Attendance Stats from Championship Game

[palos_verdes_ute]

Pac-12
Washington vs. Utah
Time: 5 p.m./FOX (Friday)
Levi’s Stadium capacity: 67.500
Announced crowd: 35,134
Percentage filled: 52
TV rating: 3.1
Note: Up 15 percent from last year (Stanford vs. USC/ESPN) but down 21 percent from 2016 (UW vs. Colorado/FOX).

ACC
Clemson vs. Pittsburgh
Time: 5 p.m./ABC
BofA Stadium capacity: 75,412
Announced crowd: 67,784
Percentage filled: 89.8
TV rating: Not available.

Big Ten
Ohio State vs. Northwestern
Time: Saturday, 5 p.m./FOX
Lucas Oil Stadium capacity: 67,000
Announced crowd: 66,375
Percentage filled: 99
TV rating: 5.6
Note: Down 30 percent from last year (Ohio State-Wisconsin).

Big 12
Oklahoma vs. Texas
Time: Saturday 9 a.m./ABC
AT&T Stadium capacity: 80,000
Announced crowd: 83,114
Percentage filled: 104
TV rating: 6.8
Comment: Third-highest overnight of the season (any conference).

SEC
Alabama vs. Georgia
Time: Saturday 1 p.m./CBS
Mercedes-Benz Stadium capacity: 71,000
Announced crowd: 77,141
Percentage filled: 109
TV rating: 10.5
Note: Highest overnight ratings for a non-bowl since 2011 (any game, any conference).

[Utah]

This is why the PAC-12 is falling behind. No one cares. 

[Mr Chainsaw]

Is it though, or is it geography.  How many more people would have gone if it was < 3 hour drive.  I know I would have.

[Mr Chainsaw]

I guess that doesn’t account for TV rating though

[PlainsUte]

Geography, name brands and relevance all play in.  Okla-Texas and Alabama-Georgia were easy drives for fans of both sides and being “name brands” for each conference in the race for the 4-team playoff they got a lot of national attention.

[GameForAnyFuss]

Two words: Population density. 

[Dwight89]

Definitely need to increase interest in football in general on the west coast. I think Oregon/Washington/Utah has very high interest. But California and Arizona being warm weather states there’s too many other sports and activities to do. Football is competing with the NBA, NFL, beaches, MLB those states. 

 

That combined with the West Coast having fewer people than the East Coast just makes it tough for the Pac 12 to have the same size of fan base as the SEC/Big 10. 

[javadave]

Or it doesn’t get the hype by ESPN like all of the other P5 conferences do.

[AlohaUte]

Yup, the reality is, the West (both the coast and mountains) are more apathetic to sports than other regions. I attribute it to having a lot more to do. People have more things to fill their time out west than they do in the South.

It doesn’t just matter more out West.

[Utah]

Yeah. We are just better people out here. 🙂

[Crazyforu]

This is 100% due to geography. Its doesn’t take any advanced math to figure out why attendance has always been bad at the PAC Championship game. The game is at a venue that isn’t easily accessible. At least with a bowl game you have 3-4 weeks to plan, this game you only have 1-2 weeks (and it isn’t over a holiday). Its not due to any perceived lack of interest though.

[Utah]

What about the tv rating. With lower attendance, ratings should be higher. 

[EagleMountainUte]

5:20 Pacific start on a Friday. Horrible spot. 

[palos_verdes_ute]

Vegas location in 2 years will improve this, but I don’t think it will rival those other conferences.  The problem is the football culture among the PAC12 schools are not the same as schools in the south (or middle america).

[St George Ute]

I wonder what attendance would be like if they move it to the Raiders stadium in Vegas when it’s done. I’d attend, even if Utah wasn’t in the game.

For that matter, they could move HQ to Vegas and likely save a ton. But, that’s a subject for another time.

[PlainsUte]

Then they’d have to have a representative from the Teamster’s Union and the Gambino Family in the review booth.   Not that the officiating can get any worse.

[St George Ute]

True. Maybe we move the offices to Anaheim and we get Mickey Mouse and Goofy in the review booth. Oh wait…

[Calgradutedad]

5 hr drive from Mobile, AL to SEC Championship game for a weekend game. 14 hour drive from Seattle to PAC 12 championship game for a Friday night game. Huge difference in ease of attending game.

I live less than an hour away from Levi’s stadium. It’s got a bad reputation for its poor access so there’s not a lot of people willing to fight the Bay Area traffic to go see a couple of college teams. This is a pro team area. Colleges rarely get mentioned on sports talk in the Bay Area.