Wednesday, October 08, 2008

UMass attendance 2008

The stadium lights are energizing the attendance at UMass football games. 1999's average of 14,688 was the record. See this article by Jeff Thomas.

When I attended the 2003 UMass game against Kansas State, a K-State fan said the Cats made about $1 million per home game. Delaware, with a 22,000 seat stadium averages about half that.

Last Saturday's game with 15,767 had to have made a profit for the athletic dept. It's not just the ticket sales. I bought a coke and it was $2.50/bottle. While it's unlikely that the students spent any money, the rest of the crowd probably did.

UMass AD John McCutcheon wrote a thank you to the fans and students here .

The average attendance of CAA teams are as follows:

22,112 - Delaware
16,142 - James Madison
15,767 - UMass
(92.5% capacity)
10,469 - William & Mary
8,604 - Villanova
7,215 - New Hampshire (111% of capacity)
6,769 - Richmond (only 31% of capacity for top-five team in the nation)
5,609 - Hofstra
4,807 - Maine
4,589 - Towson
4,449 - Rhode Island (surprise 67% of capacity)
1,137 - Northeastern (only one home game so far)

Teams in red are meeting the minimum standards for a FBS/I-A team.