ACC Attendance - Season to date

[UPitt '89]

National Rank to left, home games played in parentheses:

14. Clemson (6) - 81,780
19. Florida State (6) - 74,354
29. Virginia Tech (5) - 59,862
33. NC State (4) - 57,267
39. Pittsburgh (4) - 51,664
43. Georgia Tech (6) - 49,991
44. North Carolina (7) - 49,643
47. Louisville (6) - 49,069
49. Miami (5) - 46,802
57. Virginia (5) - 42,808
67. Syracuse (6) - 32,400
73. Boston College (7) - 30,205
78. Wake Forest (5) - 26,722
80. Duke (6) - 26,427

Granted, Pitt benefits from having over 68,000 at the Notre Dame game, but still.... at worst, we're a middle-of-the-pack team in the ACC.

And as someone who has been to every game, this is pretty accurate this year. Heinz holds 70,000 now. The first 3 games were all between 40k and 47k... and that was an accurate representation of the "butts in seats" around midway through the first half. And the 68k number for UND was definitely accurate too.

 

[JD1976]

So in Penn State math that's 82,000 fans per game?

 

[Pghfan]

I expect 47k - 49k on Saturday. Miami is gonna hurt with students home from break

 

[pmadigan]

I never realized that Sun Life Stadium had a capacity of 250,000. Any Miami game that I saw on TV was less than 1/4 full.

 

[CaptainSidneyReilly]

"UPitt '89, post: 526088, member: 942"]National Rank to left, home games played in parentheses:

14. Clemson (6) - 81,780
19. Florida State (6) - 74,354
29. Virginia Tech (5) - 59,862
33. NC State (4) - 57,267
39. Pittsburgh (4) - 51,664
43. Georgia Tech (6) - 49,991
44. North Carolina (7) - 49,643
47. Louisville (6) - 49,069
49. Miami (5) - 46,802
57. Virginia (5) - 42,808
67. Syracuse (6) - 32,400
73. Boston College (7) - 30,205
78. Wake Forest (5) - 26,722
80. Duke (6) - 26,427

Granted, Pitt benefits from having over 68,000 at the Notre Dame game, but still.... at worst, we're a middle-of-the-pack team in the ACC.

And as someone who has been to every game, this is pretty accurate this year. Heinz holds 70,000 now. The first 3 games were all between 40k and 47k... and that was an accurate representation of the "butts in seats" around midway through the first half. And the 68k number for UND was definitely accurate too.
Thanks UPitt'89, for the time to provide the Info and compare Pitt to the ACC Teams & Programs. Pitt can do better by adding WVU and Penn state every year, and demand from the ACC that BC & Pitt get preferred playing the Irish since it has been a Historical Series (Pitt 5th Most ND Opponent just behind Navy, USC, Purdue, MSU) and the sellout that is good for the ACC too?

 

[pittdan77]

It's not even as close to bad as we make it sometimes. It can be better but given the last thirty years, there's still a lot of support for the program.

 

[Pghfan]

It's not even as close to bad as we make it sometimes. It can be better but given the last thirty years, there's still a lot of support for the program.

I watched the USC - UNC game this year, first game of season. Was at the NFL - panthers stadium.. A ton of blue seats open in the lower bowl.. Surprised actually, first game of season between two good programs.. If this was at Heinz, it would look terrible..

Ok, just google imaged it, maybe not a ton but look at the upper bowl, you cant tell me that is any better than a pitt game...

 

[HailtoPitt]

One good thing about Heinz being too big is that the one game per season Pitt can come close to filling it helps push up the average attendance numbers.

 

[Pghfan]

One good thing about Heinz being too big is that the one game per season Pitt can come close to filling it helps push up the average attendance numbers.

I think that is tad bit cynical viewpoint. As much as I hate Heinz, it does give the chance for the 65k plus games of FSU, PSU, ND, WVu's of the world. Problem is, it looks like crap against the D1-AA scrimmages.. The more I watch college football games and see their attendance numbers, the more I think this is a trend across the board and not specific to pitt. More people went to Wednesday night Pirate games at Three rivers stadium in the late 90's than to a Duke football game..

I am starting to re-think my anti-tarping views

 

[razzaba]

I watched the USC - UNC game this year, first game of season. Was at the NFL - panthers stadium.. A ton of blue seats open in the lower bowl.. Surprised actually, first game of season between two good programs.. If this was at Heinz, it would look terrible..

Ok, just google imaged it, maybe not a ton but look at the upper bowl, you cant tell me that is any better than a pitt game...

That would be like Pitt hosting a game at Penn State, distance wise. Charlotte is 2 ½ hours from UNC's campus in Chapel Hill... It was also a Thursday night game.

 

[HailtoPitt]

I am starting to re-think my anti-tarping views

Glad you are starting to see the light. The tarps don't have to be ugly plain things either. We could have Pitt legends and the Pitt logo on them.

Of course, the stadium landlords probably won't allow it. They see it as Pitt getting a Direct TV dish installed and don't want them drilling some extra holes into the property.

 

[CaptainSidneyReilly]

It will be interesting to see how much the ACC attendance went up since adding ND to ACC 5 to 6 games this year again compared to when they did not do it years before without ND?

This is why ND would benefit the ACC in Football, and can bring in another Program that will increase it too, and put the ACC nearer to SEC & B1G in Fan Attendance.

Texas and WVU would add to Attendance with ND almost a millions more a year easily!

 

[pittdan77]

I'll be honest, what's worth more (dollar wise) to a school like Pitt? 100,000 butts in a stadium or a big TV audience?

 

[bwh05]

without question we should be tarping off sections to reduce capacity for all games but the big ones. There may be some time in the future where we need 70k seats from YSU, Virginia, or UNC but we certainly won't anytime soon. If we do, take em off and sell the seats.

 

[MarySki]

Glad you are starting to see the light. The tarps don't have to be ugly plain things either. We could have Pitt legends and the Pitt logo on them.

Of course, the stadium landlords probably won't allow it. They see it as Pitt getting a Direct TV dish installed and don't want them drilling some extra holes into the property.

Will have to ask the Sports and Exhibition
Authority what can be done since both are tenants.

 

[HailtoPitt]

Will have to ask the Sports and Exhibition
Authority what can be done since both are tenants.

In reality, it will be up to the Steelers.

 

[pitt-girl]

I watched the USC - UNC game this year, first game of season. Was at the NFL - panthers stadium.. A ton of blue seats open in the lower bowl.. Surprised actually, first game of season between two good programs.. If this was at Heinz, it would look terrible..

Ok, just google imaged it, maybe not a ton but look at the upper bowl, you cant tell me that is any better than a pitt game...

But remember that game was in Charlotte.

 

[PSU_Nut]

Will have to ask the Sports and Exhibition
Authority what can be done since both are tenants.

The Steeler's greement with the SEA give them full control of all operations in the stadium. So therefore it up the Steelers. The only tie that SEA has with Pitt is the ticket surcharge. They get 5% of ticket sales up to an average of $2.25 per ticket. The Rooney's stadium corporation PSSI retain full control of any and all use of the stadium. Pitt doesn't have any lease agreement with SEA.

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

That would be like Pitt hosting a game at Penn State, distance wise. Charlotte is 2 ½ hours from UNC's campus in Chapel Hill... It was also a Thursday night game.

Not really. It would be like WVU playing tOSU in Heinz. Charlotte's southern suburbs are towns located in South Carolina.

 

[OriginalEther]

without question we should be tarping off sections to reduce capacity for all games but the big ones. There may be some time in the future where we need 70k seats from YSU, Virginia, or UNC but we certainly won't anytime soon. If we do, take em off and sell the seats.

If you're going tarp, tarp ALL games.

 

[raleighpanther]

A couple of comments:
1) The teams with the 4th, 5th, and 6th best attendance marks this year in the ACC are all urban schools playing in off-campus stadiums.
2) I still can't believe that the USC/UNC game wasn't sold out. Sure, it was away from both campuses, so few students would attend, but Charlotte is a big city that sits on the border between the two states. Each state only needed to half fill the place with their fans for the stadium to be full, and this was should have been a rivalry game between the two Carolina schools across conferences, both of which are the major state schools of their respective states, with fans drawn from throughout the states.
3) College attendance is generally down across the country, with this trend having started a few years ago.

 

[colingrant2]

Shouldn't slight Pitt's average because of a marquee match-up (Notre Dame) that helped spike the average. Each school has one good marquee game, sometimes two. Some better than others, but's that relative. Listed below are marquee home games that each school could claim as an "average enhancer".

Not making any definitive claims here, but it should be noted that marquee games are relative to the school itself, its culture, history and geographic region.

In other words, Pitt's enhanced average from the Notre Dame game is on par with other schools who benefited from a high attended game due to unique rivalry circumstances. Case in point, FSU hosting Miami is a big game, regardless of Miami's program status and record.

Clemson hosted Notre Dame
Florida State hosted Miami (Big game for them)
Virginia Tech hosted Ohio State
NC State hosted Clemson
Georgia Tech hosted Florida State
North Carolina hosted Duke
Louisville hosted Clemson
Miami hosted Nebraska & Clemson
Syracuse hosted LSU & Clemson
Boston College hosted Florida State
Wake Forest hosted Florida State
Duke hosted Miami-FL

 

[Spindler]

I attended the Pitt at Va Tech game and the place was half empty. They couldn't have had more than 40K. I know it is only one game but the locals were saying attendance to date had been down due to desire to get rid of Beamer. No way Va tech has been averaging 59K plus.

 

[WNYPanther]

I attended the Pitt at Va Tech game and the place was half empty. They couldn't have had more than 40K. I know it is only one game but the locals were saying attendance to date had been down due to desire to get rid of Beamer. No way Va tech has been averaging 59K plus.

Wasn't there heavy rains and flood warnings for the area in the days leading up to that game? They've had an announced attendance of over 60K for every home game (69K for Ohio St) but Pitt (49K).

 

[Spindler]

Wasn't there heavy rains and flood warnings for the area in the days leading up to that game? They've had an announced attendance of over 60K for every home game (69K for Ohio St) but Pitt (49K).

They played 2 home games prior to that Pitt game which translate to 3 games of what 6 or 7 home game schedule, locals said attendance and interest in Va Tech football was down.

 

[UPitt '89]

They played 2 home games prior to that Pitt game which translate to 3 games of what 6 or 7 home game schedule, locals said attendance and interest in Va Tech football was down.

I'm sure their home game against Ohio State did for their attendance what a home game against the Irish did for ours.

 

[Spindler]

UPitt,
Good point about Ohio St.

 

[mattohhh]

That would be like Pitt hosting a game at Penn State, distance wise. Charlotte is 2 ½ hours from UNC's campus in Chapel Hill... It was also a Thursday night game.

Calling it a night game is pushing it... the game started at 5 PM on a Thursday that is going to be tough for most people to make