[81alum]

The 49ers don’t seem to have much problem.  Despite its political proclivities, pro football is King in the Bay Area. Followed by Pro Basketball.  Then pro baseball. 

Lex, if you look at the link I provided, you will find that pro football draws a very different demographic than college football.  Pro football is actually the most ideologically "neutral" of all the TV sports in terms of its fan base.  College football is quite different.

As for why the Saturday social scene has changed--I agree with many of the points raised above (especially the times of games) but would also point out Stanford's changing demographics in other ways.  Not only has the Stanford student body become more female and more foreign, it has become far more diverse.  Stanford's undergraduates are only 33% white now, and 7% Black.  While there are plenty of Hispanic and Asian-American fans and players (including on this board,) American football has never been as popular with these demographic groups.  I'm white, I dragged my Chinese-American girlfriend to a couple of football games when I was in college, and I am grateful that she eventually forgave me--and married me anyway.  She hasn't been to a game since in 42 years.  Purely a solitary anecdote, but football was once primarily a black and white sport, and that certainly does not describe Stanford today.

One final point, leaving out the political ideology argument and the demographic argument, there may be something simpler at work.  Stanford now admits a tinier percentage of applicants compared with prior decades.  It may be that its students are a whole lot more academically inclined than they were before, and they may be investing their time differently.  "Stanford hates fun" may not tell the whole story.  The truth may be that many more Stanford students may be working in labs, doing internships, reading books, writing papers, and doing the kinds of things that students do--on Saturdays, and they be be less inclined to blow off an afternoon than they were in my day.

[81alum]

The 49ers don’t seem to have much problem.  Despite its political proclivities, pro football is King in the Bay Area. Followed by Pro Basketball.  Then pro baseball. 

Lex, if you look at the link I provided, you will find that pro football draws a very different demographic than college football.  Pro football is actually the most ideologically "neutral" of all the TV sports in terms of its fan base.  College football is quite different.

As for why the Saturday social scene has changed--I agree with many of the points raised above (especially the times of games) but would also point out Stanford's changing demographics in other ways.  Not only has the Stanford student body become more female and more foreign, it has become far more diverse.  Stanford's undergraduates are only 33% white now, and 7% Black.  While there are plenty of Hispanic and Asian-American fans and players (including on this board,) American football has never been as popular with these demographic groups.  I'm white, I dragged my Chinese-American girlfriend to a couple of football games when I was in college, and I am grateful that she eventually forgave me--and married me anyway.  She hasn't been to a game since in 42 years.  Purely a solitary anecdote, but football was once primarily a black and white sport, and that certainly does not describe Stanford today.

One final point, leaving out the political ideology argument and the demographic argument, there may be something simpler at work.  Stanford now admits a tinier percentage of applicants compared with prior decades.  It may be that its students are a whole lot more academically inclined than they were before, and they may be investing their time differently.  "Stanford hates fun" may not tell the whole story.  The truth may be that many more Stanford students may be working in labs, doing internships, reading books, writing papers, and doing the kinds of things that students do--on Saturdays, and they be be less inclined to blow off an afternoon than they were in my day.