The UCLA Bruins‘ season did not start as planned; in fact, it was a complete dumpster fire.
Since DeShaun Foster was hired as the head coach, there has been quiet optimism. That optimism grew with a strong finish last season and a lot of momentum on the recruiting trail this past offseason. It further grew when former 5-Star quarterback Nico Iamaleava chose to leave Tennessee, enter the transfer portal, and come to Westwood.
Expectations for 2025 were realistic, but everyone was quietly optimistic.
However, the fan base can really give a pulse of the state of the program, and that pulse has been on life support for a few years now.
Stadium attendance at the Rose Bowl has been a growing issue. The distance from campus is usually what most point to at first to blame, which is a valid reason, but in a massive metropolitan city, with one of the most famous public universities in the world, it is not the sole reason.
The poor attendance numbers have been well documented, but according to a new report from Ben Bolch of the LA Times, they are even worse than what has originally been reported.
UCLA Bruins Rose Bowl Attendance As Bad As It Looks
The Rose Bowl is arguably the best sporting venue in all of sports, not just college football. It is the Grandaddy of Them All. And yet, the UCLA Bruins have really struggled in filling it out.
During Saturday night’s blowout loss at the hands of the Utah Utes, it was reported that 35,032 were in attendance for the game. A good majority of these fans were representing the opposing team, but even still, that number felt a little high based on what the naked eye could see.
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The LA Times received documentation of the “scan count,” or actual tickets scanned that entered the stadium. That figure was much lower at 27,785.
This is not necessarily a new thing that UCLA is doing, as the Big Ten leaves it up to the individual schools to come up with their own formulas in reporting attendance numbers, but the difference is a bit misleading, at best.
According to Bolch, “UCLA defines its announced attendance as tickets distributed – including freebies – plus non-ticketed and credentialed individuals such as players, coaches, staff, vendors, cheerleaders, band members, performers, and even media.”
During an infamous record heat day in September of 2022, the announced attendance of a game against Bowling Green was 27,143. An embarrassing number in its own right. The actual number was egregiously worse.
According to the scan count, the actual attendance was 12,383. The scan count for the next week’s game against Alabama State was 14,093.
Last season, the UCLA Bruins averaged an attendance of 46,805, which was 16th out of 18 teams in the Big Ten, beating out only Maryland and Northwestern, which the latter played their games temporarily in a lakeside Lacrosse and Soccer venue.
There are plenty of factors that go into this downward trajectory, many of which are for a different article, but it starts with excitement around the program. There are two very simple ways to create excitement.
Winning and Access.
Currently, UCLA is doing neither.
During the offseason, DeShaun Foster famously tightened media access, giving the public even less access than was already administered. Dating back to when Chip Kelly was at the helm, the UCLA Bruins have always been a challenging program to work with in terms of media access and accreditation. They have always felt closed off and very private.
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When you do that as a program, you alienate yourself from the fan base.
However, all of that can be forgotten if you are winning.
After finishing 5-7 last year, and getting embarrassed on Saturday Night, it might take a massive shift for those attendance numbers to begin to rise. The season is still fully in front of the Mighty Bruins, but it can slip away quickly.
Hopefully, we will see the Rose Bowl full again very soon.