College football’s troubles will be punctuated with more empty seats in Pac-12 title game (Oregon Live)

[Redding Husky]

Huh? The Pac12 Championship Game was in Santa Clara California.

My bad. That just underscores the need for home games in most conference championships.

Only three conferences can probably succeed with neutral site games: Big 10 (Indy), SEC (Atlanta), and Big 12 (Dallas).

 

[billybud]

With 65", or larger, 4k TV sets...the game will be enjoyed more and more on TV...and less in the stadium.

The quality of TV watching has become pretty darn good....

 

[Irishfan]

My bad. That just underscores the need for home games in most conference championships.

Only three conferences can probably succeed with neutral site games: Big 10 (Indy), SEC (Atlanta), and Big 12 (Dallas).

For the PAC-12 championship you have two teams playing. One is 750 miles away, the other one is 550 miles away. Basically, no home team. At least the SEC championship game was in Atlanta. Essentially a home game for Georgia.

 

[freescooter]

Part of the problem to me is what I call the nflization of college sports. Especially football. For 135 of the 150 years college football was a different animal from the NFL. BUT STARTING WITH THE BCS there was a push for a single national champion that nobody because tv wanted it. Add the conference expansions that essentially wrecked local and often historic rivalries.

On the basketball side the sport became a March event. Who really cares about a game in sStorrs in January. The real season starts with the conference championship in March.

 

[GridironGR8]

My bad. That just underscores the need for home games in most conference championships.

Only three conferences can probably succeed with neutral site games: Big 10 (Indy), SEC (Atlanta), and Big 12 (Dallas).

Well, to be fair, the ACC championship had the second best attendance this year after the SEC. The B1G and Big 12 were right with them in the 65-66,000 range. Of course, if the ACC game had paired Syracuse against Miami I doubt that many would have shown up. Same with the B1G if it had been Minny vs. Maryland or the Big 12 if it had been Iowa State vs. Kansas.

 

[Rufus]

The B1G Championship Game in Indy was a sellout. Can’t sell any more tickets than the capacity of the stadium.

 

[NavinRJohnson]

The fact that the PAC-12 championships game started at 5 pm local time on a Friday might have a little to do with the poor attendance. It still wouldn't have been full if it was on a Saturday but it could have had more people in the seats.

 

[freescooter]

The fact that the PAC-12 championships game started at 5 pm local time on a Friday might have a little to do with the poor attendance. It still wouldn't have been full if it was on a Saturday but it could have had more people in the seats.

Actually that is Exhibit A in what John was saying and I’ve been saying. Game was scheduled for convieniece of tv not for fans. Same thing with Saturday night 8pm games in Connecticut in late November or opposite basketball opener or all sorts of other questionable decisions. Fans don’t show up in part because nobody particularly cares that they do. As long as the teams are there the rest is just background.

 

[TKs]

Forecast for PAC-12 Game was for cold rain & 20mph winds which did not happen. That had to hurt attendance. Next year the game moves to Las Vegas in Raiders new stadium. They are expecting a sell-out (65,000).