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#1 2020-01-10 07:56:38 - 6 bowl games record lowest attendance figures on record

skyvoyager (177)
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Registered: 2017-09-13
Posts: 396

6 bowl games record lowest attendance figures on record

— 23 of the 33 games were played at venues where the announced attendance was less than 75% of capacity. Of those 23, eight were under 50%.

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/6-bowl-gam … 27421.html


Everyone has the right to be stupid... It's just that some people abuse the privilege.

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#2 2020-01-10 08:39:30 - 6 bowl games record lowest attendance figures on record

Nugget's Ghostbuster (1627)
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From: U.S. Department of Interior
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Posts: 5,767

Re: 6 bowl games record lowest attendance figures on record

"The Birmingham Bowl announced 27,193 while actual attendance was 9,679. The New Mexico Bowl announced a crowd of 18,823; a San Diego Union-Tribune reporter at the game estimated actual attendance at 6,000."

Regional matchups might be better attended games but it doesn't completely solve the issue. Game experience in a empty 70K stadium built in the 1940's isn't appealing. I've always thought that the MLS is missing the boat with the bowl season. You have these fairly new, state of the art stadiums covering everywhere from Florida to California that average around 20K in size that just sit empty with the exception of Toyota Stadium in Frisco. If the NCAA gets real about bowl attendance they should start partnering with the MLS and start using better stadiums that have a smaller footprint. It won't work every single time but if Tulane v USM ended up in Frisco instead of Fort Worth last week it would have been actually soldout with standing room only areas filled. Put a mileage cap on how far a venue can be from a school as well. Sending Kent St and Utah St(each around 1200 miles from Frisco, TX) instead of Tulane and USM (each around 500 miles from Frisco, TX) doesn't make sense.

Last edited by Nugget's Ghostbuster (2020-01-10 09:50:48)


"There was a great deal of character on that field today. They are for real, no doubt about it. This was no fluke." - Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant

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#3 2020-01-10 10:14:56 - 6 bowl games record lowest attendance figures on record

Lloydlake (139)
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Registered: 2017-08-25
Posts: 274

Re: 6 bowl games record lowest attendance figures on record

Too much supply. Not enough demand.

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#4 2020-01-12 19:53:22 - 6 bowl games record lowest attendance figures on record

Bleacher Eagle (44)
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Registered: 2018-07-18
Posts: 94

Re: 6 bowl games record lowest attendance figures on record

I’m pretty sure ESPN owns most of the non-New Years 6 bowls.
I’m positive ESPN doesn’t give a rats ass about the attendance at those games. They exist so they can be televised. The schools participating in those games are on the hook for a minimum amount of tickets. Between that and sponsorships, the expenses of those bowls are covered. As long as they aren’t losing money, then it could be played in an empty stadium and it wouldn’t affect ESPN one bit.

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#5 2020-01-13 09:07:47 - 6 bowl games record lowest attendance figures on record

Nugget's Ghostbuster (1627)
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From: U.S. Department of Interior
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Posts: 5,767

Re: 6 bowl games record lowest attendance figures on record

Bleacher Eagle wrote:

I’m pretty sure ESPN owns most of the non-New Years 6 bowls.
I’m positive ESPN doesn’t give a rats ass about the attendance at those games. They exist so they can be televised. The schools participating in those games are on the hook for a minimum amount of tickets. Between that and sponsorships, the expenses of those bowls are covered. As long as they aren’t losing money, then it could be played in an empty stadium and it wouldn’t affect ESPN one bit.

ESPN does give a rats ass how these games are attended because they lay the ground work with each city municipality on projected revenue earnings for the local economy of each host city. The schools do lose money when they have poor attendance and eat ticket fees for their unsold allotment regardless of what the check looks like after it is taxed, and divided within conference, especially if your trip can't be reached by bus. It just comes down to how you look at "losing money".

The host city also takes a financial hit with poorly attended games as well. People don't realize each host city cuts a six figure check to ESPN for each bowl game that is hosted in a public managed or tax payer owned stadium, coming out of their Tourism and Public Planning budgets. They look at it as paying six figures for a couple of million viewers. So how do they lose money? The elected local officials with the assistance of ESPN sell the tax payers on these wonderful projected numbers on the bowls financial impact on the local economy. For example, the now fossilized Ticket City Bowl promised millions to the local economy between hotel nights, restaurant revenue, parking, tourism, etc..... So even though Utah v West Virginia says it sold 25K tickets for their contest a few years back, less than 9K were in the stands. The hotels were not sold out and the restaurants didn't see the uptick it was expecting........but hey, they had like 1.5 million tv viewers, so........ Even ESPN lowered its fee to the city of Dallas six figures just to keep the bowl on life support.
Eventually the city of Dallas "fixed the glitch".....


"There was a great deal of character on that field today. They are for real, no doubt about it. This was no fluke." - Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant

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#6 2020-01-13 09:47:13 - 6 bowl games record lowest attendance figures on record

AndreWhere (1252)
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From: Decatur, GA
Registered: 2017-08-24
Posts: 8,746

Re: 6 bowl games record lowest attendance figures on record

All those "economic impact studies" are bunk. Why should I care if a few out-of-towners buy gasoline at a local convenience store? The guy who owns the store is just stuffing that money under his mattress anyway.


Bring back Reed V. "Pie" TurkPalmer Eustachy.

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#7 2020-01-13 10:33:03 - 6 bowl games record lowest attendance figures on record

Nugget's Ghostbuster (1627)
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From: U.S. Department of Interior
Registered: 2017-08-25
Posts: 5,767

Re: 6 bowl games record lowest attendance figures on record

Southern Miss approaches bowls like Clark Griswold approaches his year end bonus from Mr. Shirley. We already put the deposit down on the backyard pool before we even get our year end bonus. We factor that bowl money as part of our salary.....or annual dept income. When we end up getting a membership to the jelly of the month club like last year or a bowl payout that is well south of $1 million plus, we end up looking like Cousin Eddie holding out for a management position for the past eight years.......

source.gif


"There was a great deal of character on that field today. They are for real, no doubt about it. This was no fluke." - Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant

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#8 2020-01-13 12:12:30 - 6 bowl games record lowest attendance figures on record

skyvoyager (177)
Member
Registered: 2017-09-13
Posts: 396

Re: 6 bowl games record lowest attendance figures on record

Bleacher Eagle wrote:

I’m pretty sure ESPN owns most of the non-New Years 6 bowls.
I’m positive ESPN doesn’t give a rats ass about the attendance at those games. They exist so they can be televised. The schools participating in those games are on the hook for a minimum amount of tickets. Between that and sponsorships, the expenses of those bowls are covered. As long as they aren’t losing money, then it could be played in an empty stadium and it wouldn’t affect ESPN one bit.

Back around 2011.... UConn lost 1.6 million by 'earning' a shot at the Fiesta Bowl.

https://www.courant.com/news/connecticu … story.html


Everyone has the right to be stupid... It's just that some people abuse the privilege.

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#9 2020-01-28 09:00:01 - 6 bowl games record lowest attendance figures on record

EagleLurker (2)
Member
Registered: 2020-01-05
Posts: 2

Re: 6 bowl games record lowest attendance figures on record

Nugget's Ghostbuster wrote:

"The Birmingham Bowl announced 27,193 while actual attendance was 9,679. The New Mexico Bowl announced a crowd of 18,823; a San Diego Union-Tribune reporter at the game estimated actual attendance at 6,000."

Regional matchups might be better attended games but it doesn't completely solve the issue. Game experience in a empty 70K stadium built in the 1940's isn't appealing. I've always thought that the MLS is missing the boat with the bowl season. You have these fairly new, state of the art stadiums covering everywhere from Florida to California that average around 20K in size that just sit empty with the exception of Toyota Stadium in Frisco. If the NCAA gets real about bowl attendance they should start partnering with the MLS and start using better stadiums that have a smaller footprint. It won't work every single time but if Tulane v USM ended up in Frisco instead of Fort Worth last week it would have been actually soldout with standing room only areas filled. Put a mileage cap on how far a venue can be from a school as well. Sending Kent St and Utah St(each around 1200 miles from Frisco, TX) instead of Tulane and USM (each around 500 miles from Frisco, TX) doesn't make sense.

Reminds me of USM's attendance figures. They "announced" around 20-25k for the UTEP/WKU/UAB games this year but anyone with eyeballs know there wasn't more than 10k actual ass cheeks in the stands. Worst attended games this year since 2012.

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#10 2020-01-28 10:31:25 - 6 bowl games record lowest attendance figures on record

AndreWhere (1252)
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From: Decatur, GA
Registered: 2017-08-24
Posts: 8,746

Re: 6 bowl games record lowest attendance figures on record

That home game against Kentucky was a turning point. It's like a third of the crowd was just MIA and they've never come back.

Terrible day for USM football. Empty bleachers looked all mildewy... on TV vs. an SEC team USM beat the year before.

Probably a Gilbert thing.


Bring back Reed V. "Pie" TurkPalmer Eustachy.

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#11 2020-01-28 11:02:50 - 6 bowl games record lowest attendance figures on record

Nugget's Ghostbuster (1627)
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From: U.S. Department of Interior
Registered: 2017-08-25
Posts: 5,767

Re: 6 bowl games record lowest attendance figures on record

USM Fans: How do you fix attendance issues at The Rock this fall?

Jeremy, AD: We will build a 34-foot by 24-foot stage with 1,250 square feet of event space behind the stage next to the stadium. It will house climate-controlled restrooms and a 275-square-foot space to use for storage, events and event preparation.

USM Fans: Really? Thats how we will fix attendance? That seems like a waste of money, honestly. Surely it won't cost us a lot, right Jeremy?

Jeremy, AD: This will be the largest one-time investment made by the Southern Miss Alumni Association, and the estimated cost is around $1 million.

USM Fans: GTFO! You must be pullin my leg. Seriously, whats something like this gonna cost us?

Jeremy, AD: We want our fans to have a nice place to go and visit. We want our students to use it, student engagement is very important to us. This will also appeal to athletic recruits in town to see the campus, as well as prospective students who are choosing their college.

USM Fans: Wait, you are being serious......You are tellin me that you, our new, one of us AD, believes that the fix to USM Football this fall is to build a concert stage/storage locker, next to the stadium, and that will not only bring people out to the game against South Alabama, but it will also get us 5 star recruits AND increase enrollment?

Jeremy, AD: Thats exactly what we are doing

USM Fans: What a joke. Why not just take some more good ole hard earned money from me and build a volleyball arena or take all the dirt out of PTP so we can just play on shag carpet while you are at it!

Jeremy, AD: I am way ahead of you.......


"There was a great deal of character on that field today. They are for real, no doubt about it. This was no fluke." - Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant

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#12 2020-01-28 11:22:27 - 6 bowl games record lowest attendance figures on record

AndreWhere (1252)
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From: Decatur, GA
Registered: 2017-08-24
Posts: 8,746

Re: 6 bowl games record lowest attendance figures on record

Is that little amphitheatre thing connected to athletics somehow? I'd just figured they were building a little theater thing (for, you know... theatre people, not athletes). Should not be funded by athletics in any way, IMO.


Bring back Reed V. "Pie" TurkPalmer Eustachy.

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#13 2020-01-28 11:29:31 - 6 bowl games record lowest attendance figures on record

Nugget's Ghostbuster (1627)
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From: U.S. Department of Interior
Registered: 2017-08-25
Posts: 5,767

Re: 6 bowl games record lowest attendance figures on record

AndreWhere wrote:

Is that little amphitheatre thing connected to athletics somehow? I'd just figured they were building a little theater thing (for, you know... theatre people, not athletes). Should not be funded by athletics in any way, IMO.

Its a central hub for the gameday experience in Spirit Park. Replaces erector set stage with a permanent stage. Comes out of the Alumni checking account technically.


"There was a great deal of character on that field today. They are for real, no doubt about it. This was no fluke." - Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant

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#14 2020-01-28 14:19:21 - 6 bowl games record lowest attendance figures on record

AndreWhere (1252)
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From: Decatur, GA
Registered: 2017-08-24
Posts: 8,746

Re: 6 bowl games record lowest attendance figures on record

central hub for the gameday experience 

Like... a stadium?


Bring back Reed V. "Pie" TurkPalmer Eustachy.

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#15 2020-01-28 15:07:14 - 6 bowl games record lowest attendance figures on record

Nugget's Ghostbuster (1627)
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From: U.S. Department of Interior
Registered: 2017-08-25
Posts: 5,767

Re: 6 bowl games record lowest attendance figures on record

We need a better policy in place that limits the financial decisions of a few at USM. This "idea" misses on so many basic levels. Here is what Jeremy was looking for.......using his own words.....

We are thrilled about the Southern Station project and what it is going to mean for our campus and especially our football game day environment,”

“Spirit Park is evolving into the ‘place to be’ on Saturdays in the fall, and this project will greatly enhance that experience."

Our AD should have one goal when it comes to Saturdays in the fall.......fill the Rock. Sell seats INSIDE the venue. Building a small music/storage shed directly outside of the venue is essentially giving a product away for free without any financial commitment from the consumer. Why not build a fan friendly game day experience inside the stadium that actually requires paid admission(game ticket) and entering the building?

All Jeremy had to do was look around at other colleges and see what other stadiums and arenas are building inside existing venues to enhance the gameday experience while still being required to pass through a gate. Bryant Denny is taking out seats to build social areas inside the stadium for students. AZ St is building a new rooftop deck with WiFi. CSU buit a beer garden three years ago in the endzone. Mizzou built The Bunker Club with ground-level sight lines to watch games and greet players as they enter the field.
ALL OF THESE ARE INSIDE THE STADIUM WITH A PAID TICKET FOR ADMISSION!!!!!!!

If we only had a massive, vacant area that we could build something on that also has a great view of the game where you can drink, be social, maybe build some shade canopies, add some special concession food items, have a stage area for pregame music, throw in a few misting fans for day games.......if we only had a pregame area inside the Rock that we could invest a million dollars into that could physically bring people into the stadium for the game........

Stadium.png


"There was a great deal of character on that field today. They are for real, no doubt about it. This was no fluke." - Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant

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#16 2020-01-28 15:42:36 - 6 bowl games record lowest attendance figures on record

Mao Tse-gore (412)
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Registered: 2017-08-29
Posts: 961

Re: 6 bowl games record lowest attendance figures on record

Nugget's Ghostbuster wrote:

We are thrilled about the Southern Station project and what it is going to mean for our campus and especially our football game day environment,”

“Spirit Park is evolving into the ‘place to be’ on Saturdays in the fall, and this project will greatly enhance that experience."

Abject insanity! Unless of course it's for a burlesque show staring our women's volleyball team.


We still suck bigtime.
There's a big difference between optimism and an altered state of reality.
Not another dime, not another mile, not another minute.
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#17 2020-01-28 18:10:52 - 6 bowl games record lowest attendance figures on record

B&GBU (259)
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Registered: 2017-08-27
Posts: 676

Re: 6 bowl games record lowest attendance figures on record

The English language in woefully inadequate to describe these people.


"Did you ever consider that the next level would be a lower one?"

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#18 2020-01-28 21:12:22 - 6 bowl games record lowest attendance figures on record

Black Diamond Reb (418)
Member
From: Palmers Crossing, Mississippi
Registered: 2017-08-25
Posts: 1,302

Re: 6 bowl games record lowest attendance figures on record

Nugget's Ghostbuster wrote:

“Spirit Park is evolving into the ‘place to be’

Crank_That_%28Soulja_Boy%29.JPG


"I don't think being in the 6th best conference is too bad."
"Look for Crickets Robertson to be one of the first 64 players chosen in the draft."
"Went to Starkville and came within one bad throw of taking the series."

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#19 2020-01-29 07:11:42 - 6 bowl games record lowest attendance figures on record

Mao Tse-gore (412)
Member
Registered: 2017-08-29
Posts: 961

Re: 6 bowl games record lowest attendance figures on record

B&GBU wrote:

The English language in woefully inadequate to describe these people.

Maybe in Klingon, or German.


We still suck bigtime.
There's a big difference between optimism and an altered state of reality.
Not another dime, not another mile, not another minute.
MSFlag.gif

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#20 2020-07-17 16:39:17 - 6 bowl games record lowest attendance figures on record

AndreWhere (1252)
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From: Decatur, GA
Registered: 2017-08-24
Posts: 8,746

Re: 6 bowl games record lowest attendance figures on record

Nugget's Ghostbuster wrote:

“Spirit Park is evolving into the ‘place to be’

As stupid as that sounded at the time, it somehow sounds even more stupider now.


Bring back Reed V. "Pie" TurkPalmer Eustachy.

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