Waquoit
Mr. Positive
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You don't go to games, do you?
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Unexcused Absence: Why Is College Football Attendance Tanking? (SI)
- Thread starter huskymedic
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I didn’t attend any college football games last year for the first time in 30 years. Why? Did UCONN change the rules from last year?
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just curious, why did you stop going to the games.
The cartel has destroyed college football just as big banks have destroyed the community bank. All that is left are endless fees for a bland product.
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this administration finally broke me. Season ticket holder since first game at Rent, went to buying off secondary market, to nothing last year. Had nothing to do with the haves and have nots in football not making it fun. I just can’t support an inept administration. Then move to big east, leaving football to rot, solidified me not going back anytime soon.
Waquoit
Mr. Positive
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You just reminded me of the guy that showed up late to meeting and made suggestions about things already discussed.
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Oh, that’s a funny story.
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Students get in free to all home games by just swiping their UConn IDs. (All sports)
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There are more than 60,000 undergrads at Ohio State. The stadium holds 105,000. I assume that means that not all the students could go to the games, because I’m sure there are more than 40,000 season ticket holders at Ohio State.
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Purdue AD thoughts on attendance challenges:
GoldandBlack.com: Why do you think attendance (across the country) has been such a challenge at football games?
Butikofer: I think we’re dealing with a much more distracted society. There’s a lot of entertainment options. When I was at Arizona State in the athletic department in a metropolitan environment, we used to talk about the competition with the Coyotes and the competition with the Diamondbacks. The entertainment dollar was what we always talked about.
In my mind, it’s not even entertainment dollar anymore that you’re trying to stretch. People have options in Indianapolis and Chicago. I think it’s more general distraction. The ability to sit in front of your TV and have 75 inches of screen in front of you of HD quality where the beer is a foot away, and you’ve got your smart phone and four other devices sitting right in front of you is attractive to folks. I think theseyounger generations are very distracted. With the 21 year olds it’s a different deal. I’ve been really proud of our students. Basketball speaks for itself and I think it will always be that way. With football, to have 12,000-14,000 students at every single game… especially with non-conference opponents, I almost can bet there’s going to be a phone call afterwards from somebody on their staff saying “Hey, our AD said your student crowd was unbelievable at football, how do you get them all there and what are you doing to incentivize or entice them? There’s some things I think we have done creatively and part of it is putting a great brand of football out there, but part of it speaks to our students and the culture of campus and the connected nature of it all. That’s exciting and it’s fun to be in a place like that. We’ve had Missouri make that phone call twice to us and be like “Explain this to us again.” So it’s been fun.
GoldandBlack.com: I think it’s (at Purdue) becoming an environment where students feel like they need to be.
Butikofer: Exactly. I think you want to create an environment that the students can latch onto. Some of that is pregame, a lot of that is endgame. You’re really trying to thread the needle on the tradition of the Purdue band and what that stands for. Our older demographics (want certain things) with the students wanting a DJ and techno music. You’re trying to thread the needle and I think creating an experience for a broad base of your fans, and then communicating that through all these different mediums to get them excited.
If you’re 60 years old, what do you want to see? That’s why we went with Forge (available to JPC members) as that printed publication to make sure the people on social media can hear the story. You’re 20- and 30-somethings are watching what you do from a video content standpoint on Instagram or Twitter.
So it’s your fan experience and how you’re getting people excited to get them there. It’s such a diversified landscape that you’re trying to thread the needle on a lot of things.
GoldandBlack.com: Is that one of the goals of the Ross-Ade renovation?
Butikofer: It is. You have to make it a social event. You need to have different set of experiences for different demographics. I think one of goals of this Ross-Ade Stadium renovation is to birth a new product. Right now we have suites and club seats in the Ross-Ade Pavilion, and in some instances that’s a great solution for certain segments, both depending on your financial demographic and your age demographic creates your ability to enjoy those seats.
Right now in rough estimates to sit at the 50-yard line in the lower level at Ross-Ade is about $450. It is about $1500-$1600 to sit in the outdoor club. So to me, you have this huge gap of almost $1000 between your best seat in the lower level, and your worst seat in the premium area. You think about individuals in my age bracket (Butikofer is 42) and maybe the 30-somethings and those who are in their early 50s, (about) creating something in that $750 or $850 range, something that’s a little more flexible. (Maybe) It’s a patio or it’s a game connected space. It’s maybe something where your spouse can socialize with her friends. The spouse can still be connected to the game but not locked into a 12 inch seat.
Diversity of product is huge for us with this project so that we can speak to a larger demographic. I think it’s been very well known that we’ve went hard after Indianapolis. To be quite honest, our goal with this (stadium) project is to differentiate ourselves from the Pacers and the Colts, from others in that footprint. I think we can effectively do that through this project.
We already diversify ourselves in the standpoint that we have plenty of space, we have tailgating. I love Lucas Oil Stadium, but it’s concrete everywhere. What if I have kids? I probably wouldn’t let them get two feet away from me. Whereas here, I see it every Saturday at Ross-Ade. There’s kids throwing the football and it’s like, where are their parents? That’s the beautiful thing about college football in West Lafayette.
GoldandBlack.com: Why do you think attendance (across the country) has been such a challenge at football games?
Butikofer: I think we’re dealing with a much more distracted society. There’s a lot of entertainment options. When I was at Arizona State in the athletic department in a metropolitan environment, we used to talk about the competition with the Coyotes and the competition with the Diamondbacks. The entertainment dollar was what we always talked about.
In my mind, it’s not even entertainment dollar anymore that you’re trying to stretch. People have options in Indianapolis and Chicago. I think it’s more general distraction. The ability to sit in front of your TV and have 75 inches of screen in front of you of HD quality where the beer is a foot away, and you’ve got your smart phone and four other devices sitting right in front of you is attractive to folks. I think theseyounger generations are very distracted. With the 21 year olds it’s a different deal. I’ve been really proud of our students. Basketball speaks for itself and I think it will always be that way. With football, to have 12,000-14,000 students at every single game… especially with non-conference opponents, I almost can bet there’s going to be a phone call afterwards from somebody on their staff saying “Hey, our AD said your student crowd was unbelievable at football, how do you get them all there and what are you doing to incentivize or entice them? There’s some things I think we have done creatively and part of it is putting a great brand of football out there, but part of it speaks to our students and the culture of campus and the connected nature of it all. That’s exciting and it’s fun to be in a place like that. We’ve had Missouri make that phone call twice to us and be like “Explain this to us again.” So it’s been fun.
GoldandBlack.com: I think it’s (at Purdue) becoming an environment where students feel like they need to be.
Butikofer: Exactly. I think you want to create an environment that the students can latch onto. Some of that is pregame, a lot of that is endgame. You’re really trying to thread the needle on the tradition of the Purdue band and what that stands for. Our older demographics (want certain things) with the students wanting a DJ and techno music. You’re trying to thread the needle and I think creating an experience for a broad base of your fans, and then communicating that through all these different mediums to get them excited.
If you’re 60 years old, what do you want to see? That’s why we went with Forge (available to JPC members) as that printed publication to make sure the people on social media can hear the story. You’re 20- and 30-somethings are watching what you do from a video content standpoint on Instagram or Twitter.
So it’s your fan experience and how you’re getting people excited to get them there. It’s such a diversified landscape that you’re trying to thread the needle on a lot of things.
GoldandBlack.com: Is that one of the goals of the Ross-Ade renovation?
Butikofer: It is. You have to make it a social event. You need to have different set of experiences for different demographics. I think one of goals of this Ross-Ade Stadium renovation is to birth a new product. Right now we have suites and club seats in the Ross-Ade Pavilion, and in some instances that’s a great solution for certain segments, both depending on your financial demographic and your age demographic creates your ability to enjoy those seats.
Right now in rough estimates to sit at the 50-yard line in the lower level at Ross-Ade is about $450. It is about $1500-$1600 to sit in the outdoor club. So to me, you have this huge gap of almost $1000 between your best seat in the lower level, and your worst seat in the premium area. You think about individuals in my age bracket (Butikofer is 42) and maybe the 30-somethings and those who are in their early 50s, (about) creating something in that $750 or $850 range, something that’s a little more flexible. (Maybe) It’s a patio or it’s a game connected space. It’s maybe something where your spouse can socialize with her friends. The spouse can still be connected to the game but not locked into a 12 inch seat.
Diversity of product is huge for us with this project so that we can speak to a larger demographic. I think it’s been very well known that we’ve went hard after Indianapolis. To be quite honest, our goal with this (stadium) project is to differentiate ourselves from the Pacers and the Colts, from others in that footprint. I think we can effectively do that through this project.
We already diversify ourselves in the standpoint that we have plenty of space, we have tailgating. I love Lucas Oil Stadium, but it’s concrete everywhere. What if I have kids? I probably wouldn’t let them get two feet away from me. Whereas here, I see it every Saturday at Ross-Ade. There’s kids throwing the football and it’s like, where are their parents? That’s the beautiful thing about college football in West Lafayette.
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Many people are saying the same thing in different ways. I mean you wAtch how they tried to rig the rules to get Alabama into the playoff. They actually did it a couple of years ago. They didn’t win their league or their division even. Yet they were selected. Yet UCF with consecutive unbeaten seasons gets nada
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The growth of profiteering in college sports has eroded the sense of community and comradery. When you go to the game, and are paying $20 to park, and $12 for a beer, etc you know you are the mark. Colleges trying to profit off ur nostalgia rather than facilitate your ties to the alumni and community.
That erosion strikes at the core of what theoretically made college sports better, more pure.
I can pay exhorbitant fees to go see much better football. Giants/Pats is superior product.
I go to college sports to sense that community, to hang with 3 generations of huskies, etc.
That's a big reason why.
That erosion strikes at the core of what theoretically made college sports better, more pure.
I can pay exhorbitant fees to go see much better football. Giants/Pats is superior product.
I go to college sports to sense that community, to hang with 3 generations of huskies, etc.
That's a big reason why.
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Part of the reason I enjoy attending a couple NESCAC or other Division III games within a reasonable driving distance each fall. Still pretty much untouched by what ails D I football.