Lack of crowd cause of Ticket Price?

Crowd size has been pretty big this year compared to last year. Of course the later games in the playoffs will have less. Cold weather always wins
 
CatFoodFlambe said:
Nailed it. Waaay more options for your limited free time and dollars than even ten years ago.

Sport events were the natural gathering place, even for adults - many, many of those attending ball games were there for social reasons.
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Also: the boom of breweries/wineries.

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E-Town said:
Ticket prices are part of it, but for me, it is burnout. I am a recovering football addict that lived and died by how the Browns, Buckeyes and local teams did. But I grew up in the age of four teams per region and four divisions. As a kid, the biggest games I attended were Avon Lake vs Bay and Elyria Catholic vs Lorain Catholic. Those games were always intense...well, as time went on some of the games became lopsided, but the events themselves were intense. The games were intense because everyone at the game watched every play and then immediately reacted to it with the people around them. It was important to win, because we knew the opponents and we knew that bragging rights were important. It was great to make the playoffs, but if we did and lost to a team from four counties away, it didn't really matter!

I no longer watch the NFL, college and I'm drifting away from high school as well. There's just too much meaningless football being played and I realized that the more football I consumed, the less I actually cared about the game. My daughter is in her final season in marching band. I'll be at the games until her team is out, but the overall lack of enthusiasm from the crowds and communities is noticeable. I don't know if anyone else is feeling this way, but there were a number of us (parents) who rolled our eyes just a little when we realized there was going to be another week of football.
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It was definitely a simpler time with far fewer entertainment options, and communities were more settled. Not the mobility you see today where people live and work in many towns over the course of their lives. High school sports were an extension of community identity and were well attended by the townspeople…even those who no longer had kids in school. Making the playoffs was a happy accident, a bonus. The big goals were beating your rival and winning your league. People didn’t call for the coach’s head if the team had a few losing seasons. Every parent wasn’t obsessed with trying to get their kid a D1 scholarship and there was a football SEASON, from late summer until Week 10 (and a couple more weeks for the lucky few playoff teams), and then most kids moved on to a winter sport…not this year round never ending commitment that HS football has become, burning out kids, coaches and refs along the way. Was it a better time? I think so, but times change and those days are long gone. I still enjoy HS football and appreciate the effort of the kids and coaches to entertain us for a few hours on a Friday night. I just wish they didn’t have to sacrifice so much of their lives to do so. Rant over - haha
 
E-Town said:
Ticket prices are part of it, but for me, it is burnout. I am a recovering football addict that lived and died by how the Browns, Buckeyes and local teams did. But I grew up in the age of four teams per region and four divisions. As a kid, the biggest games I attended were Avon Lake vs Bay and Elyria Catholic vs Lorain Catholic. Those games were always intense...well, as time went on some of the games became lopsided, but the events themselves were intense. The games were intense because everyone at the game watched every play and then immediately reacted to it with the people around them. It was important to win, because we knew the opponents and we knew that bragging rights were important. It was great to make the playoffs, but if we did and lost to a team from four counties away, it didn't really matter!

I no longer watch the NFL, college and I'm drifting away from high school as well. There's just too much meaningless football being played and I realized that the more football I consumed, the less I actually cared about the game. My daughter is in her final season in marching band. I'll be at the games until her team is out, but the overall lack of enthusiasm from the crowds and communities is noticeable. I don't know if anyone else is feeling this way, but there were a number of us (parents) who rolled our eyes just a little when we realized there was going to be another week of football.
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Excellent post.
 
Caleb said:
How is the attendance numbers for Massillon this year.
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According to the published stats, 0 for every game. According to my informal assessment, pretty good.

But ya know, with all this newfangled e-ticketing, they should know exactly how many people came through the gates. Either they don't (which would condemn the entire exercise) or they won't tell you.
 
Oil Filter said:
According to the published stats, 0 for every game. According to my informal assessment, pretty good.

But ya know, with all this newfangled e-ticketing, they should know exactly how many people came through the gates. Either they don't (which would condemn the entire exercise) or they won't tell you.
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I always believe that Massillon's attendance is pretty much better then every school in Ohio generally speaking but even Massillon's looks down some based on pictures and videos of the games compared to past years.
 
E-Town said:
Ticket prices are part of it, but for me, it is burnout. I am a recovering football addict that lived and died by how the Browns, Buckeyes and local teams did. But I grew up in the age of four teams per region and four divisions. As a kid, the biggest games I attended were Avon Lake vs Bay and Elyria Catholic vs Lorain Catholic. Those games were always intense...well, as time went on some of the games became lopsided, but the events themselves were intense. The games were intense because everyone at the game watched every play and then immediately reacted to it with the people around them. It was important to win, because we knew the opponents and we knew that bragging rights were important. It was great to make the playoffs, but if we did and lost to a team from four counties away, it didn't really matter!

I no longer watch the NFL, college and I'm drifting away from high school as well. There's just too much meaningless football being played and I realized that the more football I consumed, the less I actually cared about the game. My daughter is in her final season in marching band. I'll be at the games until her team is out, but the overall lack of enthusiasm from the crowds and communities is noticeable. I don't know if anyone else is feeling this way, but there were a number of us (parents) who rolled our eyes just a little when we realized there was going to be another week of football.
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Great post. I had not thought of that but you’re right. Even when I go to games with a decent crowd, the intensity is not there. Maybe that’s not a bad thing when I think of years gone by and the hyper-intensity 😀 but it is definitely not there.
 
Price is a factor no doubt to some. Some families not bringing as many of their kids to playoff games because of the price.
 
cjb5656 said:
It was definitely a simpler time with far fewer entertainment options, and communities were more settled. Not the mobility you see today where people live and work in many towns over the course of their lives. High school sports were an extension of community identity and were well attended by the townspeople…even those who no longer had kids in school. Making the playoffs was a happy accident, a bonus. The big goals were beating your rival and winning your league. People didn’t call for the coach’s head if the team had a few losing seasons. Every parent wasn’t obsessed with trying to get their kid a D1 scholarship and there was a football SEASON, from late summer until Week 10 (and a couple more weeks for the lucky few playoff teams), and then most kids moved on to a winter sport…not this year round never ending commitment that HS football has become, burning out kids, coaches and refs along the way. Was it a better time? I think so, but times change and those days are long gone. I still enjoy HS football and appreciate the effort of the kids and coaches to entertain us for a few hours on a Friday night. I just wish they didn’t have to sacrifice so much of their lives to do so. Rant over - haha
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Could not possibly agree with this post more! Went to the Mason-Milford game Friday, and was taken back by the lack of size of the Mason side. Visitors side of the stadium, lots of on-going construction with Milford's stadium (port-o-lets, teams using portable trailers for locker rooms). But for the biggest high school in the state, DI enrollment, they maybe filled 3/4 of their side. I think ticket prices play a part, but the post above spells out most of it. Sad to see it this way, but there's a LOT of truth from cjb's post.
 
Stark Born & Bred said:
Great post. I had not thought of that but you’re right. Even when I go to games with a decent crowd, the intensity is not there. Maybe that’s not a bad thing when I think of years gone by and the hyper-intensity 😀 but it is definitely not there.
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Ha! Yes, when I think of the things being shouted at the high school kids by my grandfather and his buddies I shake my head. It was even worse at basketball games! But at least my grandfather attended hs games back then.... he and his friends went even if they didn't have kids on the teams. Would they have done that if they had the option to watch, stream and listen to multiple games at home? I don't know.
 
What swung the attendance pendulum for me was streaming. With any sport, I'll enjoy in the comfort of home when given the chance. The rah rah of being their in person has a very reduced value at this point in my life. In fact I haven't been to a pro sporting event since the Cavs 2016 playoff run (Ok... there was a lot of rah rah with that one).
 
E-Town said:
Ha! Yes, when I think of the things being shouted at the high school kids by my grandfather and his buddies I shake my head. It was even worse at basketball games! But at least my grandfather attended hs games back then.... he and his friends went even if they didn't have kids on the teams. Would they have done that if they had the option to watch, stream and listen to multiple games at home? I don't know.
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I think the masses reached a point where they saw the behavior you referred to and lost interest. Many from previous generations let high school athletics control their schedules and happiness. Most in my generation see the players on the field for what they are: kids who can barely drive competing in an activity that promotes health and opportunities for personal growth. The majority of community members don’t know the kids they’re rooting for or against. They know them as well as they know a guy playing for the Buckeyes or Browns; not very well. The turning point for me was having a conversation with my high school coaches and being told much of what they said was simply a motivational tactic. They didn’t hate the rival school, in fact some applied to work there. Add newly overbuilt stadiums to accommodate an occasional playoff crowd and the crowds will appear even smaller.
I would also agree with you on football being at a saturation point. It’s overexposed at all levels. I think I saw somewhere that we would have access to a high school, college or professional game daily from the second week of October through the first part of December. I just saw a commercial for an NFL game on Black Friday. Couple that with recruiting and the draft noise in the spring and you’re forced to make a choice on what not to consume.
 
It may be a minor factor, but if you did a “Family Feud” style poll of 100 fans I would expect it to be not in the top 3, or possibly top 5.
 
Captain Obvious said:
I think the masses reached a point where they saw the behavior you referred to and lost interest. Many from previous generations let high school athletics control their schedules and happiness. Most in my generation see the players on the field for what they are: kids who can barely drive competing in an activity that promotes health and opportunities for personal growth. The majority of community members don’t know the kids they’re rooting for or against. They know them as well as they know a guy playing for the Buckeyes or Browns; not very well. The turning point for me was having a conversation with my high school coaches and being told much of what they said was simply a motivational tactic. They didn’t hate the rival school, in fact some applied to work there. Add newly overbuilt stadiums to accommodate an occasional playoff crowd and the crowds will appear even smaller.
I would also agree with you on football being at a saturation point. It’s overexposed at all levels. I think I saw somewhere that we would have access to a high school, college or professional game daily from the second week of October through the first part of December. I just saw a commercial for an NFL game on Black Friday. Couple that with recruiting and the draft noise in the spring and you’re forced to make a choice on what not to consume.
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Totally disagree with the first few sentences. Crowds were rowdier and more into the game, but the game was more important to that fabric of the community. People didn’t move around as much back in the day. Many lived their entire lives in the same town, families were multi-generational residents and the communities supported its kids. And there simply was not the myriad of entertainment options we have today.

More importantly, high school sports were kept in their proper perspective. Coaches were in place for many, many years because the public wasn’t calling for their job with every loss. Parents trusted the coaches judgment too, and didn’t whine or threaten the coach if their kid hadn’t earned playing time. There was no year round commitment demanded for any one sport. Kids played a sport within its season and when it ended they moved on to the next sport and season,
 
Keith50070 said:
Sitting here at my local high school teams game (Mogadore) for a second round playoff game and I am completely unimpressed with the crowd. Is it lacking everywhere else besides teams that are making unusual runs I'd imagine? Is it the cost of the tickets? Just curious to what others are experiencing and thinking.
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It’s a simple answer. In fact, it’s the same one causing the officials shortage & school enrollments to teeter. The Rust Belt losing people to the Sun Belt is at the crux of everything. So many people I went to college with and family members have either taken jobs in southern states or moved there with a remote job. Who’s going to attend the games if everyone has left their home town?
 
Stark Born & Bred said:
I struggle with thinking that the ticket prices are keeping people home. I just think interest is down - everywhere. Would more of the interested people attend games if the price point was lower? Maybe…but I don’t think it would result in a visually noticeable uptick in attendance. I think there are just less people filing into stadiums that are too big and built for a different era of interest and attendance.
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I agree with this. We as a whole on a here make the mistake that just because WE like high school football, everyone should like it.

I know longer live in Ohio, but I rarely go to my local high school’s games (this wouldn’t change in Ohio). By Friday night, between work and shuttling my kid to/from her activities, I am spent. We’re either hanging out at home, or hanging out with friends. I’ll follow games on here or even stream if I’m really interested, but don’t have any desire to go. It doesn’t mean I like it any less, it’s just I consume it differently.
 
PGEMF said:
I agree with this. We as a whole on a here make the mistake that just because WE like high school football, everyone should like it.

I know longer live in Ohio, but I rarely go to my local high school’s games (this wouldn’t change in Ohio). By Friday night, between work and shuttling my kid to/from her activities, I am spent. We’re either hanging out at home, or hanging out with friends. I’ll follow games on here or even stream if I’m really interested, but don’t have any desire to go. It doesn’t mean I like it any less, it’s just I consume it differently.
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Or you never really liked it at all.
 
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