The Rest of College Football

[entropy]

Is TV viewership down?

[entropy]

The Top Schools:

School Average attendance % Increase/Decrease from 2011
Michigan 112,252 Minor increase
Ohio State 105,330 Minor increase
Alabama 101,722 Minor decrease
Texas 100,884 Minor increase
Penn State 96,730 -5%
Georgia 92,703 Minor decrease
LSU 92,626 Minor decrease
Tennessee 89,965 -5%
USC 87,945 +18%
Florida 87,597 -2%
Texas A&M 87,014 Minor decrease
Nebraska 85,517 Minor increase
Oklahoma 85,243 Minor increase
Auburn 82,646 -4%
Notre Dame 80,795 No change
Wisconsin 80,006 Minor increase
South Carolina 80,001 +1%
Clemson 79,429 +2%
Florida State 75,601 -3%
Michigan State 75,382 +2%
Iowa 70,474 Minor decrease
UCLA 68,481 +21%
Arkansas 68,046 +2%
Missouri 67,476 +9%
Virginia Tech 65,632 Minor decrease

[iam416]

Of coursse, this was from, well, LAST year:

This just in: college football is really, really popular.

According to the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame, the sport set a record for attendance in the 2011 season, with a total of nearly 4.7 million fans attending games at all levels of the NCAA. It's the fifth time in six years that an attendance record has been set, and the number of fans attending games has increased by more than 32 percent since 1998. FBS schools had a total attendance of 37.4 million fans, or an average of 46,074 per game.

The Big Ten played a big role in that, not surprisingly. Michigan led the nation in attendance for the 14th straight year, setting a record with an average of 112,179 fans per game at renovated Michigan Stadium. The Wolverines drew the largest crowd in the history of the sport for the first night game ever at the Big House in Week 2, attracting 114,804 spectators.

Five teams averaged more than 100,000 fans per game last season, and three of them -- Michigan, Ohio State (105,231) and Penn State (101,427) -- were from the Big Ten.

Thirteen teams played before a total of at least 1 million fans in 2011, and six of them -- Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, Nebraska, Wisconsin, and Michigan State -- were from the Big Ten.

The SEC led the nation in average home attendance at 75,832 per game. The Big Ten was second at 71,439 per game, followed by the Big 12 (63,265), the Pac-12 (52,249) and the ACC (51,406).

And while concerns over bowl attendance are at least part of the driving force behind a potential four-team playoff creation, the 35 bowl games last season still drew an average of 50,435 per game, down slightly from 2010. The best-attended bowl game of the year was the Rose Bowl, which had 91,245 spectators. No surprise there, though, as the Rose Bowl has sold out every year since 1947.

The Big Ten's number are explained, entirely, by Penn State. For fuck's sake, 70,000 per game showed up at Kinnick to watch that shit this season.

The SEC's average was down by a whopping 400.

Pardon me while I laugh fucking hysterically at this bit of genius: "its long and now severe attendance decline."

[lineygoblue]

When I see some of those SEC numbers, I think of how much of a panic would ensue if Michigan, OlieO, and several other B1G programs started averaging 70K per game.

[iam416]

The article also suggest some sort of expansion-based reason for the decline.

But as a matter of perspective, 20 years ago attendance was 25.4M for an average of 41,170. This year, 35.3M or something and an average of 45,274.

[THE_WIZARD_]

STFU

[iam416]

When I see some of those SEC numbers, I think of how much of a panic would ensue if Michigan, OlieO, and several other B1G programs started averaging 70K per game.

I think you may find out with Penn State. Their attendance actually does fluctuate from year-to-year suggesting that their maximum capacity of roughly 108,000 is actually their maximum capacity. Whereas M and OSU manage to hit the same number year after year (RichGOD debacle did cause M to dip to 108K).

Tennessee is similar to Penn State.

Anyway, OSU ain't dropping to 70k per game. Heh. They have the longest streak of 80,000 per game average attendance by far, and have had only had 1 year since 1956 when they weren't at 80K or more (the dreadful 1967 season that almost got Woody fired).

[entropy]

I think what the data shows is the smaller schools with less tradition had drastic drops in attendence.

[Mike]

I think what the data shows is the smaller schools with less tradition had drastic drops in attendence.

Reason #1,596 why the BCS conferences need to break away from the riffraff and form their own union outside the NCAA.

[Hannibal]

Attendance appears to be down at Michigan, despite those figures. When I was a student, we didn't have a third or more of the student section empty at kickoff.

[drok]

That's a different issue than overall attendance.

[WM Wolverine]

Need to set less tickets aside for students so only the hardcore students go to the games.

[UMStan White]

Gross claimed the reason he expanded the stadium was so all students who wanted tickets could get tickets as freshmen had to buy 1/2 packages. This whole concept of students showing up "fashionably late" or not at all seems to be endemic in college these days. You should see IU's student section. It is literally empty when the game starts.

[Mike]

Need to set less tickets aside for students so only the hardcore students go to the games.

Agree 100%. Take the other half of section 25 away from the students and return it to season ticket holders/alumni. The ONLY area of the stadium that isn't full to the top is the student section. Obviously, they can make due with less space.

But to be fair about it, I'd give the students the 2013 season to shape up through a "use it or lose it" ultimatum. If there are still thousands of no-shows with next year's home schedule, than it's time to convert 5,000 student tickets into full price-paying, diehards.

[WM Wolverine]

I believe there was a plan or system in place to punish the students who didn't use their tickets. mgoblog talked about it a fair bit, not sure if that was just a plan or something they implemented.