So reports the Associated Press — down about 4 percent on average for established games, which matches a 4 percent fall in average attendance for college football overall. A highlight:
[Wright Waters, the executive director for the Football Bowl Association] suggested that some bowls should try attracting more local fans who aren’t affiliated with the two schools playing in the game each year. He cited the Sugar, Peach and Rose as three bowl games with exceptional community support.
“We’ve probably gotten comfortable with crowds coming from schools,” Waters said. “Just as schools are having trouble with their attendance, we’re going to have to get more active locally.”
Waters said bowl games that have attendance increases generally have compelling matchups featuring regional opponents that are hungry for a bowl appearance.
Good luck with that. As conferences have gotten bigger, it’s become increasingly difficult to have “compelling matchups featuring regional opponents,” as the ACC, SEC, and Big 10 etc. are no longer just in one region. (Case in point: UNC-Chapel Hill playing Rutgers… in Detroit.) But the problems extend beyond that: why should the average local spend their hard-earned bucks to sit in a cold stadium in late December in say Charlotte to see a game between two teams that they may not follow when the game is also on television? And why is that result good for the local economy, as bowl ticket revenue from locals is headed straight out of town?
H/t: JAT
