WSJ Article on What Millennials Want from their college football
No, WiFi.
Students just don't care much about football these days than they did in the past. It's happening at other places too like Alabama. You can see this with a half full student section for the first quarter of every game. While it's blasphemy for those of us on here to miss snaps, many in the university just go to the games to meet people and socialize rather than live and die with the game like we do.
We also didn't have games vs. Delaware State, San Diego State, or Appalachain State in the past.
You forgot Tulane.
The last part of your post goes against the survey results they cited though. I couldn't find a link to the actual results, but interest in the sport was "by far" the biggest factor in attendance.
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WD ^this is truth, but I'll add that your perspective changes when you get older even without kids. I used to feel the same way about wins, losses and the "justice" of it all. Jubilation at victories and outrage and depression at losses. Emotions tied directly to the outcomes of games and even plays. I got in fights at stadiums and been kicked out of bars. I'm in my mid 30's now, unmarried, no kids so I still have time to watch every snap of every game and most bball games too. I'm just as passionate, but after a debilitating loss I'll get over it after about a day or even an hour. I think it's because of the realization that it's just a game and in the long run it has zero bearing on my life. It's my favorite form of entertainment, and it's important to me because it's associated with a tribal identity and memories of the time I spent at Michigan (and UVA) but the outcome of any game or season has no tangible consequence on my life (I'm not playing or coaching afterall), and realizing this was pretty freeing. That said, when I'm a few bourbons deep, I'm still yelling and screaming at the stadium or tv as loud as anyone. Go Blue!
and you have time to actually ponder about an identity other than "dad", then you may find a resurgence in interest. As all things Michigan seem to be a big part of your (WD's) identity, you'll gravitate back.
So all is not lost with kids my friend.
At least you didn't have to suffer the 94 Coloado game.
Too soon...
of 106,000 people, contrasted with the jubilance of the CU fans, was, quite simply, unforgettable.
and no one left... for the longest time, an entire stadium stood there, just stunned
it was the worst
Has been the crutch to our broken legs that have been the football team.
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and some 420.
You stay classy stud!
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If you're talking about drywall and the thread isn't market OT.
That isn't true at all. Young fans are just as passionate as ever, the problem is that the environment just isn't as much fun as it was 20-30 years ago. The stupid, fun things that we hear about from the 90's would no longer be tolerated today. I saw the same thing happen at Yost. During my time, the administration came in and clamped down on the student section, destroying much of what made games at Yost so unique and enjoyable. I imagine similar happened at the Big House. I know that hearing stories from older alums about the gameday environment always made me jealous. When the stadium atmosphere has become a bland, neutered shadow of its former self, no different from any other sporting event, the cost balancing begins to tip toward watching the game on tv at your house with your friends.
Came here to say the same thing. Out of my friends from college, the ones of us who are natives are OBSESSED. My friends from out of state went to the games to get shit faced. Which, I mean, we did too, but we cared about the football too.
Some of my friends have never been to a Lions game and I've had season tickets for 15 years. If you were lucky enough to go to games for whatever team it really forms a passion early on.
As a 23 year old guy who prefers College Football to any other sport I'd like to say something about us millenials not "living and dying" with the sport.
I'll start by saying that there was a time in my life when sports meant everything to me. Throughout my high school and early college years I watched sports religiously. I never missed a MIchigan football game and I watched any of the other games I could. I even watched MAC games on Wednesday and Thursday nights. "Toledo @ Central Michigan? Hell yeah I'll watch that! It's football!" That was my mindset until about 3 years ago when I realized what I had done to myself by dedicating my life to something that doesn't directly affect me or anyone I knew. When I would hang out with my friends I had nothing to talk about, nor could I contribute to the conversation. My intense love of sports, while beneficial in high school, hurt me in social situations throughout college.
So you see, i used to be like that. I used to stay all the way through a game becuase to leave midway through a 40-0 blowout was blasphemy of the highest level to me. I used to follow all of my favorite teams religiously. But when i realized how detrimental that was to not only my social life but to my life in general I cut back. Over the past few years I've focused on improving myself in every way possible. Physically, mentally, emotionally. I used to go crazy when the Wolverines lost. Now I have more important things to devote energy to than getting mad about a game. I still follow my teams a little bit and I obviously still enjoy Michigan athletics a great deal (otherwise I wouldn't be here) but I've realized that there are better things for me to do with my time than to watch a football game and all of my friends are the same way. Why do we feel this way about the game we all know and love? The answer is in the question. At the end of the day it is just a game. An entertaining game to be certain, but a game nonetheless and one that has no direct affect on my life or anyone I know. I don't live and die with a game.
My intense love of sports, while beneficial in high school, hurt me in social situations throughout college.
But this is kind of the point of the article. I went to U-M a decade before you and I wouldn't say my fandom hurt me in social situations. Sure, there were some times when you had to tone it down, but in general you could talk U-M sports with almost anyone. I get the sense that this isn't as true anymore. Of course, our mediocre football results have probably contributed.
- Winning?
- Fun?
- No AD's with an axe to grind against the students?
or exams to cram for? We even had to use this thing called a typewriter to type the final version of our papers - if you screwed up or wanted to make a changed - you had to re-type every page after the change (freshman year, my sophomore roommate had an Apple IIe).
Those demands haven't changed. I don't think that's it.
I am betting the fact that you can watch every Michigan game on TV has a lot more to do with it. There was a time when only two or three a season were televised, and those were ND or another big non-conference game (Miami, Colorado, Washington), Ohio State and whoever the hot Little 8 team was that year: the games you wanted to be at live. Between the convenience of staying at home for snoozers, and the slowed pace of the live experience, ESPN and BTN are why there is a less compelling reason to go to games.
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The media trying to define "Millenials" has already become very tiresome.
and a soda (pop) or bottle of water.
Ticket prices aren't so bad (as demonstrated by their ultimate free market value on stubhub in a good year). It's the PSDs and concessions that really lay the gouge on the wallet.
At Michigan, when the student government asked undergraduates why they go to football games, what they found clashed with conventional wisdom: Michigan’s students simply didn’t care that much about mobile connectivity. In-game Wi-Fi wasn’t as essential as lower ticket prices or better seat locations. Among the seven possible improvements to the game-day experience, in fact, students ranked cell reception last.
If accurate, then it is kind of refreshing to see that the concerns are common to those of us who are older than the students (especially those of us who were students when there was not much need to worry about wirelss connectivity because what was that anyway). I do agree with others though, the solution seems to be in making the experience more palatable from start to finish, inside and outside the stadium, more than making sure people can livetweet the game necessarily.
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I think the 'commercialization' of CFB has done more damage than media people will ever exist.
When students get to build something organically (Yost, Cameron Crazies, etc.) it really is sustained by itself. I think all the money and TV and etc. have done some damage to the organic love people had for their programs. Seems like some of the 'aura' is gone.
Just deregulate a little bit. FREE HOT DOG MAN
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TV TIMEOUTS
Seriously, that is the #1 gameday experience detractor. Problem is, schools won't even put it on a survey since they know it is terrible but they don't want to fight the networks and demand shorter and fewer TV timeouts.
BTW: Fewer TV timeouts = less of a need for Internet