LSU Death Valley.jpg

Saturday night in Death Valley is an LSU tradition for football games.

Last week, we asked why some fans are attending fewer SEC football games. Our very unscientific survey was in light of the SEC doing market research this fall on the same issue.

Approximately 5,000 people responded to our survey from 46 states, the District of Columbia and 32 countries outside the U.S. The largest responses came from readers in Alabama (39 percent), Georgia (13 percent), Florida (8 percent), Texas (6 percent) and Tennessee (5 percent).

The overwhelming response: It's the cost, stupid. Eighty-three percent said they believe average fans have been priced out of attending college football games. More than half of the respondents said they are attending games less frequently than five years ago.

1) Who is your favorite SEC team?

Alabama -- 50%

Auburn -- 35%

Georgia -- 2%

Texas A&M -- 2%

Arkansas -- 2%

LSU -- 2%

Florida -- 2%

South Carolina -- 2%

Ole Miss -- 1%

Tennessee -- 1%

Mississippi State -- 1%

Kentucky -- 1%

Missouri -- 0%

Vanderbilt -- 0%

Not an SEC fan -- 0%

2) How many college football games of your favorite team do you attend each year?

1-2 games -- 43%

0 games -- 23%

3-5 games -- 17%

Every home game -- 15%

Every game, including road games and postseason -- 2%

3) Are you attending college football games as frequently as you did five years ago?

Attending less frequently -- 54%

Attending the same amount -- 34%

Attending more frequently -- 12%

4) If you are attending games less frequently, rank in order the reasons why from most important to least important. (Weighted rank is next to each answer measuring readers' votes.)

1. Cost of tickets/donations -- 4.21

2. Cost of travel to the game -- 4.65

3. Convenience/enjoyment watching on TV -- 4.81

4. Parking costs/traffic issues -- 5.22

5. Economic downturn -- 5.61

6. Start time of game -- 5.72

7. Quality of opponents -- 5.81

8. Tailgating issues -- 6.07

9. Other -- 6.31

10. Quality of my favorite team -- 6.50

5) If you attend SEC football games, how much do you estimate spending each year? Include all game costs, such as price of tickets, donations and travel.

Less than $500 -- 30%

$501-$1,000 -- 25%

$1,001-$3,000 -- 24%

$3,001-$5,000 -- 11%

$5,001-$7,000 -- 4%

$7,001-$9,000 -- 2%

More than $15,000 -- 2%

$9,001-$11,000 -- 1%

$13,001-$15,000 -- 1%

$11,001-$13,000 -- 1%

6) If you avoid buying season tickets by getting individual tickets elsewhere, how do you get your tickets?

Friends/people you know -- 50%

Ticket broker agency such as StubHub -- 23%

Scalper on the day of the game -- 12%

Purchased through the university -- 9%

Other -- 6%

7) Neutral-site games have created high-profile matchups while taking a high-profile game away from campus. Do you like neutral-site games?

Yes -- 46%

No -- 29%

Indifferent -- 25%

8) Do you prefer attending games in person or watching on TV?

Attending games in person -- 61%

Watching on TV -- 34%

Don't know -- 5%

9) Do you believe average fans have been priced out of attending college football games?

Yes -- 83%

No -- 10%

Don't know -- 7%

10) Eight of the 14 SEC schools have experienced attendance declines since 2008. Most of the declines are minimal, except for Tennessee and Kentucky. Do you think attendance should be a major concern for the SEC?

Yes -- 67%

No -- 25%

Don't know -- 8%

E-mail:

jsolomon@al.com.