Decline in Student Section Attendance due to Lack of Wifi Capabilities? No Way! #RESM560V

This college football season, football stadiums were expected to be packed, with the exception of their student sections. According to an analysis by The Wall Street Journal of stadium turnstile records from 50 public colleges with top-division football teams, the average student attendance at college football games is down 7.1% since 2009. This decline occurred in the five richest conferences and at schools with deep-rooted football traditions and national championships.

Why are attendance numbers on the decline while the popularity of college football is rising? Some of the most popular arguments include the proliferation of televised games and soaring ticket prices. Others, as crazy as it seems, argue that the stadium wifi capabilities are not up to the fans satisfaction. Although these would seem like valid reasons, I agree with Kevin Duffy from Saturday Down South that the decline in student attendance is mostly due to the narrowing of the gap between the love for your school and the love for college football as fans are more interested in multiple teams instead of only their own.

With greater access to college football games outside of the stadium across the country, administrators and coaches should be worried about the decline in student attendance. Richard Southall, director of College Sports Research Institute, exemplified their importance at the games.

“Fundamentally, students are part of the show and that’s something that folks don’t always recognize. If you watch a college sports telecast, where do the cameras go for in-crowd shots? The cameras are in the student section. If that section is not there, it’s like having a movie without enough extras to walk in the background of the shots.”

Even schools who sell their student tickets cannot rely on them to show up or stay for the game. Last season, the University of Kansas had 74% of their student tickets purchased go unused. Yes the University of Kansas went 3–9; however, even elite programs, such as Alabama, are experiencing declines in student attendance. At the Alabama-Arkansas game in Tuscaloosa in 2013, the student section began to clear out at the end of the first quarter.

Administrations and coaches should be worried about the lack of dedication from students at their games. These students will eventually become alumni. But if they are not attending games as a student, what will turn them into season-ticket buyers and donors as an alumni? Administrators and coaches across the country are looking for this answer.

The Southeastern Conference and their member institutions have been fighting this crucial problem. In 2012, a committee was formed to study the game day experiences of fans. Some improvements that took place around the conference include new video boards, enhanced sound systems, and upgraded wifi capabilities. Nick Saban at Alabama took a different approach. In 2013 he called out Alabama fans once again for not staying through games in their entirety.

“I’ve talked about players playing for 60 minutes in the game and competing for 60 minutes in the game,” Saban said at a press conference after practice. “And, in some kind of way, everybody that chooses to go to the game should stay there and support the team for the game.”

This encouraged students to stay in the student section for the entire game just as the players must stay for the entire game.

The world of how fans, alumni and students, view college football is changing. Fans care about conferences instead of just their school’s team. They would rather watch every game than attend their own game. In the end, this will have a domino effect on athletic departments nationwide.

This article was written for a Sports Media and Public Relations graduate course at the University of Arkansas.