The Steady Erosion of the Gameday Experience

[Hawgzinbowlz]

Fans of convenience.....................just as bad as fair weather...

Speaking of fair weather...
The second best game day environment, 2014, was the LSU game. The corndoggers were freezing their ----- off.
The best game day environment was watching the driving rain (through the field lights) at the Ole' Miss game and see Hugh throw in the towel in the second half. The only thing that could have been better would be to see snowflakes greet the Rebs. Not enough to disrupt traffic, just enough to add to OM game day experience.
CBB had The Hogs embracing both game day experiences.


" GO HOGS "

[Fatty McGee]

Fans of convenience.....................just as bad as fair weather. It's not as if there is a game every weekend of the year.

P.S. Some of my most memorable moments was when my parents would take the time out of their weekend to take me to a game even after both of them worked full time jobs all week ANd my dad also had to drive all over the state to get to work and home on Friday afternoon and was still happy to get up Saturday morning and drive us to the game and spend all day with us. I cherish those memories from my young days with my parents as much as any.

I don't know how old you are, but I bet that was also a time when tickets were reasonably priced, as were concessions.

[HognitiveDissonance]

I still love going to games at the bud but it just isnt the same as it once was.

They play stupid canned music during the starting lineups. The band used to be pretty invloved in game activities and now its so limited.

I've gotten to go to one bball game this year and came back with a long rant of my own. I was very disappointed in how things have gone downhill. But at least they aren't selling Branson condos in the concourse any more. I kid you not...

[hogsanity]

Fans of convenience.....................just as bad as fair weather. It's not as if there is a game every weekend of the year.

P.S. Some of my most memorable moments was when my parents would take the time out of their weekend to take me to a game even after both of them worked full time jobs all week ANd my dad also had to drive all over the state to get to work and home on Friday afternoon and was still happy to get up Saturday morning and drive us to the game and spend all day with us. I cherish those memories from my young days with my parents as much as any.

I still remember my 1st game, it was Houston in Fay in 1979, Hogs lost 13-10. I was 9, there with my dad and my grandpa. 1st game with my wife, old misses 1993, miserably cold and misty, thought my wife was never going to forgive me for dragging her up there in that weather. I remember my oldest son's, now 16, 1st game, it was me, him and my dad, MSU 2003.  And the 1st game with my youngest, it was me, him, his brother and my dad. And there have been many others in between.

You call it convenience, I call it priorities. Right now, going to games is not a priority for us. We can watch them on tv, have friends over to do so. Or, for say a 2:30 kick off, we can dvr it, go do something else, come home, and sit down and watch the game after it gets dark outside. I know several people in my circle of friends that have dropped their season tickets, not because of disgust with the program, but because with 2 or three kids, life does not revolve around spending all day Sat to go to a FAY or LR game. Youth football is played on Sat mornings/early after noon. Same for fall baseball. Many JRHS teams practice on Saturdays.

And, here is the main point, and I think it speaks to some of the OP, One does not have to go to the stadium to see the games anymore. When I got married 21 years ago, the Hogs MIGHT be on TV 2 or 3 times in a season. Last season I could watch every game from the comfort of my couch.

[DeltaBoy]

I don't know how old you are, but I bet that was also a time when tickets were reasonably priced, as were concessions.

Yep I remember going to the game for less than 100 dollars counting concessions.

[Inhogswetrust]

Last season I could watch every game from the comfort of my couch.

Convenience and comfort...................It's thy name.

[DeltaBoy]

Convenience and comfort...................It's thy name.

And it is great , No screaming kids , No drunks pouring beer or pukingon you and no lines for the concessions and rest room. 

[Inhogswetrust]

And it is great , No screaming kids , No drunks pouring beer or pukingon you and no lines for the concessions and rest room. 

And no camaraderie with 70,000 other Hog loving fans. No ability to see the whole field at the same time and hear the crowd live, no watching thousands of kids with huge smiles on their face when having their picture taken a game with Big Red or in front of Tusk, No tailgating with friends you have known since college you don't have a chance to see most of the rest of the year, no enjoying walking on senior walk and reminiscing while seeing your name, no gong to some your favorite restaurants you went to when in school, no watching the sidelines to see the players and coaches reactions to plays, scores, etc., no talking with others in the concessions and restroom lines about the Hogs because you know you both have something to think about how the game is going, no high fives to strangers you may never see again yet know you have something in common with them, no having your kid say "Thanks Dad for taking me to the game" and seeing their smile all the way home and then talking about it with you when you both are older and reminiscing. Not being able to stay a little longer to watch the unbridled joy of the players emotional reaction of running across the field and interacting with ordinary fans that rushed the field when they worked their butts off to get over the hump and win and revelling in their victory with them. Sitting at home and watching is better than not watching them BUT it's like watching an air show on TV...................There is something about being there in person that watching on TV can't match. The noise, atmosphere, camaraderie, etc.  Yep you can watch them all on Tv ..............but for me I want the players to know I'm there for them through thick and thin and wiling to sacrifice in some small way like they did in a BIG way to get there and be a part of it.

P.S. A LOT of people watching on TV have screaming kids at home, might accidentally get something spilled on them or have to wait to use the restroom. I'll give you the puking part but I've NEVER had anyone puke on me yet at a game.......IF players can risk career ending or even life threatening injury then I can risk having that happen to me. Living life in the cocoon of home because I might have a little inconvenience or risk outside the home......................................is not really living to me. There are some valid reasons for some people not being able to go to games.............the ones' you listed are not.

[hogsanity]

. Living life in the cocoon of home because I might have a little inconvenience or risk outside the home......................................is not really living to me. There are some valid reasons for some people not being able to go to games.............the ones' you listed are not.

They are not valid........TO YOU

Here is one thing I do know from my time since I graduated high school in 1988. I used to run with a group of about 20 guys, we played golf, hunted, fished, went to games together. When we got out of college, we got married one by one, but we still did stuff together all the time. You know what is fascinating? EVERY one of the guys who got season tickets and made all the games, EVERY FREAKING ONE, 16 out of the 20, are now divorced. They continued to spend their Saturdays going to games, going hunting, golfing, etc, and at one point or another I heard every one of them spout something close to what you just posted.

Priorities change. My wife and I love to travel, and we did a lot before the kids were born. Now we make one good trip a year. But even those are changing. This year our big trip revolves around taking our oldest to visit some colleges. In a couple of years, when he is off at school, our trips will probably be centered around taking our youngest to some elite baseball camps ( yes, he is that good ).

The point is, going to games is just not a priority for us. When we do go, we have a great time, but it is not something any of us want to do more than once or maybe twice a season.

[BearsBisonsBoars]

I was incensed when the UofA switched from Coke to Pepsi. Means I'll have to drink water at home games as long as that sorry soft drink contract is in effect.

But, but, Mountain Dew!

Seriously though, do they still sell Doctor Pepper after switching to Pepsi? I can't even remember the last time I bought anything but water to drink at a game, but DP is probably the only other beverage I'd buy - besides beer of course 

[hogsanity]

,

no having your kid say "Thanks Dad for taking me to the game" and seeing their smile all the way home and then talking about it with you when you both are older and reminiscing.

Do not even begin to talk to me about my kids telling me anything. I have take my two boys, but there is was a middle son I would have given just about anything, other than his two brothers, to have been able to have taken him and heard that from him. So just do not even try to go down that road with me.

[yankeefaninHOGland]

I have been a season ticket holder since I moved to Fayetteville in 07'.  I go to every game, almost without fail. 

I think SOME of the gripe about the traffic is because fewer and fewer folks are tailgating (My Opinion).  Instead of getting there early with friends and family and making a day of it, more and more people are just coming for the game only.  This makes traffic that much worse with everyone trying to get to the game at the last minute. This also makes the traffic bad after the game as well because no one goes back to the tailgate to talk about how the game went or even need to spend the time to take everything down. 

I think the thing that makes the gameday experience at home better is you have watch parties that allow friends and family to congregate at a better location (someone's home).  The area around DWRRS is not a GREAT for tailgating.  It is spread out, costs a lot of money (other than the Gardens) and is not convenient.  I think we need to create a better tailgating experience for the games.  Have well thought out tailgating spots with access to power for TV's, free/cheap, and is close as possible to the Stadium.  Expand the Gardens X's 1000.  Focus on trying to reduce the cost and increase the ease of getting your friends and family to the spots early.

IMO, we need to close the gap between tailgating near the stadium and staying at home with a watch party.

I think the gardens is good, just needs to be expanded by 1000.

My 2 cents

[hogsanity]

I have been a season ticket holder since I moved to Fayetteville in 07'.  I go to every game, almost without fail. 

I think SOME of the gripe about the traffic is because fewer and fewer folks are tailgating (My Opinion).  Instead of getting there early with friends and family and making a day of it, more and more people are just coming for the game only.  This makes traffic that much worse with everyone trying to get to the game at the last minute. This also makes the traffic bad after the game as well because no one goes back to the tailgate to talk about how the game went or even need to spend the time to take everything down. 

I think the thing that makes the gameday experience at home better is you have watch parties that allow friends and family to congregate at a better location (someone's home).  The area around DWRRS is not a GREAT for tailgating.  It is spread out, costs a lot of money (other than the Gardens) and is not convenient.  I think we need to create a better tailgating experience for the games.  Have well thought out tailgating spots with access to power for TV's, free/cheap, and is close as possible to the Stadium.  Expand the Gardens X's 1000.  Focus on trying to reduce the cost and increase the ease of getting your friends and family to the spots early.

IMO, we need to close the gap between tailgating near the stadium and staying at home with a watch party.

I think the gardens is good, just needs to be expanded by 1000.

My 2 cents

I wrote on here several years ago that college football games were a lot like church used to be. People went to meet friends, share joy and sorry, they would have diner on the ground. While you may not have known everyone in the congregation, you did at least have a lose bond with them. People were there for a variety of reasons.  But, just as church attendance has fallen off, so will football attendance, for many of the same reasons it has at churches. Cost, time, becomming jaded, tired, confused.  People get their nose out of joint over music, standing, sitting, they do not like the pastor/coach. They find it easier/better for themselves to stay home. 

[Pig Papi]

All of the things in the OP if they could not see the games on tv.  Now, however, staying home is the better option

1. No drunks, at least the ones in your home you invited
2. No drive time
3. can watch other games before and after "your" game
4. my own food
5. my own coach/chair
6. my own bathroom
7. no one climbing over me 15 times to go get food or hit the bathroom
8. no annoying kid behind me kicking me
9, no annoying people around me talking loudly about who they are dating, or who they dumped, or why they cant stand their spouse/kids/boss

I could list another 20 or 30 things.

While those are annoying reasons not to go, let me give you some reasons I go....

1.  Can you tell me how loud the crowd got when Mallett hit Wingo for a TD on the opening drive of the Alabama game?

2.  Do you remember seeing Joe Adams punt return TD against Tennessee through thousands of outstretched arms of fans in the stands jumping up and down as it happened.

3.  Could you feel the stadium shake when the snap from the LSU center went over the QBs head in the first quarter of the 17-0 game?

4.  Could you sense the build up in the stands for storming the field after breaking the losing streak this year? 

5.  Did you witness tens of thousands Hog fans in unison willing Rohan Gaines to the end zone against Ole Miss?

Don't get me wrong, I do understand the point of the thread and do agree with it.  However, I go to games to make memories with my son.  We will always share these moments and talk about them often.  I guess witnessing moments like these first hand make the dollar investment and minor inconveniences worth it.

[Dr Swineglove]

As attendance figures at college football venues across the country continue to decline, administrators are trying to figure out why fans aren't coming.  As the great Yogi Berra once said, "If people don't want to come to the ball park, how are you going to stop them?" 

Athletic directors point to high definition television and the fact that nearly every game is televised, but that's only part of the problem.  The source of the problem are the AD's themselves--the pursuit of the next buck at the expense of the gameday experience.  The gameday experience is no longer about the game or the university, it's about money, and the replacement of the university by the dollar as the object of admiration bleeds from every aspect of the modern college gameday experience.  In their ruthless pursuit to monetize every aspect of the game, AD's will ultimately end up homogenizing it, and in the process trading away what makes each university experience unique for 30 pieces of silver.

Increasingly, universities no longer even control their own stadium experiences.  Many universities have sold the rights to control the stadium experience to media companies.  IMG and CBS dominate the industry, representing nearly every university in major college athletics.  These advertising firms put their own "gameday coordinators" in the stadiums to control the gameday experience.  They control what is shown on the jumbotron, when the band plays, what cheers are done, what music is blasted over the speakers, and what stream of ads will come at you.

Bands, cheerleaders, drill teams, those things aren't controlled by IMG or CBS and can't drive their profits.  The solution--minimize them as much as possible.  Basically, the university agrees to cannibalize itself.  No pushback will be tolerated.  After taking his concerns about the contant rise of canned music public, Tennessee's band director, Dr. Gary Sousa, was reassigned for pushing back against the profit monster. 

Tennessee isn't alone.  It's everywhere, and the SEC is making it easier than ever to inundate fans with canned music and a tidal wave of advertisements.  Before last season, the SEC relaxed the rules for when music and advertising can be played between plays.  Now, the home team can play this stuff until the QB is over the ball.  The SEC, at the urging of Georgia, adopted the rule because the ACC has something similar, probably to paper over terrible gameday atmospheres.

These media conglomerates don't make money by making each stadium experience unique; they make money by using the same stuff everywhere, which lowers the cost to deliver it.  The necessary result is that the gameday experience is being homogenized--making the experience at any particular stadium much like the experience anywhere else.  What makes the college football experience great is its uniqueness from venue to venue; where we're heading is an NFL-type of experience so bland it could be Anywhere, USA. 

This doesn't even reach the constant barrage of sponsorships and advertising fired from every corner of the stadium.  It's really an insult to the average fan.  Basically, the universities and media companies think that our attention spans are so tiny that we need constant amusement, served up with a side of banking, car dealerships, and Coke.  All of this brought to you with long delays for TV timeouts, so that the university can rake in that money, too.  Considering the spiraling costs of tickets, it's not hard to figure why people are staying home.

"Upgrades" like concessions and Wi-Fi aren't the answer; they're the problem in a new and shiny form.  These are just new ways to reach into the fans' wallets.  Paying for premium Wi-Fi will be the new frontier once they upgrade what they've got.  Concessions prices are already out of control.

If this sounds like a rant, well, I guess it is.  Sort of.  I realize that the universities need to make money, but we're rapidly reaching a point where the universities will not have a unique experience or product to offer.  If that's true, why go there?  Why go anywhere?  And if the universities think they can build loyalty through a television, they're fooling themselves.  If I can watch anyone in America on TV, what makes you special?  The next generation, deprived of any reason to consider the local universities unique, will be free to follow any other school in America, 24 hours a day. 

These universities are turning themselves into snowflakes--unique, just like everyone else. 

Very well said!

Unless I get free tickets, I haven't been to a game in years.  I enjoy watching it more from a sports bar with a beer in one hand for 1/40th the price and the view and atmosphere are better.

[Inhogswetrust]

They are not valid........TO YOU

Here is one thing I do know from my time since I graduated high school in 1988. I used to run with a group of about 20 guys, we played golf, hunted, fished, went to games together. When we got out of college, we got married one by one, but we still did stuff together all the time. You know what is fascinating? EVERY one of the guys who got season tickets and made all the games, EVERY FREAKING ONE, 16 out of the 20, are now divorced. They continued to spend their Saturdays going to games, going hunting, golfing, etc, and at one point or another I heard every one of them spout something close to what you just posted.

Priorities change. My wife and I love to travel, and we did a lot before the kids were born. Now we make one good trip a year. But even those are changing. This year our big trip revolves around taking our oldest to visit some colleges. In a couple of years, when he is off at school, our trips will probably be centered around taking our youngest to some elite baseball camps ( yes, he is that good ).

The point is, going to games is just not a priority for us. When we do go, we have a great time, but it is not something any of us want to do more than once or maybe twice a season.

I'm not saying priorities don't change......they do. I'm married with a Son, Daughter in law, Granddaughter with another due in April. We have to budget to go see them in San Jose, Ca where they live. It is a hassle to go there but worth it. To me it is a hassle to go to games but worth it. Now those aren't the same priority wise and I've missed games when we went out there for our Granddaughters birthday which we go to every year, but that is a simple analogy. When I got out of college I travelled all over the country working and because of that couldn't go to many games. The issue is not the inability due to priorities to go but the unwillingness to go when able and saying it's better to watch on TV. A LOT of people can't afford to go and from what I read you can but just don't like the "hassle". Your posts read to me as IF you enjoyed it at home watching better than going. I gave you an example of my family and how they made time and it was a hassle for them but they still did it. You can have a good time watching at home but not as good as actually being there. Same as the Air Show thing I mentioned and I could have mentioned a whole lot of other things.     

[The_Iceman]

I don't want this to be a GSD thread.  The games will be moved and as I have written a few times over the last two years it's time to move them.  With that out of the way, the tailgating at War Memorial on its golf course is one of a kind.  It will be lost as part of the homogenization of your experience.

Did not read.

[waphill]

Reversing the trend and improving the gameday experience will likely help to capture an audience that is just outside the stadium, but refuses to go in.

I have a large group of friends that used to all have season tickets. They have all dropped them in the last 3-4 years, yet they still go to every game. They still pay good money for their prime real estate to tailgate. Instead of buying tickets, they bring generators, TV's, Heaters, Tents, and an elaborate spread of food. It is an all day event for them. The in-stadium experience has to have dramatically dropped off for people to go to all that trouble, and not even enter the stadium. They are creating a better experience through their tailgate. Surely there are more that do this.

It would seem like an easy group to recover ticket sales from, being that the passion and energy are still there. IMO, eliminating the generic production, and making the in-stadium experience unique is what will bring back the ticket sales.

[hogsanity]

Your posts read to me as IF you enjoyed it at home watching better than going.
   

I do......right at this point in our lives. I have great memories from the games we have gone to. I also have great memories from the watch parties we have had, and from the times it has just been me and my boys watching at home. Able to go out and play catch at half time, no one blocking their view. They know how to do the Hog call, but for us, right now, going to games just is not high up on the list of things to do. Did it make the Bama loss this year any less painful for me, as a fan, because I watched it on tv in stead of in person? I don't think so. When the players rushed over to get the Boot after beating LSu, I got teary eyed, because I knew how badly they must have wanted to win.

I think what bothers me most is this perception that has gradually crept in the last few years that if you dont go to a majority of the games, or to any at all, you are somehow less of a fan. My grandma is 89, lived here her whole life, is as hardcore of a fan as you will find ( she listened to the Pelphrey & Heath era games on the radio when they were not on tv, that is hard core ), yet the only game she ever went to was parents weekend in 1957 when my uncle was a sr. Is she less of fan because of that? When the Hogs win, I still call her, like I have done for at least 27 years. I do not need to tailgate to enjoy the Hogs. I do not need to sit in a stadium with 72K other people to enjoy the game. Some do, great for them. You have great traditions, it sounds like, which is wonderful, for you.

[Hogfaniam]

Did not read.

There is Karma  and then there is Awesome. 
              +/-

Just clicked 'awesome'

[snoblind]

Interesting exchange between HS and IHWT. 

Like I said much earlier in this thread I've been going to games since 64.  So I don't need any lectures on the game day experience.  I know from previous threads there are some folks here that have been going as long or longer than me.  But I've been in the stadium in Fayetteville during the highest points we have ever had as well as the lowest.  If I decide tomorrow I'm done does that mean I'm now less of a fan?

IHWT, it may come as a surprise to you that there are plenty of folks that do enjoy watching more than going to games.  I have an uncle who has never been to a game and he is 83.  Joined the foundation before they even called it that.  Hasn't missed a year donating since they instituted the program.  He's perfectly happy watching them on the tube and on the radio before that.

[Inhogswetrust]

I do......right at this point in our lives. I have great memories from the games we have gone to. I also have great memories from the watch parties we have had, and from the times it has just been me and my boys watching at home. Able to go out and play catch at half time, no one blocking their view. They know how to do the Hog call, but for us, right now, going to games just is not high up on the list of things to do. Did it make the Bama loss this year any less painful for me, as a fan, because I watched it on tv in stead of in person? I don't think so. When the players rushed over to get the Boot after beating LSu, I got teary eyed, because I knew how badly they must have wanted to win.

I think what bothers me most is this perception that has gradually crept in the last few years that if you dont go to a majority of the games, or to any at all, you are somehow less of a fan. My grandma is 89, lived here her whole life, is as hardcore of a fan as you will find ( she listened to the Pelphrey & Heath era games on the radio when they were not on tv, that is hard core ), yet the only game she ever went to was parents weekend in 1957 when my uncle was a sr. Is she less of fan because of that? When the Hogs win, I still call her, like I have done for at least 27 years. I do not need to tailgate to enjoy the Hogs. I do not need to sit in a stadium with 72K other people to enjoy the game. Some do, great for them. You have great traditions, it sounds like, which is wonderful, for you.

Sorry to disagree with you BUT preferring to watch on TV versus actually being there is analogous to preferring to Skype with my granddaughter versus actually being there with her. It's a substitute but it's not the same as live and in person.

[Inhogswetrust]

Interesting exchange between HS and IHWT. 

Like I said much earlier in this thread I've been going to games since 64.  So I don't need any lectures on the game day experience.  I know from previous threads there are some folks here that have been going as long or longer than me.  But I've been in the stadium in Fayetteville during the highest points we have ever had as well as the lowest.  If I decide tomorrow I'm done does that mean I'm now less of a fan?

IHWT, it may come as a surprise to you that there are plenty of folks that do enjoy watching more than going to games.  I have an uncle who has never been to a game and he is 83.  Joined the foundation before they even called it that.  Hasn't missed a year donating since they instituted the program.  He's perfectly happy watching them on the tube and on the radio before that.

Overall Fandom is NOT defined by going to games or not. I've always said that. I have a lot of relatives and friends that have never been to games but I still think of them as good fans.

[snoblind]

Overall Fandom is NOT defined by going to games or not. I've always said that. I have a lot of relatives and friends that have never been to games but I still think of them as good fans.

Fair enough.  And to intrude on your back and forth with HS one last time.  I don't think he or anyone saying that they prefer to watch on TV is trying to say it is the same as being there.

[hogsanity]

Sorry to disagree with you BUT preferring to watch on TV versus actually being there is analogous to preferring to Skype with my granddaughter versus actually being there with her. It's a substitute but it's not the same as live and in person.

Never, not one time, did I say it was the same. That day in 2003 with my son and my dad, I would not trade it for the world. Same for the day in 79 or the day in 09, my first, and my youngest's first. But the day last fall, when the Hogs played UAB, and we went to Lake Ft Smith with my grandma and my family, I would not trade that for anything either.

TW, I miss-typed earlier, grandma is 98, not 89.

[DeltaBoy]

I been wanting to go to the game in Arlington but the Cost is too high for me when I got other things that need to be done more than dropping $300 bucks to go see them when I watch on TV for FREE. YMMV and I love all my Hog fans just the same.

[NaturalStateReb]

Lest anyone get the wrong impression, I don't think anything can replace the live gameday experience.  TV is great, and that's how I watch most games, due to time and expense, but it's not the same as being in the stadium.

Cost is certainly a factor in why people stay home, but I think that while facilities have grown larger and swankier, the actual experience in that larger, swankier stadium has become less and less about the university, the game, and the fans and more and more about the dollar.  I just think we're devaluing the game, dishonoring those who participate, and disrespecting the fans by turning the in-stadium experience into a gigantic infomercial.

There's got to be a way to keep the focus on the university and the game while still preserving meaningful revenue streams.  We've just go to do a better job finding it instead of piling on the ad blasting and DJs.

[NaturalStateReb]

This could have been written by a lot of fans at the University of Michigan as well.  I note this point because this trend is not isolated to Arkansas by any stretch of the imagination.  College football (and sports in general) is suffering from this problem all around the country.

It's an everywhere problem.

[NaturalStateReb]

This is a group I've wondered about recently as well - are people still traveling by RV, trailer, etc to college games like they used to?  Seems like I don't see as many fans traveling like this on the interstates these days....

I recall some stories where people would arrive Thursday for a Saturday game, and leave Sunday thus avoiding the traffic headaches altogether. 

The universities have gotten to where they charge very steep fees. At Ole Miss, a trailer parking spot goes for about $1500 per season if you want hookups. Pretty outrageous.

[hogsanity]

Cost is certainly a factor in why people stay home, but I think that while facilities have grown larger and swankier, the actual experience in that larger, swankier stadium has become less and less about the university, the game, and the fans and more and more about the dollar.  I

And for many fans the game day experience has become much less about the game and more about the tailgating, to the extent many people go to tailgate and never enter the stadium.

[DeltaBoy]

For what they are charging you would thing they would try to make us happy and return the Band and stop all the ads during the game.  I got aggravated by that crap at a HS game here in TX last fall with all that It a Farmers  Insurance 1st down . It another Bubba's Chicken Shack TD!  All Colleges and HS need to cut that crap out.

[razorback93]

I certainly don't disagree with anything said here as far as the homogenization of the experience and the $ being the ultimate goal.  But, I'm just wondering, of the people in this thread complaining, how many of you:

1) Brag about the U of A being one of the most profitable programs?
2) Throw out the old adage of, just pay our head coach/assistants whatever it takes. 

I don't disagree with the OP, but I thought the same thing.  Some of this we have brought on ourselves.  Money's gotta come from somewhere.

[NaturalStateReb]

$1500 for one spot? 

Holy geez - talk about trying to screw the fan for every dime possible - wow.

What a sad commentary on the greed of college sports today.....

Just charging what the market will bear I guess, since they keep selling them to somebody. If I take my rig down there, I'll go to the nearby state park for $25/night. 😃