Yesterday was move-in day for the dorms at Cal and the football team was there greeting students and helping them move into their rooms to try to drum up attendance at games.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/collegesports/article/Cal-football-players-trying-to-get-peers-to-go-to-13156356.php

Back when I was a student in the 70s students arrived early for games to get good seats and the student section was always packed. Now football games are less well attended by students and they seem to mostly arrive after the kickoff, sometime during the first quarter. I've pondered why there is less interest these days by students but am not really sure I understand the reasons. Winning and having exciting "star" players would help get some students back, but I suspect there is more going on - perhaps there is more stress related to competition for jobs and positions in graduate programs and students are less willing to spend an entire afternoon/evening at a game?

Offer them a better product than the rest of the Bay Area can on a Saturday afternoon/night. God bless and good good luck.

I wonder if now that they're really enforcing bids to get into the large greek parties on game day, will more students who cant get in go to the actual game.

GoCal80 said:

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Yesterday was move-in day for the dorms at Cal and the football team was there greeting students and helping them move into their rooms to try to drum up attendance at games.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/collegesports/article/Cal-football-players-trying-to-get-peers-to-go-to-13156356.php

Back when I was a student in the 70s students arrived early for games to get good seats and the student section was always packed. Now football games are less well attended by students and they seem to mostly arrive after the kickoff, sometime during the first quarter. I've pondered why there is less interest these days by students but am not really sure I understand the reasons. Winning and having exciting "star" players would help get some students back, but I suspect there is more going on - perhaps there is more stress related to competition for jobs and positions in graduate programs and students are less willing to spend an entire afternoon/evening at a game?

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My guess is some of this is on all the rules (or enforcement of rules) that didn't exist in the '70s and the technology. Now no drinking is actually enforced (not to forget the breathalyzer cr@p from the past), no smoking anything, no holding seats, zero tolerance of any behavior, and anything else possible to stamp out fun.

Now with every football game on TV, and TV's that are insanely sharp, why bother when you can stay in frat, dorm, or other living situation, pop a beer or whatever, watch the game, sit wherever you want, can say or scream whatever you want, have a party, not have to stand in a certain seat, all for free. And if you live a drive off campus in the expensive housing environment, why would you ever come to campus for a game with the lack of parking and traffic control?

How did this part of the article fail to get a mention? NYC you of all people should have been all over this. Next year I'm taking my 8x10 glossy of Bowers and going to join in the fun.

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Spare time: Cal spent Sunday's off night at Albany Bowl, splitting into 20 teams for a camaraderie-building competition.

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Because millenials are lame. From my experience, they generally don't like sports, being outside, or spending money.

GoCal80 said:

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Yesterday was move-in day for the dorms at Cal and the football team was there greeting students and helping them move into their rooms to try to drum up attendance at games.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/collegesports/article/Cal-football-players-trying-to-get-peers-to-go-to-13156356.php

Back when I was a student in the 70s students arrived early for games to get good seats and the student section was always packed. Now football games are less well attended by students and they seem to mostly arrive after the kickoff, sometime during the first quarter. I've pondered why there is less interest these days by students but am not really sure I understand the reasons. Winning and having exciting "star" players would help get some students back, but I suspect there is more going on - perhaps there is more stress related to competition for jobs and positions in graduate programs and students are less willing to spend an entire afternoon/evening at a game?

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I'm not sure why you think student attendance was higher in the 70s. When you look at pictures or videos from old games, from the mid-60's on, the student section is rarely full except for the Big Game.

It doesn't take long to figure out why student attendance has been declining and there are multiple reasons.

The big one is the program has been awful now for close to a decade. From 2004-2007, the student section was packed because the team was good and it built upon multiple successful seasons to generate interest.

Of course there are other reasons too like more international students who don't have any knowledge of football (have we seen any effort to bring in these potential fans?), lack of upgrades to the student section (porta-potties, no concourse built under the east side for concessions, no beer sales, bad wireless signal/no wifi, etc...)

They are studying. I was expanding my consciousness before the game, at the game and after the game. Sunday morning, OUCH!

Lots of good reasons on this thread -- all with some validity -- but 71Bear's is one of the best and I'm surprised no one hit on it earlier.

With the higher tuition, more students have to support themselves with part-time jobs these days. With the higher stakes, students are more even serious about their grades and need to graduate in four years (or often sooner now, as they are coming in with AP credit). With the even-more-selective admissions, more and more students come to Cal with an incredibly full plate... and are nerds (and I don't mean that derogatorily).

Half of a Saturday free is a luxury that a lot of students don't feel that they have anymore. For those that do, the breathalyzer thing had to be a disincentive. Plus the game is on TV. Plus there's the lure of that mobile device to do whatever else.

That said, a winning team would still help a lot.

bearister said:

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They are studying. I was expanding my consciousness before the game, at the game and after the game. Sunday morning, OUCH!

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I'm willing to admit Cal is more competitive than when we went to school, and there is zero tolerance for a lot of stuff that occurred back when we went to school. Also, I think '71 has a point about demographics.

That said, the school across the Bay has similar issues and manages to get a great student turn out (the caption for their OP would be where are all the alums?). So winning clearly does help get students out.

PtownBear1 said:

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Because millenials are lame. From my experience, they generally don't like sports, being outside, or spending money.

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Millennials have been students since the Tom Holmoe era.

wifeisafurd said:

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bearister said:

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They are studying. I was expanding my consciousness before the game, at the game and after the game. Sunday morning, OUCH!

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I'm willing to admit Cal is more competitive than when we went to school, and there is zero tolerance for a lot of stuff that occurred back when we went to school. Also, I think '71 has a point about demographics.

That said, the school across the Bay has similar issues and manages to get a great student turn out (the caption for their OP would be where are all the alums?). So winning clearly does help get students out.

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Winning definitely affects things but my anecdote is the exact opposite. While visiting my Stanford alum cousin this week he told me his Stanford student son doesn't go to games. When he goes up to visit his son indulges him with a bunch of free, unused student tickets so he gets to go for free and yave great seats.

GoCal80 said:

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Yesterday was move-in day for the dorms at Cal and the football team was there greeting students and helping them move into their rooms to try to drum up attendance at games.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/collegesports/article/Cal-football-players-trying-to-get-peers-to-go-to-13156356.php

Back when I was a student in the 70s students arrived early for games to get good seats and the student section was always packed. Now football games are less well attended by students and they seem to mostly arrive after the kickoff, sometime during the first quarter. I've pondered why there is less interest these days by students but am not really sure I understand the reasons. Winning and having exciting "star" players would help get some students back, but I suspect there is more going on - perhaps there is more stress related to competition for jobs and positions in graduate programs and students are less willing to spend an entire afternoon/evening at a game?

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The campus has not kept up with the times. All the games are on TV and the campus scrutinizes students for any use of alcohol. The students I know would rather watch the game on TV and be free to drink with their friends than risk getting a ticket or worse for the use of alcohol. Also, most schools do not charge students for attending game, not to mention Mike Williams' huge F-up in not continuing the promotion in which all new students attend games at no charge during their first season as a student. I believe with intelligent marketing and promotion, students will return.

bearsandgiants said:

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You put a good team on the field, and start games at 12:30 on Saturdays, and you have no problem packing the student section. Neither of these has been the case in a long, long time.

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This is just not true. In fact, students do not prefer a 12:30PM starting time! There are other issues at play.

Geez, and I thought I generalized a lot...

Slandering an entire generation without an iota of proof. Wow....

Quite frankly, I believe the millennial generation has a huge amount of work to do to clean up the mess we Boomers have made in this world and I am very impressed with them as a group.

I think a first step is to ditch mayonnaise from concession stands.

Millennials hate mayonnaise and if they could attend a game in a mayo-free environment, they might pass their love of Cal football to future generations.

Millennials killed every single industry or vertical that their parents failed to adapt to change or over regulated.

From napkins to housing.

ducky23 said:

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bearsandgiants said:

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You put a good team on the field, and start games at 12:30 on Saturdays, and you have no problem packing the student section. Neither of these has been the case in a long, long time.

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It must have been awhile since you've been a student, as the 1230 time is the absolute worst time slot to draw students.

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What, they can't get out of bed that early?

PtownBear1 said:

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Because millenials are lame. From my experience, they generally don't like sports, being outside, or spending money.

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Going to a game would cost money, and it would be a distraction from what they like to do, which is play with their cell phones. They can get more phone by sitting at home on a couch than they can get at a game. And if they can't get the Cal game on their phone, it is not worth seeing.

You can't say Cal Football isn't trying to reach young people via hip-hop, which is to now what rock and roll was to the 60s.

Terrible football under Dykes caused students not to want to go. I started in 2003 just as stuff was getting rolling with JT and that season most of the SS was half empty but by 2004 with results and expectations we would be full by kickoff

SFCityBear said:

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ducky23 said:

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bearsandgiants said:

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You put a good team on the field, and start games at 12:30 on Saturdays, and you have no problem packing the student section. Neither of these has been the case in a long, long time.

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It must have been awhile since you've been a student, as the 1230 time is the absolute worst time slot to draw students.

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What, they can't get out of bed that early?

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No. They can't. You can make fun of them all you want, but that's the sad reality.

When I was a student (and this was 20 years ago) it was impossible to get my friends out of bed for a 1230 start

For the record, student attendance at games isn't a 'Cal' issue, this is a nation-wide issue and impacts everyone from Alabama to Michigan to Little Sisters of the Poor.

bearsandgiants said:

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You put a good team on the field, and start games at 12:30 on Saturdays, and you have no problem packing the student section. Neither of these has been the case in a long, long time.

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I second that.

ducky23 said:

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bearsandgiants said:

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You put a good team on the field, and start games at 12:30 on Saturdays, and you have no problem packing the student section. Neither of these has been the case in a long, long time.

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It must have been awhile since you've been a student, as the 1230 time is the absolute worst time slot to draw students.

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maybe 12:30 is a tiny bit early but when the games started at 1 there was always a large turnout in the student section as I witness for 30+ years.

This is a nationwide issue and specifically an issue at UNC. If the students show up if will be before halftime and they'll leave by the 4th quarter.

Today's students/millennials don't have the patience to sit outside in a stadium for 3+ hours to watch a game with optimum WiFi service for their phones. For the reasons discussed, live sports just doesn't have the same cashe unless it's a special event. The student issue is now starting to impact the SEC.

I did not choose Cal for the football team and was not a fan when I was moving into the dorms. I am sure that is true for the vast majority of freshmen moving into the dorms today. The key is getting them to games and getting them hooked. Student section on Saturday was essentially free and was FUN! We sucked, but the band, the mic men, the traditions made it just a great, great afternoonand if we actually won, a great Saturday night.

SFCityBear said:

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PtownBear1 said:

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Because millenials are lame. From my experience, they generally don't like sports, being outside, or spending money.

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Going to a game would cost money, and it would be a distraction from what they like to do, which is play with their cell phones. They can get more phone by sitting at home on a couch than they can get at a game. And if they can't get the Cal game on their phone, it is not worth seeing.

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There is a reason they are called mobile phones. They are mobile. Believe it or not they work at the stadium.

Millenials are more hard working than their parents and their grandparents. They party less, drink less, use drugs less, etc. They tend to like to do rather than watch others do. They study harder. The world today also requires that they grow up much earlier, working their asses off to get into colleges that were much easier for their parents to get into, and preparing for a job market that requires more and more education.

As for phone usage, pretty much any generation that grew up with computer technology uses phones a ton, and that is anyone about mid fifties or younger. 98% of 18-24 year olds have smart phones. 97% of 25-34 year olds. 96% of 35-44 year olds. 89% of 45-54 year olds. 80% of 55-64 year olds.

Your memory of the 70s may be incomplete. I was a freshman in the band fall '73. Very spotty attendance -- both students and alumni - for a not stellar team. Student attendance uptick in '75 for the Roth/Muncie team. Students showing up early and packing the rooting section in 1976. We had a snarky letter to the editor in the Daily Cal following the UCLA game from a disgruntled student fan who sat in the bands' seats and was annoyed when the band went to sit there after pre-game. He complained that we hadn't roped off the area. The reason was that there had never been a need to do so before.

Another thing that students have to do these days that they didn't have to do in my day is to round out their resumes with volunteer work and other life experiences if they want to be competitive for top graduate and professional degree programs and for jobs.

For what's its worth, I agree that tickets should be free for students. A good number of Cal students can't afford to buy tickets.