UTEP, one of four Texas teams in Conference USA, was able to use the bump of Big 12 foe Texas Tech coming to El Paso to stay virtually at the same level as in 2013 with 28,375 fans in 2013 and 28,377 in 2014. In the 6 home games in 2014, the Miner brought in an impressive 170,260 total tickets sold, up from 141,877 in 2013 when UTEP only had five home/neutral games.
Just missing out on the Conference USA attendance title for the second straight season, UTSA saw their average attendance per game drop from 29,214 in 2014 to 27,576 in 2013. That drop of 1,638 per game was likely due in part to the rough 2-7 start that took the Roadrunners out of bowl eligibility with two home games remaining. An interesting aspect to UTSA's ability to bring in high average crowds is the ability to get big programs to come to San Antonio with Oklahoma State visiting in 2013 and Arizona in 2014. Overall, the Roadrunners lost 9,824 total tickets sold but have the strong fan base that could gain that approximately 10,000 tickets sold in 2015.
Finishing as one of the top three attended football programs in Conference USA yet again, Marshall was able to increase their average attendance by 2,438 with 25,023 in 2013 and 27,461 in 2014. That increase bumped the Thundering Herd in to the top 30 nationally in increased average attendance, at 23rd place. Due to their incredible regular season, the Thundering Herd also earned a seventh home game for the CUSA title game to bump their overall attendance in 2014 to 192,229, a jump of 42,091 from the six home/neutral games in 2013.
Still unable to quite turn the corner and become the powerful program of old, Southern Miss was able to tread water in 2014 with 22,739 per game, a drop of only 13 fans per game from the 22,752 per game in 2013. The Golden Eagles are normally unable to bring the big opponents to Hattiesburg but have been able to bring in a steady flow of fans despite recent struggles on the field. Southern Miss had one more home/neutral game in 2014 than in 2013 and were able to use that extra game to increase their overall attendance from 113,759 in 2013 to 136,435 in 2014, an increase of 22,676 tickets sold.
In what turned out to be one of the biggest stories of the 2014 college football season, the UAB Blazers were able to make the second highest attendance jump in the nation despite being eliminated as a program following the season (and later reinstated). The Blazers were only able to bring in 10,548 fans in the tough 2013 season but jumped to 21,841 per game in 2014, a jump of 11,293 per game. That increase of over double from 2013 saw UAB bring in 131,047 total fans in six home/neutral games, up from 52,739 in five games in 2013.
In two years of making the transition from FCS to FBS, the Old Dominion Monarchs has shown their dedication to football with back to back sellout seasons. In both 2013 and 2014, Old Dominion completely filled Foreman Field with a capacity 20,118 crowd in every game. Both seasons saw 120,708 tickets purchased with the caliber of opponent increasing in Conference USA play. The Monarchs are one of the programs that could push for 30,000 fans per game in upcoming years if they decide to expand the stadium to a higher capacity.
Using the momentum of an improved season in 2014 that ended in a bowl win over Illinois, the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs were able to break into the top 30 teams in the FBS in increased attendance with a jump of 1,388 fans per game. Louisiana Tech have not played at home as much as other teams with only five home games in both 2013 and 2014 but broke 100,000 overall tickets sold in the 2014 season.
After a 2013 season that ended in a bowl win and 21,030 fans per game, North Texas was neither able to keep up on the field or in the box office in 2014. The Mean Green played one game at home after eliminated from bowl eligibility, a 17-14 win over Florida International but could not quite earn the same support as in 2013. Overall, the Mean Green lost 10,555 tickets sold.
In a season that saw them host Independent power BYU and longtime rival Western Kentucky, the MTSU Blue Raiders saw a surprising attendance drop in 2014 from 18,715 in 2013 to 17,408 in 2014. The program, after earning a bowl berth in 2013, could not sustain the excitement in Murfreesboro with the disappointing attendance total. Overall, the Blue Raiders ended the season with just under 8,000 fewer tickets sold.
Looking to continue the momentum of the a 2013 season that saw them win Conference USA, the Rice Owls were able to tread water but slightly decrease in attendance in 2014. In 2013, the Owls brought in 18,785 fans for every game but could only muster 18,562 which is compounded by the sheer size of Rice Stadium. 18,562 looks tiny in a stadium that can hold 70,000 fans on any given day. Rice also played one fewer home game which dropped the overall attendance from 112,711 to 92,812.
In one of the biggest head scratchers, the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers were unable to keep pace with a pedestrian 18,334 per game in 2013 with an extremely disappointing 16,306 average attendance in 2014. The Hilltoppers have never drawn particularly well in the 22,000 seating capacity LT Smith Stadium, but with one of the highest scoring offenses in the nation, it would have seemed to be ideal for an increase in ticket sales. If WKU fans won't show up for a team that put up 577, let me repeat that... 577 points in 2014, maybe WKU will never earn a good fan base.
Building a program from the ground up is quite the task. Doing so without any hope of postseason accomplishments is even harder. Such has been the case for Charlotte in the last two seasons. The 49ers play in a 15,000 seat facility that can be expanded to 40,000 season in the future. In 2013, the 49ers actually outsold capacity with an average for 15,541 per game. That momentum was unable to be kept as 2014 saw that average attendance number drop to 13,272, a drop of 2,269 fans per game. Once Charlotte is playing for real stakes once again, the 15,000 goal is easily attainable.
Rounding up the rear are Florida programs Florida International and Florida Atlantic. Neither program was able to break 15,000 average attendance but the drop from 14,552 per game in 2013 to 14,122 in 2014 for Florida Atlantic is much easier to bear. The Owls have been unable to fill the 30,000 seat FAU Stadium and with only one season of .500 over better since 2008, those numbers should continue.
Rewind back to 2012 for Florida International. The Golden Panthers were coming off of a disappointing 3-9 season but had gone to bowls in 2010 and 2011 and had a hot young coach in Mario Cristobal. Rather than conclude 2012 was a blip, FIU fired Cristobal and hired Ron Turner. The first year was an unmitigated disaster with an offense that 9.8 points per game. Despite those flaws, 15,543 fans averaged FIU contests. With an 8 game home schedule that included visited from Pitt and Louisville, the Golden Panthers actually dropped in attendance to 11,966, the third worst attendance in the FBS. Nothing to do but shake your head.
Overall, Conference USA saw the average per game increase from 19,864 per game in 2013 to 19,917 in 2014. Official NCAA stats did not include UNCC or ODU in either year or UTSA in 2013. My calculations include all 14 teams in both seasons. With the new averages, Conference USA still stands at #8 in average conference attendance, but under 1,000 per game ahead of the Sun Belt.
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