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National Champion [7543]
TigerPulse: 100%
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Fan Apathy Are We Losing the Flame?
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Oct 27, 2025, 8:07 AM
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I’ve been a rabid Clemson fan since the mid-70s—Red Parker’s twilight, Charley Pell’s ignition. That era wasn’t just about wins and losses; it was about identity. About building something. About defending the faith.
Over the decades, I’ve carried that devotion across the country. Airports, tailgates, hotel bars—I’ve stood for Clemson and for college football itself. Not just the brand, but the soul. The rituals, the rivalries, the Saturdays that felt sacred.
But lately? Something’s shifting.
The sport I’ve defended unconditionally feels... unfamiliar. Realignment, NIL chaos, portal roulette, playoff bloat—it’s not just change, it’s dislocation. I’m not anti-evolution. I’m anti-fracture. And I’m starting to feel it in my bones: the fire’s flickering.
So I’m asking—not to vent, but to trial a truth:
How many of you are struggling to keep the fire burning?
Not just for Clemson, but for the sport itself. Are we still stewards of something sacred, or are we just consumers of a product that’s lost its soul?
I’m not here to quit. I’m here to codify what’s worth saving. But I need to know—who else feels it?
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Athletic Dir [1174]
TigerPulse: 100%
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Re: Fan Apathy Are We Losing the Flame?
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Oct 27, 2025, 8:10 AM
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Excellent post that describes where I am as well.
I can’t really call myself a college football fan any more, just a Clemson fan.
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Head Coach [992]
TigerPulse: 100%
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Re: Fan Apathy Are We Losing the Flame?
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Oct 27, 2025, 11:16 AM
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I have been a Clemson fan since I was a kid living in CT. I was an IPTAY member for more than 20 years.
Till I went to work in retail and had no Saturdays off. But you summed exactly how I feel now. With the NIL and teams changing personnel through the portal evry year, it just isn't like it used to be. IMO, it did not change for the better. It used to at least appear to be an amateur sport. Now it seems more semi-pro.
I will always root for the Tigers, but I agree with you, it certainly has changed.
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Orange Blooded [2161]
TigerPulse: 100%
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Re: Fan Apathy Are We Losing the Flame?
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Oct 27, 2025, 8:12 AM
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You are not alone and it’s not a Clemson thing… friends that are scar and uga fans say the same thing. The sport has been ruined and you see it in the stadiums. Yes the big games are still big but the remaining games are pretty lack luster and the team excitement of 10 years ago is just not the same.
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National Champion [7543]
TigerPulse: 100%
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It's Become Like Work Being A Fan
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Oct 27, 2025, 8:19 AM
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I used to get excited over any bowl. Didn’t matter if it was the Humanitarian Bowl, the Weed Eater Bowl, or some frozen kickoff in Boise. It was an event. A reward. A chance to see the colors fly and the band play one more time.
Now? It feels transactional. Like we’re checking boxes. Like fandom is a job, not a joy.
And that’s not a good place to be.
When did being a fan start feeling like work? When did we stop celebrating the journey and start auditing the ROI?
I’m not saying we should lower standards. I’m saying we should remember why we showed up in the first place.
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Dynasty Maker [3491]
TigerPulse: 94%
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Wow, tha's another great post . . .
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Oct 27, 2025, 9:28 AM
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againt, you nailed it a thousand percent. Amen.
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MVP [518]
TigerPulse: 75%
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Its ChatGPT.***
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Oct 28, 2025, 4:23 AM
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Dynasty Maker [3491]
TigerPulse: 94%
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Doubtful . . .
Oct 28, 2025, 11:26 AM
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but if so it still nails the truth.
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National Champion [7543]
TigerPulse: 100%
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It's all my talking points but I use Copilot To clean it up because
Oct 28, 2025, 11:54 AM
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My grammar, spelling and typical isn't what it used to be and I've been playing with the AI recently to clean my posts up because the Tnet grammar police busted my chops on my lack of linguistic legerdemain.
But as I said, it's my talking points laid out better IMO
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Dynasty Maker [3491]
TigerPulse: 94%
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and it's just fine . . .
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Oct 28, 2025, 1:24 PM
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the point is great, even if the verbiage arrangement wasn't all yours.
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All-American [582]
TigerPulse: 98%
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Orange Elite [5550]
TigerPulse: 100%
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Re: Fan Apathy Are We Losing the Flame?
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Oct 27, 2025, 8:24 AM
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You asked if the product has lost its soul? I say yes it has. I’ve noticed that people rarely mention college football or basketball on Sunday mornings before church now. There would always be a group representing a half dozen programs to stand around to talk smack, and laugh with each other. Now the fans of winning teams rarely say anything. Apathy has clearly set in. To be honest it’s pretty nice in a lot of ways.
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Ring of Honor [22103]
TigerPulse: 100%
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Re: Fan Apathy Are We Losing the Flame?
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Oct 28, 2025, 5:18 AM
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We still do that at my church. Although, I am the lone Tiger surrounded by Tarheels and Dookies. We long for the days we used to be traveling back home after an elaborate tailgate. It’s harder to watch nowadays. The blood doesn’t boil like it used to when the team gathered at the hill. The investment dollar wise is becoming ridiculous as well. I used to grab a student ticket or wait til just before kickoff and get a ticket for peanuts. A 12 pack or 6-12 at the Esso was my biggest investment. Nowadays, I could buy a nice boat for what I spend on seven games. Granted, Lot5 parking, full catering for 15-20, ticket upgrades, and a hotel cost far too much to sustain. My wife starts to panic when I start planning. There’s something wrong when a Furman game costs you thousands.
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Orange Elite [5550]
TigerPulse: 100%
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Re: Fan Apathy Are We Losing the Flame?
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Oct 28, 2025, 6:49 AM
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Interesting. I have the exact opposite experience. I’m the lone UNC grad surrounded by Tigers , Chickens, and Bulldogs. I have lived near Clemson for 37 years and have tons of family ties to Clemson so I naturally follow Clemson sports. Anyway, the Heels always suck and apathy is just a part of UNC football. But this is different and it’s wide spread through college football. I can really tell it with UNC basketball. More and more fans are “we have a game tonight? Ok whatever”. Even the passion for the dook rivalry is fading. Thought that would never happen!
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All-In [10292]
TigerPulse: 79%
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Joined: 1998
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Just win and problem solved***
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Oct 27, 2025, 8:30 AM
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Orange Elite [5550]
TigerPulse: 100%
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Re: Just win and problem solved***
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Oct 27, 2025, 8:33 AM
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Certainly helps individual programs when they win more. But I think he’s suggesting that the sport in general is seeing more fan apathy. I agree with that.
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Dynasty Maker [3491]
TigerPulse: 94%
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Yes and amen . . .
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Oct 27, 2025, 9:31 AM
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the apathy is the symptom, not the problem.
In some ways, I think the apathy is healthy. I wish it the apathy weren't the case, but I only wish that in the sense that I wish it weren't justified. But it is. It would be healthy long term to have the same sort of passion for an institution that has lost much of what justified the passion in the first place. It would show that we didn't notice the changes under our nose and never really appreciated the way things were before.
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Tiger Spirit [9362]
TigerPulse: 100%
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Re: Just win and problem solved***
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Oct 28, 2025, 10:35 AM
[ in reply to Just win and problem solved*** ] |
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I don't think one team (Clemson) winning solves this huge problem created by NIL and the Portal. Teams not making the playoffs will still fire good coaches. Players will still be 'professionals" until something major fixes the current ills of college athletes.
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Top TigerNet [30994]
TigerPulse: 100%
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Joined: 2024
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Re: Fan Apathy Are We Losing the Flame?
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Oct 27, 2025, 8:35 AM
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Yeah, the program has fallen from what people got used to. That's the main factor.
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Paw Master [17833]
TigerPulse: 100%
51
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Joined: 1999
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I know I am
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Oct 27, 2025, 8:41 AM
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For almost 20 years, I lived 200 miles from Clemson, and rarely missed a home game. Now, I live about 30 miles from Clemson, and I have not set foot in DV this season. I have only bothered to go into town one time. I won’t see a single play live this year. I am sure the fact that I no longer have a kid there figures in, but I just don’t have the “want to” any more.
And it is not the product on the field (although that doesn’t help). I was a student during the Danny Ford years, and I suffered through the handful of coaches between Ford and Dabo, but I never lost interest. You know what they say…you don’t know what you have until it is gone.
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Head Coach [940]
TigerPulse: 98%
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Re: Fan Apathy Are We Losing the Flame?
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Oct 27, 2025, 8:53 AM
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I feel exactly the same. I have love college football my whole life. Specifically Clemson football, but when my Tigers weren't playing, I'd watch all day. That's becoming tougher. I think it's how much $$$ have become the motivator. For every aspect. The final straw was the combination of NIL and the portal. It's made team loyalty a rarity. Most players are more like hired guns, mercenaries really that leave for "greener pastures" at the drop of a hat. I still love college football. It's like staying with family in the traditional family home but there is an awful stench that won't go away.
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Paw Master [17833]
TigerPulse: 100%
51
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Joined: 1999
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Bowl season is a great example
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Oct 27, 2025, 9:00 AM
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A huge part of our family’s holiday season has always been the bowl pool. Every game was exciting, because the players wanted to be there, there was swag, and a trophy to play for. They competed hard, and every game was compelling.
Now, with opt outs, non-CFP bowl games are terrible. Impossible to pick, impossible to watch. Players approach it like it is beneath them. Seems like traditional bowl games are on life support.
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Orange Elite [5553]
TigerPulse: 100%
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Re: Fan Apathy Are We Losing the Flame?
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Oct 27, 2025, 8:54 AM
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Yeah, it's not just Clemson either. It's the entire sport itself. So many of us screamed and hollered why the portal and NIL would become the death of football and so many said to shut up and accept it. Well here we are. The sport will collapse on itself eventually. I just don't see how this much money being churned out constantly with not much in return is sustainable. Pulling every dime from fans is a good way to get them to turn against you as well when the product sucks. But that's not the only factors. There's so many small things that have eaten at the sport and a lot of outside factors as well. Too many to reasonably list.
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Game Changer [1866]
TigerPulse: 100%
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Re: Fan Apathy Are We Losing the Flame?
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Oct 27, 2025, 8:59 AM
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I was with you during the Red Parker years. I remember standing in the ampitheater on Friday nights screaming for Coach Pell and his team at the pep rallies. I remember DV was so loud, your ears would ring when you left. Now, the gameday experience is all so packaged, like a Madison Ave. production--all fake piped in music by a DJ. So much like a Marvel movie--all CGI. The players never seem to be really excited on the sideline, much less on the field. Many are just there for a paycheck. I am glad they are not allowed to have their cell phones as many would likely be on them rather than even watching the game. I wonder where all these tens of millions to pay off these fired coaches is coming from. I realize that the SEC schools get a huge paycheck each year, but, they also have staffs of hundreds who also get paid. How much can really be left to give Kelly 50 million?
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Valley Legend [12425]
TigerPulse: 100%
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Joined: 1999
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Definitely feel it - but it's not apathy. It's lost school spirit. I've been
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Oct 27, 2025, 9:04 AM
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attending Tiger football games for over 50 years. Clemson is part of who I am - I love telling folks I'm a Clemson grad if it comes up in conversation.
The NIL/portal/flat-out-paying-players has completely removed any connection I used to feel for Clemson football. I just don't feel that connection to kids who are being paid to represent my school.
I was the guy who never left a game early - "These kids worked their tails off in practice, so I'm doing my part and staying and cheering for them the entire game." It happened organically; I didn't sit around thinking about it.
I realized during the App State blowout last year - these guys are being paid well, I'm going home.
I'm going to games now mostly out of habit.
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Oculus Spirit [40934]
TigerPulse: 100%
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Joined: 2011
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Re: Fan Apathy Are We Losing the Flame?
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Oct 27, 2025, 9:06 AM
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CFB done NASCAR'd itself. Is that what you're saying ?
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Orange Blooded [2530]
TigerPulse: 92%
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Re: Fan Apathy Are We Losing the Flame?
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Oct 27, 2025, 9:19 AM
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I have been paying for IPTAY for 26 years. I spend 5 figures on IPTAY and Clemson football. I recently retired. I am unsure if I am going to the Duke game. There is a car show on Hilton Head this weekend where a couple buddies will be showing cars. Right now, that car show seems MUCH more appealing that witnessing us struggle with Duke.
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Hall of Famer [8593]
TigerPulse: 100%
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Joined: 2007
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The car show is a good one. I went one year and the car that won ended up
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Oct 27, 2025, 11:24 AM
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rolling off the tee box and into a nearby lagoon. The owner walked away talking to the judges and forgot to put the car back in gear. We had just walked past this area about 20 minutes prior and came back through and there was a crowd looking at the lake for some reason.. they had a scuba diver out there trying to hook up the tow truck to pull it out.. that was alot of money sitting in that lake.
I googled and found an article that talked about it.
https://www.wsoctv.com/news/trending-now/classic-car-wins-best-in-show-then-rolls-into-lagoon/464638994/
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Game Day Hero [4488]
TigerPulse: 100%
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Re: The car show is a good one. I went one year and the car that won ended up
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Oct 27, 2025, 3:21 PM
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That's insane. Was the owner over 70, might explain it. I'm 78 with a Camero. Hope I don't forget to cut it off after arriving anywhere.
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Orange Immortal [64690]
TigerPulse: 100%
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Re: The car show is a good one. I went one year and the car that won ended up
Oct 28, 2025, 1:14 PM
[ in reply to The car show is a good one. I went one year and the car that won ended up ] |
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Just last week I got out of the car to check the mail and left the car in drive, the car went across the road and stopped after running into the rock bed of the RR tracks across from my house. I tried to jump back into the car but stumbled and fell in the road skinning both knees up, and I live on a very busy road, so I feel lucky that my car and self wasn't hit by the continuous traffic that's always going by my house!!!
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Orange Immortal [64690]
TigerPulse: 100%
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Re: Fan Apathy Are We Losing the Flame?
Oct 28, 2025, 1:02 PM
[ in reply to Re: Fan Apathy Are We Losing the Flame? ] |
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Sounds like a good plan, just check your phone about 3 hours after the game start time to see how we faired against Duke!!!
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Dynasty Maker [3491]
TigerPulse: 94%
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That was very, very well put . . . but unfortunately . . .
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Oct 27, 2025, 9:27 AM
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I'm not sure I have even the mild optimism you express ("not here to quit but to codify what's worth saving") - I simply don't think we can. The forces that have, and are continuing to fracture it, will continue to roll on whether we fans wish to codify and preserve anything or not. I've resigned my self to enjoying what elements of it I can as long as it's worthy of it to some lesser degree than formerly was the case. It simply is what it is, and if it ever becomes entirely bereft of what made us love it to start with, then I'll be sadly content to be done with it entirely.
But yes, I feel it to. You nailed it a thousand percent. It reminds me of the line in an old hymn: " ... and the things of earth will grow strangely dim." I don't want liken the context precisely to the hymn, but there's a certain similarity there in that a deeper perspective about what matters is forced upon us when certain good and noble and nostalgic things change.
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Varsity [100]
TigerPulse: 90%
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Re: Fan Apathy Are We Losing the Flame?
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Oct 27, 2025, 9:43 AM
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I understand your point but one thing about topics like this is the fans never want to blame themselves for it.
The typical college fan complains about loyalty from players but would rather sign an illiterate 5 star out of the slums of Los Angeles who doesn’t belong on a college campus (but can deliver championships) than a local 3 star kid who wants to be a pediatrician but is just a solid player.
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Dynasty Maker [3491]
TigerPulse: 94%
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Whoa, now that's a good point . . .
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Oct 27, 2025, 9:54 AM
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I think there's an element of this that isn't fans fault - i.e. the apathy isn't out of nowhere . . . some of it is the natural and inevitable result of what "they" (various powers that be) have done to the game. The apathy is simply the unavoidable fruit of noticing. That's not really the fault of the fans who are apathetic. But it IS the fault of fans who, in the recent-ish past, were fully on board with the media's efforts to push the sport into uniform cookie-cutter and professional sytle uniformity on everything, starting w/ the playoff, and culminating in all we see now. THOSE fans ARE at fault.
But what you're saying is true. Years ago, decades ago, we collectively should have cared more about what you're talking about. I remember as a kid in the 80's sitting in the stands pregame and looking at the roster in the program, seeing majors like biology, history, industrial engineering, etc. And while I wasn't in college yet, I appreciated that these jimmies and joes I cheered for every Saturday were Clemson students like my dad, and like I would one day be, that they were going to class and preparing for life. I even appreciated that about the jimmies and joes for the other teams. Georgia Tech, #### of an engineer, and all that. Amen.
At some point I noticed it changing, such that dang near every single player was some stock major chosen simply to keep eligibility, and then later the majors weren't even put in there anymore, just hometown and such. Now I know a lot of that was already going on in the 80's ... it's not like it was brand new, but there was at least some reasonable semblance of that left in the 80s and maybe a bit in very early 90's.
I always thought it was embarrassing for a great college team to be filled with morons and thugs, or even just "student athletes" who realy weren't students in any meaningful sense at all, as they got to college and couldn't even issue half-decent english in an interview. Part of that is the overall dumbing down of culture, but college sports made special provisions for it to sustain itself.
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National Champion [7543]
TigerPulse: 100%
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Fair points but....
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Oct 27, 2025, 10:45 AM
[ in reply to Re: Fan Apathy Are We Losing the Flame? ] |
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I hear you—and I actually agree with the core tension you're raising. Fans do project a lot, and we’re not always honest about our own contradictions. But I’d add this:
Most fans aren’t architects of the system. We’re reactors. Unless you’re a big-money booster or inside the ops room, you’re not getting the full picture. But that doesn’t mean your opinion isn’t valid.
I don’t need to be a marine biologist to know what a fish is. Or a rancher to know what a cow looks like. Fans live in the ecosystem, even if we don’t control it. We see the patterns. We feel the shifts.
And when the sport starts feeling more like a transaction than a tradition, fans are going to speak up. That’s not deflection—it’s stewardship.
We can hold space for both truths:
Yes, fans chase stars and scoreboard glory.
But we also mourn what’s being lost.
The reaction isn’t always clean, but it’s real.
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Dynasty Maker [3491]
TigerPulse: 94%
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amen . . .
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Oct 27, 2025, 11:17 AM
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amen and well put. I can still appreciate his point though about our inconsistencies. I felt decades ago that I'd rather college football be less "good" (form a football and talent standpoint) and more noble and genuinely tied to the institution, but I knew I had no power to change it as a fan. So I think it's a sort of both/and thing.
Really, ya have to sort of give it to the various institutions over the years that tried to keep academic standards up and not play the lowest common denominator game ... ND, Duke, Vandy, etc. And even more so, the Ivy League teams. There's a lot wrong with Ivy League schools of course, but when it comes to keeping athletics genuinely tied to the universities, they didn't sell out way back when everyone else did.
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Hall of Famer [8864]
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Re: Fan Apathy Are We Losing the Flame?
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Oct 27, 2025, 10:48 AM
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Right there with you. Many friends and family tell me the same thing.
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1st Rounder [601]
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Re: Fan Apathy Are We Losing the Flame?
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Oct 27, 2025, 10:52 AM
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I feel it, because we have coach who refuses to adapt. It would be at least less infuriating if we were losing and knew that everything was being done to compete. But that isn’t the case.
Besides that, I agree that the sport itself is suffering greatly because of the portal/NIL.
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Paw Master [16211]
TigerPulse: 100%
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Joined: 2001
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Re: Fan Apathy Are We Losing the Flame?
Oct 27, 2025, 10:55 AM
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Here!
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Legend [7096]
TigerPulse: 97%
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Hasn't felt the same to me since 2020***
Oct 27, 2025, 11:08 AM
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All-TigerNet [5796]
TigerPulse: 100%
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Re: Fan Apathy Are We Losing the Flame?
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Oct 27, 2025, 11:22 AM
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I used to plan my weekends around it, but now I find myself not worrying about it if I have something better to do....NIL has absolutely ruined CFL.
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Orange Elite [5550]
TigerPulse: 100%
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Re: Fan Apathy Are We Losing the Flame?
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Oct 27, 2025, 12:58 PM
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Same here. I used to plan weekends around college football as well. Now it’s the opposite. If I have absolutely nothing better to do and it’s 40 degrees with rain I’ll sit on the couch and watch a quarter of two. Also, there was a time when my wife might want to watch a movie on Saturday and I would have been tempted to file for divorce. ( not really). But I find myself saying “ I’m not really watching the game you can change the channel if you want”. Heck, Saturday I did yard work until 4pm and completely forgot there were games on.
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All-American [576]
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Re: Fan Apathy Are We Losing the Flame?
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Oct 27, 2025, 1:20 PM
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Few things have surprised me as much as the rapidity and severity with which my enthusiasm for college football, including Clemson, has diminished.
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Orange Elite [5550]
TigerPulse: 100%
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Re: Fan Apathy Are We Losing the Flame?
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Oct 27, 2025, 1:41 PM
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Yep. Checking a score and seeing a loss moves me to emotion about as much as checking the DOW and seeing a 0.1% drop.
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Game Day Hero [4433]
TigerPulse: 100%
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You stated my feelings exactly!
Oct 27, 2025, 1:24 PM
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It’s all the changes. College football is no longer dependable.
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Valley Protector [1403]
TigerPulse: 100%
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Yep. Combine that with all the mess theyve built downtown and Im not
Oct 27, 2025, 1:30 PM
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Excited about going there anymore.
Yes, I am a curmudgeonly old man.
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Tiger Cub [14]
TigerPulse: 95%
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Re: Fan Apathy Are We Losing the Flame?
Oct 27, 2025, 1:43 PM
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i feel the same but what do the tv ratings say? that is all that matters.
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1st Rounder [638]
TigerPulse: 98%
21
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I'm feeling the same. It hardly resembles the "feel" it used to have. Maybe it
Oct 27, 2025, 2:35 PM
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is my age, maybe the changes, I'm not sure. I know one thing, I can still get fired up when we score a touchdown!
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Hall of Famer [8796]
TigerPulse: 100%
43
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Re: Fan Apathy Are We Losing the Flame?
Oct 27, 2025, 2:54 PM
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I definitely feel it. Each year, as tickets and parking passes get more expensive, but coaches are paid more, players are paid more, players “commit” then de-commit, then transfer, coaches are fired mid-season, it’s more work and frustration to be a fan. Like someone else said, college football has become transactional. It’s all business and no heart.
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National Champion [7820]
TigerPulse: 100%
42
Posts: 16370
Joined: 2002
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I think the biggest problem is that the juice just isn't worth the squeeze.
3
Oct 27, 2025, 2:59 PM
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The prices have skyrocketed for actually going to a game and everything that goes with the trip.
Add that to the product on the field, and the fact that everyone has giant HD tv's that play every game all day long, it's just not worth it anymore to me.
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Orange Phenom [14868]
TigerPulse: 100%
49
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Someone on TigerNet used the term "Clemson Inc." which seems appropriate
5
5
Oct 27, 2025, 3:52 PM
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with what College athletics has become - a commercial enterprise being used to generate lots of money. It really doesn't feel like it is all about a genuine love of school anymore but rather an attempt to make money off an illusion of supporting one's school.
Just about everything in/about Clemson does not feel the same to me anymore. Everything from the astronomical growth in stuff around Clemson, to the massive amounts of construction on campus, to the almost doubling of the student body pushing Clemson ever further away from that "small town college" feel I had as a student in the '80s.
To be honest, the Clemson gameday experience feels like a fake image of what it used to be. Almost everything in it's production - from the non-stop "noise" being broadcast by a "DJ" at ear splitting levels to the "hype video" being shown before the team runs down the hill (more like "skips" down the hill by today's players). It all feels like a desperate attempt to recapture or capitalize on a lost school spirit that used to naturally permeate Death Valley before constant electronic stimulation overtook our society. To me it all feels like a forced, falsely generated commercial atmosphere that has no real soul behind it.
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Game Day Hero [4552]
TigerPulse: 100%
36
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Re: Fan Apathy Are We Losing the Flame?
1
Oct 27, 2025, 4:03 PM
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Yes. But I can be contented once again with a move to the SEC
Heavyweights coming to Death Valley will reignite my passion
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Clemson Icon [24862]
TigerPulse: 100%
54
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Yes. You put it in words very well. I find myself struggling to understand
1
Oct 28, 2025, 12:48 AM
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why I really just don't care that much any more. I also wore it on my sleeve, traveled a lot for business for many years and proudly wore my Clemson T-shirts and sweatshirts. And when I saw fans of other schools, I felt like we shared something in common. Be it Sou Cal, Michigan, Notre Dame, Bama, whoever. We were all hardcore, and our blood ran whatever color of our school. We'd give each other a wink and a nod, and we understood. We're in this for life, and we live and die a thousand deaths every Saturday.
Now? I'm kinda ambivalent. I hope we win of course. But it doesn't ruin my weekend if we lose.
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Orange Blooded [2290]
TigerPulse: 100%
32
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Re: Fan Apathy Are We Losing the Flame?
1
Oct 28, 2025, 1:07 AM
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Haven’t watched anyone but Clemson the past 2 seasons other than a few minutes here and there and really don’t enjoy CFB near as much. The Pay for Play and Free Agency crap killed off pro sports for me and here we go again.
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Ring of Honor [23119]
TigerPulse: 100%
53
Posts: 16275
Joined: 2010
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Very Well Stated CU_Tigers4life®
1
Oct 28, 2025, 1:24 AM
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In the late Summer of '79 when I arrived on campus, Clemson was magical in so many ways. It was so much more than Football, but the Flame of Football was a huge galvanizing force for freshman newbies and every previous generation of alums & fans from largely the Southeast with some Northeast scattered in.
Over the past decade, it's dawned on me that so many young men & ladies from 15-30 and especially the undergrads in Tiger Town are in tune with Netflix and Video Games and are opting out of the Football culture. Dating is online. It's a new world out there!
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110%er [3753]
TigerPulse: 100%
35
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Re: Fan Apathy Are We Losing the Flame?
1
Oct 28, 2025, 1:29 AM
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To be honest with you, I think the product on the field has never been better. The parity and the excitement of the games have been much improved. The expanded playoff has kept more teams alive so there are more meaningful games to be played in the regular season. The problem with how it used to be was that even your average power-5 game was essentially meaningless by mid-season because of how small the field of national title contenders was. It was basically just whoever Clemson, Alabama, Oklahoma, Michigan, and Ohio State were playing each week, and no one else really mattered. Now, most power-4 games are actually intriguing, even later in the year. And despite concerns, I don't think the expanded field has made the regular season games feel less meaningful. NIL has increased the parity, and the portal has enabled struggling teams to improve more quickly.
Now, does that mean that a lot of the shameless bag-chasing and phony commitments don't get hard to stomach? Of course not, and unfortunately, Clemson has not adjusted to it well. But I tend to be of the opinion that rev share and the portal haven't "ruined the game" as many say. I think they've just exposed a pre-existing reality that many people didn't want to believe.
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All-Pro [723]
TigerPulse: 100%
22
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Re: Fan Apathy Are We Losing the Flame?
1
Oct 28, 2025, 2:15 AM
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The Powers that Be are noticing the growing change in fan/alum low
interest and participation. Some outfit has come up
with a playoff formula that they hope will inject
some excitement back that has been lost last 4 or
5 years. P4 schools ACC, Big 12, BG10, and SEC
would get their top four teams in the playoffs
and the Group of 5 would have their top 2 and
last 6 slots would be at large schools with best
won/lost records. I don't know where that formula
stands at this time but with 24 team playoff,
on paper it looks like every school has a shot
of trying to make the playoffs within Div 1.
IMHO that formula is fair for all schools in Div 1
compared to a Super league of 36 to 48 schools only
and the rest of Div 1 schools left out.
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110%er [3648]
TigerPulse: 100%
35
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Re: Fan Apathy Are We Losing the Flame?
Oct 28, 2025, 4:16 AM
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I feel the same way ☝️
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MVP [518]
TigerPulse: 75%
19
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People are having ChatGPT write their posts now?***
Oct 28, 2025, 4:21 AM
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National Champion [7543]
TigerPulse: 100%
42
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I don't Use ChatGPT
Oct 28, 2025, 6:37 AM
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I use Copilot for an occasional assist. I recently got "coached up" by the grammar police patrolling the streets of Tnet and I freely admit my spelling and grammar isn't what it used to be so I've been playing with an AI recently to clean up my thoughts. I tell it my topic and give my talking points and it provides the suggested comments. I review, clean it up and post it.
If that bothers you then I'm sorry slick. I'm just trying to put out a better product.
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CU Guru [1549]
TigerPulse: 100%
30
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Re: Fan Apathy Are We Losing the Flame?
Oct 28, 2025, 5:26 AM
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Same. Everything you described. I watch Clemson games and spend rest of my time doing something outside. 4 years ago my whole week would’ve been based around the espn tv schedule of games. Very disappointing what it has evolved into.
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CU Medallion [20906]
TigerPulse: 100%
52
Posts: 12145
Joined: 2001
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It's different. That's for sure. I do think that the conference changes are
2
Oct 28, 2025, 6:25 AM
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part of the problem. Not sure how that's sustainable for the non-revenue sports. Volleyball flying to California for a conference match is absurd. Nil maybe have put the final nail in what was college football. IPTAY has also changed. They don't care about the little guy, and they don't care that you were there when the team was terrible. All about the $$$. May be headed the way of Nascar, with half-empty stadiums. Guess we will see!
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Asst Coach [859]
TigerPulse: 97%
23
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I think its just a normal part of getting older. Still love my Tigers and
Oct 28, 2025, 6:50 AM
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Enjoy fall Saturdays. It’s just not near the top of the things I find important anymore.
#### I straight up ditched football last Saturday for other plans. That would have been unthinkable to younger me.
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Asst Coach [836]
TigerPulse: 100%
23
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Re: Fan Apathy Are We Losing the Flame?
Oct 28, 2025, 7:07 AM
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I agree with you 100%. I started going to games in the early 70's . And it's most certainly not same as is used to be.
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Legend [6776]
TigerPulse: 100%
41
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Re: Fan Apathy Are We Losing the Flame?
1
Oct 28, 2025, 7:08 AM
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It’s called portal , nil and zero appreciation for a college degree….free I might add
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Athletic Dir [1146]
TigerPulse: 100%
26
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Re: Fan Apathy Are We Losing the Flame?
Oct 28, 2025, 9:21 AM
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Very well said. It isn't the same sport it once was. My passion for it has significantly decreased the last 5 years. Honestly that may not be a bad thing for me.
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Ultimate Tiger [38709]
TigerPulse: 100%
56
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Re: Fan Apathy Are We Losing the Flame?
1
Oct 28, 2025, 9:26 AM
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The volatility has diluted brand stability. For me, it started when conferences started growing exponentially and lost all geographic reasoning. Next was the cara-sell of coaches with ridiculous contracts and buyouts not to coach. Next was the NIL and off the rails it goes. Now tampering and paying for players is accepted as the norm. Next - no more students/classes! Just professional athletes.
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Associate AD [1042]
TigerPulse: 64%
25
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I still love Clemson, but, I was an Olympic sports athlete there in the
2
Oct 28, 2025, 10:14 AM
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…1980s. Once my sport was eliminated due to supposed T9 reasons, I was somewhat removed from the overall program due to Active Duty military service abroad, etc etc.
Then, once my life stabilized, I made amends with the Athletic Dept and slowly reconstituted my old group of team mates for annual reunions at Clemson over particular Fall football weekends. It was fun, especially being able to watch Clemson rise to be the best, most admired program in the nation.
Then? Colin Kaepernik and the BLM wave struck both the NFL and NCAA, followed by the “Plan-Demic” known as Covid 19. I’ve never recovered…I haven’t watched a NFL game since Mike Tomlin kept the Steelers in the tunnel for the Nat’l Anthem, and I haven’t been back into Death Valley since the team had all those silly terms on their jersies (ie Unity, Blah blah blah).
Now? I’ve lost total interest in major College “revenue generating” sports altogether and I only watch certain Olympic sports. It sad…it sux…because I really used to love it all. Now? I’ve found different interests and I’m surprisingly more content, less nostalgic than I thought I’d be. It will be interesting to see if more and more fans just begin to lose interest with their feet and their wallets. I fear for the non revenue generating Olympic sports programs across the entire nation.
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Orange Blooded [2381]
TigerPulse: 100%
32
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Re: College football
Oct 28, 2025, 10:34 AM
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Is now a professional sport…
I lost interest in the NFL when the salaries became crazy and free agency caused constant roster shifts….
This is where college football is now - with less money and less guard rails on free agency ..
You can argue that Clemson is different - but it’s being proven that model doesn’t work in the new era….Clemson will adjust with or without Dabo and the fanbase will shift to more of an NFL fan base… games will be a social affair attended by those who have the financial means to treat it as such…
I don’t want watch the NFL - and my life is not de-valued in the least….i am sure I will find the same when I completely stop watching college football..
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Mascot [25]
TigerPulse: 78%
3
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Re: I still love Clemson, but, I was an Olympic sports athlete there in the
Oct 28, 2025, 11:43 AM
[ in reply to I still love Clemson, but, I was an Olympic sports athlete there in the ] |
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I totally agree with what you said. Being a third generation Clemson graduate out of six generations. I was a rabid tiger fan. But like you, the game has really lost something and what I started seeing from the players just didn’t agree with the way I perceived college football. I got tired of watching a kid make a tackle or intercept a pass and run all the way down to the student section and cross his arms and signify It was all about him. I also get tired of watching these kids score a touchdown and then dance around in the end zone. What happened to the way you just scored a touchdown gave the ball back to the referee and went to the bench to be congratulated. I also see how college football is now controlled by the major media networks especially ESPN. You just wait in a few years they’ll come up with another money making scheme and if you wanna watch your college team play on TV you will have to buy a sports package for an astronomical amount of money. I just don’t get excited about it anymore and have gotten where I could care less whether Clemson wins or not. And when they got into all the political rhetoricthey lost me! To finish this, I will let you know I have not watched a professional sporting event in over 12 years.
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Tiger Spirit [9362]
TigerPulse: 100%
44
Posts: 12175
Joined: 2011
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Re: Fan Apathy Are We Losing the Flame?
Oct 28, 2025, 10:29 AM
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My sentiment matches yours. I became a Clemson fan the day I enrolled in 1973. Attended every home football game for 4 years, never leaving early. Those were not great football teams, but I loved them and had classes with a few football players.
NIL and "win at all cost" has ruined college football. To hear Clemson fans wanting to fire Dabo (after winning ACC lazt year) makes me sick. The culture Dabo at Clemson has created is incredible. It should be the model for ALL of college football.
Somehow, we need to take the big money out of college football (and other college sports), and let these STUDENT-Athletes be students first.
PS: it seems to me that the many vocal "fans" on TigerNet are the WORST "fans".
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National Champion [7957]
TigerPulse: 96%
42
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Re: Fan Apathy Are We Losing the Flame?
1
Oct 28, 2025, 11:10 AM
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Excellent post. I don’t have the words as you to express it but I feel the same thing. Iptay since 1978 followed tigers at home and many road games. All 3 nattys in person and most of playoff games and many bowl games. I don’t know if it is my age of 78 or the tigers are doing so poorly this year after being on top for so long. I have lost my enthusiasm not god the tigers but for the sport of college football. I lost it many years ago for the NBA and the NFL. I’m getting that same feeling now for college football. It’s got to be the nil and portal and the attitude of many players going for the highest bid now a days. Kids committing and then uncommitting when more money comes along. The only ones that are going to win big in the future unless the rules are changed for a level playing field are the schools that unlimited money and are willing to spend it on a football team. I personally don’t see how these HC can want to continue unless for the big money they get.
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National Champion [7263]
TigerPulse: 100%
42
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I've always watched all sports with one eye.
Oct 28, 2025, 11:45 AM
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The other eye is reserved for other things.
Life's all about balance.
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Orange Immortal [64690]
TigerPulse: 100%
60
Posts: 63904
Joined: 2007
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Re: Fan Apathy Are We Losing the Flame?
Oct 28, 2025, 12:51 PM
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We're not losing the flame, we have already lost it, it has burned completely out!!! The only way that we can lite another flame, we have to clean out the burnt ashes, (position coaches) and stack both sides of the ball with new fresh logs, position coaches!!!
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Commissioner [1218]
TigerPulse: 100%
27
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Re: Fan Apathy Are We Losing the Flame?
Oct 28, 2025, 1:56 PM
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I used to watch any college football game any time but now I only watch Clemson (and with a good deal less enthusiasm and not just because the Tigers aren’t good this year.) Big money has changed what I thought of as a (somewhat) pure sport. It’s not college football anymore. I find myself watching the NFL more than college football now. If I’m gonna watch professional football I might as well watch the best.
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Paw Warrior [4773]
TigerPulse: 100%
37
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Re: Fan Apathy Are We Losing the Flame?
Oct 28, 2025, 2:37 PM
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I think we all sensed that the new era would have a negative effect on Clemson football and it has. Just hard to keep up with the big money spenders. I don't like it. It’s minor league football. Unless some drastic changes are made, college football will be in serious trouble inside of 5 years.
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Orange Immortal [64690]
TigerPulse: 100%
60
Posts: 63904
Joined: 2007
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Re: Fan Apathy Are We Losing the Flame?
Nov 2, 2025, 10:55 AM
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I'm hoping that it doesn't take 5 years before the trouble sours college FB, something has to force it to get better or make the necessary adjustments that'll help it to get better bc it's really heading in the wrong direction IMO!!!
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Clemson Sports Icon [54056]
TigerPulse: 79%
59
Posts: 38717
Joined: 2003
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I agree.
1
Oct 28, 2025, 4:35 PM
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I still enjoy watching college football, but the most increasingly decreased amateur status coupled with the huge amounts of money involved have certainly compromised the purity of the sport.
In addition, our own team underachieving so much lately, coupled with our coach lecturing us about how to be good fans and threatening to leave if we don’t make him happy, makes it harder to get as excited as I used to.
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Freshman [2]
TigerPulse: 88%
1
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Re: Fan Apathy Are We Losing the Flame?
Oct 28, 2025, 6:21 PM
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You hit it - the soul of college football has been sold ant the same crossroads Robert Johnson found himself. Unlike him though, college football didn’t get better or more supernatural; its guitar lost its tuning. It’s flat, even on Saturdays. I remember when Fridays on campus (early 80s) felt like gameday itself. The ‘spirit’ dwelt among us almost all week of a home football game. Our blood ran hot and orange. It still does for about 5 hours on Saturdays, but the business of college football has turned Saturdays into just another work day as someone else posted. Having said all that, my 5-year old orange overalls and my 43-year old Clemson t-shirt will stoke the fire for a little while in a few days.
Long live Clemson fans.
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Orange Blooded [2227]
TigerPulse: 100%
32
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Re: Fan Apathy Are We Losing the Flame?
Oct 28, 2025, 8:33 PM
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Same with me, since Frank Howard.
Hootie made it tough to be a Tiger. Ted Parker was tough as well, but he got some great recruits for Charlie Pell.
We have a bunch of fair weather fans that don’t appreciate how good a job Dabo has done!!
I’ll be all in on the Tigers - Dabo and Danny until they bury me!
Go Tigers, Beat Dook!
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Asst Coach [841]
TigerPulse: 83%
23
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Re: Fan Apathy Are We Losing the Flame?
Oct 28, 2025, 8:39 PM
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Good post. I've been attending games since before 1967. Graduated from Clemson and appreciate all the years, good and bad. We made and carried our passion for Clemson. Recent fans don't understand up and downs and passion. I think the new scoreboard, piped in music and poor cheerleading have sucked energy out of the home games. Fans and players seem to think they can just show up and Clemson will be great.
Does not work today.
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Commissioner [1253]
TigerPulse: 93%
27
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Re: Fan Apathy Are We Losing the Flame?
Oct 28, 2025, 8:54 PM
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Aye Aye Capn count me with the mates ready to rebel.
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