Fans: Attendance a Problem at Jordan Hare, Here’s Why

College football stadiums everywhere are struggling to boost attendance, Jordan Hare included. What’s keeping fans out of the stands?

Attendance has been a trending issue in college football over the last few seasons. Stadiums are no longer selling out and teams are struggling to bring fans to the game. Obviously the opportunity cost of going to a game has increased. Many fans have to travel and while they have to cover travel costs such as gas, flights, and hotels they also to pay for expensive tickets and parking passes.

It’s a lot. Personally, I live 200 miles away from Auburn and being a 25 year old I usually try to crash with any friends I have remaining in town (and there aren’t many left). I’m not about to shell out several hundred dollars for upper level season tickets especially when there are no home games in the month of October. The thought of attending day games in September is enough to give me heat stroke alone.

I decided to ask our Twitter followers what the biggest issues were that prevented them from traveling to Jordan Hare:

Greg Screws summarized many people’s feelings perfectly.

The 30 games on TV is an element that speaks volumes. On a packed weekend there is little to no cellular service in Jordan Hare thus making it impossible to receive updates for other games. I would rather have air conditioning than nearly die of heatstroke and nobody wants to wait to use the bathroom. As if ticket prices weren’t already ridiculous enough, the prices of concessions do not make it any better and the choices are extremely limited. Jordan Hare plans on keeping it dry this year despite the SEC giving stadiums the “ok” on alcohol sales, so anyone who wants to crack open a beer while watching the game better keep it in the living room.

As of right now the starting price for a ticket to this year’s Iron Bowl is $218. Season ticket packages range from $400-$800. The Tigers go the entire month of October without a single home game meaning that fans are left with blazing heat in September and chilly temps in November. No bueno.

Tom Emmons can attest to that, Blue Tiger.

The heat is terrible in September. When I was a junior in 2015 Auburn’s home opener against Arkansas was the hottest I’d ever been in my life. Students throughout the student section were fainting and Jordan Hare ran out of bottled water. Last year’s LSU game was a close second. I brought my father to the game for his birthday and had to leave before halftime due to the heat and humidity. We took every precautionary measure possible. We sat in the shade, had handheld fans, and even bottled water, but he has Myasthenia Gravis and can’t tolerate temperature extremes due to his illness. The temperature was so extreme we had no choice but to leave, there are no cool down areas in Jordan Hare.

A lot of Auburn people have to travel AND work the following Monday.

Three year olds are so much fun. They will literally say anything. They’ll even tell you:

“Dad why are we here?”

“Dad I need to go potty!”

“Dad it’s hot, I’m so hot, I wanna go home.”

“Dad how much longer do we have to be here!?”

“Dad why is it so loud!?”

“Dad I want a hotdog!”

“I DON’T LIKE MUSTARD!”

Three year olds are a tough crowd. New article coming soon: three year olds attend Jordan Hare, cause destruction.

Shoutout to the fans that can make it to every home game. Achieving this is certainly not easy and we respect and appreciate all the fans who are able to do this.

What about you? Is there anything that keeps you from Jordan Hare during football season? Let us know on Facebook and Twitter!

War Eagle.