South is king of college football

We take college football seriously in the South. (AJC photo: Brant Sanderlin)

A survey released Monday by the online travel agency Expedia found that the South is the most passionate region for college football — but only slightly.

The survey found that 63 percent of people in the South watch college football, slightly more than the Midwest, where 62 percent say they watch.

The South and Midwest were far ahead of other regions: In the West, 51 percent said they watch college football and in the Northeast the number was 47 percent.

Nationally, 70 percent of men follow the sport, versus 43 percent of women.

The survey also found:

• 77 percent of U.S. adults have attended a college football game in their life. Of that group, 14 percent traveled overnight to go to a game in the 2011-2012 season.

• Bowl games are still a big deal. Among fans who have traveled to attend a regular season game, 51 percent said it was somewhat likely that they’d travel to a bowl game, while 29 percent said they were “extremely or very likely.”

Southern football fans are also willing to pay for their passion. A companion survey from the online ticket exchange StubHub found that Southern fans pay ticket prices that are 9.1 percent higher than the national average. In addition, the study found 50 percent of all college football ticket buyers are in the South.

The sport’s huge popularity is also reflected in the size of the stadiums where Southern schools play. Of the 20 largest stadiums in the country, 10 of them are in the South — Tennessee, Alabama, Texas, Georgia, LSU, Florida, Auburn, Texas A&M, Florida State and Clemson.