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Maryland reportedly gave away thousands of dollars to get students to attend football games
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The University of Maryland was willing to dig deep into its pockets in order to get more students to attend football games this fall.
According to a report from USA Today, the school paid out $28,000 in scholarship money in an attempt to boost student attendance for the 2018 season. In order to be eligible for the award, students had to stay until the fourth quarter.
Students also had to enter the game prior to kickoff in order to be eligible.
Due to Maryland’s moderate success since joining the B1G, the school has had one of the lowest crowd turnouts in the conference. Last year, the Terrapins ranked third-worst in the league in attendance.
The student section at Maryland Stadium is often empty.
The idea to award scholarship money to students who attended and stayed at games was thought up by a donor who was tired of seeing so many vacant seats. So, at every home game this fall, one student was selected as a winner of a scholarship of at least $5,000.
Maryland played six home games this season. The Terrapins round out the year on Saturday in Happy Valley against Penn State.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB