One of the biggest storylines this college football offseason was the move of Pac-12 staples USC and UCLA to the Big Ten. The move is set to take place after the Pac-12’s current media rights agreement expires in August 2024, but it appears that a lot of locals are giving up on supporting the program already.
Their season-opening game featured only 27,143 people in attendance against Bowling Green, which was the record low at the Rose Bowl.
New record low attendance at Rose Bowl: 27,143.
— Ben Bolch (@latbbolch) September 3, 2022
That was somewhat justified due to a massive heat wave that hit Los Angeles at the time of that game, but this troubling trend for UCLA emerged yet again on Saturday.
A viral photo from Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times emerged just 20 minutes before the kickoff of Saturday’s game against South Alabama, showing the small number of students in attendance for the game.
Solid UCLA student turnout for move-in weekend before start of classes. pic.twitter.com/a3UYeOu6cI
— Ben Bolch (@latbbolch) September 17, 2022
Considering this came during the move-in weekend for college students at UCLA, this is an extremely poor showing from students, which many took to social media to point out.
feel the excitement of Big Ten football https://t.co/NkAuKl7AlB
— SB Nation (@SBNation) September 17, 2022
UCLA, also worthy of a $100MM just because of the LA part. Big 10 country. https://t.co/k1YIxDegIa
— @vivamatadoresSBN (@CCCFFSN) September 17, 2022
B1G student turnout. https://t.co/sDVqEPJbzP
— Josh Newman (@Joshua_Newman) September 17, 2022
UCLA has an enrollment of 45,000 https://t.co/M8BNWH6nms
— Creg Stephenson the First (@CregStephenson) September 17, 2022
Feel that Bruin pride! https://t.co/OnU507tTb5
— Damon Bruce (@DamonBruce) September 17, 2022
— . (@ItsPaoloni) September 17, 2022
This type of turnout certainly does not compare favorably to some of the top programs in the Big Ten like Michigan or Ohio State, who typically have near-sellouts at the majority of home games.
Despite having a pretty solid year last season with an 8-4 record, the turnout just has not been there from UCLA fans to this point. It doesn’t help that they are playing South Alabama, which isn’t a huge name in the world of college football. Still, the higher-ups at the Big Ten certainly won’t be happy if this trend continues through the season.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.