Walking around campus last weekend, it would've been difficult to not feel some Quakers pride. Countless red and blue balloons were wrapped around lampposts and hung from buildings. Crowds of alumni - young and old - wandered with smiles around College Green and down Locust Walk as they fondly recalled their warm memories at Penn.
Things were obviously different that weekend; that is, unless you attended the homecoming football game against Brown.
Despite all the pride and visiting alumni, just over 11,000 fans made their way down to Franklin Field on Saturday. This represents only a slight increase in attendance compared to the last two home games against Columbia and Dartmouth, which attracted about 9,200 each. In contrast, 20,000 fans watched Princeton defeat Penn at last year's homecoming.
Now, this may be expected, considering the rivalry and relative proximity between Penn and Princeton. But the Quakers faithful has shown itself capable of coming out in droves even for a non-Ivy tilt: this year's season opener against Villanova pulled in 22,000 fans, more than double the total from last year's home opener and also more than at last year's homecoming against Princeton.
While that figure was inflated by the large number of Wildcat fans who showed up, Penn is drawing from a pool of 20,000 undergraduate and graduate students, not to mention countless alumni who live in the city.
Considering that the homecoming game is essentially the centerpiece of the season, those in Penn Athletics admit to being disappointed with the attendance this year.
"A crowd a little bit bigger would have been better, although Brown is not nearly as big a draw as Princeton," Marketing Coordinator Brian Head said.
He said the homecoming game "is probably more promoted than any of our other games."
Since Penn is a relatively large Ivy League school with a competitive football team, these numbers stand out even more. Attendance at Brown, Dartmouth, Yale and Princeton home games is proportionally better. For example, Yale's homecoming game versus the Quakers two weeks ago drew 22,000 spectators.
Clearly, some consistent support of the football team on the part of the Penn community is lacking. When asked whether or not they attended the game against Brown, most freshmen answered with one word: "No."
As a senior, wide receiver Matt Carre has been on the field for games with 25,000 fans and games with 5,000 fans. So when a smaller crowd than expected showed up at Franklin Field on Saturday, he was unfazed.
"When we're on the field, I don't think we really notice how many people are here," he said.
But he does admit some disappointment at the lack of a football atmosphere at Penn.
"It is disappointing. Not even from this year to last, but that this school's not really a football school. Even when there are a lot of people here, you look up, and there are more empty seats than not."
