Michigan Spring Game attendance history
Since I recently finished up compiling the complete history of the Spring Game as far as the results go, I've now moved on to the attendance totals which I noticed along the way researching of them being reported.
Now I'm going back, year-by-year and trying to find the attendance for each game.
So far I've found every year's attendance save two going back to 1975. Then there's a large gap between attendance being reported prior to 1975.
Here's what I've got so far-
Date | Attendance | Result | Prev. Season Record |
4/19/1975 | 5,300 | 17-3 Blue | 10-1 |
4/17/1976 | 7,000 | 13-0 White | 8-2-2 |
4/16/1977 | 7,000 | 35-24 Blue | 10-2 |
4/15/1978 | 5,000 | 15-14 Blue | 10-2 |
4/14/1979 | 5,000 | 21-0 Blue | 10-2 |
4/19/1980 | 8,000 | 35-7 Blue | 8-4 |
4/18/1981 | 9,750 | 19-18 White | 10-2 |
4/17/1982 | 8,102 | 10-6 Blue | 9-3 |
4/16/1983 | 4,500 | 16-8 Blue | 8-4 |
4/14/1984 | 2,000 | 18-15 White | 9-3 |
4/20/1985 | 12,500 | 27-20 Blue | 6-6 |
4/19/1986 | 15,000 | 18-13 White | 10-1-1 |
4/18/1987 | 20,000 | 20-17 White | 11-2 |
4/16/1988 | 15,000 | 20-17 White | 8-4 |
4/15/1989 | 20,000 | 24-17 Blue | 9-2-1 |
4/21/1990 | 18,000 | 31-6 White | 10-2 |
1991 | Cancelled (Poor field conditions) | ||
4/11/1992 | 8,000 | 14-12 White | 10-2 |
4/10/1993 | 16,000 | 21-20 White | 9-0-3 |
4/9/1994 | 20,000 | 10-6 White | 8-4 |
4/8/1995 | 8,000 | 45-44 White | 8-4 |
1996 | Cancelled (Poor field conditions) | ||
4/12/1997 | 4,000 | 22-20 White | 8-4 |
4/18/1998 | 25,000 | 20-17 White | 12-0 |
4/14/2001 | 15,000 | 21-7 White | 9-3 |
4/13/2002 | 25,000 | No Score Kept | 8-4 |
2003 | Cancelled (Poor field conditions) | ||
4/10/2004 | 18,000 | No Score Kept | 10-3 |
4/16/2005 | 10,000 | No Score Kept | 9-3 |
4/17/2006 | 15,000 | No Score Kept | 7-5 |
4/14/2007 | 5,500 | 42-41 White | 11-2 |
4/12/2008 | 2,500* | No Score Kept | 9-4 |
4/11/2009 | 50,000 | No Score Kept | 3-9 |
4/17/2010 | 35,000 | 49-37 Blue | 5-7 |
4/16/2011 | 25,000 | 14-7 Blue | 7-6 |
4/14/2012 | 25,000 | 17-0 Blue | 11-2 |
4/13/2013 | 18,000 | No Score Kept | 8-5 |
4/5/2014 | 15,000 | No Score Kept | 7-6 |
4/4/2015 | 60,000 | 7-0 Blue | 5-7 |
4/1/2016 | 35,000 | 14-13 Maize | 10-3 |
Italics indicate SCRIMMAGE
*2008 Spring Game was invitation-only at Saline High School
Prior to 2009, the 1998 attendance of 25,000 was the record because 20,000 was the record according to the Michigan Daily in 1987.
I'm gonna guess 50,000 this year.
50,000 is the lowball with the best weather we've ever had tomorrow.
They should have sponsors who pledge charity money for attendance. Smaller companies at .01 a head, larger ones at a quarter or a dollar. Announce the pledge and convince more people to show up for charity...
That's a great idea
Double comment, my bad.
Interesting the huge record spike that happened in 2009, especially with a non-score game. Everyone must've wanted to see early enrollee Tate.
As for tomorrow's prediction , I agree with the above poster of about 50,000.
There were locker room tours that year.
Is there going to be a live stream anywhere?
you can listen live online at 1pm but no live television broadcast since we are playing the same time as OSU. We will be aired at 3pm on BTN.
BTN2Go.com will have a live stream.
You might have to have a cable login to view it.
Ohio State's game is sold out...
No one cares.
I think recruits care a little bit. If you're a highly impressionable 16-18 year old, it is probably pretty impressive to see 100K+ people come out to see a glorified practice. The "hype factor" easily be sold to a recruit, "if our fans are this passionate about watching a practice, imagine how wild they'll be for a game!"
But yes, in the overall grand scheme of things it matters very little, but it can give that initial foot in the door with a recruit.
April 14th, 2017 at 10:55 PM ^
This game.......
April 14th, 2017 at 10:10 PM ^
Packed house would be better
Recruits rave about the atmosphere during the season. Giving a dose of that couldn't hurt our chances with guys who might otherwise never make it back.
The charity drive idea is brilliant
April 14th, 2017 at 10:11 PM ^
In anticipation of the annual "griping about how many people showed up"/"Ohio State/Alabama/etc. drew more people, the sky is falling" discussion...
April 14th, 2017 at 10:38 PM ^
For the record I didn't drop a -1
Sky isn't falling and ultimately the fan turnout isn't extremely consequential but a good showing does make a good first impression.
"If you build it, they will come."
When WD says (of OSU attendance) "No one cares," that's not quite true. Michigan fans care. We care about the optics for recruits, and even for athletes. But Jim Harbaugh gets it.
I'm sure Spring Game attendance will be growing. It doesn't happen overnight, however. Michigan will undoubtedly do some unique things that no one else has thought of before. Remember, this is Jim Harbaugh. At the same time, I'm also sure Michigan can learn a few things from other big time schools who attract huge crowds to their Spring game. The trick is to do this in ways that are very attractive to the Michigan fan base, and avoid the shtick (think Dave Brandon) that Michigan fans want to avoid.
the recent Staee spring game...
back in the late 70s thru mid 90's?
I went to quite a few of those and, while (for obvious reasons) the '98 Spring Game had more attendance than any I had seen prior, I'd swear many of those others had attendance over 20,000.
Michigan Daily and Freep archives from the day after,