College Football Origins

[decadence]

A website turned up nothing relevant so I turn to you . College football is massive in the US, it was clear when I went over there, I see it talked about on here too. They sell t-shirts & merchandise in towns, it's in newspapers, it's on ESPN (I think?), people have it on their cars etc.

I'm wondering how it GOT to be so well, big. In the UK we (sadly) have nothing comparable not even close. The US college football seems to involve great stadiums, national tournaments etc. I don't know too much about it. Is it so successful because of major investment in the game? From who?? Has this always been the case? Or is it popular because of elements like that seen in other sports? And the schools that give football scholarships is that because they get people to come to their games if they have good players (and thus win things) which means more money for the school like an investment?
In the UK there each university has a ("football") soccer club which may compete in the BUSA competitions (British Universities something) but they certainly aren't on TV (or even in a paper outside of a student union one) and it isn't as if the community at large or beyond watch it.
I'm interested to find out about the whole thing - it's such a major thing in the U.S and we have nothing similar really.

[Betarulz!]

Well the first game of football was actually played by two college teams: Rutgers and Princeton I think.

It is on TV, including ESPN which has it on Thursday Nights, as well as almost all day Saturday. They even have show dedicated only to College Football which is the only reason I get up before 1100 on Saturdays in the fall. It's also on CBS, ABC, and NBC has an exclusive contract to only broadcast the games of Notre Dame.

I'm not sure exactly how it got big in the early days, but I think that the US has always been a sports loving nation. I think it provided a lot of diversion and something to do back in the early days. I'm sure here in Nebraska that might have had a lot to do with it. I do know that in the early days, teams were simply club teams formed by various organizations. Some of the first games played by the University of Nebraska were against the Omaha YMCA team. Gradually though I imagine that the biggest competition began to come from other colleges, and the fierce rivals and emotion came from beating other collegians.

From these diversions I guess people just began to take great interest. There has been a lot of money spent by a lot of people over the years. In Nebraska I've seen pamphlets asking for help in building a football stadium and such. I think what led to the growth was the formation of High school teams so that players wanted to continue playing when they got to college.

As for the scholarship aspect. It depends on the level of competition how scholarships are given out. If you are in Division IA of the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) then the team has a maximum of 85 scholarships that it can give out. It is somewhat like an investment, however all schools have and will give those 85 scholarships out in a year. The goal is to get the best players possible, so that you can win games, and get people to come to them. Major College football can be a huge source of revenue. For example in Nebraska, our stadium holds about 74000 people (though it always has a higher announced attendance - usually about 77500 people). Most of those people are paying about 42-50 dollars a game, and we'll have about 6-8 home games a season. Even subtracting half of that ticket value for about 8000 students, you can do the math and realize how much money that is. Throw in the fact that our stadium also has luxery boxes for people willing to spend the money (1.5 million dollars - or 750000 for less desireable boxes - for rights to the box for 15 years, after the 15 years the boxes are given to the highest bidder) and you have a lucrative money maker. Combine that with concessions, souveniers and the like and the total probably reaches close to 4 million dollars in gross revenue for a game. The community also benefits from all the people who come and use hotels, spend money at tourist attractions, and eat out. The economic impact for a single home game in Lincoln is between 1.7 and 3 million $$$ depending on when the game is played during the day (night games cause more hotel stays).

I'll add more to this reply when I have more time, but I need to do some studying!

[ISUKappa]

I know it doesn't really answer your question fully, but here are some pretty good sites about the history of American football, they might give you a little insight:

History of American Football

Interesting site about Walter Camp-"Father of American Football"
Walter Camp

History of American Football on About.com
American Football

I think a lot of it has to do with tradition--Football started out as a college sport for men and that tradition has held strong for over 100 years. People who attended a college or university have a lot of pride in their Alma Mater. One way they show that support is through their sports teams and for many of those schools, football was one of the first organized sports teams. As the number of alumni from colleges and universities grew and their children and grandchildren became students, the popularity and attendance at football games grew as well. I also think in the recent past (20-30 years) the media has helped that growth tremendously.

Money, of course, is always a big incentive--teams that win have happy alumni, happy alumni give more money to the school. So it always behooves the school to try and have the best teams possible as to get the most wins. Scholarships are a big part of that, as is family loyalty (dad played football here, so the school really recruits super-star son to play football here, too). A winning team also means better ticket sales, higher attendance and more income to the school from games. Which in turn also means better players will want to play for that school and the cycle repeats.

Football is something that is completely American--it may have some of its roots in Rugby and Soccer, but, excepting the EFL and CFL, it is one of the few sports that is played solely in America. In other countries it is known as "American Football" (I know it is because soccer is called football everywhere else but America, but that title just reinforces the fact that it is an American phenomenon.) Many times little boys are groomed from an early age to learn how to play and love the sport--they are given little footballs and jerseys and team insignia from the time they are born. Their dad takes them out and teaches them how to throw and catch when they are about 4-5. They go to college games with their families. They watch it on TV. They play on the pee-wee leagues. They play in jr. high. They play in high school, and many of them want to continue playing at the collegiate level because they have been playing so long and love it that much.

[Taualumna]

Canadian schools are somewhere in between. Many universities have football, with the whole homecoming weekend thing, etc, like the schools in the US. Coverage isn't on national tv, except for the Vanier Cup (held in early December, right before first semester finals), though regular games are seen on cable sports channels. I think this is mostly funding and perhaps interest. At the University of Toronto, for example, people just DON'T GO to games. It's partially due to the shift in student body (many kids are immigrants or children of immigrants, and therefore didn't grow up with football, or hockey for that matter.) and partially because there's just so much to do in Toronto on Saturdays (when games take place). U of T hasn't won a game in a billion years. My undergrad school, Queen's, is located in a smaller city, with fewer immigrant/foreign students or first generation Canadians. People actually attend games, especially when a rival school (University of Western Ontario. Used to be McGill, but then the whole athletic league changed. The McGill-Queen's game used to be a very, very, very big deal that we called "Kill McGill"-LOL) and Homecoming. I've personally only been to two university football games, both during Homecoming. Canadian schools also don't give away money to atheltes. We simply can't afford to because alumni don't donate as much.

[GeekyPenguin]

College football is just for schools that can't be good at basketball.

[PiEp299]

Gambling is how it originally grew, as with all sports. Then television made it grow to where it is today.

College Football is so big because it bonds 50+ years of school alumni, current and prospective students, and thousands of other people.

It has become a tradition, especially in the south. You pull for the team your dad, grandfather, uncles etc. pull for. This is usually because someone in the family attended that university either academically or athletically. It is a bond between the men here. You can start a conversation with any guy simply by asking what he thinks of the upcoming game saturday. That is also why it's so big...Teams only play one game a week. This unites everyone who pulls for a team for at least one day every week during the fall. Everyone of every background attends football games, that's not the case with other sports.

[decadence]

Not with basketball? Or baseball?
I know volleyball does not enjoy the same popularity but I thought, say basketball might?
Or is the appeal of those other sports perhaps not so widespread through different stratas of society as football apparently is?

[DeltAlum]

There is a great commercial on local Denver TV for Regis University. It talks about outstanding academics, world leaders visits (shows Bill Clinton and the Pope at the University), being a major Colorado school and a lot of stuff like that.

The tag line, both announcer voice over and super imposed letters is, "And we do it all without a football team."

Very Clever.