Kentucky Football's Declining Attendance is Disappointing

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1024"] The only packed house of the year, vs. Georgia.[/caption] "I'm not mad at you, I'm just disappointed." Those words are more painful to a punished child than a good 'ol fashioned ass-chewing, and that's exactly what the BBN needs to hear right now.  I know I'm not supposed to tell fans how to "fan."  It's an argument you can't win and fan-shaming is annoying, but 2016's attendance numbers are disappointing. Kentucky averaged 53,643 reported fans a game, or 88% of Commonwealth's capacity.  Even though Kentucky won seven regular season games, attendance dropped by 12% from 2015.  It is the third biggest drop in the Power Five conferences. Let me reiterate that unbelievable statement.  Kentucky won seven regular season football games, the most since 2009, but had the third biggest drop in attendance in the Power Five. Keep in mind, these are also inflated figures, reported by tickets sold, not butts in seats.  To make sense of this data provided by CBS Sports, I'm going to make a pair of lists.

Why Attendance Should Decrease

• Southern Miss.  Losing a big lead to Shannon Dawson's Southern Miss was the straw the broke the camel's back for many, and understandably so.
• Attendance has dropped nationwide.  Even though it was less than a 1% drop in all of FBS, it hit a 16-year low.
• Seating Reassignments.  It's the worst thing about the Commonwealth Stadium renovation.  It played a primary role as to why there wasn't a Roush season-ticket holder for the first time in the stadium's history.  Still, when my parents weren't watching my little brother play for WKU, they made the trip to Commonwealth.  My Dad didn't even leave the Austin Peay game early when everyone else got too cold.
• Cost.  When Kentucky had a chance to take a lead in the SEC East, many fans scoffed at the price they were forced to pay.  For some, it either isn't a priority or affordable, however, the athletic department has made plenty of ticket deals available to provide discounted options.  They aren't always perfect, but it helps.
• Opponent.  Mississippi State, Vanderbilt and South Carolina aren't the sexiest names on the SEC schedule.  Some simply can't avoid the stickers on the helmets.

Why Attendance Should Increase

• UK Wins at Home.  Being mad about the Southern Miss loss cost fans to miss five more wins and a narrow loss to Georgia.  As much as the USM loss hurt, you've gotta get over it eventually.  The five wins should outweigh the two losses.
• Night games.  We used to complain when Kentucky seemed to always play at noon.  There were zero noon home kickoffs at Commonwealth Stadium this year.  Three of the seven home games were 4:00 kickoffs, the other four were night games.
• Toot Toot.  It's an undeniable fact that the stadium atmosphere dramatically improved in 2016.  The music from the DJ was improved, the third down coal whistle got the crowd fired up, but no amount of Toot Toot's can compare to what Marcus McClinton does at the end of the third quarter.
• An improved product. Stoops has consistently said, "We need to put a product on the field that gives the fans something to cheer for."  I think a pair of 1,000-yard rushers and more than 425-yards of offense a game is a good start.
• Why Not?

We often labeled the crowd as "good" throughout the year, but it really wasn't.  The Georgia crowd was nearly a sell out, the season opener vs. Southern Miss was solid, but other than that, there was only one "good" crowd game between Vanderbilt, South Carolina and Mississippi State. Nothing was more disheartening than the attendance at Senior Day.  Even though everyone knew it was going to be an easy win vs. Austin Peay, in previous years the stadium would've looked like an average crowd (with empty seats in the corners), excited to send the seniors off by becoming bowl eligible for the first time in six years.  Instead, maybe 20,000 people were there. To the fans that didn't miss a game, I applaud you and I thank you for supporting your football program.  For those that stayed away from Commonwealth Stadium, it's okay, there's still time for redemption but you better act soon.  You're running out of excuses.