football attendance

[Quincy A. Wagstaff]

Will you attend football this year like you did pre-COVID?

I previously attended (almost) every home game + usually one or two away games before 2020. 2020 was the first year I didn't buy season tickets in my life. (My family was buying season tickets before I was born.) I will not buy season tickets again this year. I will buy individual game tickets. Right now I'm planning to go to two games. I went back five years to see how many games I've attended. I averaged 8 per year. Downsizing to 2 (maybe). I'm just curious if other fans also got used to watching games on TV and will spend their money elsewhere.

2015: 9 of 13
2016: 7 of 13
2017: 9 of 13
2018: 8 of 13
2019: 8 of 13
2020: 0 of 11
2021: 2? of 12/13

 

[jethreauxdawg]

Covid will have zero impact on my game attendance. Other factors in life have already cut me back to maybe 1 game a year.

 

[Quincy A. Wagstaff]

Covid will have zero impact on my game attendance. Other factors in life have already cut me back to maybe 1 game a year.

To be fair: I was leaning towards not renewing season tickets before COVID. COVID made it an easy decision. But after watching last season at home, I won't be buying season tickets again.

I just imagine with so many fans watching from home for the first time, a lot of football programs are going to struggle to get at least some portion of those people back. Even post-COVID.

 

[msudawg12]

Just rubbed shoulders with 25k buddies in omaha. I no longer give a 17

 

[TankOwens]

Will have no affect on me. Will attend (long time season ticket holder) as before. Can't wait!

 

[TankOwens]

same. been vac'd too.

 

[Quincy A. Wagstaff]

Just rubbed shoulders with 25k buddies in omaha. I no longer give a 17

Oh, to be clear: I am in no way suggesting the virus itself has any bearing on the decision. I was in Omaha and partied in the lobby of the Hilton. It's an issue of:

• money
• convenience
• quality of TV coverage
• new routines
• inertia

My larger point is college football may look back and realize they should have tried harder to keep the stadiums full in 2020. It could have a multi-year, if not permanent impact on ticket sales.

 

[Leeshouldveflanked]

I may go to Memphis and Vandy and one or two home games, but not buying season tickets anymore.

 

[DoggieDaddy13]

Covid will have zero impact on my game attendance. Other factors in life have already cut me back to maybe 1 game a year.

I was a season ticket holder until Dan crapped the bed at the end of 2014. As great as that year looks now, the way he phoned it in that November and at the Orange Bowl.... the team looked rudderless....total ********. He may be a good coach, but he was never going to get us over THAT hump.

Averaged about 2 games a season since... but only for the games I feel damn sure we will win so I can enjoy being out among the faithful. Don't handle the losses well. Never did.

Will probably make one or two trips this fall.

 

[M R DAWGS]

I quit buying season tickets during the Moorhead era. I’ll likely go to 2 or 3 home games, but I used to go to all of them under Mullen. The reason for my declining attendance is due to the poor product on the field and the fact that I keep having kids. They’ve rearranged my priorities.

 

[Mjoelner]

Yep. And, although driving straight in and straight out last year with very little traffic was enjoyable, I look forward to tailgating again.

 

[kired]

I can't wait to get back. May even try to make a couple of road games - Memphis and Vandy.

Think I've missed four home games since 2009, with two of them being the Missouri and Auburn games last year. Was just too busy in December and the atmosphere last year sucked.

I may be more willing to sit out something like the homecoming games going forward. But I can't imagine staying at home for an SEC game.

 

[Shadow34]

Delta variant gonna shut the world down again around mid August. I kid. I hope to make 2 home games. But I really prefer spending money and resources on msu baseball. Always have always will.

 

[Shadow34]

This times a thousand

 

[Willow Grove Dawg]

I am 55 years old & have missed 4 home games since JWS arrival. I went to all the home games last year. It will be awesome to be able to tailgate again this year. I would like to make two road this games this year definitely Memphis plus at least one of Vandy, UPIG, & Auburn.

 

[MSUDC11]

Renewed our season tickets after opting out for 2020. Only game I went to last year was the Mizzou game. Really strange on every front. No bands for either team, maybe 500 people in the crowd total, and it was being played less than a week before Christmas. Just an unusual experience, but at least we played well and won.

We never make it to every home game, usually one or two weekends with conflicts, and this year won't be any different. But I look forward to being back. We also pick one road game a year to go to, looking like Auburn may be our pick for this year. Never been there before and way too early indications are that this could be one of our more winnable games on The Plains in recent years, so we are going to give that trip a shot.

 

[Nugdawg]

I’ve been a season ticket holder and tailgater as long as I can remember and it’s not stopping now. I can’t wait to tailgate, hang out with friends and go to football games. Hopefully many more feel the same as I do. And all it will take to make some folks that think they can sit it out is for us to get on a run and winning some games. Winning makes people excited. I saw people in Omaha I didn’t know were State fans or haven’t seen for years.

 

[OliveBranchDAWG]

I was a season ticket holder until Dan crapped the bed at the end of 2014. As great as that year looks now, the way he phoned it in that November and at the Orange Bowl.... the team looked rudderless....total ********. He may be a good coach, but he was never going to get us over THAT hump.

Averaged about 2 games a season since... but only for the games I feel damn sure we will win so I can enjoy being out among the faithful. Don't handle the losses well. Never did.

Will probably make one or two trips this fall.

So the season we went 7-0 at home was the year you decided to cancel your season tickets? What lol

 

[Quincy A. Wagstaff]

Delta variant gonna shut the world down again around mid August. I kid. I hope to make 2 home games. But I really prefer spending money and resources on msu baseball. Always have always will.

I used to have season tickets to football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, and baseball. Now, I only have season tickets to baseball. I’ll pick and choose which games I go to in the other sports. The rest of the games I can watch on TV.

2020 was my last year of women’s basketball, 2019 was my last year of football, and 2016 was my last year of men’s basketball. Of course all the money I’ve saved has gone into Omaha tickets/hotels/flights (and bitcoin of course).

 

[greenbean.sixpack]

We keep our season tickets last year and have again this year. I'd rather watch from home, but the Old Lady loves going to the games.

 

[campshelbydog842003]

Will you attend football this year like you did pre-COVID?

I previously attended (almost) every home game + usually one or two away games before 2020. 2020 was the first year I didn't buy season tickets in my life. (My family was buying season tickets before I was born.) I will not buy season tickets again this year. I will buy individual game tickets. Right now I'm planning to go to two games. I went back five years to see how many games I've attended. I averaged 8 per year. Downsizing to 2 (maybe). I'm just curious if other fans also got used to watching games on TV and will spend their money elsewhere.

2015: 9 of 13
2016: 7 of 13
2017: 9 of 13
2018: 8 of 13
2019: 8 of 13
2020: 0 of 11
2021: 2? of 12/13

im going to 11 of our 12 games this year, plus the bowl game. It isn’t just about the game for me. I love the towns. Going out the night before and of the game with friends. Tailgating. All of the stuff that goes with it.

 

[hatfieldms]

Covid or not I wouldn’t be down for much this year if at all. I help run a youth football league in town and we are at the fields all day every Saturday

 

[o_tacodawg]

Sat in a suite for the Mizzou game and it was such a strange experience. Could hear what folks midway through the bleachers were saying.

 

[GloryDawg]

I had season tickets last season and only went to two games. My seats sucked. I regretted getting them. I bought my tickets this season. I might go to 4 games. I will give my tickets away to the games I don't attend.

 

[Maroonthirteen]

It's a very attractive home schedule this year. (Except one game). But good job AD. I'm tempted to buy season tickets. However I won't.

1. They are asking to much. The demand isn't there to ask me for $380 a seat plus a seat donation. I can buy single tickets when the time comes or on stubhub.

2. Moving games to holidays. I may or may not be able to make the Egg Bowl because it was moved. The game won't sell out. I was able to buy 7 tickets at game time in 2019 for less than face. I'll do the same this year.

3. Poor customer service. Show me you can get people in the gate before kickoff. Show me you can serve a coke and hotdog in a reasonable amount of time.

 

[Drebin]

On 1: an average price of about $55 per ticket per game is too expensive? It's probably the best bargain in the SEC west.

On 2: opinions vary on thanksgiving egg bowls. But it's become a bit of a tradition and plenty of people will be there if we are having a decent season.

On 3: Are you one of those people who stay at your tailgate until five minutes before kickoff? In 30 years of going to state games, I've never missed a kickoff. And the hot dogs might taste like **** and the coke cups might smell like ***, but I've never had a problem procuring a hot dog and coke.

Leave the tailgate at a decent time, figure out the best times to make a concession run, and try not to be the ******* that shows up 10 minutes after kickoff and makes folks miss a play on the field because you're stumbling over them to get to your seat.

 

[Mobile Bay]

Distance and cost keep me to one game every two years typically, and that is in Auburn. I also will try and make the Vandy game. But that is on the only free weekend I have in October, so I may say forget it that weekend.

 

[Mobile Bay]

Egg Bowl on Saturday is a stupid thing and should never ever be done again. It's a Thursday game.

 

[Nunya.sixpack]

Last year broke the habit. It will be a long time before I start again.

 

[The Peeper]

My dad started buying 4 season tickets around '82 and I've kept them since increasing to 5 about 10 years ago. I've dropped them to 2 as of this year and may or may not go into every game. I'll tailgate for all of them and probably go in for at least the first half of most and depending on how it goes I usually leave at halftime and go out and watch the 2nd half on Dish and light the grill again. The product on the field has factored greatly into my decisions

 

[Drebin]

My dad started buying 4 season tickets around '82 and I've kept them since increasing to 5 about 10 years ago. I've dropped them to 2 as of this year and may or may not go into every game. I'll tailgate for all of them and probably go in for at least the first half of most and depending on how it goes I usually leave at halftime and go out and watch the 2nd half on Dish and light the grill again. The product on the field has factored greatly into my decisions

I have 4 tickets and debated dropping down to 2, but decided to hang on to all of them. Last year wasn't the greatest year, but I really enjoyed watching the fight that the team displayed and how they got better as the year went on....it makes me optimistic for this year, so I'll be at all of the games. There will be several weekends that I have extra tickets though because the family won't go to all of them.

I love Mississippi State but I'm also a college football fan in general. And it's a pretty sweet deal to know that with a 2600 BDC donation, I can have four season tickets straddling the 50 yard line in section 4. Like I said earlier, it's the best bargain in the SEC west.

 

[Maroonthirteen]

1. Including seat license, which State requires, The cheapest cost is $68 per person for decent lower level. If you consider the TSU game is a scrimmage, $80 per person. Ill have 4. $320 a game.

I see below..... yours are $140 per game, per person.

2. OP asked an individual question. I gave an individual answer. I agree. Seems the fan base is split on a THanksgiving egg bowl.

3. I like to see pregame. I try to get to my seats 30 minutes before KO. My last game in person was 2019 egg bowl. I arrived at the SE gate about 40 minutes before KO. I got to my seat at KO. Only reason I saw KO, was because Metal detector people said forget it and let people walk through unchecked at about the 15 minute mark. I will say, since the metal detectors were installed, this was my worst experience. Florida 2018 and Bama19, I didn't have that much issue. BUt I had a wait. All other games, didn't have the crowds of those 3 games. Concessions...I sit on the east side. People in my party stood in a concession line half a quarter during the 2019 egg bowl. The customer service at games has become unacceptable and slowest I have ever experience at State. Ive been going to games since the 80s.

 

[Quincy A. Wagstaff]

It will be interesting to see what attendance is like this year. On one hand, I think some people who stopped coming in 2020 will not come back. On the other hand, a lot of people are hungry for college football. Attendance was already trending down pre-COVID. 2019 was the lowest attendance since the 2014 expansion. We're paying Mike Leach $5 million to turn that around.

year	attendance
2014	61,127
2015	61,784
2016	58,317
2017	58,100
2018	58,057
2019	56,182

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[Drebin]

1. Including seat license, which State requires, The cheapest cost is $68 per person for decent lower level. If you consider the TSU game is a scrimmage, $80 per person. Ill have 4. $320 a game.

I see below..... yours are $140 per game, per person.

2. OP asked an individual question. I gave an individual answer. I agree. Seems the fan base is split on a THanksgiving egg bowl.

3. I like to see pregame. I try to get to my seats 30 minutes before KO. My last game in person was 2019 egg bowl. I arrived at the SE gate about 40 minutes before KO. I got to my seat at KO. Only reason I saw KO, was because Metal detector people said forget it and let people walk through unchecked at about the 15 minute mark. I will say, since the metal detectors were installed, this was my worst experience. Florida 2018 and Bama19, I didn't have that much issue. BUt I had a wait. All other games, didn't have the crowds of those 3 games. Concessions...I sit on the east side. People in my party stood in a concession line half a quarter during the 2019 egg bowl. The customer service at games has become unacceptable and slowest I have ever experience at State. Ive been going to games since the 80s.

Your original post (that you later edited) didn't mention seat licenses, only that it was $380/ticket. That's what I was replying to. Even with licenses, it's still cheaper than just about anywhere else in our half of the conference. Most places, you can't even get premium seats.

You talk about buying them on stubhub, but the fact is that you're buying them from someone who paid the license and season ticket cost, so they're still selling. And whether you more or less for them on stubhub will depend opponent and how well State is doing at that point.

 

[Maroonthirteen]

Regarding the bargain....... just because Im always interested in hearing other opinions.

Im not picking on State specifically. However, each SEC team has their own supply and demand. Again, the OP asked an individual Q and I gave an individual answer. In my opinion, SEC football tickets are over priced across the board. Maybe Alabama can charge whatever the 17 they want and still sell out. However, I had a UT buddy that was buying season tickets for UT in the late 90s. He was paying $1000 per seat plus season ticket cost for lower level endzone. As much a SEC fan as I am, I thought that was a ridiculous price to pay. However, I am no UT fan coming off Manning and a NC.

I'm the type of person that really believes the in-person experience is the best. I love going to MSU games. However with TV and rising prices, personal decisions are made. Maybe the experience is worth $55 - $140 a game for some but not for others. Me personally......as much as I love MSU. Life happens and I can't in good conscious contribute $320 ($500 if you include gas and food) to a Saturday of football when I don't know the game time, my kid's schedule, weather, etc etc. There was a time when I would throw $2,000 per season at MSU and if I had to eat a Saturday of tickets, at least I supported the cause. However, State has so much money now from TV, I don't feel that is necessary to do. Also, tickets are easier to come by with Stubhub etc. As much as I'd like to buy season tickets, seems like a no brainer for me.....to wait and buy individual tickets on the secondary market to games that I can attend and save money for the games Im not interested or can't make.

 

[Phil Wenneck.sixpack]

Opted out last year after 25 years of season tickets. Last year taught me I

don't need it as much as I thought. But it's not just a State problem. You're going to start seeing it across the board. So many factors but to name some of the big ones. TV having total control of everything makes it tough to plan. My line of work requires a certain degree of planning. Not knowing if a game is at 11,3, or 7, or anything in between until the week before makes it difficult. I've already missed on average 2 home games a year for that reason alone. The cost isn't going anywhere despite the SEC payout being almost $50 million a year. And it's not even the ticket cost that adds up. A healthy Bulldog Club donation just to have the right to buy tickets and parking pass that's at least $30 per game. They've just outpriced themselves with me. The constant incompetency of gameday staff doesn't help matters.

 

[8dog]

This thread amplifies what Ive been saying. We need the most attractive schedule possible (bowl games and extra practices are overrated). And we need to make tailgating as easy as humanly possible. We have gone the other direction on that. Short, short
sighted.

 

[dorndawg]

don't need it as much as I thought. But it's not just a State problem. You're going to start seeing it across the board. So many factors but to name some of the big ones. TV having total control of everything makes it tough to plan. My line of work requires a certain degree of planning. Not knowing if a game is at 11,3, or 7, or anything in between until the week before makes it difficult. I've already missed on average 2 home games a year for that reason alone. The cost isn't going anywhere despite the SEC payout being almost $50 million a year. And it's not even the ticket cost that adds up. A healthy Bulldog Club donation just to have the right to buy tickets and parking pass that's at least $30 per game. They've just outpriced themselves with me. The constant incompetency of gameday staff doesn't help matters.

I think this is where a lot of folks are, with the juice just not being worth the squeeze.

 

[Go Budaw]

This thread amplifies what Ive been saying. We need the most attractive schedule possible (bowl games and extra practices are overrated). And we need to make tailgating as easy as humanly possible. We have gone the other direction on that. Short, short
sighted.

Agreed, but we don’t have much control on the schedule strength. If we added another P5 nonconference, it would probably be a neutral site kickoff game here and there. Until the SEC adopts a 9 or 10 game conference slate going forward, it’s going to be this way.

 

[8dog]

Right. My position is 10 conference games, 1 p5 and a Labor Day weekend cupcake. And if the practices for bowls are that important, push for every team to have them regardless of a bowl. But Im at a point where I want to go…but not to see Tenn St in Nov or even a G5.