8 Reasons Why College Bowl Games Have Bad Attendence

Today is going to be a late article and a short article. I’ve saw a lot of people on social media complaining about the size of college bowl crowds. There are a few reasons as to why the college bowl crowds are small for the games we’ve saw so far.

1) There are a ton of college bowl games now. A few even take place in the same city. This takes up hotel space, activity space(because there is always more than just the bowl game going on.), and kills the logistics of the city. 

2) College bowl games don’t really attract local fans. Why? The teams aren’t from there. You may get a few transplants but never a ton of fans from local cities. It’s not a big draw, just a big traffic jam. 

3) Small college crowds won’t travel and typically are in smaller cities with lower median incomes. As a graduate of Marshall University I’ve been to 0 bowl games because they typically don’t play anywhere near Huntington, WV. This year was New Mexico and I can tell you the appeal isn’t there. 

4) Most bowl games outside of New Years Day don’t matter to most fans, even fans of the team. Why? We have always put the Orange Bowl, Rose Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, & Sugar Bowl as the important ones. Add in the national championship game as a 5th major bowl. Occasionally the Cotton Bowl, Gator Bowl, and Peach Bowl will get big crowds because they typically have historically great games. But after that the games tier off. 

5) Bowl games have conference tie-ins. They aren’t just taking local teams/teams that are super close with a fan base anymore. There is actually a bidding system that takes place. They can take a worse team because they are a better draw. This is also why some teams refuse bowl games. 

6) The revenue for bowl games come from the sponsors, events leading up to the bowl game, & the tv ads revenue they get for selling the bowl rights. The money isn’t actually made in the stadium. 

7) It’s not the NFL. Every game doesn’t mean something. 

8) The final reason is if you were a true diehard fan of the sport or your team, you would be there. But clearly you prioritized something else over the bowl game like many other fans. 

You have 8 reasons why people aren’t going to college football games.