The title says it all. If this doesn't interest you, go ahead and get your TL;DR GIFs ready. I recommend this one:
I'll be updating this post in the coming days with the other P5 conferences, because I'm genuinely interested in exploring the claim that "attendance is down everywhere."
BEFORE WE BEGIN, I'd like to remind everyone of the current seating capacities in SEC stadiums, ranked 1-14.
You've got the 4 leviathans
1) Texas A&M (Kyle Field): 102,733
2) Tennessee (Neyland Stadium): 102,455
3) LSU (Tiger Stadium): 102,321
4) Alabama (Bryant-Denny Stadium): 100,077
A (slight) drop-off, followed by
5) Georgia (Sanford Stadium): 92,746
6) Florida (Ben Hill Griffin Stadium): 88,548
7) Auburn (Jordan-Hare Stadium): 87,451
Another drop-off, followed by
8) South Carolina (Williams-Brice Stadium): 77,559
9) Arkansas (Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium): 76,212
Another drop-off, followed by
10) Ole Miss (Vaught-Hemingway Stadium): 64,038
11) Missouri (Memorial Stadium): 61,620
12) Mississippi State (Davis Wade Stadium): 61,337
13) Kentucky (Kroger Field): 61,000
...and finally...
14) Vanderbilt (Vanderbilt Stadium): 40,350
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Next, we'll rank the SEC teams based on number of reported sellouts. These numbers are derived from reported attendance figures. These numbers obviously do not include games that will be played this weekend.
1) Georgia: 6
2) Alabama: 4
3) Auburn: 3
4) Kentucky: 3
5) Texas A&M: 3
6) Ole Miss: 2
7) Florida: 1
8) South Carolina: 1
9) Tennessee: 1
10) Arkansas: 0
11) LSU: 0
12) Mississippi State: 0
13) Missouri: 0
14) Vanderbilt: 0
A few notes:
*Georgia has reported a sellout for every home game they've had this season.
*LSU has reported zero sellouts this season.
*Kentucky ranks in the top half of this list.
*Ole Miss is one of six SEC teams to report more than one sellout this season.
*Ole Miss has played three SEC road games (so far): Alabama, Auburn, and Tennessee. All three were sellouts.
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Now we'll rank the SEC teams based on attendance numbers SO FAR. There are still several games yet to be played in SEC stadiums this weekend. I can edit this post once those final figures roll in.
Rankings are based on PERCENTAGE OF STADIUM FILLED, not raw numbers.
Rankings are based on REPORTED ATTENDANCE FIGURES, because obviously, that's all we have to go on.
My work is shown underneath each team, ordering home games in descending order from most attended to least attended.
1) Texas A&M
Kyle Field: 102,733
AVERAGE ATTENDANCE: 102,883 (100.1%)
Auburn: 109,835 (106.9%)
Alabama: 106,815 (104.0%)
South Carolina: 103,889 (101.1%)
Mississippi State: 102,272 (99.6%)
Kent State: 100,339 (97.7%)
New Mexico: 98,780 (96.2%)
Prairie View A&M: 98,251 (95.6%)
Note: Some schools, like Georgia, Alabama, and Auburn, seem to cap their reported attendance at their official capacity limit. Other schools, like Texas A&M, do not. Hence the percentages exceeding 100%.
2) Georgia
Sanford Stadium: 92,746
AVERAGE ATTENDANCE: 92,746 (100.0%)
UAB: 92,746 (100.0%)
South Carolina: 92,746 (100.0%)
Arkansas: 92,746 (100.0%)
Kentucky: 92,746 (100.0%)
Missouri: 92,746 (100.0%)
Charleston Southern: 92,746 (100.0%)
3) Alabama
Bryant-Denny Stadium: 100,077
AVERAGE ATTENDANCE: 98,720 (98.6%)
LSU: 100,077 (100.0%)
Ole Miss: 100,077 (100.0%)
Southern Miss: 100,077 (100.0%)
Tennessee: 100,077 (100.0%)
Arkansas: 98,323 (98.2%)
New Mexico State: 97,011 (96.9%)
Mercer: 95,396 (95.3%)
4) Auburn
Jordan-Hare Stadium: 87,451
AVERAGE ATTENDANCE: 85,928 (98.3%)
Georgia: 87,451 (100.0%)
Mississippi State: 87,451 (100.0%)
Ole Miss: 87,451 (100.0%)
Georgia State: 86,650 (99.1%)
Akron: 83,821 (95.8%)
Alabama State: 82,745 (94.6%)
Alabama: ?
Note: Despite the lackluster season, Auburn may very well pull ahead of Alabama (from a percentage basis) on the attendance ranking after the Iron Bowl.
5) Florida
Ben Hill Griffin Stadium: 88,548
AVERAGE ATTENDANCE: 84,512 (95.4%)
Alabama: 90,887 (102.6%)
Tennessee: 88,478 (99.9%)
FAU: 86,840 (98.1%)
Vanderbilt: 86,258 (97.4%)
Samford: 70,098 (79.2%)
Florida State ?
Note: I was surprised to see Florida this high on the list. Despite consistently strong numbers, the sudden drop-off for the Samford game is noticeable.
6) LSU
Tiger Stadium: 102,321
AVERAGE ATTENDANCE: 95,343 (93.2%)
Arkansas: 98,772 (96.5%)
Auburn: 97,717 (95.5%)
Florida: 96,012 (93.8%)
McNeese: 94,220 (92.1%)
ULM: 92,790 (90.7%)
Central Michigan: 92,547 (90.4%)
Texas A&M: ?
Note: No sellouts, which I'm sure is atypical for LSU, but still consistently strong attendance numbers despite the implosion in Baton Rouge. I expect the Texas A&M game will be well attended.
7) Kentucky
Kroger Field: 61,000
AVERAGE ATTENDANCE: 56,301 (92.3%)
LSU: 61,690 (101.1%)
Tennessee: 61,690 (101.1%)
Florida: 61,632 (101.0%)
Missouri: 58,437 (95.8%)
UT-Chattanooga: 55,214 (90.5%)
New Mexico State: 47,749 (78.3%)
ULM: 47,693 (78.2%)
Note: Kentucky's website gives "an approximate" stadium capacity for Kroger Field as 61,000. I don't know how to interpret that, but that's the figure I used.
8) Arkansas
Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium: 76,212
AVERAGE ATTENDANCE: 69,419 (91.1%)
Texas: 74,531 (97.8%)
Auburn: 73,370 (96.3%)
Mississippi State: 68,818 (90.3%)
Georgia Southern: 66,311 (87.0%)
Rice: 64,065 (84.1%)
Missouri: ?
9) Ole Miss
Vaught-Hemingway Stadium: 64,038
AVERAGE ATTENDANCE: 56,472 (88.2%)
LSU: 64,523 (100.8%)
Texas A&M: 64,425 (100.6%)
Arkansas: 60,256 (94.1%)
Tulane: 54,198 (84.6%)
Liberty: 53,235 (83.1%)
Vanderbilt: 50,819 (79.4%)
Austin Peay: 47,848 (74.7%)
Note: The three games against division opponents turned out solid crowds, including two sellouts. Fans seem to pass on attending games against inferior opponents.
10) South Carolina
Williams-Brice Stadium: 77,559
AVERAGE ATTENDANCE: 68,040 (87.7%)
Kentucky: 77,559 (100.0%)
Auburn: 70,299 (90.6%)
Florida: 70,131 (90.4%)
Eastern Illinois: 64,868 (83.6%)
Vanderbilt: 64,695 (83.4%)
Troy: 60,686 (78.2%)
Clemson: ?
11) Tennessee
Neyland Stadium: 102,455
AVERAGE ATTENDANCE: 87,677 (85.6%)
Ole Miss: 102,455 (100.0%)
Georgia: 100,074 (97.7%)
South Carolina: 89,437 (87.3%)
Bowling Green: 84,314 (82.3%)
Pittsburgh: 82,203 (80.2%)
Tennessee Tech: 80,053 (78.1%)
South Alabama: 75,203 (73.4%)
Vanderbilt: ?
Note: The team with the second-largest stadium is #11 in the SEC in attendance (on a percentage basis.) They also somehow got eight home games this year.
12) Mississippi State
Davis Wade Stadium: 61,337
AVERAGE ATTENDANCE: 48,476 (79.0%)
Alabama: 53,796 (87.7%)
LSU: 50,298 (82.0%)
Kentucky: 49,487 (80.7%)
Tennessee State: 46,770 (76.3%)
NC State: 45,834 (74.7%)
Louisiana Tech: 44,669 (72.9%)
Ole Miss: ?
13) Missouri
Memorial Stadium: 61,620
AVERAGE ATTENDANCE: 46,516 (75.5%)
Texas A&M: 48,139 (78.1%)
Florida: 47,818 (77.6%)
North Texas: 46,985 (76.2%)
SEMO: 46,598 (75.6%)
Central Michigan: 46,327 (75.2%)
Tennessee: 45,655 (74.1%)
South Carolina: 44,092 (71.6%)
14) Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt Stadium: 40,350
AVERAGE ATTENDANCE: 23,458 (58.1%)
Georgia: 32,178 (79.7%)
Kentucky: 25,798 (63.9%)
Mississippi State: 22,036 (54.6%)
East Tennessee State: 22,029 (54.6%)
UCONN: 21,218 (52.6%)
Stanford: 21,124 (52.4%)
Missouri: 19,821 (49.1%)
I'll be updating this post in the coming days with the other P5 conferences, because I'm genuinely interested in exploring the claim that "attendance is down everywhere."
BEFORE WE BEGIN, I'd like to remind everyone of the current seating capacities in SEC stadiums, ranked 1-14.
You've got the 4 leviathans
1) Texas A&M (Kyle Field): 102,733
2) Tennessee (Neyland Stadium): 102,455
3) LSU (Tiger Stadium): 102,321
4) Alabama (Bryant-Denny Stadium): 100,077
A (slight) drop-off, followed by
5) Georgia (Sanford Stadium): 92,746
6) Florida (Ben Hill Griffin Stadium): 88,548
7) Auburn (Jordan-Hare Stadium): 87,451
Another drop-off, followed by
8) South Carolina (Williams-Brice Stadium): 77,559
9) Arkansas (Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium): 76,212
Another drop-off, followed by
10) Ole Miss (Vaught-Hemingway Stadium): 64,038
11) Missouri (Memorial Stadium): 61,620
12) Mississippi State (Davis Wade Stadium): 61,337
13) Kentucky (Kroger Field): 61,000
...and finally...
14) Vanderbilt (Vanderbilt Stadium): 40,350
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Next, we'll rank the SEC teams based on number of reported sellouts. These numbers are derived from reported attendance figures. These numbers obviously do not include games that will be played this weekend.
1) Georgia: 6
2) Alabama: 4
3) Auburn: 3
4) Kentucky: 3
5) Texas A&M: 3
6) Ole Miss: 2
7) Florida: 1
8) South Carolina: 1
9) Tennessee: 1
10) Arkansas: 0
11) LSU: 0
12) Mississippi State: 0
13) Missouri: 0
14) Vanderbilt: 0
A few notes:
*Georgia has reported a sellout for every home game they've had this season.
*LSU has reported zero sellouts this season.
*Kentucky ranks in the top half of this list.
*Ole Miss is one of six SEC teams to report more than one sellout this season.
*Ole Miss has played three SEC road games (so far): Alabama, Auburn, and Tennessee. All three were sellouts.
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Now we'll rank the SEC teams based on attendance numbers SO FAR. There are still several games yet to be played in SEC stadiums this weekend. I can edit this post once those final figures roll in.
Rankings are based on PERCENTAGE OF STADIUM FILLED, not raw numbers.
Rankings are based on REPORTED ATTENDANCE FIGURES, because obviously, that's all we have to go on.
My work is shown underneath each team, ordering home games in descending order from most attended to least attended.
1) Texas A&M
Kyle Field: 102,733
AVERAGE ATTENDANCE: 102,883 (100.1%)
Auburn: 109,835 (106.9%)
Alabama: 106,815 (104.0%)
South Carolina: 103,889 (101.1%)
Mississippi State: 102,272 (99.6%)
Kent State: 100,339 (97.7%)
New Mexico: 98,780 (96.2%)
Prairie View A&M: 98,251 (95.6%)
Note: Some schools, like Georgia, Alabama, and Auburn, seem to cap their reported attendance at their official capacity limit. Other schools, like Texas A&M, do not. Hence the percentages exceeding 100%.
2) Georgia
Sanford Stadium: 92,746
AVERAGE ATTENDANCE: 92,746 (100.0%)
UAB: 92,746 (100.0%)
South Carolina: 92,746 (100.0%)
Arkansas: 92,746 (100.0%)
Kentucky: 92,746 (100.0%)
Missouri: 92,746 (100.0%)
Charleston Southern: 92,746 (100.0%)
3) Alabama
Bryant-Denny Stadium: 100,077
AVERAGE ATTENDANCE: 98,720 (98.6%)
LSU: 100,077 (100.0%)
Ole Miss: 100,077 (100.0%)
Southern Miss: 100,077 (100.0%)
Tennessee: 100,077 (100.0%)
Arkansas: 98,323 (98.2%)
New Mexico State: 97,011 (96.9%)
Mercer: 95,396 (95.3%)
4) Auburn
Jordan-Hare Stadium: 87,451
AVERAGE ATTENDANCE: 85,928 (98.3%)
Georgia: 87,451 (100.0%)
Mississippi State: 87,451 (100.0%)
Ole Miss: 87,451 (100.0%)
Georgia State: 86,650 (99.1%)
Akron: 83,821 (95.8%)
Alabama State: 82,745 (94.6%)
Alabama: ?
Note: Despite the lackluster season, Auburn may very well pull ahead of Alabama (from a percentage basis) on the attendance ranking after the Iron Bowl.
5) Florida
Ben Hill Griffin Stadium: 88,548
AVERAGE ATTENDANCE: 84,512 (95.4%)
Alabama: 90,887 (102.6%)
Tennessee: 88,478 (99.9%)
FAU: 86,840 (98.1%)
Vanderbilt: 86,258 (97.4%)
Samford: 70,098 (79.2%)
Florida State ?
Note: I was surprised to see Florida this high on the list. Despite consistently strong numbers, the sudden drop-off for the Samford game is noticeable.
6) LSU
Tiger Stadium: 102,321
AVERAGE ATTENDANCE: 95,343 (93.2%)
Arkansas: 98,772 (96.5%)
Auburn: 97,717 (95.5%)
Florida: 96,012 (93.8%)
McNeese: 94,220 (92.1%)
ULM: 92,790 (90.7%)
Central Michigan: 92,547 (90.4%)
Texas A&M: ?
Note: No sellouts, which I'm sure is atypical for LSU, but still consistently strong attendance numbers despite the implosion in Baton Rouge. I expect the Texas A&M game will be well attended.
7) Kentucky
Kroger Field: 61,000
AVERAGE ATTENDANCE: 56,301 (92.3%)
LSU: 61,690 (101.1%)
Tennessee: 61,690 (101.1%)
Florida: 61,632 (101.0%)
Missouri: 58,437 (95.8%)
UT-Chattanooga: 55,214 (90.5%)
New Mexico State: 47,749 (78.3%)
ULM: 47,693 (78.2%)
Note: Kentucky's website gives "an approximate" stadium capacity for Kroger Field as 61,000. I don't know how to interpret that, but that's the figure I used.
8) Arkansas
Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium: 76,212
AVERAGE ATTENDANCE: 69,419 (91.1%)
Texas: 74,531 (97.8%)
Auburn: 73,370 (96.3%)
Mississippi State: 68,818 (90.3%)
Georgia Southern: 66,311 (87.0%)
Rice: 64,065 (84.1%)
Missouri: ?
9) Ole Miss
Vaught-Hemingway Stadium: 64,038
AVERAGE ATTENDANCE: 56,472 (88.2%)
LSU: 64,523 (100.8%)
Texas A&M: 64,425 (100.6%)
Arkansas: 60,256 (94.1%)
Tulane: 54,198 (84.6%)
Liberty: 53,235 (83.1%)
Vanderbilt: 50,819 (79.4%)
Austin Peay: 47,848 (74.7%)
Note: The three games against division opponents turned out solid crowds, including two sellouts. Fans seem to pass on attending games against inferior opponents.
10) South Carolina
Williams-Brice Stadium: 77,559
AVERAGE ATTENDANCE: 68,040 (87.7%)
Kentucky: 77,559 (100.0%)
Auburn: 70,299 (90.6%)
Florida: 70,131 (90.4%)
Eastern Illinois: 64,868 (83.6%)
Vanderbilt: 64,695 (83.4%)
Troy: 60,686 (78.2%)
Clemson: ?
11) Tennessee
Neyland Stadium: 102,455
AVERAGE ATTENDANCE: 87,677 (85.6%)
Ole Miss: 102,455 (100.0%)
Georgia: 100,074 (97.7%)
South Carolina: 89,437 (87.3%)
Bowling Green: 84,314 (82.3%)
Pittsburgh: 82,203 (80.2%)
Tennessee Tech: 80,053 (78.1%)
South Alabama: 75,203 (73.4%)
Vanderbilt: ?
Note: The team with the second-largest stadium is #11 in the SEC in attendance (on a percentage basis.) They also somehow got eight home games this year.
12) Mississippi State
Davis Wade Stadium: 61,337
AVERAGE ATTENDANCE: 48,476 (79.0%)
Alabama: 53,796 (87.7%)
LSU: 50,298 (82.0%)
Kentucky: 49,487 (80.7%)
Tennessee State: 46,770 (76.3%)
NC State: 45,834 (74.7%)
Louisiana Tech: 44,669 (72.9%)
Ole Miss: ?
13) Missouri
Memorial Stadium: 61,620
AVERAGE ATTENDANCE: 46,516 (75.5%)
Texas A&M: 48,139 (78.1%)
Florida: 47,818 (77.6%)
North Texas: 46,985 (76.2%)
SEMO: 46,598 (75.6%)
Central Michigan: 46,327 (75.2%)
Tennessee: 45,655 (74.1%)
South Carolina: 44,092 (71.6%)
14) Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt Stadium: 40,350
AVERAGE ATTENDANCE: 23,458 (58.1%)
Georgia: 32,178 (79.7%)
Kentucky: 25,798 (63.9%)
Mississippi State: 22,036 (54.6%)
East Tennessee State: 22,029 (54.6%)
UCONN: 21,218 (52.6%)
Stanford: 21,124 (52.4%)
Missouri: 19,821 (49.1%)
