Evening star., 1933-01-05
GROWTH IS NOTED
IN SOCIAL REPORT
Hard Times, Not Interest
Lack, Blamed for Waning
College Support.
BY the Associated Press.

By the Associated Press.
n JEW YORK, January 5.-Col.
M lege foot ball was about the
L Y only one of the spectacle"
sports that kept pace with
the growth of interest in active
competition during the boom"
years, and now, with gate receipts
declining sharply, the college sport
appears to have found an i'm
portant rival in the professional
game.
While the number of golfers, tennis
players. automobile campers and others
who preferred to take their outdoor
sport in an active way was growing by
leaps and bounds in the years before
1880 and base ball and boxing were
suffering, foot ball kept pace, it is
shown in the report Of the presidents
Research Committee on Social Trends.
But, adds DR.. j. F. Steiner, professor
Of sociology at the University of Wash
ington, who contributed the chapter on
sports and recreation to the report,
there Is the possibility that public in
tereSt may eventually shift from college
to professional foot ball because Of the
superior skill OF the latter"
THE report, which covers satistically
i only the period up through 1880,
shows the remarkable growth Of
foot bali in a 1o-year period and the
huge investments which went with it.
The costly stadia that were built in the
boom times, DR.. Steiner points out, must
be paid for in the future and the
amounts involved establish foot ball as
something more than passing whim"
According to reports from 135 insti-
tutions," the report says. "the seating
facilities for foot ball spectators in
creased from e29.523 in 1920 to 2,307,-
$50 in 1880, a. gain of lab per cent
These institutions reported "a con-
crete stadia, 55 of which had been built
since 1920. Only one of these college
stadia in 1920 had a seating capacity
Of more than 10000, while there were
seven in this class in $780,"
The recent decline in attendance ap-
parently Is due to hard times rather
than to declining interest, DR.. Steiner
explains. A falling of of about per
cent in attendance and per cent In
receipts in 1890 was the only decrease
found in his statistics up to that year
and, he adds, 'since neither the curve
Of attendance nor the curve of receipts
showed any tendency to hatten out
previous to 1880, there is reason to
assume that hard times, rather than
declining interest. is responsible"
Associated Press surveys for 1892
have indicated a further decline of
about 25 per cent in college foot ball
attendance.
THE only other apparent danger to
l. the popularity of the college sport
total attendance Of approximately
receipts of not less than $21 SOC, 900. In
the growth of the professional game.
THE game ITSELF" it says, has those
combatative elements which make it
thrilling spectacle, entirely apart from
the colorful features provided by rival
student bodies. Evidence of this can
be seen in the growing popularity Of
professional foot ball in the East and
Middle West during the past few years"
If the professional game should re-
place the colleges in public interest, DR..
Steiner's report concludes. college foot
ball may follow college base ball and
decline as a public spectacle, becoming
game of no more than local interest.
THAT grave ills have resulted from
the stress and struggle to win foot ball
championships there can be no doubt.
few of the leading colleges and uni
versities have already attempted to re-
organize their athletics more in accord
with general student welfare and educa-
tional ideals"