It’s no secret that the UCLA Bruins have struggled to bring fans to the Rose Bowl in recent years. UCLA’s mediocre program isn’t the only reason the Bruins are seeing their attendance numbers dip. They’re not alone, either. Many college football programs are facing a similar problem.
Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times released an article on Wednesday detailing UCLA’s current attendance woes. Bolch noted how this problem might be worse than it seems due to how the Bruins calculate their official attendance. They include players, coaches and the media in their attendance. Fewer fans in the seats will result in less revenue, the last thing any college football program wants to hear as the sport has embarked on the NIL era. Bolch noted that 61 of 134 Football Bowl Subdivision teams saw a decline in attendance last season, according to D1ticker.com.
“Declining revenue is especially troublesome at a school whose athletic department has run in the red for six consecutive fiscal years. The Bruins brought in $11.6 million in football ticket revenue during the most recent fiscal year, down nearly half from the $20 million they generated in 2014 when the team averaged a record 76,650 fans at the Rose Bowl under coach Jim Mora,” Bolch wrote.
The reasons for the attendance dip aren’t overly complex. UCLA’s campus sits 26 miles away from the Rose Bowl and students are less likely to make that trek for mediocre football. Add in the sometimes scorching weather at early season home games and late start times, fans don’t seem to think the juice is worth the squeeze. There are renovations being done to the Rose Bowl to help modernize the experience but the best way to get fans back into the seats, is to give them a team worth watching.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: LA Times report highlights how lingering attendance problem will kneecap UCLA
Reporting by Dylan McNeill, UCLA Wire / UCLA Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
