The Growth of SEC Media Days

Much has been made of the amount of media members credentialed for SEC Media Days this year. More than 1,200 journalists, reporters, photographers, television anchors, radio hosts, and bloggers descended upon Birmingham this year to join in the controlled chaos. ESPN took particular interest in its investment by bringing the College Football Live set to town for the first time.

The Birmingham Business Journal recently wrote about the increase in attendance. As you'll see from the numbers, the number of credentials has more than doubled since 2004. In fact, only one year, 2010, did the total count actually decrease in the past nine years.

A lot of this has to do with the well-documented success of the SEC, but the rise of blogging and social media might have just as much of an impact on interest as anything else.

This picture will give you a great example of how much things have changed. Take a look at the video from Nick Saban's first SEC Media Days as the Alabama head coach in 2007. Even though the venue hasn't changed, the video looks like the crowd could have fit into a Holiday Inn conference room rather than the ballroom at The Wynfrey Hotel.

The Nick Saban phenomenon has exploded tenfold compared to the growth of SEC Media Days, leaving us with fans dressing with championship rings on their head in the hotel lobby.