last nights St X - Trinity game made me think of the constant conversations here about filling the stands and how fickle our fan base can be. my argument has always been there are too many other things to do in this town that if you are not winning the stands won't be full and last nights game had me hearken back to the days where it was the 3rd largest game in the country, only behind a TX school where they get 60k every week and another midwest school. but the St X Trinity game was the 3rd largest game in the nation and now they barely get 20k, some years less, where it hit a high of 38k. it use dot be THE game in town and it always brought in the non alumni to games. now it doesn't. people have moved on. it's not just college sports it's all sports. it's all diluted so much with other options it's just too hard to fill the stands unless you're dominating. but here's an article from the CJ from four years talking about the decline.
St. Xavier-Trinity rivalry has had attendance dip in the past decade
Attendance in the St. Xavier-Trinity rival game has dropped in recent years, from its record of 38,872 in 2008.
www.courier-journal.com