Do you still enjoy attending games?

Yes and no?

As a disclaimer, I'm not in the biz, just an interloper along for the ride. Haven't become as jaded as some of you (understandably) have become. In addition, price isn't a huge issue for us. Approaching middle age, decent income, no kids, etc.

I still love attending baseball games. In fact, I'm in the midst of a multi-year bucket list / after turning 50 quest to see a game in every MLB park. I try to catch a game in just about every minor league park we come across in our travels, as well. Cheap seats, club seats, makes no difference. May be a result of the generation I grew up in, but a night (or day) at the ballpark is still pretty special to me. Ironically, though, I don't follow MLB all that closely any more. Go figure.

My real passion is college football. Absolutely love it. As so many others have stated, I much prefer a Saturday on the sofa. Not just for all the practical reasons folks have mentioned. There are just SO many games to choose from. I'd hate missing them.

We do attend 3-4 NFL games a season, but that has a lot to do with the team we root for. Indianapolis is such an easy city to get around in (we park for free, with a short walk), the tickets are relatively reasonable, we've never had an issue inside the stadium. Have been to numerous other stadiums in the past...no desire to return to them. Spoiled, I guess.

Haven't watched a basketball game in years. On TV, or in person.

May be the only one, but I do still enjoy a day at the speedway. Can't change the oil in my car, but do enjoy the experience. We do at least one NASCAR & one Indycar (beide the Indy 500) race a year. They feel more like an "event", a once a year sort of thing. Has gotten a LOT easier, since the NASCAR "wave" has broken, much less crowded. I and a group of my buddies from high school have made every Indy 500 since 1978....although we're going it a lot differently these days. One of the guys brought his GRANDson last year........

 

The one event I went as a fan that I was surprised I enjoyed it as much as I did was the Daytona 500 (after several years of writing sidebars from the infield).

 

I still go, mostly NFL and college football. Season ticket holder for both. I still love the feel of a game in person, the atmosphere, the stuff you can't see on TV if you pay attention.

Live in the city of my college football team and I've never really gotten into tailgating, so game days don't take away the whole day usually. It is an all-day affair to go to NFL games (Broncos for me), but we usually do something more with it like getting food or taking the kids to the grandparents and hanging out before or after.

That said, as I've grown older it is growing less important. There are so many options of games and ways to watch on TV now, RedZone, etc., that there are times I would rather watch what's on and not miss that instead heading to the game. I also mostly find my fandom is waning a bit where the results isn't as important, but I still get more emotionally involved than I'd sometimes like to admit. Family stuff as the kids get more active increases the conflicts as well.

The cost of tickets is getting ridiculous. Our season tickets for the Broncos just went up for the fourth straight year -- this time to the tune of $10 a ticket per game, which I find to be a pretty astronomical increase. They said because of resale markets and whatnot it's still a deal and why they did it, but you get stiffed on preseason games -- usually have a hard time even giving those away -- and there are times you just can't get dump the seats super easy (our whole family was sick last year for the Raiders game and I was lucky to get face for them). I'm getting to the breaking point on that. Food and parking I have figured out where I spend next to nothing (bring in food, walk a bit and pay $10 or so for parking), so that's not as big of a deal. Between all of it I'm sure there will be a time when it phases out more and more.

Other sports, I'll go to a baseball game almost whenever but I also don't necessarily seek it out. I love hockey in person and go a few times a year. Been to one NBA game in about five years and do college basketball a good handful of times a season. I like almost anything in person, though. It hasn't really changed. How important it is to make it happen has started to vary.

 

Since I retired last June, I have been mentally bothered by the "fan" issue. I don't have to be objective or detached anymore, but it has been hard to release that after a 44-year newspaper career. Going to games before wasn't a real issue because I worked at night and was usually unavailable. We'd go to 3-4 Angels games a year. But when I took my daughter to a Ducks game, she loved it and has become a huge fan. She bought half-season ticket plans the last two seasons and I've gone with her to about 15 games this season. The most uncomfortable I've felt was opening night. The Ducks do a red carpet intro about 4 p.m. She wanted to go so I went with her. We got there early enough to be right on the railing. Once the players started arriving, it just was so weird because I was right in the middle of fans begging for autographs. I've never been into autograph seeking. And then I spotted a photog from the local online weekly and I had to hide because I didn't want to be photographed in that setting.
To get to the question, I like going to hockey games. I understand the difference between in-person and TV, but TV has gotten so much better with HD capabilities. We still will go to 3-4 Angels games. We usually watch all the Ducks and Angels games on TV if we don't go. I might get roped into a Dodgers-Angels game in L.A. this season, but I would otherwise never go back to Dodger Stadium or Staples Center.
Since my retirement, I have completely divorced from basketball. I knew just as much as I needed to know about the NBA to do my job capably, but otherwise didn't care. I used to be consumed by March Madness. I didn't do a bracket this year and watched no games this season on TV.
NFL hasn't been available here. I will probably not go any games if/when we get teams.
I have been to 3 USC football games in the past 20 years. The USC-Texas Rose Bowl was a full-day ordeal. A home game against Oregon the next season was culture shock. Wanted to meet some people on campus then walk to the Coliseum. Arrived at 2:30 for a 7:30 game and all the campus parking was filled. Drove around and wound up in a state-owned lot near the stadium for $60. Last season, a friend gave me a ticket and I went with him. He had a parking place in somebody's office building about 4 blocks away for $50. Same friend offered me a season ticket for this coming season and I bought it, so I will be going with him all season. That'll be something new for me.
I like minor league sports. Took the family to several ECHL games at the Orleans Hotel in Vegas until the hotel dumped the team last season. One time they had games on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and we went to all of them. Pulled in Friday afternoon and never left the hotel until after the Sunday game. Two years ago on a Disney/Universal vacation in Florida, we had a non-amusement park day on a Saturday. I looked for the closest minor league baseball game. Found one in Daytona Beach and we worked it in with a visit to the National Space Center. Fun day.