[Mick]

I don't think it's TV in a vacuum, but TV is most of the reason. 

Not only do you get to see more games by not attending them, but you also don't have to pay upwards of $30/ticket and at least 5 hrs. of your day to attend.  Attendance is down all over college football, and probably the NFL too, particularly for teams that aren't doing a lot of winning lately.

This trend has been going on for a long time.  My uncle told me how his Sequoia High School team played at a near sold-out  Stanford stadium in the early 1960's when Gary Beban was the QB.  Apparently high school football was very big in the Bay Area back then.  Stanford used to draw 60K+ when I was a season ticket holder from 1999-2001, and Big Games would routinely put 80K in seats for years.

Look at the attendance in the media guide from when Elway was QB...and weep.  I remember long lines at the Page Mill exit when I was a kid just to get to the stadium.  Very, very exciting.

1982, last Elway game at Stanford against USC...73,859.  That year, Stanford drew 57k+ for SJSU, just 39k for  OSU, 55k for #2 Washington and 45k for Arizona.  Finished 5-6, even after beating #13 Ohio State in Ohio, 23-20 in front of 89k fans.

Walsh attendance; 59k for Oklahoma, 42k for SJSU, 40k for Tulane, 58k for Washington, 39k for oregon, 84k for USC.

[Mick]

I don't think it's TV in a vacuum, but TV is most of the reason. 

Not only do you get to see more games by not attending them, but you also don't have to pay upwards of $30/ticket and at least 5 hrs. of your day to attend.  Attendance is down all over college football, and probably the NFL too, particularly for teams that aren't doing a lot of winning lately.

This trend has been going on for a long time.  My uncle told me how his Sequoia High School team played at a near sold-out  Stanford stadium in the early 1960's when Gary Beban was the QB.  Apparently high school football was very big in the Bay Area back then.  Stanford used to draw 60K+ when I was a season ticket holder from 1999-2001, and Big Games would routinely put 80K in seats for years.

Look at the attendance in the media guide from when Elway was QB...and weep.  I remember long lines at the Page Mill exit when I was a kid just to get to the stadium.  Very, very exciting.

1982, last Elway game at Stanford against USC...73,859.  That year, Stanford drew 57k+ for SJSU, just 39k for  OSU, 55k for #2 Washington and 45k for Arizona.  Finished 5-6, even after beating #13 Ohio State in Ohio, 23-20 in front of 89k fans.

Walsh attendance; 59k for Oklahoma, 42k for SJSU, 40k for Tulane, 58k for Washington, 39k for oregon, 84k for USC.