Spring games have long provided an affordable way for whole families to enjoy college football together
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As spring games disappear, teams are losing opportunities to connect with 'regular' fans -- and make new ones
Spring games have long provided an affordable way for whole families to enjoy college football together
The list of schools canceling their spring games is growing -- and while the explanations vary depending on the coach or school -- it's clear that the fan-forward intra-squad scrimmage that has become a staple of the sport's offseason is fading away.
That's a disappointing development for fans, who have been routinely pushed to the side as college football endures the growing pains of the modern era. While the current college football calendar needs adjustment, those changes shouldn't include chopping out one of the most accessible avenues for fans to experience big-time college football.
The sport is becoming increasingly professionalized, and that cold and calculated approach to costs is passed along to the fans. Prices for tickets, parking and concessions continue to rise across the country. Some power conference schools are marking up 2025 season tickets by 10% to include a "talent fee" intended to help pay the athletes.
Getting a family of four to a college football game has long been a logistical nightmare, but now the price tag is making more families reconsider the preferred location to watch their favorite team.
But the spring game, on the other hand, has never taxed fans for the stadium experience.
Many spring games are free, or at least free admission with a charitable cause, like a canned food drive at the gate. Even the most-coveted spring game tickets in the country only cost pennies on the dollar compared to a game in the fall. Ohio State had an announced attendance of more than 80,000 for last year's spring game. Ohio State is doing away with its traditional spring game format in 2025, though a fan event will be held on April 12.
Eliminating opportunities for fans to experience the stadium and their favorite college football team at a discount limits the opportunities to grow your fan base. The human connection that can be made with new college football fans -- especially with a young fan -- does not require a top-10 made-for-TV matchup with a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff. Getting young people into the stadium for what coaches have long called a "dress rehearsal" is a path to building a real relationship with the next generation of fans.
Since college football seems to be increasingly focused on money and growth these days, let's speak their language for a second.
If spring games are eliminated in favor of NFL-style OTAs -- an idea gaining traction among coaches -- then universities are limiting their future earning potential by shutting out the very customers they will be catering to in future decades.
We discussed this growing OTA trend on the Cover 3 Podcast this week and got some interesting feedback from fans who had great experiences either falling in love with their favorite team through spring games or passing along the tradition to their own family. One Ohio State fan sent along a photo with his boys on the 20-yard line in Ohio Stadium, pointing out that it's potentially the best seats they will get in that building.
"They thought it was a real game," he added.
Because that's the thing with young fans: It doesn't matter if the game is competitive. If there are jerseys, pads, helmets, whistles, music when someone scores a touchdown, cheerleaders and snacks, it's a football game. It doesn't take much, but even that small investment seems to be on the chopping block at many top programs across the country.
Now, to be clear, not every school has an Ohio State-like environment or demand for spring games. Fans of many schools won't miss them one bit. Some programs have slowly phased out the spring game tradition with conveniently timed stadium renovations while other coaches have been out on the public scrimmage long before this recent trend.
The spring game as a way to connect with regular fans, or future fans, might only be a factor with a couple dozen programs across the country. But when you consider the totality of those 20-30 fan bases it's still a large number of potential future undergrads and season ticket holders.
So what can be done to save the spring game? The first issue is the timing and setup of the transfer portal. In January the American Football Coaches Association unanimously approved a shorter winter window (10 days in early January) and the elimination of the spring window altogether -- though the initiative is likely to face a stiff headwind in its NCAA approval process. Coaches are concerned about roster disruption after all of the work put in during the NCAA-mandated 15 practice sessions during the spring semester.
Some coaches will tell you that broadcasting a spring game on TV doesn't affect tampering, because if a player is talented they will be found. But some paranoia is understandable when all of the efforts to organize a roster throughout spring can be disrupted just before the beginning of summer conditioning.
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