UCLA needs ways to get its bowl filled up

Bruins must try everything to enhance fan experience

- BEN BOLCH

Every man, woman and child deserves only the best fan experience at the Rose Bowl.

Too few are getting it, leading to dwindling UCLA football attendance over the last decade-plus.

The sad phenomenon is only partly attributable to mediocre teams. In 2022, the Bruins got off to a 6-0 start, rising to No. 9 in the national rankings, and still averaged just 41,593 fans for home games over the season.

There's an endless list of excuses for not making the drive to Pasadena. It's too far. Traffic's too bad. Games are too expensive. The weather's too hot. The opponent is from the Sun Belt Conference. The Bruins are out of contention for anything meaningful. The game's on a Friday. The game time wasn't announced until less than a week before kickoff. The game starts too early. The game starts too late.

Since it's not possible to move the stadium closer to campus or lower the temperature in August or September, we're offering eight ways to make a day of Bruins football more enticing.

Some of these suggestions might seem as realistic as moving the San Gabriel Mountains, but who ever imagined that UCLA would play in the Big Ten?

■Give freebies: The best way to help fans stretch their entertainment dollar is to let them keep it.

Tickets are reasonably priced given they sometimes go for next to nothing on the secondary market and currently can be bought for as low as $43 for some games through UCLA, but how about offering free parking? Even if this is a cost the school has to subsidize, free parking would be a tremendous lure and goodwill gesture.

Students also should get in free. While student attendance has been robust since athletic director Martin Jarmond and his staff implemented several initiatives, it would make sense to have even more of the stadium packed with a segment of fans who tend to make the most noise and create the best atmosphere.