The SWAC tops FCS in 2015 football attendance
SWAC.org
BIRMINGHAM – Ala. The Southwestern Athletic Conference was once again best attended football league in the NCAA Div. I- Football Championship Series (FCS). An improvement by an average of 42 fans, the SWAC averaged 12,823 in attendance at each of its 51 home football contests.
The SWAC outnumbered the Missouri Valley Conference by 1,907 in attendance, despite playing 10 less total games in its league. The Big Sky Conference finished third with an average of 9,977.
In 37 of the last 38 years, the SWAC has been the FCS leader in attendance. This average includes neutral site games such as the Magic City Classic (63,874), the highest single-game attendance figure in 2015, the Bayou Classic (62,507), and the State Fair Classic (51,328). These contests were three of the highest attended games in the country among the FCS level.
Five programs out of the SWAC finished in the top 30 with Southern placing eighth with an average of 18,310. Jackson State was next with a 15th place finish at 13,252, followed by Alcorn State holding down the 18th spot at (12,343). Alabama State finished in 24th (10,290) while Grambling State averaged an attendance of 10,035 at its home contests for the 28th best average among FCS leaders.
The SWAC and the MVC were once again the only two conferences with an average of over 10,000 fans per game with a total attendance average 653,962 and 654,948 respectively.
Alcorn State and Grambling State played in front of the third most attended SWAC Football Championship crowd in league history with 40,352 on hand. That total marked the most since the league moved the game to Houston’s NRG Stadium and the largest audience since 2007.
2015 National Football Collge Attendance