Visualizing College Football Attendance
Interesting page, lets you choose which schools to compare
http://www.datafy.me/analysis/college-football-attendance-2006-2011/
Takes attendance numbers from 2006-2011 and lets you see both average attendance per year as well as gross average attendance graphed vs. % of capacity. Of course the Big House is the Biggest House. We sell more seats than anyone, but the Horseshoe actually sells out more as a % of capacity. Lots of standing room in ohio?
Also, check out Penn State's numbers... and show them to Brandon before he actually prices out a bunch of fans.
Interestingly, it looks like attendance in all conferences dipped a little bit in 2011, except for the Big 12 whose attendance has been steadily climbing over the last 5 years.
LOL big east. When it comes to conferences it really is:
1. SEC
1A. Big Ten
4 (tie): Pac 12, ACC, Big XII
1234123: Big East.
And even coming out of the Greg Robinson cratering, SU still was above the Big East average.
I can't wait for the ACC and actually having an attractive conference schedule.
Nice find. This is pretty cool. Thanks for sharing.
Keep in mind that our capacity and attendance were down for a couple of seasons during the stadium renovations.
It doesn't look like the % capacity utilization was based on fluctuating seating capacity between 2007-2009.
OT-new Kate Upton Bikini dance video...dont have enough points to post: http://notbillwalton.lockerdome.com/media/703780
and removed. The internet is full of lots of attractive people with and without clothes. MGoBlog doesn't need to be another page with it.
OURS!
State College is not that near either of the two largest cities (several hour trip from both)
PSU hasn't been that great (93-52) since 2000
Ann Arbor is near Detroit and Lansing and only 20-30 minutes from a major airport
But Beaver Stadium has only been about the same size as Michigan Stadium for like 6-7 years, so we can't really tell what its "normal" attendance rate should be. There might have been a temporary spike in attendance when they expanded, due to the novelty factor, but then maybe fans discovered that the new seats weren't very good. The economy could be a factor as well.
is refering to the PSD increase at PSU pricing out the fans.
I know that, but as I said, we don't know if the attendance PSU had from 2006-08 is "normal" for them or not. They experienced a spike in attendance immediately after they expanded the stadium, and then it went down. The OP is assuming that PSDs have caused their attendance to drop to an abnormally low level. We don't know if this level is abnormal for them, or even if so, whether the PSDs are the reason.
There are other possible explanations for the drop in attendance. Maybe they simply built the stadium too big for their fanbase, and after the novelty wore off, some people stopped going. Maybe the economy is a factor. Or maybe some fans just don't like the NFL-style gameday atmosphere that PSU has introduced lately.
I went to the night game there two years ago and I've never seen an NFL game with that type of atmosphere. Yes, I thought the music, mascot, ESPN, ect. was a little over the top, but everyone is shifting in that direction (even us). One thing that was very NFL like was the parking. Every lot was $40. At least in Ann Arbor their are cheaper options. Though, I do know AA a lot better than State College. So I could be wrong.
Even though State College is not as close to a big city as Ann Arbor is to Detroit, Philly, Pittsburgh and NYC are all within a reasonable distance (~4 hours or less). Those places are full of PSU alumni that probably account for a sizeable portion of their attendance.
| STATE, etc. | Population |
| Wyoming (51) | 568,158 |
| Washington, D.C. (50) | 617,996 |
| Vermont (49) | 626,431 |
| North Dakota (48) | 683,932 |
| Alaska (47) | 722,718 |
| Michigan Football Total Season Attendance | 783,299 |
| South Dakota (46) | 824,082 |
Added all the home game attendance from last season (numbers from wikipedia) and got 783,299.
Then searched for population of states.
More people went to UM football games than live in 4 states plus DC- that's kinda nuts!!!
"People in the Big House for events in the calendar year 2010" actually was > 1,000,000. Between 7 home games, graduation featuring the President, and the Big Chill it broke 1M. Throw some more states in there.
| STATE, etc. | Population |
| Wyoming (51) | 568,158 |
| Washington, D.C. (50) | 617,996 |
| Vermont (49) | 626,431 |
| North Dakota (48) | 683,932 |
| Alaska (47) | 722,718 |
| Michigan Football Total Season Attendance | 783,299 |
| South Dakota (46) | 824,082 |
| Deleware (45) | 907,135 |
| Montana (44) | 998,199 |
| Rhode Island (43) | 1,051,302 |
| New Hampshire (42) | 1,318,194 |
| Maine (41) | 1,328,188 |
| Hawaii (40) | 1,374,810 |
| Idaho (39) | 1,584,985 |
If you have a more accurate number than 1 million + we can see exactly how many states are smaller than total Big House attendance.
Big Chill: 113,411 (thanks poster next to my desk!)
2010 Total Home Football Attendance: 782,776 (http://bentley.umich.edu/athdept/stadium/stadtext/mattend.htm)
Graduation 2010: 80k
(estimate from here: http://www.annarbor.com/news/the-university-of-michigan-has-a-checkered-past-drawing-quality-commencement-speakers/ can't find a confirmed total)
That would be 976,177. Blast only having 7 home games that year!
Damn so close to catching Montana...
Thanks for the updated numbers!
I thought at the Big Chill they had a whole display on the video boards about how more than 1,000,000 people went to the Big House that year... maybe they counted tours, or ice skating on the rink and stuff. Does anyone else remember that?
almost beat Montana...
But I (along with 30-50k other people) were at all of those events, so the amout of duplicative counting is through the roof.
Normally I wouldn't correct but I live in said state
Understandable that the SEC has us beat on an average, but I'm happy to say the Big Ten boasts 3 of the 4 biggest football stadiums in the country, and fills them year in and out.
Like Penn State, Tennesee has really tanked. They were once #1 in the country for a year when we temporarily reconfiged the Big House. Now they're not even #1 in the SEC.
Like Penn State, Tennesee has gone through a series of self-inflicted mini-disasters. The goose that lays the golden eggs can be killed. CFB is not immune to reality, despite it often appearing that way.
Look at all 6 BCS conferences and then add Michigan to the list. It's pretty bizarre.
You can definitely tell where art briles comes to baylor in the baylor data set and where Luck is at Stanford, Notre Dame has the least varience of any school I found, seriously the data set looks fabricated it's so regular they must sell out every game and NEVER alter their stadium capacity, or at least "sell out" every game. Finally purdue...lulz! Their attendence is in absolute freefall.
I'm not surprised that Purdue has a hard time selling tickets. I've been to 6 Michigan @ Purdue games over the years, as it is only a 2 1/2 hour drive for me, roughly the same as a trip to Ann Arbor, so I'm quite familiar (as many here are) with their facilities.
Looking at their #'s, I'm quite surprised they started out as high as they did (near 60,000 average) before "free-falling" in the last few years. Purdue has a lot of problems, greatest of which is their lack of an attractive product on the football field. Joe Tiller made Purdue competetive most years, and did it by having an offense capable most games of putting up some points. Danny Hope? Purdue would be better off Hope-less, rather than hopeless, as they now are.
As I see it, though, some of the other obstacles Purdue faces as they try to fill their stadium are as follows:
1) Identity---are they a Football School or a Basketball School? I don't think they know the answer to that question themselves, but in the state of Indiana, they rank 3rd in hoops interest behind IU and ND; In Football, they rank behind ND and the NFL's Indianapolis Colts (and likely even somewhat compete with da Bears for the football dollar, especially in this poor economy)
2)Location---not close enough to Indianapolis to draw many casual fans, and not located in a big enough college town to have a strong base of local fans. Metro West Lafayette/Lafayette is surrounded by mile after mile of farmland; when you combine their middle-of-nowhere location with their lack of identity, you get a program that won't draw if they have little chance of being in contention most years.
3) Facilities---even after refurbishing Ross-Ade Stadium a few years ago, still a mediocre football facility. I absolutely HATE the south end zone stands where they seat visiting fans, so I try to get better sideline seats whenever possible near that end of the field so as to be nearer the Michigan Fans at that end. Not the best location, but at least I don't have to risk seeing my belongings (game program, etc.) fall thru the framework of the bleachers to the ground below.
I'd be willing to guess, not having seen game-by-game attendance figures, but without a doubt, Purdue depends on games vs. teams with big followings (Michigan, Nebraska, Wisconsin, ohio, ) and traditional rivals (ND and IU) to keep attendance figures up. While they need wins against cupcakes to get their win totals up, those same cupcake games often bring in less than 30,000 total attendance.
In the spirit of giving that we have on this Forum, let's do our part and help the Boilermakers Athletic Department. Buy lots of tickets for this season's Michigan game on Oct. 6th, maybe we can turn that stadium into a sea of Maize, and more importantly, help our Wolverines to a win in a stadium in which we've often struggled!