College Football’s Growing Problem: Empty Seats
Announced attendance dropped 3.2% in football’s top division last season, but schools’ ticket scans show even fewer fans in stands


By Rachel Bachman
Aug. 30, 2018 9:00 a.m. ET



When Minnesota hosted Nebraska at TCF Bank Stadium last year, the game featured charismatic new Golden Gophers coach P.J. Fleck, a home team fighting for a bowl berth and a big-name opponent. The announced attendance was 39,933—an OK crowd for a crisp November day in Minneapolis—but it didn’t tell the whole story.

Only 25,493 ticketed fans were counted at the gates, 36% lower than the announced attendance and about half of the stadium’s capacity. More than 14,000 people who bought tickets or got them free didn’t show up.

College football has an attendance problem. Average announced attendance in football’s top division dropped for the fourth consecutive year last year, declining 7.6% in four years. But schools’ internal records show that the sport’s attendance woes go far beyond that.

The average count of tickets scanned at home games—the number of fans who actually show up—is about 71% of the attendance you see in a box score, according to data from the 2017 season collected by The Wall Street Journal. In the Mid-American Conference, with less-prominent programs like Central Michigan and Toledo, teams’ scanned attendance numbers were 45% of announced attendance.

Announced Attendance Isn't the Whole Story


Sources: school records; athletics website box scores
Even teams in the nation’s five richest conferences routinely record thousands fewer people passing through stadium gates than they report publicly. The no-shows reflect the challenge of filling large venues when nearly every game is on TV, and they threaten a key revenue source for college athletic departments.

“Attendance drives recruiting, attendance drives donations, merchandise sales,” said Rob Sine, who until earlier this year was president of IMG Learfield Ticket Solutions, which works with dozens of colleges. If fans don’t use their tickets, he added, “they’re more likely to not come back.”

Most schools scan and keep count of tickets used at football games. The Journal requested access to those counts under public-records law, and most public schools supplied them. Private schools aren’t subject to public-records law.

Minnesota’s gap between scanned and announced attendance could have been worse—its announced attendance doesn’t include stadium staff, marching bands or media, as many other schools do. A Minnesota spokesman said officials were unavailable to comment.

When Minnesota hosted Nebraska at TCF Bank Stadium last year, only 25,493 ticketed fans were counted at the gates, 36% lower than the announced attendance.
When Minnesota hosted Nebraska at TCF Bank Stadium last year, only 25,493 ticketed fans were counted at the gates, 36% lower than the announced attendance. PHOTO: HANNAH FOSLIEN/ASSOCIATED PRESS
When Arkansas hosted No. 21 Auburn, scanned attendance was more than 25,000 lower than announced attendance. Overall last season, Arkansas’s scanned home attendance was 58% of its announced attendance as the Razorbacks went 4-8. Nonetheless, Reynolds Razorback Stadium is reopening Saturday after a $160 million renovation that increased capacity by about 4,000. An Arkansas spokesman declined to comment.

Attendance Gap Leaders
Football programs with the largest gap between tickets counted at their home stadium and announced attendance in 2017



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Florida State, which won the 2013 national title, last season had a scanned attendance that was 57% of its announced attendance. FSU spokesman Rob Wilson blamed personnel and technical issues in scanning tickets and said, “We do not believe the difference is as large as the data appears to show.”

Sine, the ticketing expert who’s now chief revenue officer at ticketing company AXS, said technology has improved to the point that scanning errors generally have a minor effect on ticket counts.

Attendance is more than a vanity issue. The NCAA requires schools to maintain a 15,000 “actual or paid” home attendance on a rolling two-year average to stay in football’s top division.

Many schools take a generous approach in compiling announced attendance, by including ushers, security guards and even the guy at the concession stand who sells you a Coke. That partly explains how Purdue’s announced attendance last season spiked 13,433 per game—the largest jump in college football. (Purdue didn’t report how many tickets it actually scanned last year, citing what a spokesman called “outdated equipment, connectivity problems and user error.”)

The NCAA accepts the announced attendance numbers schools submit “at face value,” NCAA spokesman Christopher Radford said.

Despite the rising value of TV-rights contracts, football ticket sales and donations often make up more than half of athletic-department revenues. College sports officials say many factors are incenting fans to stay home including: affordable big-screen TVs; the availability of more games on TV; ever-changing kickoff times that make it difficult to plan ahead; games that span more than four hours; traffic; and rising ticket prices.


Sagging student attendance remains a problem, even at perennial power Alabama. As part of a recently announced renovation of Bryant-Denny Stadium, the school plans to add a student terrace to create “a more interactive and social environment,” athletic director Greg Byrne said.

The renovations also will add more club and lounge areas and slightly reduce the stadium’s 101,821 capacity, part of a trend of downsizing college football stadiums.



Crowds at South Carolina have ebbed in recent years and scanned attendance made up 78% of the Gamecocks’ announced attendance last season. South Carolina held a one-day sale for the season opener against Coastal Carolina: $18.01 per ticket in honor of the school’s founding year. It sold 3,100 of those.

“If you’re in the upper deck and buying a ticket for 45 bucks, and the choice is, I can sit on my couch and have a really good view, you might do that,” said Lance Grantham, associate athletic director for ticketing and customer relations. “The [TV] product is just outrageously good.”

Public attendance numbers are part of some schools’ identity. Michigan Stadium, the “Big House,” whose 107,601 capacity is the nation’s largest, still claims a streak of 100,000-plus attendance games dating back to 1975, even though two games last year showed fewer than 80,000 scanned tickets.

A Michigan spokesman said surges of fans at gates just before kickoff sometimes prompt workers to tear tickets rather than scanning them. Michigan counts the media, stadium workers and marching bands in its announced attendance.

Nebraska boasts a sellout streak that dates to the 1962 season. But during last year’s 4-8 record, there was an average gap of more than 18,000 per game between scanned and announced attendance—mostly no-shows, a spokesman said.

A general view of Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Neb. Nebraska boasts a sellout streak that dates to the 1962 season.



Free tickets often are counted among attendance figures even if they’re never used. California, on the hook to repay the cost of a $321 million renovation for Memorial Stadium unveiled in 2012, gave away 57,108 tickets last season. That’s nearly an entire free game at the 62,467-seat stadium. About 35% of the free tickets were used, school officials say.

“Our sales and marketing team continues to look for more creative and unique ways to bring fans to Memorial Stadium,” said Joe Mulford, senior associate athletic director and chief revenue officer.

Not every school pumps up its attendance figures. Of the nearly 100 football programs that gave data to the Journal, just one used a turnstile count for its announced attendance: Navy.

Said athletic director Chet Gladchuk: “It is just the way we do business.”

LINK: https://www.wsj.com/articles/c...pty-seats-1535634001

NOTE: Sorry about the graphs not copying. Cleaned up the article as best as I could. I did not realize schools pumped up attendance figures.

Lousy BTN...

WHY TF cant they put the boilers on btn2? And why does a non conference game take precedence?!!

Week 1 Wrap-up:
Super busy this past week so the only football I watched was the 4th quarter of the Purdue game. Here are the results:

New Mexico St @ MN on Thursday at 6:00 on BTN - As expected, the Golden Gophers won handily.

NW @ Purdue on Thursday at 7:00 on ESPN - Purdue gave up too many (17) points in the 2nd quarter and lost by 4. Disappointing start to the season. I was wrong on both spread and winner.

Texas @ MD on Saturday at 11:00 on FS1 - Glad to be wrong on this one as the Terps took down the overrated team from Austin.

Northern Ill @ IA on Saturday at 2:30 on BTN - I was correct that Iowa would both win and cover.

UofM @ Yoder Dame & the Fighting Amish on Saturday at 6:30 on NBC - Glad to see this storied rivalry resume but disappointed the Walmart Wolverines made me incorrect on both spread and victor.

Kudos:

MN Golden Gophers for registering the first Big Ten win of the season

Purdue's true freshman Rondale Moore with 313 all purpose yards and 2 TDs. He had 79 yards rushing (1 TD), 109 yards receiving (1 TD), and 125 yards kick returning.

NWU running back Jeremy Larkin for 143 yards rushing and 2 TDs. Made a big statement that he's going to fill the shoes of NWU's leading rusher of all time who graduated this past year.

NWU DB, JR Pace, who registered a Big Ten leading 3 sacks as well as an INT.

WI's QB, Hornibrook, and running back, J Taylor, who both had big games against a meager opponent.

tOSU for putting up 77 points and winning by 46 over a power 5 opponent, OR St.

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Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity

DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.

Do you think the pundits are questioning the notion that the B1G east is college footballs toughest division after the first weekend?

quote:

Originally posted by sprg03-A3:
Do you think the pundits are questioning the notion that the B1G east is college footballs toughest division after the first weekend?

Probably. Blowhards have to fill 24 hours a day on all of ESPN’s channels, Fox Sports’ channels, and all of the sports radio stations.

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:

quote:

Originally posted by sprg03-A3:
Do you think the pundits are questioning the notion that the B1G east is college footballs toughest division after the first weekend?

Probably. Blowhards have to fill 24 hours a day on all of ESPN’s channels, Fox Sports’ channels, and all of the sports radio stations.

Just FYI...... I am an MSU grad....... No excuses.

I am pretty sick of this pundit crap. I am old enough to remember when you had the coach on television on Sunday to answer questions from local reporters. That was fun. Most of the coaches were not eloquent and used and reused the same platitudes each week. Sometimes the only thing coaches said was Yep. I can see why Saban was irritated at the stupid questions. It was frankly sad to see him apologize. My old man was a lot like him. Sorry for the SEC drift.

I attended the other football school in Indiana, no not Ball State or IU.

PSU won. It was ugly, but they won. Appalachian State (a school I'd never heard of) played a better game than I was expecting.

quote:

Originally posted by hile:
PSU won. It was ugly, but they won. Appalachian State (a school I'd never heard of) played a better game than I was expecting.

People underestimate ASU, but they have a history of playing hard against bigger, non-conference schools.

Michigan football has a powerhouse public relations machine that gets them over-rated every season. If their OL were half as good, they would have crushed Notre Dame. BTW, my pre-game comment about Penn State v. Appalachian State, above in this thread, was "uh oh."

Franklin said he had the team up for the Appalachian State game, and I don't doubt he did his best, but "Appalachian State" just sounds like a team you don't need to worry about. Then they surprise you. Just ask-- well, just ask Michigan.

Week 2:
Another week of mostly non-conference games with a few intrastate rivalries. As with last week, I'm just making predictions on the games that interest me and all times are central time:

Douche (aka University of New Jersey at Durham) @ NWU at 11:00 {no station listed} - Depending on which odds service you believe the NWU Wildcats are 2.5 to 3 point favorites. Statistically, they're pretty even but NWU played a much better opponent last week so the stats are skewed. NWU wins and covers.

Eastern Mich @ Purdue at 11:00 on BTN - My Boilermakers are unanimously 16.5 point favorite over their MAC opponent. Coach Brohm will have the defense ready this week so there won't be a 2nd quarter debacle, and I think the D will score more points than they give up (e.g. Pick 6). Purdue's offense is going to roll this week and put up big numbers. Purdue wins and covers.

Rutgers @ tOSU at 2:30 on BTN - Depending on which odds service you believe the Buckeyes are 35.5 to 36.5 point favorites over their lowly Big Ten "opponent." I'm only mentioning this because it's a Big Ten match-up but personally don't care whether tOSU wins by 30 or 40 as long as they win.

CO @ NE at 2:30 on ABC - The Cornhuskers are unanimously 3 point favorite over CO. Statistically, NE is the better passing team but they're pretty even every other stat. NE wins and covers.

IA State @ IA at 4:00 on Fox - Depending on which odds service you believe the Hawkeyes are 3.5 to 4 point favorites. This is the Cyclone's first game of the season and Hawkeyes 2nd game of the season which is an advantage for the Hawkeyes who will win and cover.

Fresno St @ MN at 6:30 on FS1 - Depending on which odds service you believe the Golden Gophers are going to lose by 1 or win by 1 (i.e. Vegas has no clue). Once again, I like Coach Fleck and think he'll have them ready to win and cover.

UVA @ IU at 6:30 on BTN - Depending on which odds service you believe the Hosers are 5 to 6 point favorites. IU are statistically the bettter passing team and they're pretty even every other stat. IU wins but fails to cover.

PSU @ Pitt at 7:00 on ABC - Depending on which odds service you believe the Nittany Lions are 7.5 to 8.5 point favorites. Ordinarily this would be an easy call, but PSU was behind App St last week twice. I think PSU will tackle better this week and their offense should dominate. PSU wins and covers.

MSU @ ASU at 9:45 on ESPN - Depending on which odds service you believe the Sparties are 5 to 5.5 point favorites. Both teams won last week, but ASU won big unlike MSU (who should have). The Sun Devils have beaten the last three nationally ranked non-conference opponents they have met at home and this match-up will be this week's upset (ASU wins and MSU fails to cover).

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Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity

DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.

Most of the Upper Midwest has wet, sloppy conditions for home outdoor games today.

quote:

Losers trip, losers slip, and losers fall down!

That phrase was said/shouted many times back in my high school football days by our hall of fame head football coach. What he meant was the field conditions were the same for both teams but one team found a way to slip less, kick field goals, kick extra points, throw passes, catch passes, hike/snap the ball, hand-off the ball, and not fumble when hit. The other team didn't and were the losers.

Today, Purdue were losers who caught less passes (222 less passing yardage) and made less field goals/extra points (1 field goal missed and 1 extra point missed versus 100% made). On top of that, they had penalties that really cost them such as the excessive celebration after a TD which eliminated going for 2 resulting in a 2 point lead instead of a 3 point lead. Needless to say, I'm pretty disgusted that Purdue lost to a MAC team by 1 point.

In early games, the Big Ten is 2-2 with UofM and WI both winning big, and NWU and Purdue losing.

Yeah, those 2 penalties from the Boilermakers were completely stupid.
The unsportsmanlike after the touchdown, questionable, but that moved them out of 2-point conversion range.
The roughing the passer call was a killer. It was 3rd and 8 at the time. Could have been 4th and 14, but for the dumb roughing. Three plays later they hit the 23yd pass. Couple runs later and a chip shot field goal, and voilà, Purdue is 0-2

The book answer is that there are no moral victories, but as a Husker fan, I came away from this home loss to Colorado with a lot to feel positive about.

Nebraska looked like what they were, a team playing its first game of the season against a good team that already had a game under their belt. Mistakes killed Nebraska. 3 turnovers that led to 14 Colorado points. 11 penalties for 95 yards, including the decisive “unnecessary roughness” call when Colorado was T 3rd and a mile. Still, they outgained Colorado by 150 or more yards. Sacked their QB 7 times. Nebraska had 14 sacks—all of last season.

I like the way they played. They’ll beat somebody they should lose to. Just have to hope their QB, Martinez isn’t injured too bad.

Week 2 Wrap-up:

Douche (aka University of New Jersey at Durham) @ NWU at 11:00 {no station listed} - Boy was I wrong on this game. Duke pulled off the upset.

Eastern Mich @ Purdue at 11:00 on BTN - Already cussed and discussed my displeasure with this game

Rutgers @ tOSU at 2:30 on BTN - I watched a little bit of this and it was less competitive than even the 49 point margin of victory indicates.

CO @ NE at 2:30 on ABC - The Cornhuskers lead twice for nearly half of the game. Frost has a lot of work to do to get the mediocrity out of the system from the past 2 coaches, but there were a lot of positivies to build on. I was wrong on both winner and spread.

IA State @ IA at 4:00 on Fox - I was correct on the Hawekeyes both winning and covering. If you like defense this was the game for you, but most would be bored with the winner having 271 combined yards and loser having 169 combined yards.

Fresno St @ MN at 6:30 on FS1 - I was correct on the Golden Gophers winning and covering. Didn't even see highlights of this game so I cannot comment.

UVA @ IU at 6:30 on BTN - I was correct on IU winning but failing to cover. Didn't even see highlights of this game so I cannot comment.

PSU @ Pitt at 7:00 on ABC - The Nittany Lions got off to a slow start but absolutely dominated the second half. They easily won and covered.

MSU @ ASU at 9:45 on ESPN - When I fell asleep, MSU was winning 13-6 and was surpised to see ASU's offense put up 13 more points in the 4th. My pre-game prediction was correct that this match-up was an upset (i.e. ASU won).

Kudos:

tOSU's D for only giving up 69 yards rushing and 65 yards passing against a Big Ten opponent

tOSU's O for having six different players score a TD

WI's Taylors for putting up 253 yards rushing and 3 rushing TDs (J Taylor) and 134 yards receiving and 1 receiving TD (AJ Taylor)

UofM for throwing a TD pass to a wide receiver for the first time in 364 days, and not only that they had 4 passing TDs.

NE QB Martinez for 3 TDs from 187 yards passing and 117 yards rushing. Hope his injury is minor and he bounces back.

IA D for holding their intrastate rivals to 19 yards rushing

IU RB Scott for 204 yards rushing and a TD.

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Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity

DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.

Here was the catch of the day. Not sure how he hung onto it, especially after the wicked hit, and landing/bouncing off his head.

From the Illinois/Western Illinois game
https://mobile.twitter.com/Big.../1038595456501047296

Wow! Impressive!

Teams That Play 10+ Power 5 Opponents, by Conference

Mostly wanted to share the graphic.

Here’s a screen shot of the graph I referred to for the many who don’t do FB

Week 3:
All non-conference games this week, and only 3 games catch my interest (All times Central time):

South Florida @ IL at 2:30 on BTN - USF is favored by 10 to 11 points depending on which odds service you believe. A few weeks ago this game didn't interest me, but undefeated USF has beaten Georgia Tech this season and the Illini are undefeated. This game is being played at a "neutral" field, but Soldier Field in Chicago is practically a home field for the Illini.

Misery @ Undue Purversity at 6:30 on BTN - The Tigers are 4.5 to 6.5 point depending on which odds service you believe. I like the idea of a preseason SEC vs Big Ten match-up, and good for both universities for scheduling it. My Boilermakers have been disappointing this season, and I don't think the Spoilermakers will make an appearance this weekend. Mizzou will win and cover.

#4 tOSU @ #15 TCU at 7:00 on ABC - The Buckeyes are favored by 12.5 to 13 points depending on which odds service you believe. This one makes me nervous since the "neutral" field is 19 miles from TCU's regular stadium and Urban Meyer is still suspended. Statistically, the Buckeyes are better on offense and the Hornfrogs are better on defense. Frankly, both teams have had a cream puff schedule so far and this will be their first time squaring off with a worthy opponent. I'm picking tOSU winning and covering.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: tatortodd,

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Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity

DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.

Ohio State/TCU should be fun. I think the Buckeyes win, but do not cover.