“Should Have Never Left the ACC”: Clay Travis Slams Maryland After “Smallest Crowd” in Attendance for Terrapins Game vs. Illinois
· Yahoo Sports
The Maryland Terrapins struggled to attract fans at SECU Stadium for Saturday’s matchup against the Illinois Fighting Illini. This is despite the free tuition offer for students. At kickoff, Illinois publisher Robert Rosenthal posted a photo of the stadium from a corner, showing large sections of empty seats.
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“The crowd as the ball is kicked. It’s the smallest crowd at any game I’ve attended, and I was in Memorial Stadium for Illinois-Northwestern in 2017,” Rosenthal wrote.
OutKick founder Clay Travis blamed Maryland for leaving the ACC for the Big Ten while reacting to the empty seats.
“Maryland should have never left the ACC. And the Big Ten never should have taken them,” Travis wrote on X.
Maryland was a founding member of the ACC in 1953. After six decades in the conference, it moved to the Big Ten in July 2014. This landed the Terrapins in a conference with a different geographic footprint and no existing rivalries.
Maryland left because the Big Ten was offering lucrative media-rights revenue and a larger television footprint. The move helped the conference expand its presence in the Washington, D.C., and Baltimore markets.
Free Tuition Wasn’t Enough to Fill Maryland’s Stadium
After recording low attendance in the first few games of the season, Maryland tried to lure students with a free tuition offer. They offered students a chance to win free in-state undergraduate tuition for the spring 2027 semester, worth approximately $8,000. To qualify, students had to attend the game, scan a QR code, and stay until the fourth quarter.
However, the giveaway was not enough to attract large numbers of students. In the game against Illinois, despite Maryland leading 14-10 at the end of the third quarter, several fans were spotted leaving. Moreover, the departure rate shot up after the tuition raffle finalists were announced.
The low turnout may also reflect Maryland’s difficult season, as they entered Saturday’s matchup with a 2-5 overall record and a 0-4 mark in Big Ten play. The football program had also parted ways with head coach Mike Locksley, leaving interim coach Aazaar Abdul-Rahim to lead the team against Illinois.
According to CBS News, Maryland had averaged 42,264 fans across its first four home games of the season, ranking 15th among the Big Ten’s 18 teams. The attendance against Illinois fell well below that average.
Despite the low attendance, the Terrapins played a tough game against Illinois. They led 14-10 in the third quarter before tying it at 17 with a field goal in the fourth. However, Illinois kicker Ethan Moczulski converted a 26-yard field goal as time expired to give the Fighting Illini a 20-17 victory.
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