Paul Finebaum is aware of the sagging attendance numbers in college football, and is aware of the CBS Sports report from last week that laid out in detail how the average attendance in 2021 was down 15 percent, more than 7,000 per game, from a record mark of 46,971 in 2008.

Finebaum made his regular Monday appearance on “McElroy and Cubelic In the morning” on WJOX out of Birmingham, Alabama.

“I don’t think it can be repaired, and Cole you’re at a college campus every Saturday, so you talk to the same people that I do,” Finebaum said. “I make the rounds and talking to athletics directors and officials for years, this is going back 5, 6 years, they have told me almost in unanimity that attendance is the biggest problem we’re facing. I think there are a lot of reasons for it, but the biggest reason is television. It’s an age-old situation, but now, this isn’t 10 years ago, 15 or even 20 years ago, every game is on in some form or fashion, and there are so many good games on, that you go to a game that may not be that great … and you’re missing out on an Alabama-Texas A&M, or an Auburn-Georgia or some nonconference games we’ll see this year with Georgia and Oregon or Cincinnati and Arkansas.”

Finebaum also added that it’s expensive to travel to these games, and the fan experience is not the best between small seats, and long lines.

“I think it’s a combination of television and expense,” he said. “And you can get a lot more done at home, or your favorite sports bar than at a college sports stadium.”