tOSU Spring Game Attendance

[gofightingducks]

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/n ... &type=lgns

A national spring game record crowd of 95,722 came out to enjoy the high temperatures and watch Terrelle Pryor throw two long touchdown passes in 30 seconds, leading the Gray over the Scarlet 23-3 on Saturday at sun-drenched Ohio Stadium.

This is the reason tOSU either plays in the National Championship or another BCS game every year, even though they don't deserve it. They have the largest fan base in the country and make a ton of money for everybody! 95,000 for a spring game is crazy, of course there is probably nothing else to do in Columbus!

[monster]

Nothing else to do in Columbus? Man, Columbus is 50% larger than Portland. That makes for a lot of snow to shovel, most days.

[buckmarkduck]

How small do you think Portland is? P-land is 2.1mil metro and 630k city while Columbus is 1.9mill and 720k city.

Nothing else to do in Columbus? Man, Columbus is 50% larger than Portland. That makes for a lot of snow to shovel, most days.

[monster]

I just looked at this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Un ... population

[whosyourwally]

Nothing else to do in Columbus? Man, Columbus is 50% larger than Portland. That makes for a lot of snow to shovel, most days.

it really doesn't snow that much in columbus and it was 85 degrees yesterday.... people just live and die football here. There is a reason the browns sell out almost every game even tho they are terrible.

The columbus dispatch (newspaper) puts all things osu ahead of any news short of 9/11. and another thing to remember is that ohio is the 7th most populated state in the country. small state packed with big cities and lots of people and they all love their buckeyes.

that said, i hate osu, the big ten, and most of their fans.

wouldnt mind seeing jj go to the browns tho.

[05duck]

If the UO was in portland or a bigger city then eugene, i really think you would see a lot more people at the game. The fact that its on tv (tivo or dvr it), and people in oregon dont live and breath football...they probobly have other plans for that day.

I also have to say if the UO did a better job of promoting it or making it better expereince for fans, then more would be willing to travel to the game.

[wheaton4prez]

USC bringing in 22k in Los Angeles while tOSU bringing 90k in Columbus... Kind of problematic for the population argument.

I think it's more that it has caught on with some schools more that "Spring Game Attendance" is perceived as an important recruiting tool. It's actually a relatively recent development to college ball to have these huge spring game events.

[gofightingducks]

USC bringing in 22k in Los Angeles while tOSU bringing 90k in Columbus... Kind of problematic for the population argument.

I think it's more that it has caught on with some schools more that "Spring Game Attendance" is perceived as an important recruiting tool. It's actually a relatively recent development to college ball to have these huge spring game events.

I think it is a combination of being in a large populated area with a ton of fans with not much else to do in Columbus. For the Ducks on the other hand it is a smaller area with not nearly as many fans but there is a lot of other things to do in and around the area. Even die hard Duck fans have a life outside the football team!

[wheaton4prez]

I don't know. I'm pretty sure that people in Columbus have their reasons for staying in and liking Columbus. Even if we don't like their team or fans, I'm not sure it's fair to say they went to the spring game because they don't have lives.

[Elduderino]

I've had this discussion with different people tons of times. It is purely a cultural thing, it has nothing to do with a lack of "other things to do", and everything to do with the spring game simply being the priority for those people. It was 85 degrees in Columbus, people could have been doing tons of other things, but going to the game was the most appealing option to 95,000 people.

This is one view of mine that usually ruffles my fellow Duck fans' feathers; but there is no comparison between the mass devotion to the sport of football in these areas (Texas, Florida, Ohio, Alabama, Arkansas, etc..) and the NW. Generally speaking, the intense passion seen from the majority of the populations in these areas is limited to smaller subsections of the Oregon fan base (such as most on this board). This is not to say the average UO fan doesn't love the team, all you have to do is spend a Saturday in Autzen to witness that, but for most, that fanaticism ends is reserved only for Saturday.

[gofightingducks]

I agree and I should have said what I said different. Oregon is a place where there are a number of outdoor activities to do and there a lot of outdoor enthusiasts in Oregon whereas the culture in Ohio is somewhat different. A large number of people in a smaller area with a number of professional sports teams. So what I meant to say is that though there are a number of Duck fans most of them prefer to do some hiking, biking, kayaking, fishing, hunting, etc. on the weekends and wait til the real football season to go to a game whereas in Columbus it is a little different where people will die for their favorite sports team. A difference in culture.

[whosyourwally]

I agree and I should have said what I said different. Oregon is a place where there are a number of outdoor activities to do and there a lot of outdoor enthusiasts in Oregon whereas the culture in Ohio is somewhat different. A large number of people in a smaller area with a number of professional sports teams. So what I meant to say is that though there are a number of Duck fans most of them prefer to do some hiking, biking, kayaking, fishing, hunting, etc. on the weekends and wait til the real football season to go to a game whereas in Columbus it is a little different where people will die for their favorite sports team. A difference in culture.

i gotta stand up for my city a little here, because i mean i own two kayaks, i went mountain biking today, and my two best friends are avid hunters. ohio has plenty to do outdoors. no we dont have mountains or an ocean, but we have extensive bike trails from cleveland to cinci, and one of the better funded state and metro park systems in country. it has nothing to do with a lack of interest in other things, people here just love sports. columbus just saw their hockey team make their first playoffs and cleveland could have its first championship this year (the cavs) in any sport since the browns joined the nfl. osu has been the most successful of ohio's teams for years, and these people need something. i mean the nfl started in canton ohio, and the cincinatti reds were the mlb's first team.

[gofightingducks]

I agree and I should have said what I said different. Oregon is a place where there are a number of outdoor activities to do and there a lot of outdoor enthusiasts in Oregon whereas the culture in Ohio is somewhat different. A large number of people in a smaller area with a number of professional sports teams. So what I meant to say is that though there are a number of Duck fans most of them prefer to do some hiking, biking, kayaking, fishing, hunting, etc. on the weekends and wait til the real football season to go to a game whereas in Columbus it is a little different where people will die for their favorite sports team. A difference in culture.

i gotta stand up for my city a little here, because i mean i own two kayaks, i went mountain biking today, and my two best friends are avid hunters. ohio has plenty to do outdoors. no we dont have mountains or an ocean, but we have extensive bike trails from cleveland to cinci, and one of the better funded state and metro park systems in country. it has nothing to do with a lack of interest in other things, people here just love sports. columbus just saw their hockey team make their first playoffs and cleveland could have its first championship this year (the cavs) in any sport since the browns joined the nfl. osu has been the most successful of ohio's teams for years, and these people need something. i mean the nfl started in canton ohio, and the cincinatti reds were the mlb's first team.

I didn't mean people there don't do any outdoor recreation, I have been to Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus, etc and I like all of them and there are parks, bike trails, rivers, lakes, etc. I just meant to say Ohio is a state that is really into sports like most of the midwest and east coast whereas that is not so much the case in Oregon, which is a big reason there are no pro sports teams outside of the Blazers.

[wheaton4prez]

On the one hand, I'm sure that there were many things OSU fans could have done other than the spring game. But, on the other, I don't agree that they just like football more (or at a higher ratio) than people in the NW.

This is all just guestimation anyway. But, I think they have bought into the "big spring game" idea specifically. I had never even heard of fans boasting about spring game attendance until reading non Pac-10 conferences forums. "We get more people at our spring game than you!" pissing contests were invented by SEC and Big-10 fans. That doesn't mean that fans are less dedicated to the program and the actual games. Adding the spring game as an attendance event is a marketing concept. It's not "the sport."

Probably more of a factor is that a large chunk of potential viewers live hours away (Portland) from the event rather than 4 minutes (Columbus).

Think of it this way, if the University of Oregon were located in the middle of Portland, would it not be a larger program with a larger spring game attendance? I imagine we would get as many or more than the 22k at USC.

Without crunching the numbers, I think that if you adjust for local and state population sizes, Oregon fares as well or better than a lot of those "spring game schools". Since a lot of people (in proportion to over-all population) make a greater effort to drive further to see the game.

[whosyourwally]

note that some of these b10 schools pack 100k+ into their stadiums during the regular season as well. State College, PA is a great example. Tiny town not near any big city, still has capacity crowds at every game (Penn State). Do we think UO could fill a 100k stadium every saturday?

I'd like to think most ducks fans are more passionate than most buckeye fans, seeing as the buckeyes fans never have to hang through dry spells, but everyone in ohio gets behind the buckeyes at least as a casual fan. I went to miami (oh) university (17,000 students), and on saturdays during buckeye games our stadium was empty while people traveled back to columbus to go to the buckeye games. big ten football is a part of the culture here. ohio revolves around the buckeyes. im sorry to disagree, but, while uo fans may be more passionate, with out a doubt a much higher percent of people here care about their team. and their team is always the buckeyes. i've lived in portland, and i live in columbus.