10-23-2017, 01:13 PM
Stanford football attendance primarily come down to intractable issues:
College football is the only game in town in most college areas, whereas the Bay Area has a multitude of entertainment options (including a dozen professional teams) matched only by a handful of metropolitan areas in the country. Alabama is not the most exciting team (and its games are certainly not the most exciting games) but they face no competition in Tuscaloosa.
Stanford has a relatively small alumni base compounded by the fact that a relatively high portion of the alumni base doesn't live in the immediate area. A different situation than enormous public schools with a significant number of alums living within driving distance. The number of OSU alums living with in a reasonable distance of Columbus surely dwarfs our numbers.
Successful programs at private schools located in major metropolitan issues (e.g. Miami, Southern Cal) have also struggled with attendance issue to varying degrees, due to the same factors that affect Stanford.
College football is the only game in town in most college areas, whereas the Bay Area has a multitude of entertainment options (including a dozen professional teams) matched only by a handful of metropolitan areas in the country. Alabama is not the most exciting team (and its games are certainly not the most exciting games) but they face no competition in Tuscaloosa.
Stanford has a relatively small alumni base compounded by the fact that a relatively high portion of the alumni base doesn't live in the immediate area. A different situation than enormous public schools with a significant number of alums living within driving distance. The number of OSU alums living with in a reasonable distance of Columbus surely dwarfs our numbers.
Successful programs at private schools located in major metropolitan issues (e.g. Miami, Southern Cal) have also struggled with attendance issue to varying degrees, due to the same factors that affect Stanford.