Attendance Issues

[MSURacer]

I’d be interested to see a side by side comparison with other states for tickets sold over the past 10-20 years to see if it’s a national trend. I doubt TN is much different than other states regarding its trends in attendance. 

As far as TN itself goes, growth is a double edged sword. The increase in population has enhanced the talent level but has also created many more high schools, which has greatly diminished the hometown/community pride that once pumped blood into these programs. 

I do think 5 classes is optimal and would make the playoffs more interesting, but I hope it never happens (the 6 class system has been very good to us). 3 or 4 will never happen. Too much money would be lost and the state has outgrown it IMO. 

Toothpaste is already out of the tube on most of the other issues. 

[EagleVolSteeler]

I attend at least 10 games a year, seeing different teams in different stadiums. I see kids huddled up on the grass bank or hanging out on the track. They don't care about the game, and most couldn't tell you the score at the end. Parents drop off kids, so they don't stay. It seems like a waste of $8 to me, but at least the school makes that. Concessions are great, so can't put any blame there. Some come for the band. I get it. I would guess for the most part it is the lack of rivalries. Putting four or five teams in a region and then everyone scrambling to fill out a 10 game schedule is tough. Those five or six non-region games are three + hour drives for everyone. I traveled over 1,000 miles to see football last year, but frankly if the weather is crappy, more than likely I'm staying at home. 

[Lost Old Dad]

I'd be interested to see how much the T$$AA spent on the various meetings and seminars they go to.  How much per diem are they paid daily?  Does the T$$AA pay for EVERY director and voting member at the meetings?

I ask as I honestly do not know, but it is something that other companies have abused in the past.

[ChineseFlu]

2 hours ago, GREYRIDERx said:

High School football is still the purest form of the sport. Although there is the shadow of contamination of collegiate type recruiting etc which will destroy it eventually. Agent dads , agent moms , all these ex athletes  bilking agent dad for private sessions etc. Yes imo the TSSAA should go back to 4 classes. Some teams dominate because they are great teams and some teams dominate because their competitors are weak or have fewer numbers etc. And some admins  choose to remain in classes where they are safe and competition is low.

I know in some states if you win back to back titles you are required to go to the next classification.  

[GREYRIDERx]

3 minutes ago, dragonrider said:

I know in some states if you win back to back titles you are required to go to the next classification.  

Yes I have heard that. I believe that some areas are affected more than others by the year round sports. I will go to watch my kids play regardless. 

[REBELRON]

I may not make every game but I will go to 90% of them. I enjoy watching High School Games on Rivalry Thursday. It kills attendance  though.  All those commercials  make the game last longer. Some people have to get up early for work the next day. Last time I went to Maryville game that was on TV was 2017 Semifinals game between Maryville and Oakland.  I know guys who used to go to every game but now stay at home and watch games on computer.  I also think very few fans are hard core like us coacht posters. At work I work with about 60 people.  Only a few people there have interest in High School Football.  Most guys I work with talk about hunting, fishing and Cars.

[BarneySox2007]

This is a game I went to at Austin-East in 2015 against GCA and it's homecoming and you can count the people in the stands. Back in the mid 80's when LeRoy Thompson was there you had to go early to get a seat. Now it looks like a funeral.

 

[KWoodroof]

On 6/8/2019 at 10:29 AM, wave88 said:

I read recently that games aren’t generating the interest that used to be.  I would be interested in hearing theories of why that is.  I think there are lots of reasons for the decline but a few that stand out to me are the increase in number of schools, the increase in private schools, the transfers and the fear of scheduling tough non-region opponents.  I’m curious as to what the attendance is at  a private game between a powerhouse and a cupcake.  The days of the star players playing at the hometown schools have been diluted by the transfers and recruiting at both public’s and private’s.  I myself remember the playoff game in 91’ with Gallatin and MBA and how packed that place was.  The semi-final that same year had a packed house between Gallatin and Stratford.  Am I on to something with what I see as the reason for the declines or am I missing something altogether?  

In my view, there are a handful of issues. First, let's look at the schools, especially in areas like Metro-Nashville. The schools have been consolidated into a few large "centers." They're not necessarily representative of the surrounding area. In my younger days, I lived in Goodlettesville, and we went to Cumberland games (my dad's school), Goodlettsville/Madison/Hendersonville (all nearby), or to the top game in the area. Every public school had a decent turnout from the area. People might not have kids at the school, but they knew local boys on the team. It was a form of community entertainment, and that community doesn't really exist anymore. If you close a community's high school, it guts the community. Games outside the Davidson County area seem to draw better, but their crowds are less than they were in the 70's, because...

There are a lot more options for one's entertainment money. I think back to '75 when I played 9th grade football at MBA. On a Saturday night, we filled the stadium for a championship game against McMurray. In Gallatin, Ryan and Gallatin drew 8,000 (again, 9th graders). Likewise, Cameron and Apollo drew a decent crowd at Antioch, even though the game was meaningless. But consider the alternatives. Locally, there was no NFL team. ABC showed ONE college game, and that Saturday it kicked off at 1:00 PM. There were a limited number of theaters, and at most they had 2 screens. There were 3 television channels, because I'm not counting the educational channel or channel 17, which was an on again/off again thing. It's not really an exaggeration to say that in that time, you could get excited about football, or you could go shoot squirrels.

I try to explain to kids now that in '71, I was one of more than 22,000 people at Vanderbilt to see MBA play Ryan, a game in which the combined enrollments of the 2 schools was below 1,000. 

It's unfortunate, and not just in an "I'm an old man and I think things were better when I was younger," although I am and they were. But even with the issues that have arisen in high school football, it remains a great game. It's still a lot of young men (and women, if we include very athletic cheerleaders and talented bandmembers) who've worked very hard and put on a great show. 

[Verb58]

1 hour ago, KWoodroof said:

In my view, there are a handful of issues. First, let's look at the schools, especially in areas like Metro-Nashville. The schools have been consolidated into a few large "centers." They're not necessarily representative of the surrounding area. In my younger days, I lived in Goodlettesville, and we went to Cumberland games (my dad's school), Goodlettsville/Madison/Hendersonville (all nearby), or to the top game in the area. Every public school had a decent turnout from the area. People might not have kids at the school, but they knew local boys on the team. It was a form of community entertainment, and that community doesn't really exist anymore. If you close a community's high school, it guts the community. Games outside the Davidson County area seem to draw better, but their crowds are less than they were in the 70's, because...

There are a lot more options for one's entertainment money. I think back to '75 when I played 9th grade football at MBA. On a Saturday night, we filled the stadium for a championship game against McMurray. In Gallatin, Ryan and Gallatin drew 8,000 (again, 9th graders). Likewise, Cameron and Apollo drew a decent crowd at Antioch, even though the game was meaningless. But consider the alternatives. Locally, there was no NFL team. ABC showed ONE college game, and that Saturday it kicked off at 1:00 PM. There were a limited number of theaters, and at most they had 2 screens. There were 3 television channels, because I'm not counting the educational channel or channel 17, which was an on again/off again thing. It's not really an exaggeration to say that in that time, you could get excited about football, or you could go shoot squirrels.

I try to explain to kids now that in '71, I was one of more than 22,000 people at Vanderbilt to see MBA play Ryan, a game in which the combined enrollments of the 2 schools was below 1,000. 

It's unfortunate, and not just in an "I'm an old man and I think things were better when I was younger," although I am and they were. But even with the issues that have arisen in high school football, it remains a great game. It's still a lot of young men (and women, if we include very athletic cheerleaders and talented bandmembers) who've worked very hard and put on a great show. 

Do you remember a kid who played at MBA in the 70’s named Andy Massey?  I work with him.

[KWoodroof]

22 minutes ago, wave88 said:

Do you remember a kid who played at MBA in the 70’s named Andy Massey?  I work with him.

Tell Andy I said hello. I centered to him when we were 8th and 9th graders. Great guy.

[Verb58]

1 hour ago, KWoodroof said:

Tell Andy I said hello. I centered to him when we were 8th and 9th graders. Great guy.

I will.  I should see him tomorrow morning.

[wingman10]

Life is different