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College football has largest drop in attendance in 34 years

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So go Pitt
On top of the 100M $ Bb arena nobody is going to now ..... let’s spend Half a Bil $ to tear down the slums of Oakland...pay off City of Pgh “officials “ and constuct an on campus FB white elephant......
 
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Three hour games bore the fans.
CTE.
Crappy bowl games.

3 hour games?

I think it is prices keep going up and there are too many other things to spend money on.

Less kids are playing football too.

Id take Pitt in a crappy bowl game any year over not going.
 
I’ve been told it must be because of the unpatriotic protest.

Same reason why nascar and hockey ratings are dropping , too

I am still going to games. I dislike any of the protesting as well. But, if I didnt watch things from people I disagree with politically, I would be watching no movies, listening to no music and being bored.
 
I’ve been told it must be because of the unpatriotic protest.

Same reason why nascar and hockey ratings are dropping , too

In NASCAR's case, they have horrific third-generation ownership that has been antagonistic to longtime fans of the sport and has destroyed their championship format to the point where a driver missed 30 percent of the races a couple years ago and was still named series champion.
 
1. Oversaturation of product. 2. Espn doing its best to make sports about anything but sports. 3. People see the fix is in. Dirty schools like PUS, UNC, Lville, OSU win and cheat and nobody cares, so why should we??? 4. Youtube cat videos.
 
1. Oversaturation of product. 2. Espn doing its best to make sports about anything but sports. 3. People see the fix is in. Dirty schools like PUS, UNC, Lville, OSU win and cheat and nobody cares, so why should we??? 4. Youtube cat videos.
I don’t buy #2, ESPN needed to change since the content everyone used to goto Sportscenter, NFL Primetime, Baseball Tonight and so on are easily available on everyone phones or tablets. The hot takes and goof balls like Rex Ryan are there to kill time until games start.
 
In no particular order:
  • The cost of attendance (ticket prices, donations required for the better seats, overpriced stadium food, parking)
  • Overexposure on TV for decades (it's just not special anymore)
  • The Internet means you never miss a great play even if you don't attend the game or watch the live telecast
  • Instant replay and TV commercials have made the games longer (no one at the game on a cold or rainey day likes seeing the guy in the orange jacket or a referee hold up play frequently. reinforces that the paying fan doesn't matter
  • The demise of regional rivalaries (it's wrong on so many levels)
  • Increased security at games (not especially onerous now, but likely to only get worse)
  • Head injuries (highlights the dangerous side of the game making it less fun for a certain segment of the fan base)
  • BCS - every other bowl except the championship bowls have decreased in importance greatly.
  • Sleaze (Sandusky at Penn State, Nassar at Michigan State, prostitutes for athletes at Louisville, fake classes at North Carolina, covering ups at Baylor, Rich Rod fired for sexual harrassment, etc. etc. It all reinforces that supporting this stuff is somehow wrong).
Frankly it's amazing college sports are doing as well as they are. I don't believe the younger generations care as much as the generations who came of age between 1960 and 1990. I wouldn't characterize this as the bubble bursting. But I think the air is seeping out of the balloon slowly and nothing is going to get it back in there. Younger people have decided they either can't afford or don't want cable and cable is the financial underpinning of the entire system as we know it. Instead of watching as spectators younger people are choosing participatory sports like 5k,10k runs, bike events, mud challenges and the like.

IMHO college football won't go away. It still has a loyal core, but that core is aging. I think it's relatively powerless to do much if anything about any of the above. So it will have to adapt.
 
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In no particular order:
  • I don't believe the younger generations care as much as the generation who came of age between 1960 and 1990. I wouldn't characterize this as the bubble bursting. But I think the air is seeping out of the balloon slowly and nothing is going to get it back in there. Younger people have decided they either can't afford or don't want cable and cable is the financial underpinning of the entire system as we know it. instead of watching as spectators younger people are choosing participatory sports like 5k, 10k runs, bike events, mud challenges and the like.

IMHO college football won't go away. It still has a loyal core, but that core is aging. I think it's relatively powerless to do much if anything about any of the above. So it will have to adapt.

This is probably the number one reason. The generation who came of age between 1960 and 1990 are getting further and further away from their playing days. They have a disconnect with those playing the game today. And they are dying off. Or watching FOX News instead.
 
This is probably the number one reason. The generation who came of age between 1960 and 1990 are getting further and further away from their playing days. They have a disconnect with those playing the game today. And they are dying off. Or watching FOX News instead.
You just reinforced the idea that with age comes wisdom.:D
 
Basketball must be way down a well. no statistics, just sense it. I see open seats at Duke and other places where that is not normal.

Pitt is a special situation in hoops, so have to through them out.
 
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