A couple more...
US College Stadia
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Scott
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Michigan holds the NCAA attendance record - 112,118 vs Ohio State in 2003. Since the expansion for the 1998 season, the average attendance is over 110,000. They have not had a crowd under 100,000 since 1975 - about 180 games. In college football, capacity doesn't mean maximum attendance.Dan wrote:Awesome.....
Does that break the attendance record for a US Stadium in all sports????
Im sure it beats Michigan.
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IanRitchie
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Dan
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amazing!!!Scott wrote:Michigan holds the NCAA attendance record - 112,118 vs Ohio State in 2003. Since the expansion for the 1998 season, the average attendance is over 110,000. They have not had a crowd under 100,000 since 1975 - about 180 games. In college football, capacity doesn't mean maximum attendance.Dan wrote:Awesome.....
Does that break the attendance record for a US Stadium in all sports????
Im sure it beats Michigan.
Sounds like if the venue seated 200,000..they would fill it!!
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Egan
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College Football must be a buzz...imagine people in Australia paying so much attention to college football.
Its this second tier of sport support, that Australia seems not be able to support...with only the elites of a sport gaining incredible support.
While it seems in America this is not the case...which is good to see.
Its this second tier of sport support, that Australia seems not be able to support...with only the elites of a sport gaining incredible support.
While it seems in America this is not the case...which is good to see.
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james_
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swede
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But thats not really a fair way to calculate it.
College football in the US is the 2nd level of the game after the NFL which has only around 30 teams for a 300 million population. If Australia was a US state it would have just 2 NFL teams each playing just around 7-8 home games each year. Perth,Adelaide,Brisbane would not field a team in the cities favorite sport.
With such a narrow pro game, its obvious that there will be a huge following for the second level which is college. The NFL supports college football very much, primarily by not staging any games on saturdays where colleges play.
This also means colleges are quite rich yet cant their pay players beyond scholarships. This leaves a lot of cash for superb facilities both stadium and for training. Some colleges have full-size indoor fields for poor weather training.
The amateur status also means that parts of the US where there is no chance of a pro team (probably less than half of US states have a pro team) follow college football.
College stadiums will grow in the future and become the biggest in the world. Its crucial for colleges to be able to offer tickets to alumni in order to get them back to the college and make donations as is normal in the US. A poor view is acceptable as its about more than the game.
There may well be some reaching 150,000 in the future.
This is completly different to both the NFL and european stadiums where its all about quality. Some 40 years ago little scotland had 4 stadiums above 100,000 and all the US none. Now there isnt a single such venue in Europe, where wembley with 90,000 will probably soon be the biggest, but more and more colleges may cross it.
Currently I think around 30 colleges average above 60,000 and its unlikely to do anything but grow and colleges have to fit them in.
In the 1800´s modern ball games were basically only played in schools in the UK and US. When sport started to go pro in the UK, school sports died out as a big spectator sport and the pro clubs took over and that format spread around the world.
That just never happened in the US, where school sports remained the basis for sports with only a small franchised pro game above it.
Perhaps there are 1,000 colleges capable of getting crowds of a few thousand and perhaps 10-20,000 high schools that can do the same.
Its a strange but great thing in my opinion as money is to a large extent kept out of the game except to be used for facilities
College football in the US is the 2nd level of the game after the NFL which has only around 30 teams for a 300 million population. If Australia was a US state it would have just 2 NFL teams each playing just around 7-8 home games each year. Perth,Adelaide,Brisbane would not field a team in the cities favorite sport.
With such a narrow pro game, its obvious that there will be a huge following for the second level which is college. The NFL supports college football very much, primarily by not staging any games on saturdays where colleges play.
This also means colleges are quite rich yet cant their pay players beyond scholarships. This leaves a lot of cash for superb facilities both stadium and for training. Some colleges have full-size indoor fields for poor weather training.
The amateur status also means that parts of the US where there is no chance of a pro team (probably less than half of US states have a pro team) follow college football.
College stadiums will grow in the future and become the biggest in the world. Its crucial for colleges to be able to offer tickets to alumni in order to get them back to the college and make donations as is normal in the US. A poor view is acceptable as its about more than the game.
There may well be some reaching 150,000 in the future.
This is completly different to both the NFL and european stadiums where its all about quality. Some 40 years ago little scotland had 4 stadiums above 100,000 and all the US none. Now there isnt a single such venue in Europe, where wembley with 90,000 will probably soon be the biggest, but more and more colleges may cross it.
Currently I think around 30 colleges average above 60,000 and its unlikely to do anything but grow and colleges have to fit them in.
In the 1800´s modern ball games were basically only played in schools in the UK and US. When sport started to go pro in the UK, school sports died out as a big spectator sport and the pro clubs took over and that format spread around the world.
That just never happened in the US, where school sports remained the basis for sports with only a small franchised pro game above it.
Perhaps there are 1,000 colleges capable of getting crowds of a few thousand and perhaps 10-20,000 high schools that can do the same.
Its a strange but great thing in my opinion as money is to a large extent kept out of the game except to be used for facilities
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redback_original
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Good post swede...
These days there's 32 teams in the nfl (cleveland & houston both getting 'replacement' franchises)... and you're right - not many for a country the size of the US...
I tend to think if Australia was part of the US... we'd field four teams... because we're so 'centralised' and urbanised (yo!) ... US cities the same size as Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane tend to have teams... Sydney would have to miss out just as LA does... have to be content with sellout games in college football at an old olympic stadium...
Interestingly, both the ABC and NFL wanted night games to be played on Friday nights (when high school football is played)... Congress put a stop to it in order to preserve the sanctity of the HS game... thus leading to the creation of Monday Night Football 35 years ago.
Apart from tennis it's probably the only sport that is played into the early hours of the following day. Eastern games start at 9pm and finish about 12.30am - or even after 1am if playing into extra time.
Oh yeah... all the kiddies still go...
oh and college football has a Thursday night game...
These days there's 32 teams in the nfl (cleveland & houston both getting 'replacement' franchises)... and you're right - not many for a country the size of the US...
I tend to think if Australia was part of the US... we'd field four teams... because we're so 'centralised' and urbanised (yo!) ... US cities the same size as Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane tend to have teams... Sydney would have to miss out just as LA does... have to be content with sellout games in college football at an old olympic stadium...
Interestingly, both the ABC and NFL wanted night games to be played on Friday nights (when high school football is played)... Congress put a stop to it in order to preserve the sanctity of the HS game... thus leading to the creation of Monday Night Football 35 years ago.
Apart from tennis it's probably the only sport that is played into the early hours of the following day. Eastern games start at 9pm and finish about 12.30am - or even after 1am if playing into extra time.
Oh yeah... all the kiddies still go...
oh and college football has a Thursday night game...
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Scott
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swede
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Indeed, and 5 years ago it held 120,000. My point is european stadiums are shrinking.HoldenV8 wrote:I think you will find that Nou Camp in Barcelona would be the stadium in Europe with the largest current capacity (98,000).
Having said that Nou Camp may retain its capacity for quite a while as its not spoiled by its size and the low cost of attendance doesnt merit a serious upgrade.
Also they do get good crowds even if its very rarely full.
The ideal for future stadiums for big euro clubs are probably the new Luz in Lisbon. Excellent facilities, around 65,000 capacity all with a good view. Moving beyond that just means wildly escalating costs, bigger problems with infrastructure in order to get more seats with a poor view and more games without full stadiums leading to poorer atmosphere and probably both lower crowds and less tv-income.
Would Barcelona do a straight swap? probably
European clubs have to play some 25 home games per season, whereas colleges play just 6-7. Another reason why I think we will see some really big college stadiums in the future.
Link to college attendances
www.ncaa.org/stats/football/attendance/index.html
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Blackadder
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For a pic of Bryant-Denny Stadium(Univesity of Alabama), and history behind the stadium and future expansion plans check out Bryant-Denny Stadium
One of the reasons why College sport is so popular in the US, it is more about the sport in in its purest form, rather than just being about over blown ego's and paychecks to match in the pro ranks
One of the reasons why College sport is so popular in the US, it is more about the sport in in its purest form, rather than just being about over blown ego's and paychecks to match in the pro ranks
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NateDogg
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someone already mentioned it, but its not just the second tier sports in the US that get crowds, Ive been to High School basketball games with over 3000 people, and college division 2 (mind you the Div 2 champs) that had over 12000 in an amazing sunken staduim....
http://www.robertstadium.com
http://www.robertstadium.com