Evening star., 1932-11-08
SLUMP IN CROWDS
RATED TEMPORARY
Maj. Griffith, Boss of Big Ten,
Confident Normal Interest
Will Return.
BY FRANCIS ]. POWERS.

)HICAGO, November 8.-The
hysteria that once en-
~ quilted some of our college
professors, who saw moth
ing but educational ruin coming
from the tremendous crowds that
attended foot ball games, now
seems to have inversely attacked
some Of the strongest proponents
OF the game, who fear it's perma-
nent decline after viewing the
empty seats to be found at almost
every major contest of the present
season. The present fears are
without reason.
Maj John L. Griffith, commissioner
OF athletics for the Western Conference,
Is one authority who believes the pres
ent decline in foot ball attendance is as
temporary as the low price of wheat
and other commodities.
Attendance at Western Conference
foot ball games this season is slightly
below that of last year" declared Maj
Griffith. But it is on par with the
crowds of 1924, which represented a
fairly normal level. The great throngs
seen at games during the years Of our
greatest national prosperity we're some
what abnormal but We will have ca
pacity crowds again. Foot ball interest
will return just as surely as the prices
Of wheat. clothing and shoes will again
increase"
7 UNIVERSITIES with modest stadia
~ are not doing so poorly in the mat
ter Of attendance this year. Take
Wisconsin for example. Camp Randall,
the Badger stadium. has a seating ca
pacity of approximately 10000. Last
year in four home games the Wisconsin
eleven drew total Of 60.272 spectators
/ This season in five games its attend
ance will total very close to 10000
The reason for the increased attend
ance at Wisconsin is the renewal of foot
ball relations with Marquette Univer-
sity. a near neighbor located in Mil
waukee. The Marquette game attracted
22.937 patrons and with the advance
sale for the Minnesota game indicat-
ing crowd of 10000 the Badgers will
be able to regard the season as a Sue
cess. The same is true with many cthsS
universities scattered throughout the
country. Obviously schools with stadia
seating $4,000 or more may find reason
| for complaint, but it will be remembered
that such institutions seldom filled
their stands more than once seal
! Maj. Griffith points out that here
| is return of udent interest In foot
ball. That is quite apparent her, tn
I the Middle West. The day of the bon
fire seems to be returning North
western. where this years team has a
| poor record and where the students
! have had the reputation of being So
| phisticates. celebrated in anticipation
| of victory over Ohio State with
! huge bonfire and pep meeting The
| students are showing n inclination TO
| meet teams returning from an out-of-
| town game and I believe the cheering
in the Big Ten has been more Ngor-
! GUS and spontaneous than any time in
/ several seasons.
| THE Big Ten has met the decrease
J. in gate receipts by a program of
curtailment. I am told there Is
/ only one fot ball coach in the Western
| Conference now receiving rs much as
| $4,000 per year. There were one or
! two others who had achieved that sal
airy, but their pay was cut in a general
reduction of expenses. The size of foot
/ ball coaching StaHs also has been re-
duced and some Big Ten schools are
| getting by with as few as five men d.
recting the varsity.
! Every conference school has reduced
its program for minor sports and in
! few instances intercollegiate competi-
tion In certain sports has been tenn
porarily discontinued. Intramural ath-
letics. that reached high point of de-
velopment in the Western Conference,
also have been touched by the neces-
sity for economy.
Only a few of the Midvestern uni
versities are saddled with a heavy sta
dium or field house debt, but those With
such obligations are in difficult sit
uation. Big Ten universities are de-
pendent entirely upon the revenue that
comes from foot ball for the mainte-
nance Of their athletic programs both
intercollegiate and intramural. but
practically all of them will be able to
balance the budget this year. And all
Of the directors are certain that the fu-
ture again will see foot ball normally
prosperous and a continued develop
ment Of their complete athletic pro-
grams.