College football has plenty of positives going for it, but the sport’s attendance issue is a thorn in the side of conference officials and university administrators.
In-person attendance has been plummeting around the country for years now, and that downward slide continued in 2021. According to a new report from CBS, overall college football attendance last fall hit a 40-year low.
Data compiled by the NCAA tells the ugly truth: an average per game attendance of 39,848 fans, the lowest since 1981. That figure is also a significant falloff from 2019’s average per game attendance of 41,477.
Inside cfb’s attendance crisis: Attendance hits a 40-year low. Down for 7th straight season & 9 out of last 10. SEC lowest since 1999. ACC lowest in more than 30 years. @pac12 lowest ever. It’s not just COVID and the convenience of 70-inch TVs. https://t.co/98gn5OPz3p
— Dennis Dodd (@dennisdoddcbs) February 24, 2022
Now, the leftover effects of COVID-19 probably played a little bit in a role in creating such a steep decline from two years ago. However, it is clear that lack of in-person attendance has been a problem for at least a decade.
How can it be fixed? Schools are always trying to tweak and improve the gameday experience for fans, but addressing the problem goes beyond that. Ticket and concession prices are high, and few things beat being able to relax at home and have not just your favorite team’s game, but all the games, available to watch.
This weekend, author and Michigan football writer John U. Bacon shared some of his own thoughts on why crowds are shrinking.
Biggest causes for the continued dip in CFB attendance, in order (IMO)
-Ticket prices, parking, concession costs
-TV timeouts
-Scheduling: little notice, night games, poor OOC opponents, etc.
All of which gets back to my main cause: greed. https://t.co/810qG6sFVx— John U. Bacon (@Johnubacon) February 26, 2022
Time will tell if this trend is even able to be slowed down, let along reversed.
The post College Football Attendance Numbers Are Out For 2021 Season appeared first on The Spun.