Football crowds getting smaller
we can’t even get 1,000 fans for a game,” said Flora.
Here are some other figures from the crowd figures of last Friday and the Friday in 2004.
• Four games had crowds of 3,000 or better last Friday. By far, the biggest was for the Seneca Valley at North Allegheny game, which had a crowd of 10,000, according to North Allegheny athletic director Bob Bozzuto. PineRichland had 4,881 for its game against Central Catholic. Fourteen years ago, 10 games had crowds in excess of 3,000.
• Fourteen years ago, 11 Class 4A games drew 42,605. Last Friday, 12 conference games in Class 6A and 5A had 33,608 fans.
• Fourteen years ago, only eight of 57 WPIAL games had crowds less than 1,000, with a low of 788. Last Friday, 15 of 51 games had fewer than 1,000 fans. Eleven of the 15 had fewer than 788 fans.
It has been documented how some small schools in the WPIAL are struggling with player participation. But attendance at smallschool games also is way down. Not one of the seven Class 1A games Sept. 28 drew 700 fans. Leechburg at Clairton had 575, California at Jefferson-Morgan 422, West Greene at Avella 331 and Rochester at Cornell 325.
“Back in 2008, we would draw an average of almost 1,200,” said Scott Moore, Jefferson-Morgan’s athletic director. “We were pretty good, so obviously that had something to do with it. Beth-Center and Carmichaels were big draws for us. Those games are gone now. Population is shrinking, but non-conference games with schools that aren’t close has something to do with it. But it’s also parochial and private schools in Class 1A rarely travel well to Greene County. But I do believe one of the reasons is that not many kids are playing football anymore.”
Central Valley athletic director Sam Cercone is one of many administrators, coaches and fans who believe the advent of six classifications in Pennsylvania high school football has hurt attendance. Some schools are no longer playing familiar schools close in proximity. Travel to away games has increased for many schools. Central Valley has a rich football tradition, but last Friday’s home game against Waynesburg drew only 932 fans. Waynesburg High School is 71 miles from Central Valley.
“Having that many fans was OK in the grand scheme of things,” said Cercone. “Waynesburg is about an hour-and-a-half from us. … I think a lot of these low [attendance] numbers are from six classifications. Football fans want to see a good game, but they’re not going to travel that far distance. Overall, it’s been OK for us because our conference still has a lot of local teams.”
You shouldn’t get the idea that negativity about attendance permeates the WPIAL. Go to a big game on a Friday night, and a high school stadium still can be electric with a crowd that fills the joint. Throw in bands and cheerleaders and freebies, and there could be around 95,000 people at WPIAL football games on a Friday night.
What’s interesting is that student attendance at games is good at many schools, big and small. And the reason is the popularity in the last seven or eight years of student sections. At many schools, students now have a weekly theme for a home game and all dress accordingly. Student sections have their own accounts on Twitter that are used to create interest.
Consider that last week, Butler sold 865 adult tickets and 788 students (high school age or lower). Penn Hills had 652 students and 601 adults. Fox Chapel had 1,371 students and Deer Lakes 854. Belle Vernon’s crowd of 1,480 included 546 students.
“Our games are like a community event, where people are going to come not only for great football, but it’s also a social event,” said Bob Bozzuto, North Allegheny’s athletic director. “I think high school athletics is still the best ticket in town and I think the traditional schools that have done well, will continue to get attendance because it’s really engrained in the community. Others are still finding their way through six classifications and trying to find new rivalries. Attendance might be down at some places, but there are a lot of factors that I think go into that.”