BCS leagues expanding - yeah?

From the same place that brought you Liv Golf. They have the money.

 

The worst thing about cfb is the game times being TBA until a week before. Good luck planning anything around a college game day. And I can only imagine the havoc it causes in college towns. You may as well take the schedule and put an X on all the days you have a game scheduled - whether you were planning to go to the game or not. Birthday party? Outing in a park? Funeral service? Wedding? Non-profit fun run?

And you don't know how many times during an elnection year I've had to remind campaigns of football game days - it's usually not even on their radar.

 

Well, to be fair, election day is hardly ever Saturday.

 

But when they plan events during election season, canvassing, rallies etc. - and usually right where people are usually tailgating.

 

It's already happening. Attendance at D-1 games has been dropping for the last decade. It's expensive as all get out if you're going to a blue blood school to watch a game. I know hotels around Penn State require at least a two-night stayover on football weekends and the prices are insane. Then there's the cost of the tickets, and parking, and stuff to tailgate. My uncle has had the same parking space for a bazillion years and pays $4,000 a year for his space. A parking space.

Then there is the actual game itself, which is now pushing four hours with replays and commercials. All to sit in a cramped stadium on bleachers for an experience that is far inferior to your 50-inch TV at home.

I keep my Pitt season tickets because they're fairly inexpensive (two seats in the lower bowl endzone for $500) and it gives me a reason to go back home. But if it ever reaches the point where I could make a nice contribution to my retirement or take a vacation annually for what we spend on tickets, I'm out.

 

I've said this before, but the best deal in Boston sports outside of college hockey games is Harvard football. Reasonably high quality of play. Tickets and parking are cheap except for the Yale game once every two years, weather is reasonably good until after Halloween, and if you don't care about tailgating, it's a five minute walk to the stadium from Harvard St. station on the Red Line.

 

The Sun Belt and the MAC being the most rational actors in the sport is certainly an upset.

 

My daughter is a freshman at Local U., and in a parents' Facebook group, someone posted that they're not going to be able to make it to Family Weekend, the weekend Local U. football plays a school I've literally never heard of until I just checked the schedule, and that parent has a hotel room they're giving up. It's a Holiday Inn, and it's $521 for one night.

(Edited to get the price correct; I originally said $541.)

 

I know several people who have given up season tickets over the last 6-7 years because all of the above mentioned:
Cost of the tickets
The donation you have to make just for the privilege of purchasing them
Time spent getting to the game, watching the game, then getting home
Paying to park
Ease of watching it on TV
Etc.

 

Here's a sampling of hotel room prices in Blacksburg for Sept. 1-3, home opening weekend against Old Dominion.

Residence Inn: $629 a night
Courtyard: $339 a night
Fairfield (Christiansburg): $319 a night
Several options in Roanoke (30 min away): $195-$274 a night

That's a hard no for me, dawg. I doubt I'll ever go to one of my alma mater's home games again in my lifetime. I can get a flight to fucking Europe for the price of that one night at the Residence Inn.

 

I live a mile or so from Big SEC U that packs the stadium for every game. I could probably get $2K plus (maybe twice that) for every home game if I listed my 2BR house on airbnb.

It's tempting, but I don't want the hassle. Nor do I want strangers staying in my bed.

 

I live within easy driving distance of Bryant-Denny. Two games a year feels magical. Three is still pretty good. Four can start to feel like a slog unless you are cherry picking the best of an exceptionally strong home schedule and the marginal return plummets through the floorboards for five or more.