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In response to some hand-wringing and complaining about attendance at Saturday's (11/27/21) UC-Davis at SDSU playoff game, I am listing below the attendance figures for each of the 1st round games, ranked in order from greatest to lowest attendance. The attendance numbers were obtained from the 'official' box score on one of the team's athletics' website. Visiting teams are listed first and winning teams are noted by bold and italics.
UT-Martin at Missouri State 5,072
Sacred Heart at Holy Cross 4,163
Florida A&M at Southeast Louisiana 4,125
Northern Iowa at Eastern Washington 3,845
UC-Davis at SDSU 3,681
Southern Illinois at USD 3,597
Stephen F Austin at Incarnate Word 3,448
Davidson at Kennesaw State 2,764
The average of the eight games was 3,837. Do the teams deserve huge crowds? Certainly. But, the lack of a huge crowd does not mean support is lacking -- it's just tuned in to WNAX or ESPN+. The adults (?) in my group watching from Rapid City were yelling loudly even though it was doubtful we could be heard in Brookings.
Having a game on the Saturday following Thanksgiving, parlicularly when many people haven't been spending much time with family in the past 18 months due to COVID 19 concerns (AND considering the games were viewable on TV or ESPN+), depresses attendance. But one has to acknowledge home playoff game attendance in non-COVID years wasn't any stronger.
I doubt it is possible to determine the number of radio listeners and on-line viewers of Saturday's UC-Davis game at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium but I'd bet the number was substantial.
UT-Martin at Missouri State 5,072
Sacred Heart at Holy Cross 4,163
Florida A&M at Southeast Louisiana 4,125
Northern Iowa at Eastern Washington 3,845
UC-Davis at SDSU 3,681
Southern Illinois at USD 3,597
Stephen F Austin at Incarnate Word 3,448
Davidson at Kennesaw State 2,764
The average of the eight games was 3,837. Do the teams deserve huge crowds? Certainly. But, the lack of a huge crowd does not mean support is lacking -- it's just tuned in to WNAX or ESPN+. The adults (?) in my group watching from Rapid City were yelling loudly even though it was doubtful we could be heard in Brookings.
Having a game on the Saturday following Thanksgiving, parlicularly when many people haven't been spending much time with family in the past 18 months due to COVID 19 concerns (AND considering the games were viewable on TV or ESPN+), depresses attendance. But one has to acknowledge home playoff game attendance in non-COVID years wasn't any stronger.
I doubt it is possible to determine the number of radio listeners and on-line viewers of Saturday's UC-Davis game at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium but I'd bet the number was substantial.
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