Renovated Sun Devil Stadium will be smaller — so will crowds

ASU football coach Todd Graham spoke eagerly of the “reinvention” of Sun Devil Stadium during Pac-12 Media Days last week. ASU is spending $268 million and has cut capacity from about 74,000 to 56,232. That’s almost exactly the capacity of Arizona Stadium, although when Arizona begins the “reinvention” of Arizona Stadium in a few years, it’s likely capacity will be reduced to about 48,000. The downsizing of stadiums is a reflection on the times; younger people aren’t as interested in college football as they were 20 and 30 years ago. Late starting times peel away thousands of potential ticket-buyers. In 1989, the Arizona-ASU game in Tempe drew 74,926. That seems like eons ago.