Dennis Dodd: In era of technological, financial change, has college football peaked?

Reallignment is destroying tradition, the NCAA somehow seems to be an even more laughable regulator than before, and the sport's journalism is dominated by a near monoply (ESPN) that both covers the sport and sells some of its major entities/figures while it sells itself.  What could go wrong?

Another thought:  Why does college football need to keep getting bigger?

I'm pretty sure MSU's stands were empty because their team is boring to watch.  Nice try blaming it on texting.

I'd argue it's peaked, but for a different reason. Bundled TV is going to die in the next decade or so, and that will kill the big money the Big 10, SEC, and others are bringing in. I hope Michigan pays off that crew facility...

This could be true, and the trend might continue. However, I think we won't see this in AA anytime soon. Every game, you talk to so many people making their first trip. Some are coming from chicago, Missouri, even Kansas city. You also talk to people who never miss a game. With all the things we can put in a man cave to make watching sports more fun, it doesn't replace game day at the big house

The Big House sells out every game, regardless of who they play. It's not a problem with tradition or technology, it's about how strong of a fan base you have. UMich has it, MSU does not.

Interesting that even Alabama is having some decline in student attendance. Makes it look more like a nationwide phenomenon than a distinctly Michigan problem.

And the "experience" is getting pretty crappy at lots of televised sporting events.  Once TV reveue starts to exceed ticket sales, what's the incentive to make it "fun" to go to a game.  As you can probably guess from my avatar, I've gotten into MLS since I left AA.  The level of play isn't what you see on TV in Europe, obviously, but I have a goddamn blast.  A big part of the reason is that your average MLS team still makes most of it's money at the gate, so they still give a crap about the fans that show up.  

Short version: being in a stadium during a "TV timeout" really, really sucks.

I know that people are attached to their mobile devices and sometimes I want to go all Herm about it. I do think that with students in particular, not being able to have a phone for three plus hours is like a death sentence. However, the college football experience has changed for students. It is about the party. The sex, the booze, the drugs (I enjoy all three). If your team is not playing for a national or conference championship, students, in general, care much less about going to games than they do watching it somewhere they can drink. How many times have there been complaints about Michigan students on these very boards and diaries and front pages?

I would much rather go to a Michigan vs Minnesota/Indiana game than watch Michigan vs MACrifice on TV.

The solution is and always will be MOAR B1G games.  Why can't we have 10 conference games.  ND doesn't want us and we will always have good non-conference games in the playoffs or in bowl games.  As much as DB loves 8 home games I think 10 conference games is better than 9.

College football is in danger of going NASCAR where it gets too far away from its roots.  Things look good for a while as new money and visability rolls in, but when the novelty wears off, you've alienated your core base of sustainable support.

West Virginia vs. Pitt is perpetually sustainable, no matter what.  West Virginia vs. Texas Tech is totally dependent on both teams being ranked.

It's peaked for me personally, I don't know about as a whole. I find myself following other sports more than I do college fball, which used to be #1. I've become very disillusioned w/ the sport b/c of expansion, the mockery that is the governing body and half-assed media coverage.

I think it has peaked as well. I think the novelty of the BCS has kind of worn off and although the playoff will breath new life into the sport, I think it'll be short-lived. I think a lot of the interest has also aligned with the increased interest in all levels of football, recruiting, and gambling. It seems like we may have peaked in a number of these areas, and if it hasn't peaked, than perhaps the rate of growth of interest has peaked and we may be plateauing soon. 

I think a new technological/media product will have to emerge if things are to continue on the path we've seen in the past decade and a half or so. 

that the other sports aren't? Is it mostly a college football problem, or a sports problem? (Or maybe an entertainment problem, because I think movies are facing a lot of the same issues)

mumbo-jumbo is killing some of the purity and endearing nature of college football. It doesn't feel as much about great traditions and traditional rivals as much as it does corporate marketing, TV deals, and nonsensical realignments.

I think cfb and especially conference bigwhigs are taking a big crap on fans and are seriously exploiting their fandom. I mean, Rutgers was only added because the B1G is going to try to force NJ to put the BTN on their basic cable. That's kind of the last 5 years of CFB in a nutshell there and I can't blame people for just saying 'f*ck this'

When Dodd was quoting Hollis about monetizing the game to a point where attendance is becoming secondary, I realized that I had ticket revenue data and the estimated payouts from the conference for television per team. It comes out to the following.

(NOTE: Nebraska does not get the full amount as yet, and Northwestern does not report revenue data, so they aren't in the table)

Granted, this is a snapshot, but it might be part of a larger trend - even in a rather monetarily gifted Big Ten, six of these eleven listed teams (and I bet Northwestern would be in the same boat, so say 7 of 12) are at a point now were the payouts from TV outpace their ticket revenue. I would have to believe you would get similar results in other major conferences too.

50" LEDs

when exceeded, will result in steadily declining ticket sales to average fans who actually give a damn about the team. Whether we're there yet I can't say, but even if I were on the waiting list I'd have to swallow hard before I would spend the thousands of dollars for season tickets that Michigan now charges.

But yes, it peaked several years ago.

1. Conference realignment: College sports are about proximity and tradition. At the end of the day, college sports are selling an inferior product. They make up for it with proximity and tradition. Conference realignment obviously gets rid of that. It doesn't just affect the conference I care about. It eliminates my interest in a national slate of games.
2. Money: I have less of it...they seem to have much more. I am one of the lucky ones. I kept my job during the recession. I have a college degree and a professional job that offers great benefits and a solid salary. And yet, when I get home from work tonight, I'll feed the two dogs, run them outside to pee, change clothes and go to my SECOND job that I had to take to pay the bills. Meanwhile, college coaches and their staffs are making millions for a game that seems worse
3. Corruption: The hypocrisy of "amateur sports" is already pretty bad. But when you couple it with all of the scandals and the NCAAs complete INaction, it's tough to swallow. Look at Penn State and UNC. Those were supposed to be the GOOD guys. If the good guys are doing that, what the hell are the bad guys doing?
4. The live experience is pretty awful. I grew up tailgating and going to college football games on Saturdays. These days, I'd rather watch a single game and just sorta casually keep up with the rest of the schedule on my phone. Going to a game is a hassle. It's ridiculously expensive and when you get to most stadiums, you're bombarded with non-stop advertisements blaring at you. Might as well watch the game at home where I control the "mute" button.

Again...I can't speak for anyone but myself. But 10 years ago, I was the biggest college football fan in the world. Come August, you could find me watching tapes of old games and just JONESING for the season to start. These days? Meh....

It has to happen sometime. I think with nicer resolution tv sets and feeds along with rising ticket prices you will definitely see more and more empty stadiums.

What I really wonder about are the bowl games. I can't for the life of me understand why anyone would go to one - unless they were already in the area or planned a family vacation around it. To travel that far and pay that much for a game you can watch at home with nice zoomed replays and cheap beer; why would anyone go?

I think it has peaked also. It's amazing how fast we got to this point too. Now, even if you get to the rose bowl, does it really matter? We used to be satisfied with that, but now it's basically just viewed as a consolation prize if you're not in the national championship hunt.

He either knows he's full of shit or he's an idiot (I'll go with the latter). The kids didn't show because they'd already taken a couple losses and they didn't feel like sitting in the rain.  Their parents had already paid for the tix so there was no pain felt in not going.  Each individual made a decision to go to the the game, recover from his hangover, study, watch on TV, get with his girlfriend, or scope out potential sofas for future sacrifice.   None thought about whether he could send a text from the stadium any more than my dad considered not going to a game in the rain because he was afraid of damaging his 35 mm.