While Stanford’s football team spent much of the 2010s as a ranked team and even a national championship contender, the last few seasons have not gone as well. Since the start of the 2019 season, the Cardinal have gone 14-23. And to try to get some interest in the program back, Stanford has introduced an interesting concept.
The on-field woes have been reflected in Stanford’s attendance. The Cardinal’s upset win against Notre Dame in South Bend on October 15 did little to bring the fans out for Saturday’s home game against Arizona State one week later. When the team took the field for that game, the empty seats at Stanford Stadium outnumbered the people in the crowd — and not by a small amount.
Stanford takes the field as some fans notice. pic.twitter.com/AIDMTlKvXg
— Brad Denny (@BDenny29) October 22, 2022
Stanford is by no means the only Pac-12 team dealing with this issue. UCLA has dealt with sparse crowds at more than one home game. But there’s one critical difference.
While the Bruins have tarped off portions of the Rose Bowl, its actual capacity is over 90,000. With a stadium that big, a crowd of somewhere around 30,000 will look a lot lighter than it actually is. Since its redesign after the 2005 season, Stanford Stadium’s capacity is just over 50,000. So, if there are more empty seats than people, that means less than 25,000. And looking at the video above, it wasn’t even close to that.
With an eye toward getting more people out to The Farm, Stanford has introduced the Give and Get Program. What that essentially means is, fans can purchase season tickets for the 2023 season — which includes home dates against Notre Dame and the Cardinal’s biggest rival, Cal. If they do that, the tickets to 2022’s final two home games (against Washington State and BYU) will be on the house.
Stanford is offering a "free trial" – – aka, free tickets — for its last two home games vs. Wazzu and BYU. pic.twitter.com/BlPwksYYEB
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) October 24, 2022
Some fans loved the idea.
Great. Get bodies in seats. Support the team. Let’s get this damn ship sailing again 🌲 https://t.co/4clUsmD3Kb
— Clutch Sports: Stanford (@ClutchStanford) October 24, 2022
Love this idea. The goal is to make money but sometimes you have to think way outside the box to get people there https://t.co/PkWdHMPA10
— Stevie Buck (@sbuck10) October 24, 2022
Love the idea of being able to test drive a team and see if it fits your style https://t.co/6yWkPeMowz
— The Solid Verbal College Football Podcast (@SolidVerbal) October 24, 2022
Others, though, were more critical of the idea. Or, if not critical of the idea, at least wary of what it represents.
Things you will never see in the Big 12: "Free Trials" for football tickets. https://t.co/IvWPDCug2K
— Josh Neighbors (@JoshNeighbors_) October 24, 2022
You get free tickets to the game…all we ask is that you attend a thirty minute presentation about the exciting opportunity of being a proud owner of Stanford season tickets. https://t.co/GpaptLJPM9
— Scott Garrard (@ScottyGZone) October 24, 2022
Yikes. Rough look. https://t.co/L9AU3ARZOh
— Richard Daugherty (@Richard_RND) October 24, 2022
Stanford making fans watch their games https://t.co/LWN1Ba07gB pic.twitter.com/IrVgkCUrUO
— Pregame Empire (@PregameEmpire) October 24, 2022
The only way you could fill up a Stanford home game is a full ride scholarship and a choice of venture capital internship on Sand Hill Road. https://t.co/e0lrtY9Yu7
— Avinash Kunnath (@avinashkunnath) October 24, 2022
*signs up for free trial*
*cancels subscription day before first payment* https://t.co/hchrnCob0V
— Ethan Joyce (@ByEthanJoyce) October 24, 2022
Seems relevant to this discussion … https://t.co/o2Dsw5M8Eh
— The Field of 12 (@TheFieldOf76) October 24, 2022
[Stanford Football, Stewart Mandel, Photo Credit: Brad Denny]