No. 8 UCLA is actually putting free tuition on the line just to get students to their next home game. Seriously. Two students who hit up the Bruins’ November 13th game against visiting Illinois can enter a raffle to have one whole quarter of their in-state tuition fees paid for by UCLA’s NIL collective. This is happening, folks.
Paying for Fan Loyalty, or Lack Thereof
You have to wonder what’s going on when a top-10 team has to resort to this. To be eligible for this sweet deal, students need to show up before kickoff and stick around until the fourth quarter. Can you imagine? A team ranked No. 8 in the nation, making a CFP push, and they’re worried about students bailing early or not showing up at all. It’s not even an isolated incident either; Maryland pulled a similar tuition raffle for their game against the Fighting Illini just last Saturday.
Empty Seats and CFP Dreams
The numbers here are wild. The Rose Bowl, one of college football’s most iconic venues, holds a massive 91,136 fans. But UCLA has only averaged 31,461 fans per home game this season. That means nearly two-thirds of the stadium is empty on average. This is for a team that was No. 5 in the AP Poll before settling at No. 8 in the first College Football Playoff ranking this week. It just feels off to see a program that’s making a real case for its first CFP bid struggling to fill seats.
UCLA has another shot at proving themselves this Saturday on the road at Minnesota. After that, they head back to Pasadena for that Illinois game. You know they’re hoping that free tuition offer actually packs the house. It’ll be something to watch, for sure.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Bleacher Report.
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