Empty seats at college football games

[BigRedBuster]

Much of the problem has been attributed to the lackluster Wifi or other internet capabilities inside of stadiums. Much of the younger crowd is more interested in tweeting about the game, instagraming pictures of them at the game, etc. than with the game itself. If the internet is bad, they don't show up, even with cheap tickets and the vigor of youth on their side.

What a world we live in.

Not to pick on you but, it bugs me when people complain about this.

I'm 48 years old and I'll be on my phone during the game. Friends sitting somewhere else texting back and forth.

Checking scores. Checking tweets about our game. Etc.

I'm VERY into the game.

 

[Landlord]

Much of the problem has been attributed to the lackluster Wifi or other internet capabilities inside of stadiums. Much of the younger crowd is more interested in tweeting about the game, instagraming pictures of them at the game, etc. than with the game itself. If the internet is bad, they don't show up, even with cheap tickets and the vigor of youth on their side.

What a world we live in.

Not to pick on you but, it bugs me when people complain about this.

I'm 48 years old and I'll be on my phone during the game. Friends sitting somewhere else texting back and forth.

Checking scores. Checking tweets about our game. Etc.

I'm VERY into the game.

Having a live twitter feed during the game, either in the stadium, or at home or a bar, is SUCH an enjoyable experience. Often times at watch sites or in the stadium I become the centerpoint around me with everyone asking for context on injuries, things we couldn't see on the broadcast or from the stands, etc.

 

[BaytownHusker]

As a Husker fan since my first game in 1970, I must say that for me there is no comparison of watching the game live in the stadium vs on TV. None. It is not even close. The atmosphere and the action in true 3D is completely different. The TV perspective is poor at best and all but destroys the experience for me. I rarely watch the games on TV even if I am available to do so. I prefer to listen on the radio if I cannot be there in person. The radio broadcasts are not nearly as good today as they used to be as the current announcer (Sharp) is just not very good at describing the action. The plays all sound the same. Davison does a nice job of adding flavor and 'color' and helps to fill in much of the missing information. Sharp just has not real ability to paint the picture verbally as the game goes on. I know he tries very hard and does a few things well. I also do not like his voice and his pronunciation of certain words. The past couple games, they have gotten behind on the play by play calls and even missed entire plays during breaks, etc. And, for some reason, the broadcast (on the internet) is several minutes behind the live action. Often, I read what happened on a given play on this site before it is actually reported on the internet radio broadcast. I don't know why the technicals of this but it does not help.

Live viewing of the game also beats the TV coverage because nearly all announcers on the TV networks are so unfamiliar with Nebraska's team and players, etc. that I can't stand to listen to the comments. Statements suggesting a given player is too short, too tall, too thin or too slow to make a given play or something are often totally wrong. The commercials of course ruin most any TV show or broadcast for me as well. I frankly got tired of the commercials inside the stadium back in the day when Dollar Bill Byrne was AD and we were hawking pepsi and mountain dew (Coke was Nebraska's soda anyway for many years and should be returned) on the big screens along with Valentinos pizza more than we were given stats, replays, etc.

I love going to games too, but the home experience now is pretty damn good. The networks have beefed up their game big time.

I can watch the game at home on my 60-inch HDTV in 1080p, go to the bathroom when I want, drink beer, eat cheap food, not worry about the cold weather, etc. The list goes on about the benefits of being at home. Particularly for uninteresting games like South Alabama (or conference games at home like Purdue, Northwestern or Illinois when they're on the schedule), it's not worth it for me to spend a lot of money to travel to Lincoln for a 11 am kickoff considering the benefits at home.

With that being said, fans showing up to watch Nebraska each and every week is rare in today's college football world. The coaches better sure they're able to put the product on the field to match the interest of the fans. It's a reason why Nebraska is a pressure cooker, the fans actually care and invest in the team.

I feel the same way about the other teams in football. But maybe its cause I live in Texas but I would not miss a Husker game in person if I lived with in 200 miles. Nothing like that Nebraska crown no matter where they play and watching them live to me..

 

[BigRedBuster]

Much of the problem has been attributed to the lackluster Wifi or other internet capabilities inside of stadiums. Much of the younger crowd is more interested in tweeting about the game, instagraming pictures of them at the game, etc. than with the game itself. If the internet is bad, they don't show up, even with cheap tickets and the vigor of youth on their side.

What a world we live in.

Not to pick on you but, it bugs me when people complain about this.
I'm 48 years old and I'll be on my phone during the game. Friends sitting somewhere else texting back and forth.

Checking scores. Checking tweets about our game. Etc.

I'm VERY into the game.

People b!^@h about others bring on their phones until they want some info.

Having a live twitter feed during the game, either in the stadium, or at home or a bar, is SUCH an enjoyable experience. Often times at watch sites or in the stadium I become the centerpoint around me with everyone asking for context on injuries, things we couldn't see on the broadcast or from the stands, etc.

 

[Enhance]

Being at the stadium is great, but from a "viewing" experience, there's nothing like being at home. More replays, more flexibility to go to the bathroom, drink and eat whatever you want. Hell, when I'm at the stadium, I'm often watching the jumbo tron anyways because it sometimes has a better view than what I do.

And I love the social media interaction during a football game, even at the stadium. My one caveat, however, is to put the damn phone away during the game. Take your phone out at T.V. timeouts or halftime, but you paid good money to watch a football game. So, while a play is happening, watch.

 

[BigRedBuster]

I agree with replays. But, I would rather be able to see the entire field instead of just what TV thinks I need to see.

And we have had some horrible camera work this year.

It's also why I like end zone seats.

 

[Quornhusker]

Much of the problem has been attributed to the lackluster Wifi or other internet capabilities inside of stadiums. Much of the younger crowd is more interested in tweeting about the game, instagraming pictures of them at the game, etc. than with the game itself. If the internet is bad, they don't show up, even with cheap tickets and the vigor of youth on their side.

What a world we live in.

These are the kinds of BS excuses programs and TV like to use to disguise the fact that in most cases, the stadium atmosphere is just not a lot of fun. Nebraska is different because people show up already in the mindset that this is going to be the awesomest party of the year. Same for a lot of SEC and a couple other storied programs. But in many, many cases attending a football game is a slow, painful, and boring affair moving from commercial (Yay, piped in music!) to commercial (Woohoo, T-shirt giveaway!) to commercial (Yes, funny video on the screen!). All that for the price of a small vacation if you take your family. It's the same as in the NFL. It's just not fun enough to go to the games.

Don't blame the fans - blame the product. Everyone always wants everything to be about money (or at least accepts it), so here is the price for that. There is a reason, people are flocking into the soccer stadiums and (back) into baseball parks. Football is just more and more an event made for TV.

 

[Husker Psycho]

With that being said, fans showing up to watch Nebraska each and every week is rare in today's college football world. The coaches better sure they're able to put the product on the field to match the interest of the fans. It's a reason why Nebraska is a pressure cooker, the fans actually care and invest in the team.

Excellent comment.

 

[Landlord]

But in many, many cases attending a football game is a slow, painful, and boring affair moving from commercial (Yay, piped in music!) to commercial (Woohoo, T-shirt giveaway!) to commercial (Yes, funny video on the screen!). All that for the price of a small vacation if you take your family. It's the same as in the NFL. It's just not fun enough to go to the games.

Actually, in my experience, most colleges don't have a lot of this stuff. A lot of opposing fans come into Memorial turned off by the piped in loud music and corporate advertisements, because the college experience is still without a lot of that stuff at many places. Nebraska is MUCH more of a professional sporting environment compared to say, Michigan, who hardly has ANY music that doesn't come from the band, and doesn't have ANY corporate advertisements or sponsors.

 

[BigRedBuster]

Are there really fewer sold out stadiums now days?

 

[Enhance]

I agree with replays. But, I would rather be able to see the entire field instead of just what TV thinks I need to see.

And we have had some horrible camera work this year.

It's also why I like end zone seats.

Camera work has been somewhat aggravating this year, but not necessarily because I thought the individual cameramen were bad. I think my problem is the lack of cameras. If you watch an NFL game, they seemingly have a crystal clear close-up of just about everything that happens. They have cameras that follow individual receivers on a route, end zone cameras, multiple sideline cameras. I think the Monday/Sunday night games have probably 20 cameras.

Granted, it's the NFL and there are fewer games, and those games draw more eye balls. But, it's still fascinating how much more production value there is.

 

[hskrfan4life]

I like the fact we have wi-fi in the stadium. If something happens during the game (ex. an injury) I can check twitter and stuff to see what happened. I also love to see what the scores are around the nation.

 

[hskrpwr13]

Much of the problem has been attributed to the lackluster Wifi or other internet capabilities inside of stadiums. Much of the younger crowd is more interested in tweeting about the game, instagraming pictures of them at the game, etc. than with the game itself. If the internet is bad, they don't show up, even with cheap tickets and the vigor of youth on their side.

What a world we live in.

These are the kinds of BS excuses programs and TV like to use to disguise the fact that in most cases, the stadium atmosphere is just not a lot of fun. Nebraska is different because people show up already in the mindset that this is going to be the awesomest party of the year. Same for a lot of SEC and a couple other storied programs. But in many, many cases attending a football game is a slow, painful, and boring affair moving from commercial (Yay, piped in music!) to commercial (Woohoo, T-shirt giveaway!) to commercial (Yes, funny video on the screen!). All that for the price of a small vacation if you take your family. It's the same as in the NFL. It's just not fun enough to go to the games.

Don't blame the fans - blame the product. Everyone always wants everything to be about money (or at least accepts it), so here is the price for that. There is a reason, people are flocking into the soccer stadiums and (back) into baseball parks. Football is just more and more an event made for TV.

Generally, I agree with those that believe more in the live experience, but I appreciate this point. College is definitely getting more NFL in this regard. I've only been to a couple of live NFL games, but there is much more time spent doing nothing due to commercial/replay/etc breaks than actually watching football. Not the greatest of use of 3.5/4 hours, not too mention travel time.

Loosely affiliated with the topic, I've always hated the attitude that we need to change rules to shorten games. "Its not the games, Stupid, its the amount of commercials!" I will agree that, at least at home, you can change the channel to another game (assuming that one is not also at commercial break).

 

[SouthLincoln Husker]

I have had the same neighbors next to my seats for as long as can remember and they are from different locations in Nebraska. It is like a second family that has the same Husker pride as I do. There is nothing like being at the games, from tailgating to discussing the game at the Railyard or the Embassy.,

 

[np_husker]

I like the fact we have wi-fi in the stadium. If something happens during the game (ex. an injury) I can check twitter and stuff to see what happened. I also love to see what the scores are around the nation.

I totally agree. I have been at games many times where there is an injury or a call that I am not aware of until I get home. It's great to check my phone and know what happened right away.