No it doesn't. People root for the uniform and the University not the players. The players never mattered to most fans as shown by how the react when a player transfers.
Starting to see college football super league talk
- Thread starter Obliviax
- Start date
There are a lot of people who disagree with you on this. I have spoken to many people who aren't happy with the rent-a-player system that we have now and they say it has diminished their interest somehwat.
I agree. But that is slowly changing. I know that I am less and less invested. Part of that is age. Part of it is disappointment against UM and tOSU. Part of that is the xfer portal. Part of it is NIL and the corruption that has resulted from NIL.
We'll see where it goes.
Of course they "say that" but they don't actually mean it--they just don't like change.
And, I agree with you. I'm not a huge fan of the portal or NIL as it is. But as long as it's Penn State the majoirty of people will still care even if they're frustrated. Fan bases just don't vanish--especially not one that has 100k plus showing for games against MAC schools.
I don't know where it goes but I'm pretty sure Curtis Enis is just shaking his head.
I agree that some don't like change, but to claim 'they don't actually mean it' is incorrect. I know people who took less (or no trips) than they normally do because they are just losing patience with the whole NIL and Transfer Portal thing. Your missing a large swath of backlash from folks who are getting tired of paying for tickets/travel, spending their time and then being asked to donate to NIL on top of it.
It seems to me like you have a habit of claiming everything that you don't like as being not true. I would not like to know your Possibility Thinking score.
I'm going to half agree with this. Yes, people root for the team. But then again a big part of it is following the players over time, watching them develop and grow, getting to know then as people (from a distance I mean), etc. If everybody transfers out after the 2024 season and a big, new batch transfers in for 2025, wins the Nat'l Title in 2025, then transfers out after 2025, then 10 years later people will barely know or care who played in 2025. OTOH, right now people like talking about guys that played 10, 20, 30 even 40 years ago.
There is such a thing as alienating your customer base, and there are examples of it happening in sports. Boxing was popular into the 80's, then collapsed. People didn't like the explosion in weight classes, the explosion in sanctioning bodies that lead to multiple champions at all weight classes, and all the King/Arum nonsense. The excuse was people didn't like the violence anymore, but then MMA came along and proved it wasn't that. How many sports fans can name more than one boxing champion, if any? Indy car drivers used to be household names, but not anymore. Some of that is the decline of car culture, but disconnecting the series from its roots didn't help. There are other examples.
While there is an element of resistance to change in people's reaction, most of it is people just not liking the change. It's no different than if a restaurant changes its atmosphere and makes major changes to its menu. Some long-term customers will embrace the changes and others won't, meaning they stop patronizing the place. One can accuse them of "just not liking change", but it's just as likely that the restaurant no longer offers the dining experience and menu items that drew them in the first place. They're not wrong; they're allowed to like what they like and walk away from a business that no longer provides it. Others are allowed to like and embrace the change and continue patronizing the business. The business can hope that new customers will offset those they lost, but that's far from a guarantee. Insisting that anyone has to embrace the change is just weird, and insisting that everyone will embrace isn't supported by history.
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I don't think cfb is going away, but it is in for a rude awakening when the old-timers die off. Anecdotally, the younger generations just don't seem that into sports and I don't see them spending nearly as much money or time on sports as do the old timers.
People will always complain but clearly many of them still took trips and the stadium was full.
What don't I like here? I'm dealing with reality and that reality is people my age and older aren't people that college football cares about. Hating the portal and NIL isn't going to change its a box that can't be closed.
But not "everyone" is going to transfer out. Some will stay. Some will go. Do you think Indiana fans won't remember Pennix or Auburn fans won't remember Nix. Hell I'd argue Silas Redd is more remembered because he left. Pretty sure if we won a title we'd all remember the key players for as long as we remember things lol
That's why they're pushing gambling because young people like to gamble. They just don't watch TV or go to games like us. It's also why you see games on streaming networks now.
If my son and his friends, most of whom were competitive athletes in high school are any indication, interest in watching sports isn't as great as previous generations. They follow them to some degree, but they don't watch them to the extent that older generations do and did. When kids stopped attending games in person, the assumption was that they were watching elsewhere. That wasn't the case. Some certainly were, but many others were just doing other activities instead of watching anything. If they are looking for this and future generations to bring the money needed to keep the system working, they need to either find ways to draw them back or get a piece of the pie from the areas where they are engaged.
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You don't like that a lot of people are getting turned off by NIL and are devoting their money and time elsewhere. I inferred from your statement that you think they are just all talk. I am saying that they are starting to vote with their feet, at least that is what they are telling me.
Myself, I took one less trip because I find the cfb environment a bit less exciting these days. I always knew these entities were greedy, but it just reached a tipping point for me where my interest has waned somewhat.
However, I am keeping an open mind as the schedules do look more interesting in the coming years. I wonder how I will feel once the novelty of playing UCLA or Oregon wears off, especially if you are playing a 4-6 UCLA or a 5-4 Oregon team. These teams could turn out to be another Nebraska. At one point, Nebby was a fantastic intersectional matchup, but now, meh.
That doesn't make sense--I don't care what people do with their time or money. I'm certainly not going to "dislike" any financial decision. I simply don't believe them. People make excuses all the time when they simply have other reasons not to. I don't like NIL or the Portal (aspects anyway of the Portal) but I accept change. The product on the field hasn't dropped...at all. That's what should be the focus on true fans. Casual fans come and go.
I mean, our schedule is a joke. What I don't like is people still attending games against MAC schools when we could be doing scheduling better.
Is playing a 4-6 UCLA any different than playing a bad Big Ten team or a bad Syracuse, WVU, Pitt, BC, etc? This is why we need the Big Ten/SEC to break off and only play against each other. We need better games. We need a larger playoff to encourage better matchups so you're not worried about a single loss. We need to get away from thinking perfection is the goal. Penn State at 10-2 should always be in the post-season. When people see that good teams are rewarded with an actual shot at a playoff fans will care.
You talk about these people not being okay with change--TV ratings and attendance don't support that. The money networks are spending don't support that. These program have built-in fan bases simply by representing a University. Even the people that claim they don't care any more will quickly jump back on the bandwagon if we're in contention. Continuously losing to Michigan and Ohio State has a lot more to do with their dissatisfaction than NIL and portal. No one cares about that stuff when you win. They may still bitch about it but it's secondary. Just like it currently is to your friends and everyone else falsely claiming that's their biggest issue.
My best friend has always just been a casual fan but has said the same thing. Yet when they win he's all excited then when they lose to Ohio State and Michigan he bitches again. Michigan cheats. NIL is ruining the game. But if we win--those complaints magically quiet. This is typical. The portal and NIL don't need to be liked. You just have to understand things change and adapt. The product is still great. Don't give money to NIL if you don't like it.
College football attendance has been meh for a while, which may be signs of cracks in the foundation. I think it picked up a bit the last two years, but still below its all-time high.
College football attendance declines for seventh straight season to lowest average since 1981
Even the best teams and conferences across college football saw attendance drops this season
www.cbssports.com
But it's obviously going to go down due to week schedules and every game being televised. The money is being made with TV contracts not ticket sales.College football attendance has been meh for a while, which may be signs of cracks in the foundation. I think it picked up a bit the last two years, but still below its all-time high.
College football attendance declines for seventh straight season to lowest average since 1981
Even the best teams and conferences across college football saw attendance drops this season
Both my boys play sports. May play through college.
They don't watch any sports. They'd rather be on their phones, sifting through tik tok, snapchatting, whatever ... or playing video games on their xbox/computers. They have air pods in their ears most of the day. Hell, they don't watch any TV at all, unless we have a family movie night.
And, really, a lot of these folks who keep huffing and puffing away while walking away from Sport X, Y or Z with some "I'm not going to watch anymore because of ..." nonsense, are really just finding they're more entertained by the myriad options out there now ... it's not really because of whatever change has just occurred ... that's just a convenient excuse to "cut the cord" as they grew increasingly bored watching other people catch balls, hit balls, dunk balls, or smash into each other.
Some of you are whistling past the graveyard. The glory days of college football are in the rear view. In fact I’m worried about professional football because there is a zealous segment of our society that has it in for football in all its forms. This is why the NFL went along with the self-destructive kneeling issue. They know where their bread is buttered and they do not want to alienate their remaining reliable source of future employees.
IMO PSU had a chance to play for a title if Redd, Fortt, Brown, and Fera had stayed.
Why? We finished 9-4 with close early losses to Ohio U and Virginia because we couldn't even kick an extra point without Fera. That gets us to 11-2.
That leaves the 2 relatively close losses to OSU & NEB. PSU didn't have a RB after losing Redd to USC so they had to move Belton from WR. Redd was USC's leading rusher that year. Brown was the #1 WR before switching to Oklahoma where he had ~ 900 receiving yards. Fortt who moved to Cal was good enough to be drafted in the 4th round of the NFL draft.
You think we win a title? Come on. It's an exaggeration and you know it. It's also a way to blame and criticize guys that did nothing wrong by leaving.
This would free up my Saturdays. Don’t want to watch PSU play all the bad Eastern teams from yesteryear.
I definitely think they would have won the BiG. The only team close IMO was OSU and we were competitive in that game without several key starters. I didn't even mention other contributors who left like Pollard.
I didn't blame or criticize any players for leaving. I'm just saying that PSU had one of their strongest teams in years if not for the whole Sandusky mess.
ahh. The good old, I don’t read it, but I have a firm opinion about what can’t be what’s being considered.
Btw-
🤫
I don’t think that’s my problem!
In all seriousness, I’d imagine they’d give preference to original conference members if they went with ten-team divisions. For instance, Arkansas and South Carolina wouldn’t be in the Southeast Division, Utah wouldn’t be in the Pacific Division, etc.
I didn't need to read the article to have an opinion on what is being discussed. Notice the response was in agreement the Big Ten and SEC have zero incentive to do this. We all know that. A delusional, desperate article doesn't change that. This isn't a charity.
Okay we simply disagree on how good we would have been that year.
To be clear, you think the players were justified for leaving and support that decision?
I’ve been right about pretty much everything I’ve posted so far and you’ve been wrong so there’s that.
Don’t worry that setup is never happening. If for some mass craziness it does, then I will find other things to do with my time.I don’t think that’s my problem!
In all seriousness, I’d imagine they’d give preference to original conference members if they went with ten-team divisions. For instance, Arkansas and South Carolina wouldn’t be in the Southeast Division, Utah wouldn’t be in the Pacific Division, etc.
Oh my goodness! I got a side stitch laughing so hard. You are really talented. More!
When the changes are bad, you see what has happened in boxing, horse racing, Indy Car, minor league baseball …it’s already simmering…attendance is down everywhere in CFB…and the “same team fatigue” is picking up steam. Soon the bowls will collapse…
Because it's a sleepy Sunday and I'm lounging around ... curious minds want to know what you think you've been right about, and what you think I've been wrong about. And ... go! Amuse me.
