The best quote of this article...

[57stratdawg]

I understand, but to me there is nothing I value more than a college football Saturday. The smells, drinking with my friends, watching games at the tailgates, it doesn't get any better.

Like I said, I don't mind paying, but I'm in the minority. No kids, decent living. And, I travel, so I'm able to book some nights in SVille on points. But, as Derhnter and I discussed one day, there is room for competition in the SVille hotel industry.

 

[The Usual Suspect]

Let me add, that Jackson losing Southwest Airlines will hurt my coming back. I usually make a couple of games a year from Houston, TX. I could fly SW for 85 bucks and get a hotel in Jackson (to avoid the windfall prices of Starkville hotels). Now that SW is not in Jackson, I'm sure it will cost more.

 

[esplanade91]

This is also where our small towns hurt us. It's hard to get a hotel room for one or two games, and those of us who live far away can't make every one. I have to take a day off work, and basically spend three days to go to a game. And maybe fans aren't moving further, but they certainly are more engaged. Now it's easy to keep up with the team and stay involved no matter where you live. For the cost of going to one game, I could buy a new TV, get a hooker and a keg of beer.

I've attempted to come back to Starkville 3 times since I've graduated, but at the last minute I realized I couldn't afford it each time.

Columbus is insanely expensive to fly into and there usually aren't any seats, so I check Memphis and Jackson... $300-400, which is doable... But then I have to go through the trouble of finding a ride and finding a place to stay. It's a lot to deal with. That's not even mentioning tickets to the game, dinner, beer, and bar tabs.

This is realistically the last season I'll be able to make for a while simply for the fact that it's the last year I'll have friends in Starkville. Once I lose that, I don't know when I'll be able to go. It's next to impossible to get a hotel in Starkville, and if you can it's not close.. So you need a car or access to one... Which is more $$$.

 

[DerHntr]

I want to lead off by saying that there are a ton of valid points being made in this thread. The long drives, rising costs of gas and hotel accomodations, rising costs of tickets and bulldog club donations, etc. are all making it difficult for the average fan to make it to the games. However, I'm seeing a lot of complaints about advertisements, in game experience, and lack of quality wins as reasons for the decline in attendance. I have to respectfully disagree. Every been to a game at Bryant Denny? They don't advertise just as we do, they don't use the same ploys in an attempt to entertain fans during tv timeouts, and they actually win big time games, yet they still struggle with attendance in those cupcake games. In fact, attendance is down across the board for the entirety of college football. I think someone hit it on the head earlier when they mentioned the ability to watch the game in full HD from the comfort of their home. I'm sorry, but in my opinion, unless you are of the elder generation or have some type of handicap, this is pure laziness. I can guarantee you that we will pick up a big win in the future, maybe not this year or the next or the next 3 years, but eventually we will. I can also guarantee you that having that the feeling you'll experience with 60,000 fans is much more jubilant than watching from the comfort of your home. If you disagree with that, you've probably not been to many games in peron. For myself and my wife, getting back to Starkville and around campus is about much more than arriving to watch the game. It's important to us to see what all the University is doing, support new businesses around town, visit the buildings we once walked, see old friends, etc. Also, if you're losing that "what if" feeling when walking into a game, I feel terribly sorry for you. Why even watch the game on TV if that's the case? There is nothing that beats watching a give from within those stands at DWS and hearing the cowbells ringing when our boys take the field. No HD TV in this world could replicate that. I want to be clear that financially, it can be a burden at times, but we make due. It's called budgeting. Everyone venting in this thread just seems so negative about going to games. Again, everyone is entitled to complain and gripe and that's all fine and good, I just want to give a different perspective. Things aren't quite as bad as this thread would lead people to believe.

Yes. It is called budgeting. It's also called budgeting priorities. I would bet that we'd have less fans at games if more of them were actually budgeting. Seeing it on paper and comparing it to other expenses can be real damn eye opening.

I'm glad for the people who spend that kind of coin on going to games. It's awesome for them. But don't go off telling me that my priorities aren't in line if I think XYZ amount is too much for my growing family.

 

[Machiavelli]

I can't believe so many have missed the hidden message in the Mercedes Benz commercial. MSU Football is a luxury! Drive the right vehicle, wear the right label, live in the right neighbor, send kids to the right school...competitive acquisition has long been an American institution. Hell we drink luxurious lattes.


How could anyone complain about the cost of college football. It's capitalism at its finest! Like the Mercedes Benz, it's not for the poor or the fugal. I'm just glad there's no federal subsidy for tickets. Of course Mercedes has reached out to those 99%. So maybe Scott can come up with a few "C-Class" seats.

 

[horshack.sixpack]

Oh and also, PLEASE cater to young alumni more. It's us with no wife and no kids who can make every game. Please give us an affordable way to enjoy attending and going to games.

No wife. No kids. = you should be subsidizing me! If you don't have the money now, just wait...

 

[mcdawg22]

On top of that all the hotels require a two night minimum.

 

[RocketDawg]

The price of a ticket is reasonable. It's the donation required to be able to buy that ticket that's the kicker.

 

[RocketDawg]

Fly into Memphis. It's not that much farther away than Jackson, and they have a heckuva lot more flights because it's a much larger airport, so you can pick your times better.