Fandom, Viewership, and Expansion

#1
JamesBenUT

JamesBenUT

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#1
This NYT article is pretty fascinating.

The Geography of College Football Fans (and Realignment Chaos) - NYTimes.com

It examines fandom, geography, television viewership, and the impact of conference expansion on college football. I was most struck by the rankings of the numbers of fans in the SEC and nationally.

fivethirtyeight-0919-geocolfootball-sec-blog480.png


The homer in me can't believe Auburn has 70% more fans than Tennessee. The state of Alabama only has 4.4 million people and between Auburn and Bama combined they have over 3.7 million fans. In contrast, the state of Tennessee has nearly 5.7 million people and only 1.1 million fans. Our marketing department has some work to do. Why do think there is such a discrepancy? Distance of UT from the largest metropolitan areas in the state (Nashville and Memphis)? More transient population? Less recent success of our football team? More to do in Tennessee? Less alumni?
 
#2
#2
Winning brings more fans...when Tennessee was on its run in the mid to late 90's, there was TN jerseys and hats, etc. all over the country. Everyone knew who we were and there were a lot more "fans" of the Big Orange. With the product on the field of late...not so much.
 
#4
#4
Exiled said:
Winning brings more fans...when Tennessee was on its run in the mid to late 90's, there was TN jerseys and hats, etc. all over the country. Everyone knew who we were and there were a lot more "fans" of the Big Orange. With the product on the field of late...not so much.
Click to expand...

Losing doesn't seem to hurt Notre Dame
 
#7
#7
So, search engine query's and internet polls of 30,000 people over the past several years has led the NYT to come up with this? Im not buying this. If I want to see how Google's stock is doing i will consult the NYT....college football, ehh, not so much. Plus, look at the SEC's top 4. Most recent National Championship winners right?. If there is any solid evidence of this research then it is proof that the good ol' bandwagon is rolling strong and has been well maintained.
 
#11
#11
This article is so interesting if you think of it in terms of conference expansion.

People not understanding why the SEC added A&M need to look at this.

6th most popular team in the country....higher than any SEC team!

If you go by this Clemson would be the most attractive likely addition (but they probably won't leave ACC)

Missouri is 23rd West Virginia is 29th
 
#12
#12
Still, the S.E.C.’s average of about 1.1 million fans per team — not counting Texas A&M — sets a slightly lower bar than the Big Ten’s. Clemson (1.8 million fans), Georgia Tech (1.7 million) or Virginia Tech would improve upon it, while Missouri and West Virginia (1.0 million) are aren’t far from the league average and would do more to expand the conference’s geographic footprint.
Click to expand...
From article
 
#13
#13
Expansion is to get pretty much a playoff in place and send a "up yours" to the NCAA all at the same time. I'm all for it and the argument against a playoff is lame.
 
#14
#14
I just can't buy the credibility of that article. How many true fans Google "college football"? I'd say not many. Most people look up a specific team or specific game. Maybe those things are lumped under "college football" in Google's stats.

Still, I'm not sold that A&M is that popular outside the state of Texas. Also, there is no way Ga Tech is more popluar (by a longshot according to these stats) than UGA. No need to look further.
 
#16
#16
I live in the state of Alabama. I'll tell you it's spilt on the fan bases, but they also have a bunch of bandwagon fans down here too. Who ever is winning they pull for, but Barn fans only came out of the wood work after last year before then it was mostly Bammer fans just because of their history. I'm a Vol fan that grew up in a Bammer family so I know a lot about the fan bases down here.
 
#19
#19
JamesBenUT said:
This NYT article is pretty fascinating.

The Geography of College Football Fans (and Realignment Chaos) - NYTimes.com

It examines fandom, geography, television viewership, and the impact of conference expansion on college football. I was most struck by the rankings of the numbers of fans in the SEC and nationally.

fivethirtyeight-0919-geocolfootball-sec-blog480.png


The homer in me can't believe Auburn has 70% more fans than Tennessee. The state of Alabama only has 4.4 million people and between Auburn and Bama combined they have over 3.7 million fans. In contrast, the state of Tennessee has nearly 5.7 million people and only 1.1 million fans. Our marketing department has some work to do. Why do think there is such a discrepancy? Distance of UT from the largest metropolitan areas in the state (Nashville and Memphis)? More transient population? Less recent success of our football team? More to do in Tennessee? Less alumni?
Click to expand...

I'm no rocket professor, but isn't that more like 38% more fans?? Not 70%?

:unsure:
 
#20
#20
voldawgforever said:
I'm no rocket professor, but isn't that more like 38% more fans?? Not 70%?

:unsure:
Click to expand...

Sorry, Dawg. Work with your numbers again. Remember the equation %/100 = is/of? : 1,900,389 Auburn fans is what % of 1,120,175 Tennessee fans? Solve for % and you get 170% (70% more than 100% of UTs fans)
 
#21
#21
I think it's generally accurate that the big ten has larger fanbases. Other than that, idk
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#24
#24
Boca Vol said:
I just can't buy the credibility of that article. How many true fans Google "college football"? I'd say not many. Most people look up a specific team or specific game. Maybe those things are lumped under "college football" in Google's stats.

Still, I'm not sold that A&M is that popular outside the state of Texas. Also, there is no way Ga Tech is more popluar (by a longshot according to these stats) than UGA. No need to look further.
Click to expand...

Some guy tweeted on ESPN, i cant think of his name, but he is one of the bloggers on there, said that there is no way G tech has more fans than LSU, UT, and Georgia. My guess is that the article author isnt credible or he swayed information to prove his point.
 
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