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SALT LAKE CITY — In his article of November 18, 2014, KSL.com Contributor Dylan Cannon listed four reasons why attendance at LaVell Edwards Stadium is slipping:

Weather
Lackluster opponents
Bowl contracts
ESPN

I think all of these factors impact attendance.

Weather

After sitting through the entire UNLV game, I can tell you that the cold did test my resolve — and the quality of the winter gear my wife wisely insisted I wear to the game.

Lackluster Opponents

With four losses, we should not be too cocky about lackluster opponents. However, I think it is true that BYU is struggling to consistently schedule quality home opponents in November. The Savannah State game made that point clear.

Bowl Contracts

Not sure I find this factor a compelling one. My decision about attending a BYU home game has never been affected by thoughts about the bowl game in which the Cougars might participate. But I accept that issue may matter to some fans.

ESPN

The ESPN argument is an interesting one. On balance, I think the ESPN deal is very beneficial to the football program (full disclosure — I love ESPN and I'm a Disney shareholder). Being able to watch so many of the games on ESPN, with all its associated content (quick and constant replays, highlights, stats, etc.), can be very appealing. This may cause some not to attend in person.

Yet, I think the four factors listed above may not be as powerful as another one not listed.

I submit a new factor for your consideration, and it is very close to all of us. In fact, it's probably in your hands right now or at least within reach — that's right, the ubiquitous and ever present mobile device.

How many of you are reading this article on a mobile device? For old guys like me (born in the 1960s), the number is high — I first read Cannon's article on my iPhone. For millennials (born between 1980 and 2000), the numbers are off the charts! They live on their mobile devices. They make sense of the world and connect with it on these devices. They are almost always "on the grid" and demand access to the web all the time — even at football and basketball games. If they don't get it, they won't keep coming. And for way too many of them (and older fans), such access just isn't readily available.

Let's face it, Internet access at LES and most other sports venues in this country is abysmal. Try sending a text to your family or friend in another part of the stadium or at home during a game. It rarely works. Try sending a picture or video — next to no chance of that working in any consistent fashion. For three to four hours at LES, you are essentially off the grid. In the mobile world in which we live, this is simply unacceptable!

Now, some of us more seasoned Cougar fans may long for the simpler days of royal blue, 1984, and fans not focused on their phones. But such longings are not going to change the fact that the mobile revolution is here to stay.

Consider the potential impacts and opportunities for the fan experience at games captured in the following slide from Benedict Evans' very interesting presentation entitled "Mobile is Eating the World."

Not meeting mobile demands is especially bad for the treasured demographic of millennial fans. These are the fans schools want committed to their sports program now and into the future in order to remain a viable product going forward. Their numbers are dropping at games. Lest you think this drop in attendance is mostly a BYU problem resulting from a tough year, independence, etc., take a look at the following from around the country:

"Student attendance at college football games last year dropped 7.1 percent since 2009, according to an analysis by The Wall Street Journal of about 50 public colleges. The decline was 5.6 percent within the five major conferences.

Not even the SEC, with its rabid fan base, is immune from attendance declines. The SEC's nation-best 75,674 average in 2013 was slightly up from 2012, but still 2 percent below its crowds in 2008.

Several SEC schools, including Florida, have visited Kansas City's Major League Soccer team, Sporting KC, to learn about fan engagement and technology. Sporting KC averages more than 20,000 fans per game after drawing 10,287 a game in 2010.

Sporting KC built a stadium with advanced technology that provides fast WiFi and a unique mobile application that allows for instant replay, seat upgrades, customer feedback, social media integration and more.

The mobile revolution is here, so let's embrace it! Let's find ways to creatively enrich the game experience by bringing it into the mobile age. Think C3 for all BYU sporting events: increased connectivity, convenience, and content.

Imagine a game experience that allowed you instant replay for every play you wanted — when you wanted it, access to real-time stats and video, real-time access to the "Voice of the Cougars" and his game content, fantasy football-type engagement, mobile payments for and delivery of food to your seat, and full social-media integration — all on your mobile device. Overtime, I think all of that is possible, and most of it very quickly.

With a nationally-ranked sports program, the Marriott School of Management's focus on technology, the cutting edge technology of BYU Broadcasting, and the innovative technology community in Utah, why couldn't we build a model that would lead the nation? I believe we can. If we build it, I think we will see more come and keep coming — loyal, strong, true AND connected!

Greg is the President of ProPay, Inc., an innovative payments company located in Lehi, Utah. He holds a Master of Organizational Behavior from the Marriott School of Management and a Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the J. Rueben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University. He and is wife Melinda are the parents of four children and live in Cedar Hills, Utah.