Think anyone is watching?

_Would it surprise you to learn that there were almost as many participants in high school basketball as football?  The National Federation of High School Associations’ recent release of participation numbers for 2010-2011 shows that there were 1,109,836 high schoolers playing football and 984,777 playing basketball.  Was I surprised; I really expected the football number to far exceed basketball. 

And, overall, there were a total of 7,667,955 participants in all high school sports; give or take a few hundred either way.  Obviously many of these athletes played several sports, but that is still an impressive number.  But, that is just a piece of the big picture.  Earlier this year, the NFHS released the statistics from its first survey on fan attendance.  And, the results are staggering.  “More fans attend high school basketball and football events that the same sports at the college and professional levels combined” (NFHS August 2011).  During the 2009-10 school year, approximately 336 million fans attended high school regular season and playoff games in football and girls & boys basketball…more than 2 ½ times the 133 million who attended events in those sports in college and professional levels.

Bob Gardner, NFHS executive director was recently quoted, “A ticket to a high school sporting event remains one of the best values for the entertainment dollar.” Parents and avid fans are cheering on their teams in record numbers.  And they are doing one thing consistently… showing up in big numbers. And whether you’re optimistic and attribute that to a lot of school spirit, or whether you’re pessimistic and blame it on an economy that has us all searching for less expensive entertainment, it’s still a great trend.

More people watching can be contagious.  Hopefully, little brothers and sisters will want to be more active in sports, not just football and basketball.  There are more than 40 sports available for kids today.  Everything from golf to water polo and field hockey.  And at a time when childhood obesity is a concern, this can be good news across the board.  Parents should encourage their kids to try out for sports.  Trying is part of the learning experience, whether little Johnny or Jenny makes the team.  I remember my days…yes, I can remember that far back, and there’s no bigger motivation than the idea of a crowd of parents, siblings and peers cheering you on.

These participation and spectator rates are great news for high school administrators, athletic directors, booster clubs and others who have been continuing to find ways to fund and build better spectator facilities, including bleachers, concessions stands, parking lots and rest rooms.  This is a marketing professional’s dream.  This important data will allow schools to justify advertising rates for any myriad of elements including funding of better and more technologically advanced scoreboards and information centers in football stadiums, baseball fields and sports arenas.

There are a number of exceptional organizations available today who can assist schools in evaluating and determining how best to use this information to develop a comprehensive long term plan to make spectator sports more enjoyable for the thousands of fans watching your games.