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Wall St J article on college football attendance

Tailgating culture has only advanced, too. Students don't need football games when the party is in the parking lot.
 
Deaconblue said:
One tidbit in the clear was that some team had actual turnstile count 36% below ticket sales.
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I would guess this is the case (or even worse) for most non-marquee games. I'm not sure what percentage of Wake's stadium is season ticketholders but we have 10 season tickets and struggle to give them away for some games. For a game like Towson (or even some of the non-exciting ACC games) I know a lot of season ticketholders who live farther away just don't make the trip. I always want to count towards our ticket sales totals and always buy bowl game tickets even if I can't attend. Sometimes it is a struggle to find Wake fans to fill the seats and I give up.
 
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raldeac said:
Now, students have excellent teams in soccer, tennis, even field hockey to draw interest. Can't attend them all and graduate.
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Those aren't the reason students aren't showing up to football games.
 
RJKarl said:
If the tickets are actually purchased, they should count. The only people who should really care are the concessionaires as they won't make as much.
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Correct. If the tickets are sold and not given away they represent paying customers. That's what counts.
 
RJKarl said:
If the tickets are actually purchased, they should count. The only people who should really care are the concessionaires as they won't make as much.
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Well, and the school who makes all of the profits off the concessions and parking. And the advertisers who derive no value from empty seats. And the fans who pay full price for season tickets but see a ton of cheap seats in the lot every time they walk into a game. There are plenty of people who should care.

Attendance and tickets sold are two different numbers. They should be counted and recorded separately.
 
mebanedeac said:
Correct. If the tickets are sold and not given away they represent paying customers. That's what counts.
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Butts in seats for home field advantage/crowd noise also counts. But I understand reasons why seats don't get filled.
 
Buttermaker said:
Butts in seats for home field advantage/crowd noise also counts. But I understand reasons why seats don't get filled.
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Football is a great deal more exciting with large crowds comprised mostly of fans for the home team.

I am discouraged by the relatively sparse attendance at WF games. Whatever we may say about the Grobe era, he succeeded in creating a larger measure of excitement in the Triad for Wake football and the crowds seemed much larger and more electric. That is always going to be an uphill battle for WF. Only consistent winning will do it. But I thought that a more dynamic offense might help. Apparently not yet.
 
PhDeac said:
Climate change also plays a role. “Football weather” starts later and later especially in the South. Sitting in metal seats at noon in 90 degree weather is just not appealing.
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Is this a joke?
 
Kaepernick also to blame since he played college football.
 
 
So, is there any mention of ticket price as a factor?

I see several references to "free" tickets, but is anything ever actually really "free"?

Is media broadcast availability enough to keep people from making the effort to attend?

Has the appreciation for the immediacy of the experience lost its luster?

Should I subscribe to the Wall Street Journal?
 
DeacKillsaDevil said:
Is this a joke?
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Do you attend the Noon games?
This part is not a joke. "Sitting in metal seats at noon in 90 degree weather is just not appealing."

I'm on the West side, in chair-backed knee-cramped seats. The East side is worse, I'm sure. Add 4+ hours of driving and with age it becomes a challenge. Sorry, but the older fans are a significant part of the ones who have supported Wake through the lesser years and do so now. Newer fans will take over in time , I hope. Don't you think the blazing sun/heat is at least a part of the reason the students leave early? No more Sept. early Oct. Noon games.
 
You'd think that with Wake being far more connected to the local community through their investment in downtown Winston (something that should be rightfully applauded) that attendance and local support would be up. However its not, and that falls solely on Wellman and the AD and Sports Marketing departments. I've been back in Winston a lot recently for family and wedding stuff, and I haven't heard or scene much about Wake sporting events. Throw that in with the death of the once flagship basketball program (its never coming back, accept it) and that should account for the lack of butts in the seats.

As to the students, Wake no longer recruits a large number of students with any real pre-existing ties to the university. The arrive from their NE prep school, spend four years in Winston, and then move away. So unless they stop chasing that population (which they won't because $$$$$) then student attendance is going to keep sucking. Why waste your free time at sporting events you could care less about, when you can IG, vape, and watch Duke/ND/ games. Just because you didn't get it, doesn't mean you're not a Blue Devil at heart.
 
I never knew we were losing student attendance at football games to vaping. Thanks for shedding some light on that. On that point, the Winston-Salem vaping community seems to be approximately 50% of the population. Is there anyway we can engage them ?
 
BillBrasky said:
You'd think that with Wake being far more connected to the local community through their investment in downtown Winston (something that should be rightfully applauded) that attendance and local support would be up. However its not, and that falls solely on Wellman and the AD and Sports Marketing departments. I've been back in Winston a lot recently for family and wedding stuff, and I haven't heard or scene much about Wake sporting events. Throw that in with the death of the once flagship basketball program (its never coming back, accept it) and that should account for the lack of butts in the seats.

As to the students, Wake no longer recruits a large number of students with any real pre-existing ties to the university. The arrive from their NE prep school, spend four years in Winston, and then move away. So unless they stop chasing that population (which they won't because $$$$$) then student attendance is going to keep sucking. Why waste your free time at sporting events you could care less about, when you can IG, vape, and watch Duke/ND/ games. Just because you didn't get it, doesn't mean you're not a Blue Devil at heart.
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This is good stuff. Vaping :bowrofl: It's all about winning. We are at the top of the country in soccer attendance year after year because that program is awesome. There were 5,000 people at the game last week and they had to turn people away.
 
Are these the first cracks in the armor of football leading to the ascendancy of futbol?
 
Rafi said:
This is good stuff. Vaping :bowrofl: It's all about winning. We are at the top of the country in soccer attendance year after year because that program is awesome. There were 5,000 people at the game last week and they had to turn people away.
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That's a good point about futbol. Maybe because the students don't have to leave campus, and the games are only two hours, I'm sure that helps too.

I couldn't resist taking my shot there, but in all honestly I'll probably be the proud owner of Wake football season tickets in the next year or two. Momentum seems to be moving towards a move back to Winston in the near future. Definitely going to check out a few soccer games too. I loved going to those when I was in middle and high school. Particularly when we looked old enough to drink beers in the lots across the street.
 
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