Attendence has already been dropping for years, partly due to cost but also I think even more due to HDTV tech. I think this will just exacerbate that.
CFB is pricing itself out of business, in a sense. Despite years of declining attendance, the costs of tickets keep going up...even though every game is now on TV and 65" HDTVs can be afforded on almost any budget. For night games, I purchased myself an HD projector and 12-foot screen so I can sit at my fire pit and watch the game and eat BBQ fresh from the smoker...and the setup cost me less than $500. It's an entry-level setup, sure, but it's still 1080p resolution and a huge screen. A few years ago, a setup like that would've been cost-prohibitive for most Americans.
College sports administrators are in a pickle because college football has become such an arms race ... not just from a facilities standpoint, but from a coaches' salaries standpoint, recruiting budgets, the whole shebang.
I love the atmosphere and pageantry of a college football Saturday. But I haven't bought season tickets in several years and I pick and choose the games I go to a lot more carefully these days. When I do the math, it costs me hundreds of dollars for my family of 4 to go to a single game...not just the ticket costs, but $40 to park, the overpriced concessions that are inevitable (even if it's just water), the gas, etc. It's just not justifiable, especially when you can watch every game from the comforts of home.
