Where are all the Fans?

Branden Nall - Eau Claire, WI

The bleachers 1/3 full is about the average attendance since high school basketball started about 3 weeks ago. Spending quite a bit of time behind the camera as a photographer offers a variety of opportunities to experience several gyms and several regions. The one thing that has been evident about the dozen gym visits I have made so far - lack of butts in seats.

The games have primarily been really good! Competition. Come-backs. Stand-out players and then your typical game play.

15 years ago - heck, 5 years ago, regular season still had a decent spectator draw. The excitement of 'tonight's game' was something that people looked forward to during their busy work day. Whether watching their own kids, or just getting bleaching butt because they enjoyed the sport.

What happened?

Let me speculate - technology? Parenting? Everybody wins? Refs? People having multiple jobs? 300 other extracurricular options? Coaching? Price? E-games? Talent?

Ok, so that is a lot to speculate on, but let's lead with, tech.

Having graduated in 1999, I grew up with the transitioning from Apple II to the Compaq and Gateway computer boom with super fast 266Mhz processors. Gaming went from Atari's 8 bit  platform to Nintendo's 64 bit platform and entranced a significant number of my generation's brains, which gave birth to the non-sport, non-active movement into the new millennium. Amid this blast of technology we saw sport participation decline. Then when Blackberry hit the scene, followed by iPhone, another decline....etc. I digress.

Along with tech, parenting changed. Scrapes and bruises were blaspheme and pushing ones offspring to move forward instead of quitting, is a discipline of the past. Then, everyone is a winner, became a thing; and coaching is a shoestring to what it used to be since kids and parents alike didn't like to be told what to do and dammit-all if anyone accepted constructive criticism to better oneself, or the team. Again...digress.

The other pieces of this puzzle sited above, I am choosing not to break down because it just populates the data even further. However, you can break those other items down as you choose or as you have seen over the past 25 years. In any event, Sport has changed. The way we think about it. The way we love it. The way it's played...or not played. It seems that we would rather watch pro sports on TV than go to a local high school or college to watch and support our local teams. If we stimulate this, it will take a bit, but it will come back around. I have faith in the positive outcome.

I am asking that you go. Watch. Buy popcorn. Cheer, not ridicule refs. BE LOUD! BE CONTAGEOUS! Let's make local sports viral! Not some drunk guy on a 4-wheeler in his birthday suit.

LET'S GET SOME BUTTS IN SEATS and enjoy the game!