THE SEC Championship game had a troubling amount of empty seats over the weekend.
The Georgia Bulldogs defeated the Texas Longhorns 22-19 in overtime in the SEC Championship game.
WSB-TV / XA video revealed plenty of seats spotted at the SEC Championship game between the Texas Longhorns and Georgia Bulldogs over the weekend[/caption]
GettyGeorgia beat Texas by a score of 22-19 on Saturday[/caption]
Typically, the SEC receives spectacular numbers in attendance in Atlanta compared to other conferences.
The SEC Championship did announce a crowd of 74,916 but Mercedez-Benz Stadium didn’t appear to be filled at the start of the game between Texas and Georgia.
WSB-TV Sports Director Zach Klein posted a video on social media of the stadium which showed what appeared to be thousands of empty seats “minutes” before the start of the game.
“RIP SEC Championship game… used to be one of the 2 best yearly events I had the privilege to cover (Masters is the other)” he wrote on X.
“Minutes before kick and the building is dead… no buzz.
“No playoff atmosphere.”
Fans reacted to the clip and shared their worries about the SEC Championship future, with one writing, “College football could be dead.”
The game would become an electric overtime win for Georgia.
It was head coach Kirby Smart’s third-ever conference title.
However, the 48-year-old did admit that there was less build-up inside the building before the contest.
“I hate to say it, but in pregame, I didn’t think the game had the same juice and atmosphere I’ve seen it before,” Smart said after the game.
The reasoning? Conference titles are less important in the new 12-team playoff and both teams are already in the playoff.
Saturday’s game was also local for Georgia and around only 20 percent of the fans were Texas fans, per The Athletic.
Other conference championship games also experienced less-than-stellar attendance figures.
WSB-TV / XMercedez-Benz Stadium didn’t appear to be filled at the start of the game between Texas and Georgia[/caption]
The Big 12 Championship Game between Arizona State Sun Devils and Iowa State Cyclones had unimpressive turnouts.
It was a late arriving crowd for the game which took place at AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys.
“There is no one here,” one fan wrote about the game on X.
“If Colorado was playing people would actually go – no one cares about this game or these teams,” another fan added.
Arizona State won 45-19 in the contest that drew 55,889 – the lowest in the event’s 28-year history.
The Big Ten Championship between the Oregon Ducks and Penn State Nittany Lions drew 67,469. which was not a sellout.
https://www.the-sun.com/sport/13059507/sec-championshp-game-empty-seats-georgia-texas/