The Golden Goose that Killed the Sport

[StateStreet123]

Sad as it is, the money-train B1G network (and SEC network, etc) will kill college football.

You see empty stadium at Purdue (especially after halftime). MSU, Alabama, and good football schools also complain about attendance issues. Why?

20 years ago you had to GO TO THE GAME to watch your team. Otherwise, it would only an occasional TV slot - which was always fun. Now? EVERY game is televised. All the time. Thursday night. Soon to be Friday night. Saturdays all day.

Now, if you go to the game you miss out on action. Plus, TV (HD) cameras, angles, replays are all so good it is better. NFL now has the same issue.

Ironic, isnt it? The B1G network is so cool, and offers so much $, that it will eventually keep folks from attending games and ultimately kill the sport. Same with NFL.

OK, maybe this post is extremist. I do think there is some validity in what I say though. How many of you have opted to stay home to watch B1G rather than go to a game? Thoughts?

 

[Indy_Rider]

I have a 1 year old, so staying at home ia the only option, but there is something about seeing a game live, in person you just can't get from TV

 

[TheBoris]

StateStreet: That is the future. You don't like it nor do I. The future is eyeballs on TV not butts in seats.

 

[pboiler18]

I don't see it as a problem. The good teams get the eyeballs AND butts in seats. The mediocre ones go half and half. Us, we probably do better in the TV category....but not much better.

The landscape has changed in CFB with TV money. That doesn't mean it's going away. It just means that we will slowly see stadium capacity shrinking.

 

[SunnyFL24]

Sad as it is, the money-train B1G network (and SEC network, etc) will kill college football.

You see empty stadium at Purdue (especially after halftime). MSU, Alabama, and good football schools also complain about attendance issues. Why?

20 years ago you had to GO TO THE GAME to watch your team. Otherwise, it would only an occasional TV slot - which was always fun. Now? EVERY game is televised. All the time. Thursday night. Soon to be Friday night. Saturdays all day.

Now, if you go to the game you miss out on action. Plus, TV (HD) cameras, angles, replays are all so good it is better. NFL now has the same issue.

Ironic, isnt it? The B1G network is so cool, and offers so much $, that it will eventually keep folks from attending games and ultimately kill the sport. Same with NFL.

OK, maybe this post is extremist. I do think there is some validity in what I say though. How many of you have opted to stay home to watch B1G rather than go to a game? Thoughts?

Good POST! I agree it is having an impact to an extent.....We hire the right coach and we see some 8-4...9-3 seasons the stadium will be 55k per game again!

 

[FirstDownB]

I missed the part where you explained how any of this is going to kill the sport.

How sports are consumed is changing. Why is that a bad thing? You are saying some people don't go to games because the 'at home' experience is better than ever. Ok. People having a choice between two good options beats having only one size fits all option, right? You will always have the option to watch in person if that's your preference. And good news.. You'll have great seats!
So our next stadium might be half the size. So what? People aren't complaining that basketball games don't have 60,000 person crowds.
This is all revenue driven. The moment replacing ticket revenue with television revenue is not profitable, adjustments will be made to ensure the game is not 'killed'.
Personally when it comes to potential killers of football I'm much more concerned about brain damage.

 

[SKYDOG]

TV has impacted the attendance immensely. The games take forever to be played due to commercials and reviews. The costs to attend games has increased exponentially over the years. We are also paying a huge premium to watch TV.

I now have the choice to tape the game and play a round of golf on a Saturday. It costs less to do that then attend a game and I save all the driving time and miss all the commercial delays. I would imagine many are doing something similar and can watch several games or do other things. Way too much time needs to be invested sometimes 4 hours to watch a 60 minute game today.

 

[pboiler18]

I missed the part where you explained how any of this is going to kill the sport.

How sports are consumed is changing. Why is that a bad thing? You are saying some people don't go to games because the 'at home' experience is better than ever. Ok. People having a choice between two good options beats having only one size fits all option, right? You will always have the option to watch in person if that's your preference. And good news.. You'll have great seats!
So our next stadium might be half the size. So what? People aren't complaining that basketball games don't have 60,000 person crowds.
This is all revenue driven. The moment replacing ticket revenue with television revenue is not profitable, adjustments will be made to ensure the game is not 'killed'.
Personally when it comes to potential killers of football I'm much more concerned about brain damage.

I feel like you're the only sane person here.

 

[FirstDownB]

I feel like you're the only sane person here.

Until I start talking up Miles, right?

 

[StateStreet123]

I missed the part where you explained how any of this is going to kill the sport.

Point made. All good points from lot of folks.

My thought was that once people stopped going to games and rely exclusively on saturated TV market, they will lose interest over the long term. Hypothetical obviously. And again, all good points you raise.[/QUOTE]

 

[BoilerBulldog]

Attendance is down in virtually every sport and cultural event. The world is changing. Why see a play or go to the movie theatre when you have a home theater system? Attendance will continue to drop unless the experience of the event surpasses the conveniency of staying home. BTN is the only thing keeping us from becoming the University of Chicago. I'll take the money and I'll take another sir.

 

[pboiler18]

Until I start talking up Miles, right?

I'll give you a pass since it's not going to happen. I live down here in SEC country and watch a lot of SEC games. That team had been winning despite him for years now. LSU fans respected the guy but nobody was sad to seem him go. Guy won them a freaking national championship and they don't miss him a bit.

Tells me a lot!

 

[TheBoris]

Regardless of your position on this, "The Golden Goose that killed the sport" does not make sense.

 

[77 grad]

If the sport makes money, however it makes money, it's not "dead."

Supply will and must adapt to demand. If more buyers prefer TV games, purveyors of the live experience will adapt to it offering in-person amenities their competitor can't match.