College Football: Conference Realignment Holds Massive Potential for New Audiences, Advertisers, and Tourism

Fall is in the air, and with that, the new college football season is underway. One of the most eagerly anticipated conferences is the Big Ten, which now includes 18 universities, including former Pac-12 heavyweights like USC, UCLA, Washington, and Oregon. We got a taste of the appetite for new rivalries, such as the USC/LSU game that took place at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Sept 1.

Remarkably, this game had even more in attendance than Superbowl LVIII that occurred earlier this year. The only other events that beat out this college football match-up were for TWICE and Morgan Wallen.

Given that the USC/LSU game wasn’t even a home game for either side, let’s examine who the attendees were and how far they had to travel to ensure that the stadium was full of purple and gold for the Tigers and cardinal and gold for the Trojans. Three of the top five zip codes came from Baton Rouge, 1 from Los Angeles, and 1 from Las Vegas.

Fewer than 1 in 6 (16%) came from fewer than 100 miles, indicating that a whopping 84% traveled quite a distance to attend. More than half (55%) traveled over 250 miles to see this once-in-a-40-year competition. In terms of visitation, the top 3 states were people coming from California (32% of visits), Louisiana (26%), and Nevada (17%).

Per Spatial.ai’s PersonaLive consumer segments, Wealthy Suburban Families made up a quarter of the attendees, followed by Near-Urban Diverse Families, Young Professionals, and Young Urban Singles.

Over 20% of the visitor trade area have a household income topping $200K.

And no surprise, many of these high-income visitors chose to stay at or party at the Four Seasons Hotel Las Vegas. Other properties that people stayed at prior to the game include New York, New York; Mandalay Bay Resort; The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas; and ARIA Resort & Casino.

In addition to the tens of thousands of attendees at Allegiant Stadium, ABC reported 9.2 million viewers watched and that this game was its most streamed college football game on record.

What might this mean for the rest of college football season? Just take a look at the Big Ten’s “Maps” commercial to get a feel for their now-nationwide presence, including the LA market, which is the #2 advertising market in the nation after NY. Placer’s SVP of Platform Solutions Kevin Ching, also adds that, “By consolidating the schools with the largest sports programs into fewer conferences, these games have real impact and can become micro-Super Bowls. And like the Super Bowl, attendees to these games travel further and are more affluent which increases the value of the audience.” We might also be seeing a lot more Hollywood flair coming from some of the California schools, such as in USC’s hype video with elements of 300 and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It will also be a once-in-a lifetime chance for diehard football fans to see their beloved teams play at the Rose Bowl. Minnesota, Iowa, and Indiana fans can now see their teams play UCLA at this storied venue. Indiana hasn’t played at the Rose Bowl since 1968. Minnesota hasn’t played there in over 50 years. All these athletic departments are already gearing up for their fans with package tours including accommodation, LA-area jaunts, and socials. Prepare to see a whole lot of Midwesterners on those Starline or Hollywood bus tours leading up to the games and maybe topping off their vacation with a trip to Disneyland.