Talking Points: Attendance at Neyland Stadium fell below 100,000

by Joel Hollingsworth on Dec 17, 2009 7:35 AM EST in Rocky Top Talking Points

We Tennessee fans failed to crack the six figure mark in attendance at Neyland Stadium for the first time since 1995. Thoughts?
This bit from Clay Travis made me laugh out loud:

4. Why did Mark Ingram's father being in prison get four billion times more coverage than every other parent that wasn't in prison?

I just don't get it.

Why is this story angle so compelling? So compelling, in fact, that Ingram's dad has gotten more attention than every other parent, including Ingram's own mother, who isn't in prison.

To confirm this fact, I did a highly scientific search. I went to Google and typed in "mark ingram's father" as my search query.

I got 4,180 results.

Then I typed in "mark ingram's mother," and I can't even make this up, Google asked me if I meant to type in, "mark ingram's father."

Mike Hamilton says that the recent negative publicity (thanks, NYT!) hasn't seemed to affect the all-important boosters, which is good. Hamilton also makes the most detailed comment on the independence of the hostess program to date:

They have both academic and, in this case, some athletic responsibility. The individuals chosen are chosen by folks outside of athletics. They're policed by folks outside of athletics, and I think in this case this is an isolated incident that much was made of, that has been, frankly, misconstrued and sensationalized way beyond what it was.

Aaron Douglas was named to the Sporting News Freshman All-America team. Dude graded out at 96% this year and had only three penalties all year, the fewest of any on a line that included four seniors. Woo for three more years with this guy.

Not only did Matt Simms sign with the Vols yesterday, so did wide receiver Kenbrell Thompkins.

The Lady Vols got new uniforms with their names on the backs (it's for fans, not the team, says Pat Summitt) and christened them well with a 30 point victory over Louisville.

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Attendance figures

Wasn’t this the first year after the renovations dropped capacity? That, plus the economy, would likely be to blame for most of the drop in attendance figures.

by danmarcel on Dec 17, 2009 8:23 AM EST reply actions

capacity was dropped last year too when they put in that concourse level on the east side

but i would think the economy had a lot to do with it

by golfballs03 on Dec 17, 2009 9:21 AM EST up reply actions

@danmarcei, yes they lowered capacity to 100,011 for this year. It’ll be tough to keep in in 6 figures from here on out without selling out every single game.

by Grubby stadiumdrives.com on Dec 17, 2009 1:16 PM EST up reply actions

I completely agree with Clay's column

they need to fix the system because it’s reputation is slowly eroding. How funny would it be to see Trent Richardson beat out Ingram as next year’s starter?

by golfballs03 on Dec 17, 2009 9:32 AM EST reply actions

Sorry, Charlie.

I was at games this year and last year. This year’s attendance was far higher than last year. The Wyoming game hovered around 75,000, and that wasn’t the only grossly subpar game.

For once, they ought to count actual attendance.

by David Hooper on Dec 17, 2009 11:37 AM EST reply actions

I believe this article is talking about last year

“The University of Tennessee failed to reach the six-digit mark in annual home-game football attendance last season for the first time since 1995.” 2009 figures aren’t out yet i don’t think. That said I think all the points are still valid: bad economy, charging students, decreased capacity, uninspiring product on the field, etc. I know nothing of inflation but could it also be that UT is pricing its tickets out of the price range of alot of the fan base?

Neyland Stadium-It goes to eleven.

by jimvols on Dec 17, 2009 2:34 PM EST reply actions

To defend the media......

The reason they talk about Mark Ingram’s dad being in prison is ITS A STORY! He’s a former NFL player and he’s now in prison. Tell me an interesting story about Colt McCoy’s Mom. Or Toby Gerhardt’s dad. Geez.

by Bobby Briggs on Dec 17, 2009 7:08 PM EST reply actions