It starts with fireworks.
The UW Athletic Department wants to set off some fireworks at the end of one Badgers football game this season — presumably after a victory — to see how it goes as a precursor to making that a regular feature at the games. That has, in turn, set off some fireworks of its own on the neighborhood listserv. Some of the concern there seems fair and some is overwrought. One writer expressed the worry that it would trigger bad reactions among people with PTSD. But the Brewers set off fireworks at the end of every home victory and Miller Park is cheek by jowl with the Veterans Administration hospital. To my knowledge, no one there has complained that celebrating a Brewers win brings back memories of the Tet Offensive.
But while Camp Randall neighbors might not like the fireworks, they may cheer what could come next. I wouldn’t be too surprised to see a proposal in the next few years to actually reduce the size of Camp Randall.
The fireworks are just the opening salvo in an attempt to turn around some troubling numbers for the athletic department. Their entire budget depends on the revenues from broadcasting football games — and to a lesser extent men’s basketball games — as well as paid attendance. And the crowd provides more than direct revenue. It’s also a backdrop for the all-important television audience. Nobody likes to watch a game with a half-empty stadium.
Attendance at the last two Badgers home opening games has been the lowest in a couple of decades and overall attendance at all of last year’s games was down slightly. In addition, season ticket sales for the 2019 season were down a bit despite predictions of an exciting year for the team. This mirrors a national trend where attendance at big time college football games was down by 1.4 percent last year.
To try to stem the tide (no, I don’t mean that the Badgers will beat Alabama in the national championship this year), the department has hired Legends, the unpretentiously named sports marketing firm that has helped little outfits like the New York Yankees, Notre Dame, the Dallas Cowboys and Manchester United spruce up their images. It’s a fair bet that the controversial experiment with fireworks this season was recommended by Legends. In addition, the improvements to the Monroe Street side of the stadium, including the unceremonious removal of the “Nails’ Tales” sculpture, is all part of a broader strategy to improve what is called the “game day experience.”
But it’s not likely to stop there. Rather than waging what is probably a fruitless battle to fill a big stadium, the recent trend is to shrink the venue. Football powerhouses like Alabama, Michigan and Penn State have all trimmed their seating capacities in their massive complexes. Stanford went the furthest in 2006 by demolishing a 102,000-seat facility and replacing it with one that seats about 50,000. If that were to happen here, the same stadium neighbors who are going apoplectic over fireworks might fall back in love with the UW Athletic Department.
But reducing the overall capacity of the place is only half the strategy. The other part is to expand the number of suites and boxes for high rollers. In fact, the UW will be adding “club seats” at the south end of Camp Randall next year.
But here’s the problem with that. At some point — and it certainly hasn’t happened yet — I have to believe that American society is going to turn away from a sport where disproportionately black and poor young men risk serious, lifelong injury for the entertainment of mostly white, affluent audiences. And building more expensive suites only exaggerates that uncomfortable tableau. It will make college stadiums feel more like the Roman Coliseum than ever.
College football isn’t going to win me back as a fan with fireworks or fancy seating that I could never afford anyway. I would happily go back to watching the games if they would pay the players what they’re worth and do something serious or even radical to reduce injuries in general, and head trauma in particular. You can bet that Legends will not recommend either strategy.
If you see fireworks over Camp Randall this fall, think of it as the first step in what is likely to be a series of attempts to attract fans back to football or, failing that, to make smaller crowds look bigger in a smaller facility. But until they change the rot at the heart of the game, fans like me will keep sitting on the sidelines.
