It seems as if football's magnetic hold on America may be slipping ever so slightly. According to Inside Higher Education's Jake New, college football isn't quite the draw it used to be.
"Student attendance at major college football games is declining across the country," New wrote. "By how much varies greatly at each institution, but a recent Wall Street Journal analysis of turnstile data at 50 public colleges with top football programs found that average student attendance is down more than 7 percent since 2009."
"In 2013, the University of Georgia's designated student section was nearly 40 percent empty. The University of California at Berkeley has sold about 1,000 fewer student season tickets this season than last year - a season that already saw a decline from the previous one. Since 2009, student attendance at the University of Florida has dropped 22 percent. Three-fourths of the University of Kansas' student tickets went unused last season."
New points to cold weather, sparse access to cell phone reception and Wi-Fi and a lack of alcohol as contributing factors to college football's declining attendance. New also argues that improvements in home entertainment and the travel hassles of attending games may play a role as well.
Lower attendance could have a significant impact on revenues, as the number of boosters and supporters begins to dwindle over time.
"Football revenues at large programs still often hover between $50 and $80 million a year, according to the U.S. Department of Education, and even top $100 million at institutions like the University of Texas," New writes. "But that could begin to change over the next decade or two."
