College football average attendance drops

Average attendance in major college football has hit its lowest level in over a decade.

With schools around the country dealing with issues like student apathy or top notch TV coverage of nearly all games, attendance fell by over 1,000 fans per contest to 44,603, a 2.3 percent decrease according to an ESPN report.

The Ivy League, which is not included in this average due to its Football Championship Series status (formerly known as I-AA), also saw a decrease in average attendance at games, going from 9393 to 9040 fans per game. That marks a 3.8 percent decrease.

However, Ivy attendance was actually higher than it was two years earlier, when, in 2012, Ivy attendance fell to 8421 fans per contest. 

Part of the reason for the lower numbers in 2012 and 2014 compared to 2013 is due to the Harvard-Yale game being played at Harvard during those seasons. The last two times the game was played at Yale (2011 and 2013), the average attendance was over 52,000 but the last two times it was played at Harvard (2012 and 2014), attendance was just over 31,000. 

Only three of the eight Ivy schools (Columbia, Princeton and Yale) were up in average attendance in 2014 compared to 2010. Harvard, Brown and Penn each saw the largest decreases in that span, with the Quakers having the largest fall, losing over 3,000 fans per game. 

For the ESPN report on major college football, click here. 

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