The issue of attendance – especially student attendance – seems to be on a lot of minds. We’ve been critical of student support for the football team, and we’ve been encouraged by some of the steps taken. The school has reduced the size of the student section but also introduced a well-received Young Alumni program to help bridge the transition from student to a lifelong fan.

But the issues of attendance persist. It’s not just a Georgia problem. Games are all televised now, and often there are one or two games that are as compelling (or more so) than the one going on in town. It’s tough to drag someone away from the HDTV, climate-controlled environment, and refreshments to sit in the elements with spotty cell coverage for four hours. Short of playing the game in the backyard, you’re not going to overcome the advantages of watching from home. The in-person experience needs to press its own advantages rather than trying to duplicate the amenities of home.

Granted, it’s a tough problem. The macro nation-wide trends aren’t going away anytime soon. I have to question the wisdom of any program investing in additional seating in this reality. We know why they’re doing it, but the arms race doesn’t make much financial sense in the short or long term. That’s not to argue against facilities improvements that address the fan experience (see Gate 6 or Reed Alley); you just can’t convince me that more seats is a good idea for anyone right now.

So faced with the job of trying to swim against the current, I don’t blame administrators for taking small bites around the edges. It’s not a problem that’s going to be solved in one swallow. Some of these ideas will be minor successes, and some will prove to be horrible.

This doesn’t seem like one of the good ideas. SEC rules have been relaxed to allow schools to pump in music between plays. Schools may already use recorded music during breaks; we’ve seen that at Sanford Stadium for years. The relaxed rules would apply, say, before a big third down play.

SEC administrators, including Georgia’s Greg McGarity, are optimistic about this rules change creating “more excitement across the conference” and enhancing the fan experience. Is this really what’s been missing from Georgia home games? Is the jock jam genre the siren song that will fill the student section?

McGarity cites the Clemson game last year. I admit that I wasn’t paying much attention to the in-game experience around me. There was a matter of a close game of national importance between two highly-ranked rivals to keep my focus. You know what really got the Clemson crowd going? Watching the team ride a bus around the stadium and rub a rock. Has Georgia considered exploring the entire spectrum of human-rock contact in order to fill and engage the stadium? Whatever Georgia is lacking relative to Clemson didn’t seem to detract from the experience against LSU. On the other hand, when you welcome three non-conference cupcakes to Sanford Stadium, anything short of a live Outkast concert isn’t going to bring people in.

As a former Redcoat, I admit that a large part of my concern here is the marginalization of a great spirit organization. The band is no small budget item – both in terms of its expense and also the opportunity cost of several hundred unsold seats. In this day of the arms race and the number crunchers, every dollar is on the table. I should note though that the athletic association (not to mention Coach Richt) has consistently been a big supporter in both words and funds of the Redcoats, and I’m assured that the Redcoats have a place at the table in these discussions to improve the in-game experience at Sanford Stadium. They too have a duty to keep their stands repertoire fresh and entertaining, and they’ve done so over the past several seasons. You never get optimistic when it looks as if the consultants are in charge, but it looks as if we’ll see Georgia try to take advantage of this new rule.