State Title Attendance

[VolunteerGeneral]

Eliminating Div II would help immensely. The general population wants to see good football. The TSSAA has watered down the competition way too much. 8 state champions is WAY too many. It may make a lot of people feel good, but it doesn`t attract the general population.

[tigerball12]

Tennessee can't make any real money with the state championships so what makes you feel that hosting the semi-finals at one location is going to make money? The problem with Tennessee is that with 8 classifications the state championship in football has been diluted and everyone knows this. Fans attend games that create interest of some type and with the way that things are now the fans have voted to stay at home. With fewer teams making the playoffs you would create more interest and you would be able to bring back the civic bowl games. The T$$AA will not continue down this path for very long or they will not stay in business. If the TSSAA wants to make money they can do the following:

 

1A, 2A, 3A & 4A for football (no private schools in 1A & financial aid giving schools must play in 3A or 4A)

 

1A, 2A & 3A for baseball, softball, & basketball

 

Large School & Small School for all other team sports

 

1 classification for all individual sports (track, cross country, golf, tennis, wrestling, etc...)

 

Why only 3 classifications for basketball and baseball. There are more schools in the state that play basketball and baseball than football, so why should basketball and baseball have 3 classifications and football 4, it should probably be the other way around.

I think the 3 major sports should all be seperated into 4 classifications

[itzme]

It really is at least as much about splitting fan interest as it is about watered down competition.

 

It's natural for a fan base to follow their own team, and teams that compete directly with them. Hence, most Vols or Vandy fans would normally follow teams from the SEC, most Titans fans would be more interested in AFC games than NFC games, etc.

 

The same can be said of high school football. 5A fans follow 5A playoffs more closely, DII3A fans follow those schools, etc. If we had only one division, and fewer classes overall, fans interest would be more focused.

 

We are all shouting into the wind on this one, unfortunately. It will never happen because the majority of people who make the decision have a vested interest in the current system.

[bounder]

I find there isn't as much student interest in sports now as there was in the past. You have parents of the team, band and cheerleaders. And a few die hard locals going to the home games. How in the world are you going to get them to drive half way across the state when they won't come to a home game? We have a great fan base in Oak Ridge but I notice a lot of older folks at the home games and they stay at home for the away games. Maybe we need streakers again?

None of this offer a solution just an observation.

[swipper]

Obviously they recognize the problem because they don't post attendance on the TSSAA website any more for title games.

 

The last time I looked they did have the attendance for this year title games.

 

Here is what they look like for the public division

1A

Trousdale vs Union City------------------------Attendance: 4200

 

2A

Goodpasture vs Alcoa--------------------------Attendance: 3540

 

3A

Livingston Academy vs David Lipscomb------Attendance: 4132

 

4A

Maryville vs Melrose---------------------------Attendance: 4752

 

5A

Ravenwood vs Oak Ridge--------------------Attendance: 5840

 

Here is what they look like for the private division

Bishop Byrne vs Davidson Academy----------------Attendance: 1147

 

Evangelical Christian School vs Knoxville Webb----Attendance: 2317

 

Memphis University School vs Christian Brothers High School-----Attendance: 4029

[GreenMan]

1A, 2A, 3A & 4A for football, baseball, softball, & basketball (no private schools in 1A & financial aid giving schools must play in 3A or 4A)

 

1 classification for all individual sports (track, cross country, golf, tennis, wrestling, etc...)

 

Play the 4 Championship games on a Saturday at the Titans Colloseum. Have the Titans there to sign autographs and support TSSAA football.

 

It looks to me like the Titans could help high school atheletics tremendously. There should be more of a connection between the NFL, College, and High school atheletic programs.

 

Why not get players from Vandy, Tennessee, and the Titans to be present at the games, to give the fans and high school players time to interract with each other.

[cbg]

1A, 2A, 3A & 4A for football, baseball, softball, & basketball (no private schools in 1A & financial aid giving schools must play in 3A or 4A)

 

1 classification for all individual sports (track, cross country, golf, tennis, wrestling, etc...)

 

Play the 4 Championship games on a Saturday at the Titans Colloseum. Have the Titans there to sign autographs and support TSSAA football.

 

It looks to me like the Titans could help high school atheletics tremendously. There should be more of a connection between the NFL, College, and High school atheletic programs.

 

Why not get players from Vandy, Tennessee, and the Titans to be present at the games, to give the fans and high school players time to interract with each other.

 

 

Everything looks fine except for playing the games on the Titans field! The state championship games look lost at MTSU so why play them in 65,000+ stadium. If the games are going to be played at one location Vanderbilt only makes sense if you play in Nashville.

 

It's funny how most people now understand that 8 classifications for football was the wrong way to go. Maybe things will change for the better in 2009.

[ooooo]

The first thing to do would be to stop building so many new high schools. More people at the school means more people at the game. Also it wouldnt hurt if they went back to 1 true champion in 1-5A.

[fromthetop2]

[The last time I looked they did have the attendance for this year title games.

 

Here is what they look like for the public division

1A

Trousdale vs Union City------------------------Attendance: 4200

 

2A

Goodpasture vs Alcoa--------------------------Attendance: 3540

 

3A

Livingston Academy vs David Lipscomb------Attendance: 4132

 

4A

Maryville vs Melrose---------------------------Attendance: 4752

 

5A

Ravenwood vs Oak Ridge--------------------Attendance: 5840

 

Here is what they look like for the private division

Bishop Byrne vs Davidson Academy----------------Attendance: 1147

 

Evangelical Christian School vs Knoxville Webb----Attendance: 2317

 

Memphis University School vs Christian Brothers High School-----Attendance: 4029

]

 

If these numbers hold, then the general interest in going to high school football has dropped off in the last ten years, which is what many experts have said. Neither parents, faculty, students, or the general public are attending games across the board like they used to.

The TSSAA is making it's money with the eight championship games (and multiple playoff games), and probably not looking at an incremental increase of any magnitude by combining classifications.

The entertainment dollar is more spread out in the state than it was ten years ago.