USA TODAY International Edition
FIGHTING TO KEEP FANS
Moves aim to make attending college football game more enjoyable
One glance inside Josh Shea’s loft apartment in Wichita clearly reveals his allegiance. His living room is painted purple and gray — he’s a Kansas State alumnus and a die- hard Wildcats fan.
He’s the kind of fan athletics directors and conference commissioners used to take for granted would be in the stands on game days.
Now those administrators are concerned about college football attendance, which has declined ever so slightly among Football Bowl Subdivision schools over the last four years. The drop in average per- game attendance from 2009 to 2012 is less than 2%, but it’s a trend that has drawn attention because of one key question: Are fans deciding it’s more fun to watch games on television than attend them?
“The most fun had at a game is generally happening at tailgates in the parking lot before, during and after games,” says Shea, who no longer holds Kansas State season tickets. “As for the in- stadium experience, it’s simply not enjoyable vs. the alternative. Most seats in a football stadium don’t offer a good view of a game. End- zone seats? No thanks.”
Blame it on technology. In an era when fans at home can watch multiple games at the same time, when the stadium video board can’t match the number of highlights available on an iPad, when fans inside a stadium get poor cellphone reception while those at home are texting and tweeting,
big- time college programs are feeling pressure to keep pace.
Even the Southeastern Conference, which has produced eight of the last 10 national champions and enjoys huge popularity, has created a “Working Group on Fan Experience.” Chaired by Mississippi State athletics director Scott Stricklin, the committee exists because the SEC saw a pergame decrease in attendance for a fourth consecutive season.
In the Big Ten, Indiana averaged just under 45,000 fans a game at Memorial Stadium, ranking 10th in the 12- team league. But Hoosiers fans who do show up now can expect fireworks before kickoff and the second half, a light show after victories, flatscreen televisions in the concourse and upgraded cellphone reception.
CATCHING UP
What schools don’t want is for fans to view going to a game as akin to stepping into a sports vacuum, leaving behind the all- access feel of watching games on television.
Last year, Stricklin’s committee addressed a major problem — lack of replays on the stadium big screens. Previously in the SEC, only one replay could be aired on any given play and it couldn’t be shown at all if the play was under review. The committee relaxed the limits — replays can be shown as often as desired, provided a game official isn’t shown up in doing so, and if there is a play under review, the stadium will get the same television feed viewers elsewhere are watching.
During his address this summer during his conference’s media days, Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby revealed a plan to air live and taped highlights from the league’s other games at stadiums this fall.
“College football has experienced declines in overall attendance over the last four or five years, and I think bringing highlights in will take into account and help one of the things that really is getting to be a challenge for us,” Bowlsby said. Shea is skeptical. “Everyone wants to watch on giant HDTVs that give the best views and have two other games on other TVs going on the side and be able to chat about what’s going on on Twitter and websites while getting up- to- the- second updates on what else is going on in football, sports and the world,” he said.
Stricklin said the upcoming season would serve as a fact- finding mission.
“I think the hope is we continue to make sure people understand how special it is to come to one of our campuses on Saturdays,” Stricklin said. “All of the senses are engaged in a way you don’t get sitting on your couch. There is nothing like a college football game in a Southeastern Conference stadium.”
ADDING AMENITIES
Just as technology has complicated the equation for universities, it also presents an opportunity — such as free and reliable Wi- Fi to all fans in attendance.
It’s an expensive proposition, ranging from $ 2 million to $ 4 million a stadium. Baylor’s new stadium, which is scheduled to open in 2014, will offer Internet access inside and outside the facility.
“The trend we’re starting to see is technology, as it advances, it’s taking over these facilities, which opens up a lot of opportunities,” says Geoff Cheong of sports architecture firm Populous.
Others say college officials are reacting too much to a slight decline.
Says Matt Balvanz, vice president of analytics at Navigate Research: “The attendance decline has more to do with the cyclical economy and competitiveness of certain markets than it does the improved TV experience.”
Mike Lewis, a professor of marketing at Emory University, says, “There is a just a little bit of randomness in the data. Things will naturally go up and down.”
But he says there are issues to be concerned about, such as competitive balance. As the big- time programs with huge fan bases continue to pour hundreds of millions into stadium expansions, locker room renovations and expensive coaching staffs, the rest have to decide whether they can afford — or want to afford — what it takes to pack the stands.
Alabama, for example, averaged 101,722 fans a game last year, making it third in the nation and one of 10 SEC teams among the top 25 FBS schools in attendance. But at the other end of the SEC spectrum, Mississippi State was at 55,628, while Kentucky averaged less than 50,000 and Vanderbilt was below 40,000.
“The SEC has won what, the last seven titles? And Alabama is really starting to dominate the SEC,” Lewis said. “It’s like when the Yankees were on their run in the late ’ 90s and into the 2000s. To some extent, why should the folks at Mississippi State keep showing up when it seems like the economics have kind of pushed things out of their reach?”
Shea, a 36- year- old lawyer who says he works hard and plays hard, has a suggestion to make games more fun. Students have their areas, and suites and boxes attract their own demographic. How about one place for fans who want to watch with similar fans?
“I’d love it if a decent section was known and sold as a section for nonstudents to be standing and yelling and getting rowdy all game,” he said. “Cost wouldn’t be a factor if I knew I was going to be in the same party within the stadium that I’d be at outside the stadium.
“Maybe if sections were somehow assigned to fans of different age and enthusiasm levels, it’d be important and/ or desirable to be there.”
It’s an idea.