Bakersfield College has more people attending the football games than you think.
“Empty” and “not like it used to be” were the descriptions of what some of the patrons of the Bakersfield College football game described about the attendance.
According to Jan Stuebbe, the athletic director at BC, Bakersfield College football is one of the most attended community college games in the state and possibly the country.
“I don’t know this for a fact, but I’m pretty darn sure we have the best attendance for community colleges in the nation,” said Stuebbe. “I know we do in California for sure.”
“We’re the envy of the state for what we have here,” said Stuebbe. “We have one of the nicest stadiums in the state for junior colleges and it’s probably better than some four-year schools, too. Also, we’re the only football team in town so we get tremendous support. Is it 18,000? No.”
The average attendance for this year has been approximately 5,000. Last year when the team went 4-6, the approximate numbers were 5,500, and in the 2007 season when the Renegades finished 12-1 they averaged between 8,000 and 9,000.
On Dec. 1, 2007, the Renegades hosted a crowd of 12,315 during the Southern California Championship game.
Stuebbe also spoke about the attendance numbers and why they have dropped from around capacity to its numbers now.
“I played up here in 1970, and we averaged 18,000 people at a game. Well, now there’s a lot more to do than there was 40 years ago,” said Stuebbe. “You have the Condors, you have Cal State basketball, you have the arena, you know. Plus nowadays, on Saturdays, there are about 14 games on TV.”
Stuebbe continued with the fact that Bakersfield has grown in size and there is more out there to do for your entertainment dollar than there was back in the 1970s and ’80s.
Stuebbe mentioned how BC was trying to bring back the atmosphere of the older years by having “tailgating nights” and such things like “best celebrity impersonator.” He also thinks the addition of the drum line has helped attendance, too.
Stuebbe talked about how having a student section hasn’t helped yet, but how BC is working on getting its students involved saying, “We do have a student section, it’s just not being utilized,” and “maybe offering something for the best school spirit [painted] face would work.”
Stuebbe mentioned how “students aren’t going to games with their chests painted G-A-D-E-S,” but he says, “I think that can still happen.”