Pat Forde on CFB attendance
- Thread starter Duke Humphrey
- Start date
I think the gap between P5 and non-P5 teams is driving this. I honestly have a tough time getting motivated to go watch us play OOC, non-P5 teams.
Nope. Most of those declines are comparing a non-P5 opponent and another non-P5 opponent. Attendance is just significantly down across the board. And it's only going to get worse. TV and cost are the prime drivers. Honestly, with all the damn time outs and play reviews, watching a game in person can be pretty freaking boring if it's not just a really good game. WAY too much sitting around and waiting.
It doesn't help when your home OOC schedule is SFA, Louisiana, and La Tech. Don't get me wrong, everybody plays patsies. Just kinda sucks in a year like this where Bama, Ole Miss, and LSU are all on the road. TV is a blessing and a curse. After the first 3 weeks, there's no way to know if you're playing at 11 AM or 8 PM. There's no way to plan around anything. And seeing that the majority of our fan base lives outside the golden triangle area, it's especially a burden. I guess that's the price you pay to have every game televised, which we would have all begged for 20 years ago. It's up to the schools to figure out a way to make being there a better option than saving money in the comfy recliner. Beer sales would be one easy step but will take more than just that.
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Unless I missed something, the conclusions of his analysis seem to be:
1) Fans prefer to see big-name opponents rather than small schools
2) Fans don’t tupically come out for struggling programs
Both seem like pretty obvious deductions, and I’m a little surprised that he didn’t get into some of the newer factors like access to streaming, continuously increasing club costs, and increasing crowds. Whatever the case, it’s clear that attendance is an issue, and people are taking notice.
On a semi-related note, there are still WAY too many cupcake games out there. I just can’t figure out why schools can’t drop one of them in favor of either an extra conference game, an expanded conference championship field, or an expanded CFP
1) Fans prefer to see big-name opponents rather than small schools
2) Fans don’t tupically come out for struggling programs
Both seem like pretty obvious deductions, and I’m a little surprised that he didn’t get into some of the newer factors like access to streaming, continuously increasing club costs, and increasing crowds. Whatever the case, it’s clear that attendance is an issue, and people are taking notice.
On a semi-related note, there are still WAY too many cupcake games out there. I just can’t figure out why schools can’t drop one of them in favor of either an extra conference game, an expanded conference championship field, or an expanded CFP
I'm in favor of going back to the 11 game schedule, and giving the teams 2 bye weeks. Let them play one FCS game, one P5 and one G5. Keeps everybody honest and you're either a winner or a loser at the end of the year. Helps with injuries too.
I’m really intrigued to see what our home attendance looks like next year. We likely won’t be as good of a team, but the home schedule has a ton of huge games. USM and Kansas State at home for nonconference games, then SEC games against Bama, LSU, Ole Miss, and Kentucky. The only really uninteresting game will be the Abilene Christian game the week before the Egg Bowl.
You raise a good point. I wish we could get our P5 home game on the non-Bama, LSU, OM years. The odd years will be huge and the even years will be more dependent on how good our team is.
https://fbschedules.com/ncaa/mississippi-state/
https://fbschedules.com/ncaa/mississippi-state/
The entire SEC football schedule is set up to protect Alabama's wishes and schedule and has been for years. Any true structural changes to the SEC football scheduling will have to involve Alabama giving a little.
Yeah, on one hand, it makes it to where you have a shot at a really special season by stealing one or two of those on the road. On the other hand(like this year), we could quite frankly have one of our best ever teams, yet lose those 3 games and end up in the Music City bowl
Wait, we play USM again? I must have missed that. I thought we had beaten them and put that crap to bed, now here they are on our schedule again.
I'd be all for this if it also included scrapping the conference championships and FCS games and going to a 64 team National Title tournament like basketball has at the end of the season.
I hate it. I'd rather us be recruiting the USM fans to double as MSU fans, than fostering more hate/rivalry/divide by playing them (and potentially losing to them).
The only way it works is if we straight beat them down, like we did in 2014 and 2015. I don't know about you, but I certainly sweated a little bit in 2015.
Way too many games, especially with pay-for-play and player safety being such trigger points these days.
That's pretty much what's going to happen most every time. This isn't the rivalry game it was in the 80s. This is more like Tennessee playing Middle Tennessee State or Auburn playing Troy.
For once I agree with you.
The problem I have with bowl championships like they are set up now is it is a month or more before those teams play again, which can kill the week to week momentum a good team can have down the stretch. Plus it would cut things back on the regular season and make those games more important
They could take a week's break and then start a more expanded playoff earlier culminating near or on NYD bowls using the winners and those put out in the other NYD bowls. Imagine having a multi-week playoff and the smaller bowls being good matchups of teams that did not make the playoffs. It would kill that dead period with quality football and keep teams from playing too many games. They are getting close to playing an NFL length season.
Yeah, which never happens, because Tennessee and Auburn know better.
And you, yourself, just said "most" every time. That ONE loss could kill in-state momentum.
It's dumb to play them, especially now.
Only the final two teams in a 64 team tournament play one more game than the final two teams play in the playoff setup we currently have. 95% of the teams in CFB would play less games. You get put out in the first round of 64 you only played 11 games. 2nd round you played 12. Sweet 16 you played 13 (bowl teams play 13 games) Elite 8 14 games (bowl teams that are conference champion participants already play 14) final four 15 games (playoff final two play this many) and then the actual national title game has two teams that played 1 more game but they had 3 bye weeks during the season by eliminating two ****** OOC games as opposed to the only 1 bye week we afford each team currently.
I miss the days of us playing Memphis, Tulane and even USM. They all made for interesting games. Tulane and Memphis were fun road trips. The non conference schedules for most SEC schools is absurd.
Right, but the gap between P5 and non-P5 is bigger now than it was in 2008, IMO. The perception might be more than the reality, but I crunched some numbers, against non-P5 teams:
2008 -
SEC Winning % - 94%
Average margin of victory - 22 pt
48% games were won by more than 21 points
2017 -
SEC Winning % - 98%
Average margin of victory - 24 pt
56% games were won by more than 21 points
You can see the same pattern in the 1st half numbers:
2008 -
Average Halftime Score: 19-7 (12 pt)
39% of games were < 7 points at half
2017 -
Average Halftime Score: 22-7 (15 pt)
33% of games were < 7 points at half
So, you complain about what other people do in the privacy of their own home while watching football, then you use 'wonderful' in a sentence while communicating with grown men.
Hmmmm
I was there in 2015 and sweated a little 1st half also, but it is a fun in-state game to watch. Also, we have widened the gap in the past few years and they don't have anyone named Favre in their pipeline. I am fine with playing them and I like this 2 for 1 deal instead of the home and home.
I am excited about tickets in '19 and '23 after looking at that link. Kansas State, USM, Bama, LSU, Kentucky, and Egg Bowl in 19. Same in 23 except Arizona in place of KSU. Only 1 cupcake in both years on top of those 6 good games.
Anybody else considering a grand canyon and MSU/Arizona game trip in 2022?
Please elaborate how the Comissioner's office has inconvenienced bama with either scheduling or ignoring BLATANT officiating SNAFUS. I get that the league shall protect it's current bell cow at the cost of others, but don't be naive.
I have no doubt that the Pack could fill another thread with our experiences, beginning with a ******** receiving touchdown just this past year. Enlighten us.
USM is not, nor will they ever again be a threat to us....either on the field or in recruiting. If we ever lose to them we should join the sun belt because we are doing something wrong. This isn't LT-era MSU anymore.
That is just idiotic. G5 teams beat P5 teams every year. We are not immune from having down years.
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