As football dies: "Michigan St. AD upset by student section"

[AngryAmish]

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/11652187/michigan-state-ad-embarrassed-student-section

"Changes may be coming to the student section at Spartan Stadium after what officials called a disappointing showing for Michigan State's 27-22 win over Nebraska Saturday night.

Athletic director Mark Hollis took to Twitter Sunday night to express his "embarrassment" with the empty pockets of seats that filled the student section during Saturday's primetime, nationally televised game against the Cornhuskers.

He said he spoke to members of the student body about finding ways to increase attendance."

OK, back in the day Michigan State football was a big deal. But students everywhere are kinda over going to football games. No wifi, games are long, no booze etc.

Also, throughout the Big 10, more students are foreign and come from places other than Michigan.

Plus, football is losing it's place on campus.

[kwassa]

1. Give the seats to alumni.

My neighbor flies his Spartan flag every time they play.

700 miles away from East Lansing.

[CK_John]

2. Time to change over to soccer. nt

[Travis_0004]

16. Then attendance would drop 90%

[former9thward]

23. Only 90?

[Arugula Latte]

53. I don't know. I really do think soccer is catching on in some places (finally).

Here in Portland (Ore.) we had a minor league baseball stadium downtown. They could hardly pay people to come watch baseball. They moved to a suburb, and the venue was taken over by the Timbers, the professional soccer team. It is wildly popular here. The stands are packed for every game, and the cheering section is absolutely dedicated and nuts.

[yeoman6987]

25. Worst choice ever!

[NCTraveler]

70. They have a soccer team.

Most people are unaware, mainly due to a complete lack of popularity. I wish it wasn't that way as I love soccer.

[TransitJohn]

102. LOL.

Manchester United played Real Madrid this summer in the USA. They couldn't fill Michigan State's stadium with a soccer game.

[Brickbat]

3. There's a wide variety of factors going into the lagging attendance from students.

Going to a game offers people little more than what they can get on TV. Ticket prices and the cost of everything in the stadium is ridiculous. More students are working to pay for school, and don't have time to go to a game.

I know Nebraska has put together a big effort to get more students in the stands, and it seems to be paying off.

[CK_John]

5. Like the 3 high school football players killed in games last week. nt

[Brickbat]

6. Having been a college student, I doubt that really has much to do with it.

[ScreamingMeemie]

4. The cost of even a student ticket is ridiculous, and these are students...

with limited incomes.

It has nothing to do with "football losing its place on campus" and everything to do with not being able to afford to go.

[CK_John]

7. Student back in the 60's got free tickets (part of tuition) but were put in a student section.

Lousy seats but a great place to meet and greet, some say as much action as on the field.

[ScreamingMeemie]

13. I really do believe student tickets should be free.

[amandabeech]

14. Back in the '70s, season tickets for students were $20-$25 and were in the student section,

which most students could afford, particularly if they parted with a hot ticket to a game with one of our rivals.

That was back in the time that drinking was legal at 18. There was a lot of alcohol consumed in the stadium. Many fraternities or groups of friends would buy a seat just for their keg.

Needless to say, a good time was had by all, particularly on the nice, sunny fall Saturdays.

Now, tickets are something like $300, and no booze. Students walk out early when the action on the field becomes boring, and I don't blame them.

[yeoman6987]

28. They still should be free

What is this about alcohol free? If true. Dumb. A lot of people enjoy a beer with the game.

[melm00se]

55. Most schools and conferences have

rules that say no alcohol can be served at college athletic events.

[yeoman6987]

57. Such a shame!

Glad I graduated in 1991 from Florida State. Funny. We never seemed to have attendance problems. What is different at Michigan State? Easy! No beer! Lol. Just checked. Florid State still allows tailgating and sale of alcolhol at games. Glad to see at least one school still has common sense. Oh did I say NOLES #1!!!! FSU #1!!!!!

[melm00se]

74. tailgating is allowed at most college stadiums

but once you enter the venue, it's up to the school and conference.

[smirkymonkey]

93. What's the point then?

Kidding

Actually, I went to a small private University and sporting events were pretty much just another excuse to party. Hey, it was college.

[Art_from_Ark]

97. What's so dumb about it?

Most traditional college students are younger than 21.

[yeoman6987]

99. Majority at the game are over 21 years old

So I will repeat myself once again. That is dumb!

[Art_from_Ark]

100. Universities are trying to discourage underage drinking

Selling alcohol at a university function is stupid.

[yeoman6987]

101. Thang God Florida State isn't

Of course being the best in the country helps to keep crazy nonsense to happen.

[goldent]

103. Alcohol free means it isn't sold in the stadium.

Don't know how it is now, but in my day the stadium was far from alcohol free.

[Eleanors38]

45. Yep. At U of F in the 60s free. Lottery for best seats.

Not much diff. at U. of Texas in the early 70s.

Now, even rabid Texas alumni watch on the big screen. And eat a lot better than the TV ads indicate. Of course there's cheap beer and

Given how both schools have played lately, a lot of the latter.

[gopiscrap]

104. That's what I was going to say

when I was a student at WSU in Pullman, the cost of our tuition also included admission to all the football, basketball and baseball games. I doubt that I would have gone to more than a game a year in each sport had they charged students.

[joeglow3]

9. Not really, at most schools

[ScreamingMeemie]

11. Really, at Michigan State

It is almost $400 for a student season pass. That's a big chunk of change for a student.

Being from Michigan, a couple of my daughter's friends went to school there. One still is for veterinary medicine. She's been to exactly 2 games in her 5 years of schooling because she can't afford it.

[joeglow3]

17. Someone lied to you

Granted this is a year old, but I highly doubt the went from less than $114 to $400 in one year.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/darrenheitner/2013/08/22/notre-dame-tops-nation-in-college-football-ticket-prices/

[SidDithers]

29. Apples and oranges...

you're comparing single game tickets for $114, to a student season pass, for all games, at $400.

Sid

[joeglow3]

39. I stand corrected

However, I still guarantee they are not $400 for student season tickets. Regular priced season tickets (i.e. not student) here are around $700.

[DesMoinesDem]

54. Student season tickets are $175, not $400.

[ScreamingMeemie]

30. .

http://www.msuspartans.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/033012aaa.html

http://gameday.msu.edu/parking.html

http://www.msuspartans.com/spartanfund/parking.html

Student bus passes are $18/month (http://www.cata.org/Fares/Passes/tabid/117/Default.aspx)

The person "who lied to me" does not work for Forbes and actually attends the school. The $175 tickets are gone practically before posting, and the $225 "Fund" tickets languish. Priority parking is available at $250 Spartans Fund donation. Parking around the stadium varies from $10-$20/game. I'm going go with the person "who lied to me."

The ridiculous cost of college football game tickets (both student and non) in Michigan is what kept me from ever going to a game with my kids. Even tickets to Wayne State games were outrageous. Conversely, we've been able to attend several UH (Houston) games.

Most students who aren't trust-fund babies simply cannot afford to go.

Also, on edit, your article refers to single game tickets for non-students.

[joeglow3]

40. What college kid pays to park?

When I was in college, I parked a mile off campus, walked to parties with my friends, got piss drunk, went to the game and stumbled home. You complain about not being able to park across the stadium for free and then talk about trust fund babies?

[ScreamingMeemie]

46. Do you see the cost of bus passes?

Are you familiar with the size of States campus? One, your link for ticket prices was per game. Two, you only seem to want to address the parking issue and nothing else. Your argument has failed. It is far too expensive for the average student to go.

[DesMoinesDem]

56. The campus is not that big. If you can get to class you can get to the game.

If you need a bus to get to class then you already paid $50 for a bus pass for the semester. It's not an extra expense just for football. There is no situation where you can get to class but would have to pay extra to get to a game.

[joeglow3]

78. I don't buy it is too expensive

The question is if you want it enough to work for the money to pay for it. One of my trade offs in college was that I never went anywhere on spring break. Instead, I would work 60-80 hours that week, delivering pizza. I would work about 70 hours a week during the summer and 25 hours a week during the school year. I lived in a shitty apartment and got a bike (I am not aware of ANY division one college that has a small campus). I was able to all this and graduate with no student debt.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

108. Sorry, but I disagree

The average student can certainly afford $25 for a football ticket.

Now, there are many perfectly valid reasons why they may not be going - better things to do, don't like football, don't like crowds, want to watch it on TV, in comfort, have to work, etc.

But affordability isn't it.

[DesMoinesDem]

47. You are just proving yourself wrong. Season passes for students are $175.

$175 is not almost $400. It is nowhere close. Over 13,500 student season passes are sold each year, and according to you they sell out. This is proof that they are not too expensive. The student section is sold out, they just aren't coming to the game. Season tickets were similarly priced when I was in college. They were so cheap that it wasn't a big deal if people didn't go to the game. Students would give their ticket to other students at tailgates so they could stay back and party, IF they could find a student that wanted to go for free.

[CK_John]

27. If I remember tuition was 93 a term full time from 60-64 at MSU.

[ScreamingMeemie]

32. My daughter's BFF was going to change her major, and then realized how much she had sunk into

her degree already. She decided to keep on with full on Veterinary training over becoming a behaviorist.

How I wish I could have attended MSU in 60-64.

[CK_John]

33. It's been a while since I've been back to E Lansing, maybe next yr.

[ScreamingMeemie]

34. I love that campus. A cousin of mine lives in the 'burbs by the college.

It's gorgeous there.

[yeoman6987]

85. I think she made the right decision!

[etherealtruth]

58. My daughter is a student there now ....

Tuition is a killer .... even with scholarships. The campus and area remain beautiful.

Unlike others in this thread ... once I have paid tuition, housing, etc .... football tickets are one of the last things I am willing to spring for!

[GoneOffShore]

8. Would that football loses it's place everywhere.

In the same way that the games in the Colosseum went away.

[Shrike47]

38. For a second I thought you were referring to the Coliseum in L.A. where USC plays.

I was wondering where the new football field was.

The Coliseum in L. A. was built for the Olympics and it's huge.

Correction: it was built in the 20's as a veteran's memorial but used for the 1932 Olympics. It's still huge.

[Eleanors38]

48. LOL! The culture wars open a new venue.

[logosoco]

10. Maybe the young people of today are losing interest in a violent and (for me)

a game with too many rules.

Also, perhaps they grew up going to schools and watching so much of the funding go to sports and not areas of academia that they were more interested in, but it had no support.

[Travis_0004]

19. Not likely

Michigans football team sucks this year, and a lot of people want the coach fired. So its probably a combination of apathy and small boycutts.

[logosoco]

43. Interesting...

do the students get free or reduced tickets?
The football team at my kids high school was just awful, but they tried! In the course of having three kids go through the school, I went to many games because my son was in the marching band. There were always plenty of people there, even though everyone knew the home team was, more than likely, going to lose.
My daughters even went to several games, perhaps as more of a social thing than actually caring about the team.

[maryellen99]

66. That's U of M

MSU is ranked #8.

[KamaAina]

81. This is Michigan State

Try to avoid confusing the two around a Spartan (or anyone in Michigan, for that matter).

[Iamthetruth]

90. Or maybe

Their team was up by 24 points, it was cold and rainy and they wanted to go out on a Saturday night like most college kids.

[exboyfil]

12. Well my instructions to my daughter was to

stay away from individuals on the varsity football and basketball teams. How is that for my opinion of college football. I watched little football when the girls were growing up, only went to a few of the high school football games (when my daughters' were performing), and have absolutely no interest in watching it now.

More and more the varsity athletes do not reflect the student body as a whole. I sold my free tickets when I was at Purdue in the 1980s. I would rather go to the less crowded engineering library than to the football game.

[joeglow3]

15. You're right. In most schools, the have higher attendance rates and higher graduation rates

However, like many things in society, some people love to form a negative image and, unfortunately, they have chosen that for football. You daughter would be lucky to meet a man like Ameer Abdullah, but your stereotypes would prevent that.

[exboyfil]

18. It is how the administration responds when they get into

trouble. You know like condoning witness tampering in the case of the woman who committed suicide at Notre Dame.

Some quotes from the below referenced article:

All their lives, women Lizzy's age have been taught to report unwanted touching. But after she did, the same friend of the player who'd left her alone with him sent her a series of text messages that scared her as much as the player himself had. "Don't do anything you would regret," he wrote. "Messing with Notre Dame football is a bad idea."

Detective David Dosmann of the Notre Dame Security Police returned the hospital's call at 4:55 p.m.

After Lizzy sent Dosmann a screen shot of the last text, he did call the kid, told him to knock it off and interviewed him over the phone.
http://ncronline.org/news/accountability/reported-sexual-assault-notre-dame-campus-leaves-more-questions-answers

[joeglow3]

21. And? Anecdotes excuse indicting an entire population of people?

I know some other people who adopt that philosophy, but would hardly consider them models of human behavior.

Like I said, you daughter would be lucky to meet someone like Abdullah, but probably won't because she has an judgmental, prejudiced father:

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/11570167/ameer-abdullah-nebraska-cornhuskers-says-jameis-winston-florida-state-seminoles-grow-up

[Eleanors38]

49. Indicting whole populations. Culture war is like that.

[exboyfil]

73. Your article brought up

Jameis Winston. I definitely don't want my daughter meeting him. The Nebraska young man seems very nice. I do remember a past awful person in that same position from that excellent school named Lawrence Phillips. After he dragged his girlfriend down three flights of stairs not only was he allowed to stay on campus without a suspension or expulsion, he even got to continue to play for the football team for the second half of the season. His former girlfriend's scholarship was taken away.

[joeglow3]

80. That still doesn't explain how you indict based on anecdotes.

Both the men in your example are black. Do you also tell your daughter to stay away from all black men?

[exboyfil]

86. Not at all

Here is one list collecting just sexual assaults. In many of the cases evidence is shown that the school attempted to minimize the situation.

http://pwrfwd.net/2013/12/02/updated-a-list-of-college-football-rape-cases/

[joeglow3]

91. The frequency of those appears to be in line with the national average

52.7 per 100,000, per the FBI.

Again, NOWHERE near the majority. Like I said, if you did this based on race, you would be excoriated. But since we don't like football players, stereotypes and prejudices are cool.

[Dawgs]

20. Uh, it was rainy and really f'n cold.

Attendance is down, but that game was a bad example.

[AngryAmish]

22. Notice that the AD assumes that students should go to football games?

Like it is his god given right to a full stadium. Well, pal, make it more attractive and they might come. Make it cheaper, treat students with a shred of dignity or maybe fewer people really care about football. I was a devoted football fan. Now, meh. My son is not gonna play. I didn't watch the second half of the Bear's game yesterday.

Football will eventually become a club sport, albeit a big one. It has no place in higher education. Why would I want my kid living in the same dorms as these huge, violent men? Why would I want my kid to participate in a sport where every participant gets head injuries? Why should we subsidize giant salaries of coaches?

I know why it is done - football and men's basketball fund the other sports. Everyone gets a paycheck when football and men's basketball do well. So the entire institutional structure depends on these sports. But it is rotten.

[Bragi]

24. College football has maybe another decade to the end

Universities and colleges are in the business of making society smarter. In contrast, US-style football inevitably and necessarily creates serious brain damage among many/most participants.

Because of this, I predict the college football business has maybe another decade left before colleges are forced to find other ways of raising money.

This will require a huge shift in thinking, but I think it's inevitable.

[AngryAmish]

26. I wonder what will take it's place

I am going to push lil AA into lacrosse (and of course golf- that goes without saying). Contract sports are important and hockey is too big a pain in the ass.

I think as the student population reduces there needs to be a big retrenchment in higher ed. There is no reason why an English degree needs to cost $200,000.

[yeoman6987]

31. If football goes so will a lot of other sports

Most sports cannot make it on their own without football. Sounds strange, but it Is true

[Bragi]

35. The challenge will be all about $

I do understand that football revenue funds a lot of other athletic activities, and that's a big problem.

All I can say, however, is that this revenue will have to come from somewhere else as colleges realize they can't continue to promote a sport that damages brains, and ultimately causes early dementia among many participants.

I think there's lots of room here for creative thinking. Colleges should start this thinking now rather than wait.

[CK_John]

36. I wonder if Princeton and other universities will be around in 5yr, not sports.

[WinkyDink]

62. Don't be daft. Seriously. You really believe this balderdash?

[Bragi]

41. You want a sport that won't damage their brains

Right now, hockey is not a safe sport, since concussions are frequent when it is played in the current manner at a high level. (I should note I'm a huge hockey fan.)

I think this will change in the next few years, and that head shots in all hockey will be banned and very severely punished. If this doesn't change, then parents will simply stop letting their kids play hockey, which will also solve the problem.

The challenge with US-style football is that it inherently involves constant shocks to the head, and concussions. I'm not sure how you take that out of the sport without profoundly changing the sport itself. This is why I think US-style football is likely doomed.

Soccer also has a problem with "headers", which if done occasionally aren't a problem, but which if done repeatedly (like practicing headers hundred times a season) can become one.

I can personally declare golf to be a sport which involves no brain trauma, however, so go for it. I also think basketball is in the safe-sports category. I'm not sure about lacrosse as currently played, but like hockey, I doubt there is anything inherent in the sport that requires constant head hits.

[Eleanors38]

50. Been hearing THAT since the 60s.

[Bragi]

64. The science on brain injuries has improved

What is changed is that we now know that football is very dangerous, especially for young people. It's hard for parents and colleges to ignore this science.

[Eleanors38]

92. They probably won't ignore the science. And continue to play.

Ways to mitigate injuries/deaths should be instituted. Any efforts to eliminate the game will encounter the same resistance as with other prohibitionist/culture war outlooks.

[WinkyDink]

61. OMG, this is about the dumbest prediction I've ever read! Get a clue and watch Saturday TV!

[Bragi]

67. The science on brain injury has changed

We now know the grievous harm being done. That changes the situation quite profoundly. No-infirmed parent will/should now let their children play brain-damaging sports.

[joeglow3]

82. I let my kids play it

For some reason, when you mention football, all people see are NFL linebackers nailing an exposed receiver.

At 9 years old, it is mostly kids bumping into each other and falling over at once.

[goldent]

107. Won't go away in our lifetimes IMO

Safety improvements will continue to be made just like they are made for cars and construction work.

BTW, is there any science behind the statement that "US-style football inevitably and necessarily creates serious brain damage among many/most participants?" Common sense indicates otherwise. I know there is a lot of poorly done medical research, but I'd be surprised if this is based on fact.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

37. Fine with me. I had no interest in football in college.

I had other things to do like GET AN EDUCATION and socialize. That did not include going to football games. I did not date men who were interested in sports. They were busy studying science, math and engineering. In fact, they actively avoided sports.

I went to a grand total of one football game in college and that was a double date at the Astrodome.

The other undergrad college I went to was very small and only handed out tennis scholarships. No scholarships for any other sports.

The sooner they stop injuring each other with concussions and busted ACLs, the better it will be for the students.

Why a tech school like Rice University, which has brilliant students and researchers, needs a huge stadium holding 80,000 people, I don't know, except for the alumni money, and Brown & Root needed the money to build it.


Coaches need to be taken off their pedestals. This idea that sports builds teamwork is a sacred cow. P.E. class often produces lifelong resentment of team sports. That's what it did to me. I refused to play softball in junior high because I refused to break a finger and ruin my musical activities. They threw me out of the game when I was sitting in left field in 98 degree Texas heat and I said, "Good". I didn't care if they had flunked me in high school P.E. because it wouldn't help me with my academics in college nor my studying for Advanced Placement credits in college.


I was bullied by huge six foot tall female pupils (they didn't study; they were pupils who warmed chairs) and often told me they wanted to beat me up. They would hit me in the head with basketballs and hurt me and tried to kill me at red rover by tripping me. I hated volleyball because there were 8 people on a side and some huge girl would jump sideways and knock me out of the way. If I served a volleyball my whole forearm turned red, throbbed and hurt like hell. I knew I shouldn't even try to hit the ball because I was not tall enough to jump up and spike, nor big enough to get out of the way of the huge girls. Basketball was worse. I learned to hate team sports. That was when they wouldn't beat people up on a high school campus. They'd wait until you were off campus.


When I was in high school and college, I learned teamwork. Fifty or sixty people worked together, practiced on a regular schedule, and had practice sessions and private lessons that our parents paid for. We learned to work together towards a defined goal with split second timing. We felt a wonderful sense of accomplishment and joy after we performed.

I was in orchestra. Played many concerts of classical music, loved it, and did it well, along with a lot of other talented kids. Obtained all the benefits of teamwork without breaking any fingers or heads or knees.

[WhiteAndNerdy]

98. I didn't, either.

I've only attended one football game in my life -- homecoming one year at my high school because a friend who had already graduated was going and wanted me to go. We didn't even watch it, just walked around and talked to people. In college, never. I hate crowds and being out in the cold, beyond hating football itself.

[hatrack]

42. A point worth reposting in this discussion:

[Baclava]

44. "football dies"? - hahahaha - Michigan sucks!

Go Buckeyes!

[Go Vols]

79. +1

[liberal N proud]

51. Reduce the student section of the stadiums

Allow more public purchase of tickets.

More revenue for the college because student tickets are either free or at a reduced cost depending on the school.

[etherealtruth]

52. As my daughter (a current MSU student) says:

The tickets are so "effing" expensive. "If I go to game, I've blown mt entire entertainment budget for a week or two."

Admittedly, she is not a big football fan to begin with!

[RobinA]

59. When In College

back in the day I always felt sorry for the football school kids. And that was before college football reached the state of vulgarty it is in now. I went to a regular college where we walked to the football field, paid a couple of bucks, and sat in the stands with our friends on sunny (usually) fall afternoons. We might have been a little buzzed some of the time. It was fun. Nobody tailgated, flew flags or wore body paint.

My friends at Penn State had to join a lottery for the few student tickets, you couldn't be sure your friends would get tickets, and if they did, that they would be sitting with you. You had to show ID to get into a football game, and this was in the '70's! The alumni who could afford season tickets got to sit in the stands on a sunny Saturday afternoon, but few of the actual students could. It struck me as no damn fun at the time. Plus, I couldn't figure out why the hell alumni wanted to come back to football games.

When it comes to big football schools, I guess you had to be there. If you weren't, it just seems weird.

[amandabeech]

95. Your description of an afternoon of college football sounds just like mine, and I went to a football

school. U-Mich, to be exact.

Student tickets were inexpensive, and anyone who wanted them got them.

The moral of the story is that every school is different, even the big football schools.

[WinkyDink]

60. "Plus, football is losing it's place on campus." NOT! "Colleges and Universities Continue Adding

Football Teams in 2014"-

See more at: http://www.footballfoundation.org/tabid/567/Article/54835/Colleges-and-Universities-Continue-Adding-Football-Teams-in-2014.aspx#sthash.1e0G13Bp.dpuf

http://www.universitybusiness.com/article/scoring-big-new-football-teams

"College football and its ever-increasing popularity ...."
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2024172-10-college-football-rivalry-games-that-wont-even-be-close-in-2014

[dilby]

63. College Football is not dying.

It's just finally reached the point where it's too expensive for students to attend. College football makes millions of dollars for the schools some of them in the $100 million range. As long as the schools are making money it will stay around for a long, long time.

[Bragi]

68. How long can the brain damage be ignored?

That's the question here.

[dilby]

72. It's not, just like the NFL colleges are making changes to make the sport safer.

There has been a lot of rules implemented to reduce the number of concussions in the sport, of course now you are seeing more injuries to legs and knees but at least concussions are down.

[Bragi]

75. Not much has changed

Let me put it this way -- If a receiver catches a pass, and the defender hits him so hard that he is rendered unconscious and fumbles the ball, that is a good football play that violates no rule.

Right?

I believe that the use of maximum force is a problem with the sport that no helmet can solve.

[dilby]

76. No, that would be hitting a defenseless player and leading with your helmet.

The defensive player would be ejected from the game, you cannot hit a receiver above the shoulders while they are catching the ball and you cannot lead with your helmet. Rules have dramatically changed in the last 3 years, fans complain you no longer see the big hits and players complain that they are now suffering from more leg and knee injuries. But it's making the game safer and the rules are being enforced.

[Bragi]

77. I doubt serious brain damage will be avoided

We'll see, won't we.

In the meantime, I would urge parents to not allow their children to play full contact, within the rules, football. Period. The risks aren't worth it.

[uponit7771]

69. +1

[WinkyDink]

65. You make things up and don't post pertinent facts: "Hollis said more than 13,000 students bought

Hollis said more than 13,000 students bought season tickets to this year's home games. Their corner of the stadium never filled Saturday for one of the most anticipated Big Ten regular-season games of the season.

By the fourth quarter, when Michigan State built a 27-3 lead on a wet night with temperatures in the 40s, more bleachers were visible than bodies.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. The students HAD BOUGHT SEASON PASSES.

2. IT WAS COLD.

3. IT WAS RAINING.

4. MICHIGAN STATE HAD A SUBSTANTIAL LEAD.

5. THE STUDENTS SIMPLY EXITED EARLY.

6. FOOTBALL GAMES ARE NO LONGER THAN EVER BEFORE.

7. BOOZE HAS NOT BEEN A FACTOR FOR YEARS.

7. WHAT DOES "NO WIFI" HAVE TO DO WITH ANYTHING?

All your blather about "WiFi," and "kinda over football" and "throughout the Big 10, more students are foreign" is so ....

BLATHERIFIC.

[uponit7771]

71. +1

[Initech]

83. No WiFi at football games? Seriously?

Are people so attached to their devices that they need to use them when they're at a football game?

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

89. Yes

It seems people can't go anywhere anymore without consulting those fucking little computers in their pocket.

THAT is what is wrong with society now, and why we are losing so much.

[Go Vols]

84. Football is dying?

Over 100k+ at most Vols games.My nephew gets free season tickets,may be because he is there on scholarship to run cross country,not sure.
But its far from dying in the SEC.

[Blue_Tires]

87. Translation:

"Too many students drinking/partying in the parking lot instead of buying their discounted tickets and going in...Normally I wouldn't give a shit, but empty seats on prime-time ESPN look bad for the conference, and I could probably sell the unused student allotment at GA prices instead of eating the lost revenues"

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

88. "Student sections" have been a "cool kids" clique for a long time

It's possible the rankin file Michigan State kid is more content to party at the local sports bar or their dorm than hang out with the snobs.

[roamer65]

94. Why go to an expensive seat when you can watch it on tv?

Expensive tickets and the Big Ten conference is very lack luster.

[Scuba]

96. Not enough GOTV?

[JEFF9K]

105. The empty seats are clearly visible ...

The empty seats are clearly visible on our 1080p TV screens.

[BeyondGeography]

106. In five years they'll be nostalgic for these kids

Football is a turd with no upside.

[dflprincess]

109. The brain trust at the University of Minnesota came up with a scheme to bolster attendence at

football games.

They decided that students who wanted to purchase season tickets to Gopher hockey or basketball would also have to buy season tickets to football. This priced a good many students out of the market.

This finally went public and between the public outcry and the Governor's taking the Regents to task, the U finally backed down.