Decline interest in Football?

[cabanalane]

All of us have thought about why interest and support of UH football has been declining. Must be the W vs L. Maybe.

This story is about Stanford football, but I find it interesting where we as UH fans can relate. https://stanforddaily.com/2025/01/07/ev ... an-08-2025

I've been to a Stanford football game (vs Cal) back in, just before Y2K. It was packed. Like UH during the glory days, but 25% larger. To see that many people in one place is a (can't find the word) feeling.

You can read the story but here are some key theories on why.

1. People are too busy. Got to work or other things to do.

2. Not connected to the school. I watched UH football before I attended UH. Hawaii only have one college. Ok, not really, but yes, you know what I mean. In the bay area, you could go to 4 other colleges. Stanford may not be your jam. So I can see this one does not apply to Hawaii. But this may be on UH-State for not forming that strong link in the community.

3. Network effect. Blame it on video games? If kid/student are not interested in football, and friends are not, so why go? When uncle and anty not going to set up the tailgating, why go? And the next gen is lost because uncle did this because grandpa used to lead this. Football is not the Hawaii tradition is once was. Then there is the concussion concerns. Mom may not want son to play.

My conclusion on this is. I don't think winning is going to help (from fans back). And I don't think a stadium will either. It does not mean UH should not win or build a stadium. Just think the expectations should be set right. When only 18K show up to the new shinny stadium. That's just the state of college football - decline.

[Arcumfortis]

The decline in interest is a result of many factors. But from a long time fan and previous 30+ year season ticket holder I can say that the move from Aloha Stadium is one important factor. In the first year at Ching I found myself sitting in uncomfortable bleachers and watching a team whose disorganization seemed to make it inevitable that they would end up on the wrong half of the score. At half time I bought a hamburger that was inedible. I tossed the hamburger and left. I eventually decided to not renew my seasons tickets and my interest in the team has declined. I know it is much more complicated than this and with NIL college athletes now approach their careers as a business. I don’t think we can compete with other schools, communities, and fan bases where the money flows more freely. But if the new stadium ever gets built I’m pretty sure I’ll sign up for tickets again, rally my tailgate crew, enjoy the aroma of bbq drifting in the air, hear the percussive beat of the Rainbow drum line circling the parking lot, and make a fun day of going to the game again.

[76SOUTH]

I was a season ticket holder since 1980 (I'm from the leeward side and my night vision isn't what it used to be!). I watch the games at my local movie theater , and what I observed is that the average crowd was about 20-25 people and we look like an AARP meeting! Just for fun I like to count how many people are under 30 (you're lucky if you get 2!). UH needs to really do some serious PR with the youth (from Elementary to High school) start building stronger relationships with the pop Warner and flag football leagues, get to know the players personally. Hawaii needs to groom us " old timers" replacements or this program will be a thing of the past!

[bigislandkurt]

Interest in football is at an all time high. Football rules the roost. The difference now is that there are so many ways to consume sports and entertainment. Most folks prefer not to deal with the humans and hassle of attending a football game.

[cabanalane]

Interest in football is at an all time high. Football rules the roost. The difference now is that there are so many ways to consume sports and entertainment. Most folks prefer not to deal with the humans and hassle of attending a football game.

That's a good point. Interesting.

Casey Kasem used to tell us what was the #1 song on Saturdays. Now there are so many ways to "consume" sports. True. We can't just judge based on stadium seating.

[travo66]

For me, it was COVID that killed it. Games with no fans and the only way to watch was on the overpriced PPV Spectrum had, I just stopped watching. I haven't been to Ching 'stadium' yet, and have no desire to. I've heard the bleacher like seating is uncomfortable, there's no tailgating, and the team isn't well-led. All that in addition to not hiring JJ and getting rid of Angelos, has me at an all time low for football. I still try to watch every game, but it isn't as much of a priority as it used to be (also became a father, so priorities have shifted).

I hope to get back into it this next season with MA at QB1, I feel like games will be much more exciting! But UH needs to find a better way to get their product out to us fans who don't want to go to Ching, so they can keep us as fans. Spectrum PPV prices are just absurd and I refuse to pay them.

[Walkoff Balk]

Three words.
Just win, baby!

[SundayJam]

This is kind of a repeat of the 'should UH drop down to the FCS' thread. I think only one thing matters: Hawaii produces more top-notch players per capita than any other state in the nation...or it sure seems like it. Hawaii loves football. I'll admit, I've never seen a game live. I always had to work during those hours. After I moved to Maui, my friends refused to pay $60 for a pay-per-view game. The local sports pub on Maui couldn't show it because cable charged them per TV...even though most of the monitors would not have been showing the game. I've been following the game throughout non the less.

Dudes...I would definitely go to watch a game at Manoa. While I watched a few HS games at Aloha, I just don't remember it as being that great. Is Ching Stadium that bad?

[Irse]

While I watched a few HS games at Aloha, I just don't remember it as being that great. Is Ching Stadium that bad?

I think Aloha Stadium is miles better than Ching. You've got your own seat and more leg room.

[cabanalane]

Three words.
Just win, baby!

Maybe this is still the old formula. Just win.

Looking at 2024, Stanford was 3-9. And we know the school have money, money for players, money for facilities.

Like most schools, you don't need to get into Stanford first to play football. So not sure their players can do Algebra II either. I recall reading that Yale does have academic requirements. And their record in 2024 was 7-3.

[EITSwarrior]

Three words.
Just win, baby!

Also invest more into the program, especially when it's winning. That shows the fans that you care. Hopefully the more you invest increases/maintains winning which increases/maintains fan interest which leads to more investment from fans and donors so on and so forth. Basically what should've been done in JJ's tenure but the university and state was caught napping as usual.

[cabanalane]

Post Sugar Bowl would have been the perfect time. (But there was still no soap in the locker room showers).

Does anyone know the attendance (again using only attendance to measure) at Aloha Stadium during the Mac era? Did the "decline" started there? Obvious answer is yes, so I don't mean decline by a bit as attendance normally do go up and down depending on W-L.

Let's blame Chow again, because they (TV) talk about how little that number was, and even continue during Rolo era when the team was winning.

Now, I don't remember how the attendance was at Aloha Stadium during the Mac era. Someone refresh my memory.

[BigWave96744]

Average Attendance of HC last year
Wagner 1992: 44,431 (Holiday Bowl Year)
Wagner 1995: 35,200
VonAppen 1998: 29,352
Jones 2007: 43,514 (Sugar Bowl Year)
Mack 2011: 31,341
Chow 2015: 23,433
Rolo 2019: 23,688 (Hawaii Bowl Year)
Graham 2021: n/a due to covid restrictions
TC year 3 2024: 12,964

[cabanalane]

Thanks for posting this. Just going off of these numbers, let's make some generalization.

- There are about 10K bandwagon fans. I say that with respect. When UH Football was at the highest (Sugar and Holiday) it was + 10K.
- Fred Von App, may be "worst" in history in terms of W-L, we can say the fan base is 30k hard core and loyal fans.
- Mack had the same attendance as Von App. That could confirm the above. Win or lose, there are about 30K fans.
- Chow era loss more fans. Where did the 30K loyal fan base go? I think is where the decline in college football started. I think the feal of concussion start to affect. And high school started to load up. Bus kids in from Laie, when they should have played for Kahuku. Or when you don't get a spot in StL, you look for mainland schools. I think the have and have-not started in high school.
- Rolo won, and we should expect 30K no? The best he did was 24K in a Bowl year.

Ok, so now, I will comment IMO.

I don't think we will get 30K fans back. When Timmy Chang goes for 10-2, I don't think we will see 30K with the bandwagon fans.

Yes, we should still build the new stadium. I expect (Roosevelt's own) Bruno Mars to perform in Hawaii again.

[travo66]

Thanks for posting this. Just going off of these numbers, let's make some generalization.

- There are about 10K bandwagon fans. I say that with respect. When UH Football was at the highest (Sugar and Holiday) it was + 10K.
- Fred Von App, may be "worst" in history in terms of W-L, we can say the fan base is 30k hard core and loyal fans.
- Mack had the same attendance as Von App. That could confirm the above. Win or lose, there are about 30K fans.
- Chow era loss more fans. Where did the 30K loyal fan base go? I think is where the decline in college football started. I think the feal of concussion start to affect. And high school started to load up. Bus kids in from Laie, when they should have played for Kahuku. Or when you don't get a spot in StL, you look for mainland schools. I think the have and have-not started in high school.
- Rolo won, and we should expect 30K no? The best he did was 24K in a Bowl year.

Ok, so now, I will comment IMO.

I don't think we will get 30K fans back. When Timmy Chang goes for 10-2, I don't think we will see 30K with the bandwagon fans.

Yes, we should still build the new stadium. I expect (Roosevelt's own) Bruno Mars to perform in Hawaii again.

I really think Spectrum's gatekeeping ($70 for the home team's game is ridiculous) of the games really hurts UH football's popularity. Not everyone has the time or money to go to the game, but would want to watch it if it was cheap enough or free the next day (like K5). This keeps UH football in fans' minds and on their radar so when they do have the time or money, or if UH is doing really well, they will make the effort to go to the game. I was a diehard fan, but since I couldn't go to the games during COVID and also couldn't watch because it was too expensive, I started to lose interest.

Also, a lot of those loyal fans lost their seats when games were moved to Ching stadium. My family had season tickets for about 30 years and lost them (or didn't renew them) when it moved to Ching. My parents are old and wouldn't want to sit on the bleacher style seats. I think a lot of that loyal fan base we lost are in the same boat.