Menu
Download the app

SBJ subscribers – Enhance your experience with the revamped iOS app

Colleges

College bowl attendance shows mixed results among fan bases

Allstate Sugar Bowl CEO Jeff Hundley said that the projected attendance for Saturday's Alabama-Kansas State matchup is “about 55,000 in the 74,295-seat Caesars Superdome,” according to Ted Lewis of the New Orleans ADVOCATE. If the projections become the reality, the numbers would “challenge the 2017 Auburn-Oklahoma game and the 2020 Georgia-Baylor as the lowest-attended Sugar Bowl (excluding the 2021 COVID-19-limited game) since the expansion of Tulane Stadium in 1940.” Hundley said sales have “started to pick up in the last few day,” and they “feel better than it did a couple weeks ago.” Hundley added the Sugar Bowl will “fall short of a sellout,” but will “still have a strong crowd” on hand Saturday. Alabama missed the CFP for only the second time in the past nine years, and “fan disappointment” has “manifested itself.” Kansas State “sold its ticket allotment,” but some of its fans “have experienced canceled flights” into New Orleans. The trend of lower attendance has "manifested itself especially with the New Year’s Six games during the CFP.” Hundley: “Certain programs have very high expectation levels for their teams, and when those expectations aren’t met, the fans react” (New Orleans ADVOCATE, 12/29).

NEAR GATOR BOWL SELLOUT: In Columbia, Dwayne McLemore noted Friday's TaxSlayer Gator Bowl between South Carolina and Notre Dame had “overwhelming ticket demand from the Gamecocks’ fans base.” South Carolina will account for “more than 40,000 tickets sold” for the game at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville. The stadium has a capacity of 67,164 and the Gator Bowl is expecting “around 65,000 fans." Gator Bowl President & CEO Greg McGarity said South Carolina’s demand for tickets has “been incredible," as they "moved a significant amount of tickets.” It is South Carolina’s first trip to the Gator Bowl in 35 years and a "relatively short drive for fans making the trip.” South Carolina "officially" sold 20,319 tickets “through USC and the Gamecock Club.” The rest of the South Carolina-specific purchases were "made through the Gator Bowl website” (Columbia STATE, 12/29).

PINSTRIPE BOWL EXCEEDS EXPECTATIONS: In St. Paul, Andy Greder noted Thursday's Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium between Syracuse and Minnesota had an “attendance of 31,131,” with the “overwhelming majority supporting Syracuse, a school 250 miles from the Bronx” (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 12/29). In Syracuse, Nate Mink added Yankees President Randy Levine expected a “crowd of at least 30,000” for the game. Most crowds for the Pinstripe Bowl have "landed in the mid-30s for attendance." The last two times Syracuse has appeared attendance “touched the upper-30s.” Notre Dame and Penn State “anchored the only Pinstripe Bowls when attendance exceeded 40,000” (Syracuse POST-STANDARD, 12/29).

Thursday's Pinstripe Bowl drew a crowd of 31,131, meeting the Yankees' expectations as most fans supported nearby Syracuse in the loss to MinnesotaGetty Images

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2022/12/30/Colleges/college-bowl-attendance.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2022/12/30/Colleges/college-bowl-attendance.aspx

CLOSE