Virginia Tech 1 of 21 FBS Teams at 100% Capacity or Higher in 2011

by furrer4heisman on Dec 14, 2011 1:13 AM EST in Virginia Tech Football

The NCAA has released its attendance reports for the 2011 season and the Hokies have the distinction of being one of 21 FBS teams who were at 100 percent capacity or higher for their home games. The only other ACC team to do so was Wake Forest.

In terms of average attendance, Tech of course averaged 66,233 (Lane Stadium's listed capacity), third among ACC schools behind Clemson and Florida State. It was good enough for 23rd in the country.

The ACC as a whole, did not fare too well. It was fifth among all conferences in terms of average attendance at 51,158. It was ahead of only the Big East among BCS AQ conferences.

You can find the team-by-team breakdowns at the link above. The teams that have above 100 percent capacity likely have standing room only seats, like on a hill or something, that they can sell that isn't a part of the official capacity. After the jump I've got the conference breakdown.

RANK	NAME	CONF	ATT	PCT	AVG	SUM	GM
C01	Southeastern	SEC	6,210,859	96.33%	75,742	6,447,211	82
C02	Big Ten	B10	6,008,124	94.33%	71,525	6,369,378	84
C03	Big 12	B12	3,980,781	97.09%	63,187	4,099,946	63
C04	Pac 12	P12	3,970,939	86.38%	52,249	4,597,070	76
C05	Atlantic Coast	ACC	4,194,970	87.15%	51,158	4,813,578	82
C06	Big East	BEC	2,407,109	82.07%	43,766	2,933,011	55
C07	Mountain West	MWC	1,472,828	77.59%	29,457	1,898,274	50
C08	Conference USA	CUSA	1,855,609	56.87%	26,509	3,262,635	70
C09	Western Athletic	WAC	887,240	62.63%	21,640	1,416,560	41
C10	Sun Belt	SBC	1,026,102	67.90%	18,323	1,511,161	56
C11	Mid-American	MAC	1,278,672	54.03%	16,606	2,366,767	77

It looks weird because it's copied and pasted from Excel. I was too lazy to make it not look weird.

Here's the whole ACC:

RANK	NAME	CONF	ATT	PCT	AVG	SUM	GM
17	Clemson	ACC	547,635	95.99%	78,234	570,500	7
18	Florida St.	ACC	544,893	94.58%	77,842	576,100	7
23	Virginia Tech	ACC	397,398	100.00%	66,233	397,398	6
34	North Carolina St.	ACC	394,008	97.75%	56,287	403,081	7
35	North Carolina	ACC	392,000	88.89%	56,000	441,000	7
45	Miami (FL)	ACC	340,576	64.94%	48,654	524,412	7
47	Georgia Tech	ACC	337,622	87.69%	48,232	385,000	7
48	Virginia	ACC	335,582	77.95%	47,940	430,500	7
56	Maryland	ACC	296,484	82.24%	42,355	360,500	7
65	Boston College	ACC	214,255	80.25%	35,709	267,000	6
74	Wake Forest	ACC	223,769	101.48%	31,967	220,500	7
84	Duke	ACC	170,748	71.87%	24,393	237,587	7
C05	Atlantic Coast	ACC	4,194,970	87.15%	51,158	4,813,578	82

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Comments

Wake Forest.

hm.

by VT89 on Dec 14, 2011 1:46 AM EST reply actions

Shhhh

Don’t fight it

Don't give up, don't ever give up ~ Jim Valvano

by AParker on Dec 14, 2011 8:17 AM EST up reply actions

Because...

Many, Many Wake grads stay in the area. Everyone either graduated from Wake, or knows someone who did.

by Leonard Thompson on Dec 14, 2011 10:57 AM EST up reply actions

Um

Where is that full list? I clicked on the link and it something about App State came up.. nothing else.

I just have to make sure Boise State is up in the top of the list.

by VT1996 on Dec 14, 2011 7:06 AM EST reply actions

When you consider

the average home attendance of Michigan and VT, we’re right on par with ticket sales.

Home Game Avg:
VT – 66,233
UM – 112,179 (#1 attendance in all US sports)
UM averages 69% more attendees than VT

Sugar Bowl Tix Sales:
Last I heard it was approximately
VT – 9,500
UM – 15,000
So, that’s 57% more UM sales than VT…

But, everyone will dog VT anyways.

by Chazz Michael Michaelzz on Dec 14, 2011 12:53 PM EST reply actions

The Economy

I’m wondering if the ACC’s numbers are the way the are because of the economy. For example, Miami plays in a 75,000 seat stadium but is also in the heart of where the real estate crisis hit (the fact that they no longer play downtown probably hurts too). Likewise, Maryland gambled on those fancy luxury suites the economy sagged (and the Terp’s fortunes) and wound up paying big time. I also wonder how many fans of UNC, UVA, Georgia Tech, or Duke, which have some of the lower percentages, would like to go but are being forced to cut back.

by jsonitsac on Dec 14, 2011 9:36 PM EST reply actions

Counter Argument: Michigan

Michigan was one of the hardest hit states. I believe their unemployment at one time was greater than 20%. According to Bureau of Labor Statistics , they are still the 3rd highest unemployed state, yet they still get 110,000 into the UM stadium and 75,000 into the MSU stadium.

I think the real reason the ACC struggles:
1) SEC SEC SEC (I hate that chant…) is more popular – UGA > GT; UF > FSU; USC = Clemson (Spurrier effect)
2) Not enough state schools where local residents can identify with the team either due to being a small private school or located within an NFL market (Miami, GT, Duke, WF, Maryland, BC)
3) Higher Academic Universities = Alumni scattering across the nation for elite jobs… Can’t defend this one, but I think it’s probably true.

by Chazz Michael Michaelzz on Dec 15, 2011 3:00 PM EST up reply actions

I think the answer may have more to do with school size than academic status

by 93noleman on Dec 15, 2011 3:24 PM EST up reply actions

Probably true

It would be interesting to see game attendance standardized by avg graduation class size. That would probably be more accurate interpretation.

by Chazz Michael Michaelzz on Dec 15, 2011 8:13 PM EST up reply actions

I agree on most of your points

I was just suggesting that the numbers would be higher if it weren’t for the mess we’re in. Duke, for example, probably won’t sell out in boom times. Still, I believe that if things were better the numbers would be higher, with at least Clemson and FSU joining us at 100%.

by jsonitsac on Dec 16, 2011 10:59 PM EST up reply actions

Miami's location is its biggest problem

Their fans are very fickle, and they don’t like making that drive to their soulless homefield.

I’d rate the mediocraty of the teams they’ve put on the field since the move as the other big problem for them. They have to be very good (at least top 10, probably top 5) to draw well.

by Joe Hamilton's Chauffeur on Dec 15, 2011 4:21 PM EST via mobile up reply actions

Definitely a big part of it

As a Hokie in Miami (went to all their home games except KSU), the drive up to the stadium, the lack of atmosphere, and some unbearably hot games keep a lot of people away. The Ohio State game this year was the highest attendance since 2008 and they didn’t even break 67k.

Doesn’t help that there’s only 10k undergrads enrolled… definitely miss games in Lane.

by notagadget on Dec 16, 2011 7:22 PM EST up reply actions