By Aaliyan Mohammed
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Mississippi State placed limits on in-person attendance for football games. Now that operations are back to normal, has attendance made a full recovery?
At the start of the pandemic, the NCAA stopped all of its scheduled events. Slowly, they started to resume with strict regulations, in order to prioritize public health and safety. One of the regulations seen at Davis Wade Stadium, like other football stadiums, was a limit on fan attendance.
In the 2020 season Davis Wade Stadium was operating at 25% capacity. The student section was full of buffer zones where students were not allowed to sit so that there would be social distancing within the student section. Now that those regulations have been lifted, fans are rushing through the gates of Davis Wade Stadium once again.
But despite limitations being lifted, the Bulldog faithful are not ringing their cowbells at the same rate they once were. There was a lower average attendance at Davis Wade Stadium in 2022 than there was in 2018.
In 2018, two years before the pandemic, the average home attendance according to Hail State Athletics was 58,219. In 2022, two years following the pandemic, the average home attendance was 54,250, a 6.82% drop in attendance.
In 2020 Mississippi State hired Mike Leach and the excitement surrounding the program was higher than it ever was since Dak Prescott was the signal caller. Unfortunately, the limitations on attendance prevented fans from attending at full capacity. Presumably, the attendance should have been at all-time highs in 2021 since the gates were open to everyone once again for the first time.
Presumptions would be wrong. In 2021 the average attendance at Davis Wade Stadium was 49,494. This was the first time average attendance dropped below 50,000 since 2008. The drop in attendance was clearly not viewed by the school as a fluke. After the 2021 season the university took measures to help bring attendance back to the level it once was.
The school announced partnerships with Affinaquest and Amplify prior to the 2022 season to help increase ticket sales. Affinaquest is a data analytics company that specializes in the field of college athletics. Amplify specializes in developing sales skills and strategies.
The school used the two partnerships to create targeted advertising in hopes to raise home attendance. The results showed when the average was once again over 50,000 in 2022.
At the time of the partnership Mississippi State chief financial officer, Eric George, spoke on what the partnership meant.
“We are excited to work with the team at Affinaquest and offer the Bulldog faithful an unparalleled personalized fan experience through better data,” George said to Gina Cannon in a press release at the time of the signing.
Although attendance rose in 2022, it was not “unparalleled,” as George had hoped. Two years after the pandemic the program still could not reach the standard it had set two years preceding it. Why couldn't the team fill seats at the same rate despite an exciting new coach and a thirst by fans to escape the reality the pandemic had created?
There is no simple answer. The pandemic may be past its peak, but its effects are still being felt inside Davis Wade Stadium.
The harsh reality is that if that there were a simple fix those qualified, and in a position to make change, would have had Davis Wade full of ear-ringing cowbells as soon as attendance regulations were lifted. However, prior to the 2022 season SEC commissioner Greg Sankey admitted that there is no way to pinpoint the cause of the attendance drop in 2021.
"There's plenty of, if you will, negativity around the collegiate sports world," Sankey told Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports. "People have said, 'Well, these decisions won't affect fan interest.' Well, something certainly is. It's not just TV. It's not just COVID. We have to rethink our approach on key issues. That's almost a Captain Obvious moment.”
The “decisions” he was referring to were the decisions to lift restrictions on attendance.
The fear was that these decisions would be both ineffective, because some fans would find it easier to watch the game on TV, and appalling, for the fans who thought lifting restrictions would lead to the spread of COVID-19 again.
Mississippi State will look to fill Davis Wade Stadium with cowbell-wielding fans once again in 2023. The only question is whether or not the bulldog faithful actually make their way to the stands like they were before the pandemic.