Will New Television Contract Mean More Empty Seats Around the SEC?
by Jay Coulter on Jul 10, 2009 3:00 AM CDT
in Football
16 comments
Go to the game or stay home and watch it on television? That question gets a lot harder to answer this season with the new SEC television contract between CBS and ESPN. While conference schools are getting a boat load of new cash from the networks, the new deal may mean more empty seats on campus.
In case you missed it, under the new contract Auburn will have 11 of its 12 games televised this year across both networks. Only the November 7th contest with Furman is not scheduled for television and that's likely to be carried on pay-per-view.
The same goes for the rest of the conference. At a minimum, each SEC school will have seven games televised - yes, even Vanderbilt. The top teams are guaranteed to have virtually all of its games available over the air.
With an economy that continues to struggle and the advent of really big and clear high definition televisions, fans are likely to think twice about dropping several hundred dollars a weekend to make the trek to campus. Maybe it's already having an impact. For the first time in many years, Auburn still has season tickets available including seats for the Iron Bowl.
Undoubtedly, a lot of this stems from the economy and the fact that many Auburn fans are less than enthused about the choice of Gene Chizik as coach. Add in low expectations for the season and you have a recipe for some empty seats on the Plains.
Don't be surprised to see this played out in other places across the conference. Most all schools are reporting a reduction in athletic department donations and that will likely translate into empty seats all over the South. Even when you take the money issue out of the equation, this new television contract makes it tempting to stay home.
There's a lot to be said for sitting in the air conditioner, watching the SEC games of your choice and maybe another national telecast on your big HD television. For the price of a set of Auburn season tickets including your donation to Tigers Unlimited, you can buy a 50 inch plasma or LCD television that brings you closer to the action than you could ever hope to get in person.
What you don't get is the tailgate experience, Tiger Walk and the game day atmosphere. But considering it's likely to be 90 degrees or more for the first four home games, sitting on the couch sounds pretty inviting. Personally, I don't miss home games. I'm one of those who arrives at 9 a.m. for an evening kickoff. I'm also the type of person who on Sunday questions whether its worth the effort and money when all I have to do is turn on the television.
I'm sure you'll agree: tailgating is hard work. The new TV contract just makes me question my viewing habits more. Staying at home never looked or sounded so good.
0 recs |
16 comments
|
Email
Print
Comments
Only place you see a ton of empty seats is Vandy
If peeing your pants is cool, consider me Miles Davis.
"tailgating is hard work"
I, like many, have been tailgating at Auburn games for 30-plus years. I still remember it like yesterday, I would play pee-wee football in the morning on Saturdays, and right afterwards my dad would take me over to the campus – still in my pee-wee uniform. It was an incredible experience for an 8-year old.
But, over the past 10 years, the university seems intent on making the tailgating experience more and more difficult. They seem content on game-goers parking at Tiger Town and catching the shuttle to and from the games. The university is making tailgate parking difficult on the fans, and thus going to the games less about the campus atmosphere.
Right now I pull my RV to campus on Fridays and park on out on South Donahue. But with the new construction, they are pushing RV’s, as well as other tailgaters, further and further from the activities around the stadium, which, in my opinion, hurts the gameday experience.
Over time, if more and more people choose to stay at home, I don’t think it will be because of the TV accessibility, it will be bacuase of the choices of the university to push fans away from tailgating on campus. They seem to have the attitude of “give us tons of money for your tickets, catch the bus to the game, AND then go home.”
I feel sorry for the kids who are missing out on the experience of coming to campus, which are the ones who 20 to 30 years down the road are the ones the university will be looking at as the fanbase in the future. But the question is, will they be there ??
Exactly My Sentiments Big Swamp....
I have been going to games since 1958. I raised 3 kids (28 to 40) on Auburn Tailgaiting and now our grandchildren are attending. I do believe so many kids today are missing out on those great Auburn childhood memories. Like Jay I used to get to campus about 9:00am. However the last few years we have to get there on Friday if we want to keep our family tradition going. Every year we expect the University to stop all on campus tailgaiting. If that happens, it will combine with the escalating ticket & contiribution cost to cause us to watch at home. A fate we have worked hard to avoid !
aubtigerman
by aubtigerman on Jul 10, 2009 10:09 PM CDT up reply actions
i totally agree
they pulled a lot of crap like that at ASU two or three years ago. it sucks now.
welcome to the SEC kiffykins...
by tempebamafan on Jul 11, 2009 4:54 PM CDT up reply actions
Huzzah!
for cheap student tickets!
….but with the renovations of Bryant Denny I have no idea which gate I’m going in
?
WARNING small parts that could be a choking hazard
If
You can find a spot in one of the smallest student sections in the SEC. Bryant Denny might have cheap tickets but you dont have very many seats. I would be pissed if i was an Alabama fan for that and a crappy education.
ALABAMA leading the NCAA with infractions since 1994
too bad...
all the academic magazines and rankings have that “crappy” education far better than AU’s. Smart Post!
I can understand the vitriol after skips comment.....
and I wouldn’t call bama’s education crappy…..however most publications I have read have AU above UA in most catagories (although neither is far from the other in any regards)…..this argument is silly on both sides (my signature comment is a reference to AU’s tougher admission standards….and is purely a poke at a rival so don’t get too twisted over it). We (both Universities) have alot to be proud of on the academic front. As to the post’s contention about the ease and comfort of watching at home compared to the excitement/ fatigue of tailgating and the stadium seats……I still love to be on the Plains for gameday regardless of the hassle.
I would have gone to bammer if my grades hadn't been good enough to go to AU
Really?
I mean really?
I’m just making a comment about how my student tickets are cheaper than most tickets and you are going to morph this into an anti Alabama comment because you believe we don’t give out enough student tickets?
Hey, barners sell out all your games this season than you can attack our student ticket sales.
Oh and I’m so very pissed at my future COLLEGE DEGREE. I’m sorry for seeking higher education at a school you cheer against in sports.
Here’s a tip: if you’re going to be an elitist dick, you have to be from an elite institution.
Ya’ll can scream and yell about your “not as good as Georgia Tech” Engineering school until your face turns blue but Auburn isn’t going to be considered an elite academic university by anybody, and neither is Alabama but you don’t here me belittling your COLLEGE DEGREE
WARNING small parts that could be a choking hazard
by Wallacewade04 on Jul 12, 2009 2:41 PM CDT up reply actions
And for what its worth....
my first job out of AU was for an engineering firm with about 80 professionals (engineers, geologists, etc…) and of the professionals all but 6 were AU grads….the Management was all AU which considering the Owners of the company were GT grads should speak volumes about the value of an AU engineer degree.
I would have gone to bammer if my grades hadn't been good enough to go to AU
How many
student seats are there in BDS?
Still around 14k in JHS??
by War Eagle Atlanta on Jul 10, 2009 2:15 PM CDT up reply actions
can't find a site that tells me
as far as getting them though I can tell you its a hassle
you need yourself and four of your buddies with laptops all trying to get into the online program. This year they sold out within an hour, but me and my friends stayed up all night (red bull for the win) and managed to get in
WARNING small parts that could be a choking hazard
by Wallacewade04 on Jul 12, 2009 2:50 PM CDT up reply actions
Being from Birmingham,
…..I can go down and make it back home in one day. It’s a bear, sometimes, on the late games. The South Florida debacle a couple of years ago was an awful wee hours ride home! Would have preferred another flask of whiskey and a closer crash pad!
…..Of course, I don’t go to every game, and that makes the one or two a year I do attend, pretty special! From an Auburn viewpoint, if the season plays out like I’ve predicted so far, there might be PLENTY of seats available for cheap, in the second half of the year.
…..Modern television IS an investment. I’m not quite there with it, still on basic cable, with a 27-inch analog tube TV in the living room. Media Center desktop PC, jacked into the cable, allows me to watch on my 22-inch monitor and do those wacky live-blogs, but that’s about it, as far as the 21st century. One particular bugaboo with the new TV contract is ESPN-U. It’s not on the analog cable tier, with Charter (The General Motors of cable providers!). That means any of THOSE games, I’ll be watching on ESPN 360, which ties up internet bandwith, and computer processing cycles. Might be glitchy…
Its college FOOTBALL
I can’t see college football fans opting out to “stay at home” to watch the game on TV… especially at Auburn- that is ALWAYS the last choice, last option scenario!!
Nothing beats a Saturday on the plains durring football season!! Wish I was back home in Alabama just for that fact sometimes!!
JJ Fe
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Certain photos copyright © 2010 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
