USC Faces Embarrassing Stadium Reality at Second Home Game

Clear Facts

• USC’s Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum showed significant empty seats for the second consecutive home game despite the Trojans being ranked No. 14 nationally
• The attendance issues persisted even though USC defeated San Jose State 42-26 in their season opener
• The stadium improved to better attendance by the second quarter of the Fresno State game, but kickoff crowds remained disappointing for a traditional blue-blood program

The USC Trojans are facing a public relations problem that no amount of winning can seem to fix. After their season opener against San Jose State drew widespread criticism for embarrassingly low attendance, all eyes turned to Friday night’s matchup against Fresno State to see if the Trojans could fill seats befitting their status as a storied program now competing in the Big Ten.

The answer? Not quite.

Despite being ranked No. 14 in the nation and coming off a solid 42-26 victory in Week 0, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum again displayed rows of empty red seats at kickoff. The optics were damaging for a program attempting to establish itself as a legitimate Big Ten contender and maintain its reputation as one of college football’s premier brands.

To be fair, the Trojans were fighting an uphill battle. Friday night games before holiday weekends in Los Angeles create perfect storms of logistical nightmares. The city’s legendary traffic problems, combined with the timing, made attendance challenging even for die-hard fans.

And in Los Angeles, arriving fashionably late has become something of a cultural trademark. By the second quarter, the stadium had filled out considerably, showing respectable attendance for a non-conference game against a team from the reconstituted Pac-12.

Still, the visual of empty seats at kickoff for back-to-back home games raises uncomfortable questions about fan engagement in one of America’s largest media markets. USC has long traded on its history, tradition, and Hollywood glamour, but translating that into consistent attendance has proven elusive in recent years.

The real test comes September 26 when the Trojans host Oregon in their first home game against a Big Ten opponent. That matchup will reveal whether USC can generate the kind of atmosphere expected from a program with national championship aspirations, or whether attendance issues will continue to plague one of college football’s most iconic venues.

For a program that once routinely packed the Coliseum with over 90,000 fans, the current attendance struggles represent a troubling trend that extends beyond mere scheduling inconveniences.

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