LOS ANGELES – This is not an ideal time for a Pac-12 basketball game.

That’s abundantly clear by 11:30 a.m. last Sunday, as Utah and USC are set to tip off, and the 10,258-seat Galen Center is overtaken by a tidal wave of maroon, dotted with flecks of cardinal and gold. The maroon is an unwelcome sight – it comes from the upholstery on the backs of empty seats.

The Super Bowl kicks off in four hours, and then, most of the free world will turn its eyes to Glendale, Ariz. For now, though, there is Pac-12 basketball between USC, loser of six straight, and No. 11 Utah, in an arena that is just 27 percent full, during a season that has seen basketball attendance decline – in some cases, dramatically – at nine of the Pac-12 member schools.

Craig Kelley, USC’s associate athletic director of marketing, is sitting in a box, looking over a swath of empty seats. He knew this was coming. His marketing team discussed some strategies – like offering to show the Super Bowl on the Galen Center screen after – but ultimately decided to reallocate funds away from the game. They knew any tricks they had up their sleeves wouldn’t be enough to overcome the obstacles presented by Super Bowl Sunday. Still, Kelley held out hope.

“It was disappointing because I knew that fans could get to our game and see the Super Bowl after,” Kelley says. “I figured attendance would be low, but I’m a sports fan. And, forever the optimist, I hoped we’d get three or four thousand, that people could make it a part of their huge sports day.”

With this particular day’s narrative, though, there’s little – if any – room for live Pac-12 basketball. There are only 2,835 fans at Galen Center, even fewer than usual at the arena with the second-lowest average in the conference. For Kelley, it’s another reminder of the uphill battle he and other officials across the Pac-12 – and the country – are facing, with television contracts driving scheduling more than ever, technology rapidly improving and fans growing more apathetic toward the gameday experience.

College basketball attendance fell 2.2 percent nationally in 2013-14, but in the Pac-12 – which, thanks to a resurgent showing, actually finished third in conference RPI and a record-tying six NCAA Tournament teams – that drop was nearly twice as steep. While it may be too early to make sweeping conclusions this season, the trend is just as negative for the conference thus far, with attendance declining by 10 percent or more at four of the 12 conference arenas through the first week of February. Only two schools, Arizona and Utah, have increased their attendance in each of the past two seasons.

“It’s my job to put the butts in the seats,” Kelley says. “I don’t think anyone looks at it as their marketing team is failing. But, as a staff, we do feel bad. We want to do more for them, but unfortunately, at times, you can’t. You just have to play the hand you’re dealt.”

So who’s to blame for that less-than-ideal hand?

That conversation at least begins with the product itself, and this season, it has been unequivocally worse, with the Pac-12 ranking only sixth in conference RPI. Not coincidentally, the conference’s two best teams, Utah and Arizona, also draw the most fans – on average filling 87 percent and 99 percent of their arenas, respectively. USC and Washington State, at the bottom of the Pac-12 in attendance, have the worst combined records over the past three seasons. In Pullman, the Cougars have, on average, filled just 23 percent of their arena this season.

“I relate it to ‘Field of Dreams’,” said first-year Washington State coach Ernie Kent, who coached at Oregon from 1997-98 until 2009-10 and has worked as a television analyst throughout the conference with Pac-12 Networks and Fox Sports Net. “If you build it, they will come.”

But the correlation is far from that straightforward.

Attendance at Pauley Pavilion, where UCLA has lost just one game this season, is down nearly 11 percent. Last season, it fell 15 percent, despite a new coach and a Sweet 16-caliber team that boasted three future first-round draft picks. UCLA had 3,000 empty seats for a Saturday night home game against a top-10 team (Gonzaga). In Eugene, Ore., where Oregon is tied with UCLA for third in the Pac-12, attendance has plummeted 24 percent – the most in the conference. Attendance for the Ducks’ Civil War home game with Oregon State – on a Saturday night – was its lowest in 21 years.

“I don’t think it’s conference strength that’s the problem,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said. “Last year, we had an outstanding year … and attendance was down. I think part of it has to do with TV exposure. It’s a blessing, sure, but it’s a little bit of a curse in that fans know they can watch every game at home.”

Since its launch in August 2012, the Pac-12 Networks have been a windfall for the conference, with television contracts ensuring that every Pac-12 basketball game is broadcast nationally on either ESPN, Fox, or the conference’s own network. Exposure is undoubtedly up. More access to every game and rapidly improving technology creates another issue entirely, though: Now, fans have been less compelled to pay the price of admission (and parking).

That’s a nationwide issue, across all sports, but with Pac-12 basketball, in particular, coaches and administrators blame the conference’s especially sharp downturn in attendance, in part, on inconsistent scheduling that comes with broadcasting every game and bending to accommodate other network’s TV schedules.

This is what has Kelley frustrated. In the conference’s previous scheduling model, conference teams played on Thursday and Saturday every week. This season, USC was hit particularly hard by scheduling nuances, with its Super Bowl Sunday game and also a Wednesday matchup with rival UCLA – which, in a better timeslot, usually draws more at Galen Center than any game of the season.

“The conference has made it very difficult,” Kelley said. “Before, (games) were on Thursday, Saturday, and you knew it. You could plan your week. Now, it’s all over the place.”

With a 12-year, $3 billion contract in place, the television side of the attendance problem isn’t likely to be fixed with large-scale changes any time soon. But Pac-12 deputy commissioner Jamie Zaninovich points to the conference’s effort this offseason to limit Wednesday-Sunday pairings as a sign of progress. Additionally, he said, there have been discussions about changing travel partners in lieu of maintaining more consistent days of the week; though, late start times are unlikely to change.

“We just previously had the most structured approach of any conference, with Thursday-Saturday games at 7 o’clock,” Zaninovich said. “We’d love to still do that. But that’s the tradeoff of bringing in more television partners and giving the exposure to all of our sports.”

In Los Angeles, where other factors like traffic and a wider variety of entertainment options are added challenges, that tradeoff has been particularly damaging. Both USC and UCLA have a particularly troubling issue with no-shows, as anywhere from 300-800 seats are paid for, but empty at an average game. The problem is so prevalent that each school has made a habit of sending out emails offering season-ticket holders opportunities to donate tickets back to the school or youth organizations, instead of leaving them empty.

Both schools also have doubled down on new efforts to improve the gameday experience. USC added a DJ last season. UCLA moved a large portion of its student section to the lower bowl of Pauley Pavilion.

“We want Pauley Pavilion to continue to be a magical place,” UCLA coach Steve Alford said when the initiative was announced in September.

But with fewer and fewer fans attending in Los Angeles and elsewhere, as technology makes games more accessible and inconsistent scheduling make them more difficult to attend, the concern is that the magic of watching live Pac-12 basketball is dwindling as a result.

Consider Kelley an optimist in this regard; though, even he admits technology is progressing too quickly for them to keep up.

“You’re coming to the game for the emotion,” Kelley said. “It’s something you can’t emulate anywhere else.”

With the television product booming and constantly improving, though, it may not matter. And with more people watching the league from the comfort of their own homes than ever before, the Pac-12’s attendance problem doesn’t appear to have a clear end in sight.

“Even if you’re down a couple thousand people in game, undoubtedly more people are watching Pac-12 basketball,” Zaninovich said the same week the conference announced it will stream 27 live games in China this season, part of a globalization initiative it launched in 2011. “It’s more relevant than it’s ever been.

“But that doesn’t mean that we don’t want to get more butts in the seats.”

Contact the writer: rkartje@ocregister.com

HOME-COURT DISADVANTAGE?

College basketball attendance fell 2.2 percent nationally in 2013-14, but in the Pac-12 – which finished third in conference RPI and tied a conference record with six NCAA Tournament teams – that drop was nearly twice as steep. The trend is just as negative so far this season. Four teams are drawing at least 10 percent fewer fans for home games than last season, with two down more than 20 percent through the first week of February. Four programs (Arizona State, Oregon, Washington State and USC) are averaging more empty seats than occupied ones and Oregon State (51 percent) and UCLA (53) are only a tick above half full. Only two schools, Arizona and Utah, have increased their attendance each of the past two seasons.

UCLA

Arena capacity: 13,800

Avg. Home attendance (2013-14): 8,136

Avg. Home attendance (2014-15): 7,256

Percentage change: -10.8

USC

Arena capacity: 10,258

Avg. Home attendance (2013-14): 4,370

Avg. Home attendance (2014-15): 3,492

Percentage change: -20.1

Arizona

Arena capacity: 14,655

Avg. Home attendance (2013-14): 14,375

Avg. Home attendance (2014-15): 14,571

Percentage change: +1.4

Arizona State

Arena capacity: 14,198

Avg. Home attendance (2013-14): 6,687

Avg. Home attendance (2014-15): 5,576

Percentage change: -16.6

Cal

Arena capacity: 11,877

Avg. Home attendance (2013-14): 7,754

Avg. Home attendance (2014-15): 7,653

Percentage change: -1.3

Colorado

Arena capacity: 11,064

Avg. Home attendance (2013-14): 9,635

Avg. Home attendance (2014-15): 9,614

Percentage change: -1.0

Oregon

Arena capacity: 12,541

Avg. Home attendance (2013-14): 7,783

Avg. Home attendance (2014-15): 5,899

Percentage change: -24.2

Oregon State

Arena capacity: 9,604

Avg. Home attendance (2013-14): 3,946

Avg. Home attendance (2014-15): 4,851

Percentage change: +18.7

Stanford

Arena capacity: 7,233

Avg. Home attendance (2013-14): 5,111

Avg. Home attendance (2014-15): 4,726

Percentage change: -7.5

Utah

Arena capacity: 15,000

Avg. Home attendance (2013-14): 10,311

Avg. Home attendance (2014-15): 11,322

Percentage change: +8.9

Washington

Arena capacity: 10,000

Avg. Home attendance (2013-14): 6,582

Avg. Home attendance (2014-15): 6,272

Percentage change: -4.7

Washington State

Arena capacity: 11,671

Avg. Home attendance (2013-14): 2,800

Avg. Home attendance (2014-15): 2,723

Percentage change: -2.75

PAC-12 TOTALS

Arena capacities: 134,668

Avg. Home attendance (2013-14): 87,490

Avg. Home attendance (2014-15): 83,955

Percentage change: -4.0