Bowl attendance figures...

[Tnphil]

Pretty eye opening.

http://www.fbschedules.com/2017/01/tracking-2016-17-college-football-bowl-game-attendance/

[JeffCountyVolFan]

Pretty eye opening.

http://www.fbschedules.com/2017/01/tracking-2016-17-college-football-bowl-game-attendance/

There is definitely a reason for bowls wanting the Vols.

Impressive: fourth behind the Rose and two CFP bowls.

[Black Diamond Vol]

Good to see that our fanbase is still energized enough to turn out for a 2nd tier bowl.

But to the larger issue of attendance being down across the board, I see several root causes:

All these games except the Playoffs have been rendered meaningless.

Obviously, it's much easier and cheaper to stay home and watch on a 70" 4K TV.  Heck, for what it costs to attend many of these games, you could buy a 70" 4K TV.

I think fans are getting tired of going to the same old bowl destinations every year.  For fans of the better teams in the East, you can almost go ahead and book your reservations in FL for next NYD.  Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville, wherever.  Otherwise, it's a daytrip to Nashville, Charlotte, or Birmingham. Nothing against any of those places, but they get old after a few years. Remember when the SEC only had one bowl tie-in?  The league champ went to the Sugar Bowl.  Everyone else was free to negotiate their own bowl deal.  Wanna go to the Las Vegas Bowl?  Just make them a huge guarantee, and you're in.  I kinda miss that.

[LouisVOL]

Local team.  Same with the other bowls that drew fairly well.  Built in fan base rather than travel fan base.

There is definitely a reason for bowls wanting the Vols.

Impressive: fourth behind the Rose and two CFP bowls.

[JeffCountyVolFan]

Local team.  Same with the other bowls that drew fairly well.  Built in fan base rather than travel fan base.

Definitely a major factor. No disputing that.

I also think we can all agree that the Vols fan base travels well. Attendance for last year's Outback Bowl was up 21% from the previous year.  Not top 5, but a good fan turnout.