003 Men's And Women's NCAA Basketball Champions!"

Yes, the football is dreadful. And the tailgating is considered a sport. Today was homecoming and the weather was rainy and cool. The game was typical Indiana football, we left at halftime and I never leave early. The highlight of the game on ESPN was that they kept showing our new QBs dad who is an actor from the Young and The Restless. :cool:

2014 as well :D

WHICH ONE?!?! OMG

ETA: OMGGGGGGG BRAD CARLTON

Yep, Sen. Brad Carlton. And the son/QB was a Wilhemina model in LA. You can google his modeling photos.

And a good chunk of the long-time schools of the ACC, particularly the Tobacco Road colleges.

Ah ha ha. Minnesotans scratching their heads as to why students aren't going to the game.
Minnesota hasn't been able to field a decent college or pro football team in years.
When I was at the U, we played in the Metrodome. Probably the worst place to play a sport in the country. Its only redeeming quality was that you could buy beer there during the Gopher games.
I (and most all alumni) were SO HAPPY when they finally got an on-campus stadium, but we then had to cycle through a couple coaches, an AD, and so it always seems like Minnesota is trying to build their football program. I'm as happy as anyone that the Gophers are currently 3-0 in the B1G, but I don't think a last-minute win over Purdue is anything to brag about.
The hockey team, on the other hand, is consistently good, so I don't think it was a bad idea to require football ticket purchase for students in order to get hockey or basketball tickets. Especially since student football tickets are pretty cheap (especially compared to other D1 schools).
I DO hope Gopher football continues to improve, but I'm not surprised attendance isn't what it is at some other campuses. Also, there are usually a fair amount of other things to do in Minneapolis/St Paul metro area on a Saturday. Gopher football is not the only game in town. ;)

The Rose Bowl is beautiful and iconic, but it's about 25 miles from UCLA. It was almost always an hour to get there. The sorority bus rides were usually pretty fun there, but typically pretty exhausting on the way back.

My friends school was D2 champs in football a number of years in a row, the problem is the the students who were interested in football usually stayed at home and watched the D1 schools play. Most students didn't go to the games, even with a winning team and the school decided to cut the program. Really sad for such a good school. I went to a couple of their games, even with the winning it was not much fun. It happens because of the student body. If you were interested in football here you didn't go to that school.

In a lot of places attendance at kickoff isn't a problem, but keeping students (and others) in the stands through 4 quarters is a challenge. Unless the game is both close til the end and with a lot on the line a good chunk of the crowd is gone by halftime and by the end of the game you can be down to 25% from a sellout.
You may recall that earlier this year Nick Saban threatened to revoke the Greeks' reserved block seats privilege at Alabama if they didn't start staying through to the end -- and this is at a Top 10 ranked D-I SEC school.
The only school I know that really emphasizes staying til the end no matter what is Texas A&M.