Attendance Rankings since 2000

[HRE Otto IV]

Teams with crowds over 44k...

2x BC, Clemson, Miami, Notre Dame (assuming this year), VA Tech, WV

1x Minny, Penn State, Pitt


Over 42,500...

3x BC, WV

2x Clemson, Miami, Notre Dame (assuming this year), VA Tech

1x Auburn, BYU, FSU, Louisville, LSU, Minny, Penn State, Pitt, Rhode Island, Temple


Over 41k...

4x BC, WV

3x Clemson

2x Miami, Notre Dame (assuming this year), Pitt, Temple, VA Tech

1x Auburn, BYU, Cincy, FSU, Louisville, LSU, Minny, Penn State, Rhode Island, Rutgers, UConn, USF, Villanova


We played the Big East teams more often so that certainly helps. Wish we would cycle in PSU and WV OOC. We will start getting Miami and VA Tech more often. Pitt is the team we have played the most often yet they don't draw as well. I wouldn't mind getting Temple back home and away. Crazy that they have 2 games (although they were often homecoming or parent's weekend). FSU hasn't been a big draw. It would make sense to cycle in Rutgers, and continue to cycle in UConn. Nova might be an interesting team to cycle in for FCS games. NC State and Wake didn't make the list from our yearly ACC opponents.

 

[CNY in Miami]

Syracuse is no different than any other university town, win CONSISTENTLY and fans will buy tickets and fill the stadium game after game, loose CONSISTENTLY and it will take a while to win the fans back.
Except for Miami, they only fill the stadium when the fans think they have a chance to be number one, which isn’t very often, looked like they had about 15,000 for MTSU

 

[HRE Otto IV]

AVGs vs teams we have played multiple times...

1. Miami 47,503 (2 games)
H 49,327 2000
L 45,679 2002
Small sample size. We haven't played them since 2002

2. VA Tech 43,703 (3 games)
H 49,033 2000
L 33,838 2016
Surprised the 2016 was that low

3. Clemson 43,018 (5 games)
H 50,249 2019
L 36.670 2021
Teams from 2021 are at a disadvantage IMO due to Covid restrictions

4. Temple 42,632 (2 games)
H 43,149 2003
L 42,115 2001

5. WV 41,954 (6 games)
H 45,418 2005
L 35,345 2007

6. Northwestern 39,040 (2 games)
H 40,251 2009
L 37,830 2012
Great games

7. NC State 38,799 (3 games)
H 40,787 2014
L 34,842 2016
Small sample

8. USF 38,440 (5 games)
H 41,582 2011
L 32,288 2016
Surprisingly

9. FSU 38,362 (4 games)
H 43,295 2014
L 32,340 2016
Not a big draw

10. BC 38,171 (8 games)
H 45,313 2003
L 30,202 2017
Hurt by last season?

11. Toledo 37,599 (2 games)
H 39,116 2011
L 36,083 2003

12. Louisville 37,542 (9 games)
H 42,797 2018
L 32,184 2016
Thank goodness they are off the yearly schedule going forward

13. Rutgers 37,375 (8 games)
H 42,152 2011
L 31,941 2021
2021 hurt?

14. UNC 37,327 (2 games)
H 39,444 2002
L 35,210 2018

15. UVA 37,308 (2 games)
H 40,027 2005
L 34,590 2022

16. Maine 36,695 (2 games)
H 37,758 2010
L 35,632 2009

17. Pitt 36,591 (12 games)
H 44,886 2019
L 27,549 2008
Even with the 2021 excuse they shouldn't be this low or below Rutgers

18. Rhode Island 36,540 (3 games)
H 43,089 2002
L 30,112 2015

19. Wake 36,144 (6 games)
H 40,833 2011
L 26,670 2015
2021 was actually a good crowd for them

20. UCF 35,520 (2 games)
H 35,938 2001
L 35,103 2003

21. Cincy 35,470 (5 games)
H 42,457 2005
L 30,040 2007

22. UConn 35,447 (6 games)
H 41,635 2010
L 28,081 2008

23. Buffalo 35,324 (3 games)
H 40,624 2000
L 30,897 2007

24. Colgate 34,702 (2 games)
H 38,068 2010
L 31,336 2016

25. Akron 34,399 (2 games)
H 36,991 2009
L 31,808 2008

26. Wagner 31,347 (2 games)
H 33,299 2013
L 29,395 2018
Will they move up after Saturday?

27. Central Michigan 30,476 (2 games)
H 33,004 2017
L 27,949 2015

 

[HRE Otto IV]

In terms of games played in the 2000s...

1. Pitt 12x
2. Louisville 9x
3. BC 8x
Rutgers 8x
5. UConn 6x
Wake 6x
WV 6x
8. Cincy 5x
Clemson 5x
FSU 5x (including this season)
USF 5x

No wonder we don't draw well when you are subjected to those Top 5 teams.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

BC and Pitt don't draw all that well. I think part of the problem is typically playing them at the end of the season. I think it also hurts that now both teams are either at home or away. Ideally we would split the two and play both in October. Which IMO would help those games in the Dome and make it more attractive for a road trip. Let our end of year game alternate with Wake and Miami.

 

[SmilinBob]

Losing Clemson every other year hurts unless FSU steps up which they just might. IMO, Clemson, Miami, FSU and in a way VTech are the best home games draw wise.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

Future games by AVG ranks...

2023
1. Clemson
2. WMU
3. BC
4. Pitt
5. Wake
6. Colgate
NA Army

2024
1. Miami
2. Duke
3. FSU
NA GA Tech, Ohio

2025
1. VA Tech
2. BC
3. UNC
4. Pitt
5. UConn
NA Army
That is an Northeast home schedule for sure, but no big name

2026
1. ND
2. NC State
3. FSU
4. Louisville
5. UVA
6. UConn
NA New Hampshire
Good thing for ND or this would be ugly

 

[NJneer12]

How realistic is it to come off of a 10 W season, be Top 25 preseason, have a hyped up QB, and have #1 Clemson coming to the Dome? That will not happen often. If it did, then sure we need 44k. But those types of seasons will be once every dozen years. The rest of the time we probably need a 40k stadium.

All I'm saying is success usually bring the butts in. I'm not going to argue about how much and of what success is needed...but if we must...lol

Perennial bowl team averaging 6 to 10 wins will turn a lot of heads. I mean, all it takes is Cuse to be 3-0 or 4-0 and they are in media conversations/ranked or receiving votes/etc.

I still think a lot of you underestimate the Syracuse brand around the country. It's good for CFB when a northeast team not named Penn State is good in football.

 

[OttoMets]

Since how many will we get for XXX is of such interest I figured might as well centralize this in its own topic. Starting in 2000 until today...


1. Clemson 2019 50,249

2. Miami 2000 49,327
3. VA Tech 2000 49,033

4. Clemson 2013 48,961
5. Minny 2009 48,617
6. VA Tech 2002 48,239
7. ND 2003 48,170

8. Penn State 2008 45,745
9. Miami 2002 45,679
10. WV 2005 45,418
11. BC 2003 45,313
12. WV 2011 45,265
13. BC 2001 45,063

14. Pitt 2019 44,886

15. WV 2001 43,753
16. Auburn 2001 43,403
17. FSU 2014 43,295
18. Temple 2003 43,149
19. LSU 2015 43,101
20. BYU 2000 43,090
21. Rhode Island 2002 43,089

22. BC 2019 42,857
23. Louisville 2018 42,797
24. Clemson 2017 42,475
25. Cincy 2005 42,457
26. BC 2010 42,191
27. Rutgers 2011 42,152
28. Temple 2001 42,115

29. Pitt 2006 41,870
30. WV 2003 41,801
31. UConn 2010 41,635
32. USF 2011 41,582
33. Nova 2014 41,189

34. Wake 2011 40,833
35. NC State 2014 40,787
36. NC State 2018 40,769
37. Louisville 2010 40,735
38. Western Michigan 2019 40,700
39. Pitt 2000 40,699
40. Buffalo 2000 40,634
41. Holy Cross 2019 40,575
42. Maryland 2014 40,511
43. Pitt 2012 40,394
44. FSU 2004 40,359
45. Washington 2007 40,329
46. Louisville 2012 40,312
47. Northwestern 2009 40,251
48. Pitt 2010 40,168
49. Rutgers 2004 40,153
50. USF 2009 40,147
51. WV 2009 40,144
USF 2005 40,144
53. UVA 2005 40,027

54. Pitt 2002 39,947
55. UNC 2002 39,444
56. Duke 2014 39,331
57. Toledo 2011 39,116
58. Rutgers 2005 39,022

59. Wake 2021 38,554
60. Wake 2013 38,550
Louisville 2003 38,550
62. Wake 2017 38,539
63. Wyoming 2006 38,447
64. Cincy 2011 38,159
65. Colgate 2010 38,068
66. USF 2007 38,039

67. Northwestern 2012 37,830
68. Maine 2010 37,758
69. Louisville 2014 37,569
70. FSU 2018 37,457
71. BC 2013 37,406
72. Pitt 2004 37,211
73. Iowa 2006 37,199
74. Rutgers 2002 37,158
75. Louisville 2022 37,110

76. Akron 2009 36,991
77. Rutgers 2009 36,759
78. Clemson 2015 36,736
79. UConn 2012 36,715
80. Clemson 2021 36,670
81. UConn 2018 36,632
82. Rhode Island 2011 36,421
83. ECU 2001 36,347
84. Rutgers 2007 36,226
85. Tulane 2013 36,128
86. Toledo 2003 36,083

87. UCF 2001 35,938
88. Louisville 2006 35,708
89. Maine 2009 35,632
90. Rutgers 2000 35,589
91. Purdue 2022 35,493
92. WV 2007 35,345
93. Pitt 2013 35,317
94. Miami OH 2006 35,274
95. UNC 2018 35,210
96. UCF 2003 35,103
97. UConn 2006 35,079

98. NC State 2016 34,842
99. Northeastern 2008 34,694
100. UVA 2022 34,590
101. UConn 2004 34,545
102. Stony Brook 2012 34,512
103. Buffalo 2005 34,442
104. Illinois 2007 34,188

105. VA Tech 2016 33,838
106. Cincy 2009 33,802
107. Wake 2019 33,719
108. Wagner 2013 33,299
109. Pitt 2017 33,290
110. Central Michigan 2017 33,004

111. Louisville 2008 32,917
112. Cincy 2004 32,893
113. FSU 2016 32,340
114. USF 2016 32,288
115. Louisville 2016 32,184
116. BC 2021 32,022

117. Rutgers 2021 31,941
118. Akron 2008 31,808
119. Colgate 2016 31,336

120. Buffalo 2007 30,897
121. BC 2015 30,317
122. Central CT 2017 30,273
123. BC 2017 30,202
124. Albany 2021 30,156
125. Rhode Island 2015 30,112
126. Cincy 2007 30,040

127. Liberty 2021 29,942
128. Pitt 2015 29,832
129. Middle Tenn 2017 29,731
130. Wagner 2018 29,395

131. UConn 2008 28,081

132. Central Michigan 2015 27,949
133. Pitt 2021 27,939
134. Pitt 2008 27,549

135. Wake 2015 26,670



Didn't realize 2015 was that bad. We had 5 of 7 crowds under 30,500. Pitt our "rival" has had 2 of the 3 smallest crowds, and a 3rd in the bottom 8. So far this year we have #75, #91, and #100. We have had 9 crowds under 30k. We have only had 7 crowds over 45,750. We have had only 14 crowds over 43,755. We have only had 10 crowds larger than 42,500 since GRob's 1st game (17 seasons not including 2020). Median is 37,758. Seems like 44k is more than we even need.

Was 2015 the year SUAD briefly shifted to doing a turnstile count rather than tickets sold (and rather than counting tickets sold plus press credentials plus every player and team employee as they did for #1*)?

Because that would depress the numbers a bit. While I was in the building for every home game that seasons, it didn't really stand out from most of the Shafer and Dino years.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

All I'm saying is success usually bring the butts in. I'm not going to argue about how much and of what success is needed...but if we must...lol

Perennial bowl team averaging 6 to 10 wins will turn a lot of heads. I mean, all it takes is Cuse to be 3-0 or 4-0 and they are in media conversations/ranked or receiving votes/etc.

I still think a lot of you underestimate the Syracuse brand around the country. It's good for CFB when a northeast team not named Penn State is good in football.

We had a pretty good stretch from 2010-2013. In 2014 we had defending champ FSU coming to town along with their Heisman QB. Yet we barely cracked 40k for Maryland when we were 2-0, couldn't get 38k for a Friday vs Louisville, and didn't get 44k for that FSU game. Given our record at the time, our last 2 games were actually well attended (NC State and Duke).

 

[OttoMets]

2019 says it all: All but one over 40k after a 10 win season.

Win and people will show up. There were like 9k new STH after 2018, me included.

Win and put on a full-court press with ticket salespeople and people will buy tickets.

Once that 2019 season went south, there weren't a ton of people showing up at the Dome for the games.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

Was 2015 the year SUAD briefly shifted to doing a turnstile count rather than tickets sold (and rather than counting tickets sold plus press credentials plus every player and team employee as they did for #1*)?

Because that would depress the numbers a bit. While I was in the building for every home game that seasons, it didn't really stand out from most of the Shafer and Dino years.

I believe so. Conspiracy theory, it was used to justify firing Shafer. But even adding back all the non turn style people those numbers are low.

 

[Jake]

2015….the Mark Coyle season. The only year we reported pure turnstile counts.

Gross was counting cockroaches.

 

[Eric15]

2015….the Mark Coyle season. The only year we reported pure turnstile counts.

Gross was counting cockroaches.

Ah that makes sense. I thought the numbers that season seemed suspiciously low. I figured it was just lack of excitement after the miserable 2014 year.

 

[FrancoPizza]

I'm convinced that basketball competes with football. People think it doesn't because they're different seasons of the year but how many times can the same people drag themselves up that hill? Probably the people in the good seats also have good seats for basketball which makes it look even worse. Reducing capacity is a no brainer but I don't know how you do it without messing up basketball. You want each seat a little more spread out for football but not basketball

You might be overselling the basketball product… esp if there are no changes coming there soon.

 

[rrlbees]

You might be overselling the basketball product… esp if there are no changes coming there soon.

And yet we still led the country in attendance the past two years.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

I think (or hope) that the program will settle into a typical 6 year stretch of the below. Basically 2009-2013 and 2016-2022 without 2020.

Year 1
A 4 W type of team that is competitive in their losses
Like 2009, 2015, 2016, 2017

Year 2
A 6 W reg season team that isn't exciting and barely makes a Bowl
Like 2010, 2013

Year 3
A 5 W team that couldn't break through for that 6th W
Like 2011, 2019, 2021

Year 4
An 8 W reg season team that is exciting and can beat just about anyone
Like 2012

Year 5
A 9 W reg season team that ends the year ranked
Like 2018

Year 6
A 7 W reg season let down
Like 2013

and then repeat the cycle.

That would give us a Bowl in 4 out of 6 years. Really, taking away 2014 and 2020 we have basically been in that cycle post GRob.

I think that type of team would draw between 37,500 and 42,500 for most opponents. FCS and G5 teams might be lower in the 32,500 to 37,500 range. Big name teams and ranked matchups will be in the 42,500 to 47,500 range. That will typically be only one game per year, if that. Since the majority of our games are below 42,500 do we need a bigger stadium than that?

 

[TexanMark]

Crazy that 2002 Rhode Island had more people than our 2017 Clemson win.

It was artificially boosted. They distributed 5000 tix to Fort Drum

 

[FrancoPizza]

And yet we still led the country in attendance the past two years.

The trend is what you should be looking at. It will be interesting to see how the fan base responds to a losing season.

 

[OttoMets]

It was artificially boosted. They distributed 5000 tix to Fort Drum

And I thought my memory for ancient sporting events was good. Wow.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

By HC games over 41k...

Dino 5 games in 5+ years (2-3 record lost last 3 games)
Clemson 2019 50,249
Pitt 2019 44,886
BC 2019 42,857
Louisville 2018 42,797
Clemson 2017 42,475
4 games over 42.5k, 2 games over 44k

Shafer 4 games in 3 years (1-3 record only win 2 OTs)
Clemson 2013 48,961
FSU 2014 43,295
LSU 2015 43,101
Nova 2014 41,189
3 games over 42.5k, 1 game over 44k

Marrone 6 games in 4 years (1-5 record)
Minny 2009 48,617
WV 2011 45,265
BC 2010 42,191
Rutgers 2011 42,152
UConn 2010 41,635
USF 2011 41,582
2 games over 42.5k, 2 games over 44k

GRob 4 games in 4 years (0-4 record)
Penn State 2008 45,745
WV 2005 45,418
Cincy 2005 42,457
Pitt 2006 41,870
2 games over 42.5k, 2 games over 44k

Coach P 14 games in 5 years (10-4 record and 9-2 in last 11)
Miami 2000 49,327
VA Tech 2000 49,033
VA Tech 2002 48,239
ND 2003 48,170
Miami 2002 45,679
BC 2003 45,313
BC 2001 45,063
WV 2001 43,753
Auburn 2001 43,403
Temple 2003 43,149
BYU 2000 43,090
Rhode Island 2002 43,089
Temple 2001 42,115
WV 2003 41,801
12 games over 42.5k, 7 games over 44k


Over 44k only 4x since Marrone's first game and only 6x since GRob's first game.

Over 42.5k only 8x since Marrone's first game and only 10x since GRob's first game.

Over 41k only 14x since Marrone's first game and only 18x since GRob's first game.

In the 19 games over 41k since Coach P we have a 4-15 record. In Coach P's 14 games over 41k he went 10-4.

 

[Eric15]

It's crazy to see the attendance numbers we used to pull in the late 80s and early 90s. Obviously, the situation was different back then -- the population of CNY was larger and every game wasn't televised in HD.

For example, in 1993 with a record of 4-3-1, we played a 1-7 Temple team in early November, and drew a crowd of just a hair under 49k.

 

[OttoMets]

It's crazy to see the attendance numbers we used to pull in the late 80s and early 90s. Obviously, the situation was different back then -- the population of CNY was larger and every game wasn't televised in HD.

For example, in 1993 with a record of 4-3-1, we played a 1-7 Temple team in early November, and drew a crowd of just a hair under 49k.

And the games were shorter, and the game times were fairly consistent (and published months in advance in those handy pocket schedules).

 

[Scooch]

I'm convinced that basketball competes with football. People think it doesn't because they're different seasons of the year but how many times can the same people drag themselves up that hill? Probably the people in the good seats also have good seats for basketball which makes it look even worse. Reducing capacity is a no brainer but I don't know how you do it without messing up basketball. You want each seat a little more spread out for football but not basketball

I agree with you in terms of football and hoops competing for people's entertainment budget. Plus, historically, folks coming in from out of town and making a weekend of a game were likely to see a better hoops product than football (recent seasons aside).

Football should be ~44K and I don't think it'll harm hoops that much. Maybe it displaces a couple hundred STH on the 1st level, but that can be fixed.

 

[Scooch]

It's crazy to see the attendance numbers we used to pull in the late 80s and early 90s. Obviously, the situation was different back then -- the population of CNY was larger and every game wasn't televised in HD.

For example, in 1993 with a record of 4-3-1, we played a 1-7 Temple team in early November, and drew a crowd of just a hair under 49k.

That '93 game was Parent's Weekend, which always drew a crowd of 47K+ back in the day. And the '92 team was fantastic with sky high expectations for '93. So that game sold a ton of tickets in the summer.