Between the thousands of fans, competition and school spirit, college football has been popular for ages. With the high level of talent in the National Football League, however, the question of why people care so much about the college game surfaces. A few different reasons emerge. Many people who prefer college football have said that they find the NFL boring. This could be because they find everyone who plays at the professional level to be so good that the game becomes less of a display of athleticism and more of a reserved, fundamental display of experience.
In a sense, college football’s sloppy, fast-paced style of play is appealing to a large number of viewers. The average football game lasts about three hours and, within that time, the ball is in play for about 11 minutes. It makes sense for people to want those 11 minutes to be as full of action and excitement as possible. Many spectators feel that there is more action in college football than in the NFL.
There is also the alumni point of view. Many people have a lot of pride in where they attended college and for good reason—it’s where they spent years learning and bettering themselves. For this reason, it makes sense for a lot of people to continue to follow their college’s football team after they graduate. There is still a sense of pride that is rewarded with a team’s success.
This can be difficult if someone graduated from a small school, however. Only Division I games are televised for the most part and even then it only the most popular teams have their games broadcasted nationally. This leads one to believe that alumni pride is most likely not a large factor in college football’s appeal over the professional game.
As much as people love college football in its own right, it is mostly viewed as a gateway to the NFL. This being said, college football’s upbeat and risky style of play, overwhelming amount of spirit and amateur charm make it different from the NFL.
With this, it draws a lot of fans that seem to enjoy football for what it is: a great sport played at a high level.