Florida football: Lane Kiffin’s musing about fans is why Gators must innovate
On the surface, Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin musing about fan support has nothing to do with Florida football. The Gators have sold out all three home games while the Rebels struggle to crack 60,000 fans.
But Kiffin’s complaints about lack of fan support should serve as a warning to the Gators if you don’t address the root of why there is a lack of fan support.
Florida football: Trying to stay ahead of the game
Despite Ole Miss being 4-0, ranked in the top 15, and there not being much else to do in Mississippi, the Rebels have averaged 59,000 fans despite a stadium capacity of 66,000.
And according to reports, there have been lots of empty seats every time the second half has rolled around this year.
This led Kiffin to state the following at his weekly press press conference:
"“When you come back out, run out of the tunnel and it looks like a high school game playing in a college stadium, you can’t let that affect you”"
Ole Miss plays seventh-ranked Kentucky today at noon, so hopefully the stadium is packed. But one of the main factors that has ailed Ole Miss attendance is something that Florida football has tried to stay out in front of.
The Rebels have played Troy, Central Arkansas, and Tulsa for its three home opponents this year. Not exactly the most exciting slate of football.
As we know Florida football opened this year with Utah, and have future non-conference games against Miami, Texas, and NC State among others. The Gators are trying their best to create compelling matchups that fans want to see instead of beatdowns on cupcakes.
Florida football: More to be done
The thing is for Ole Miss, Florida football, and the rest of the college football world is that the sport must adapt to its fans or its fans will drift away.
Why do 90,000 people show up for Florida football and not any other sport the Florida Gators have to offer, even though there are some very successful programs in Gainesville?
Because, for now, people are entertained by football more than those other sports.
But that’s just it; at its core sports are entertainment and if we the people are not entertained by what we see then we won’t watch no matter how high quality the product may be within its given field.
It’s the same principle why Garth Brooks can sell out The Swamp while the top-rated Jazz musicians are lucky to sell out their local coffee cafe. Garth Brooks isn’t more talented than the Jazz musician, he just has a product that appeals to more people.
But as college football games begin to take over four hours to complete, combined with noon kickoffs in the blazing sun, combined with teams feeling like they were put together via a fantasy draft thanks to the transfer portal, combined with a host of other factors and it’s a cautionary tale of what can happen if you don’t put fans first.
The Savannah Bananas said screw it and broke everything we thought we held sacred with baseball to create a product that has a waiting list.
Florida football doesn’t have to go that far yet, but it needs to keep in mind that the fans dictate if they should show up. Not the other way around despite what Lane Kiffin may say.
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