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Is It Time to Sack the FBS Home Game Attendance Requirements?
Executive Summary
FBS programs must average 15,000 in home game “actual or paid” attendance on a rolling two-year basis
Home football game attendance was identified as an important marker to reflect college football at its “highest competitive level”
The increased value of conference media rights deals driven by football game inventory for tv networks far out-shadows the gravitas that home-game attendance signifies
The membership requirement tied to home football game attendance has become increasingly flexible to meet
Many waivers— including in the late 1970s and early 1980s— of the football attendance requirement were granted to FBS (known then as “Division I-A”) schools
Since 2016, FBS football attendance has been on a continuous decline leading up to the pandemic as well as last season— the first post-pandemic season with full attendance capacities.
Four FBS conferences’ football home game attendance in 2021 was the lowest ever for their respective leagues while four other FBS conferences’ 2021 football home game attendance was lowest in eight or more years
The attendance variability within the FBS also reflects a wide-range of attendance averages across the 11 FBS leagues
Current student attendance at football games continues to decline across FBS campuses
There is operational burden embedded in this rule as schools must satisfy how it goes about calculating actual or paid attendance and must provide an annual attendance report to the NCAA national office
In the era of transformation and modernization, the exercise of calculating home football averages may be losing its value in the current landscape
A full red-line of this bylaw from the NCAA manual may be worth the membership’s consideration
One of the membership requirements for being an FBS member in good standing is meeting the minimum attendance requirements for football outlined in Bylaw 20. The rule states: “Once every two years on a rolling basis, the institution shall average at least 15,000 in actual or paid attendance for all home football games.”
In the early years of this provision when the late 1970's recession was at full speed and new wave music and MTV were on the horizon, the NCAA was granting waivers at the institutional and conference level around the new Division I FBS (or “Division I-A” as it was previously dubbed) football attendance rule as schools had a variety of scheduling and football stadium dynamics that didn’t completely align with the membership requirement.
Historically, the premise for this and other football-specific criteria at the FBS level was to reflect that each Division I FBS football program was at the highest competitive level. It’s been said in more recent years that the minimum threshold is recognized as being “relatively easy to both achieve and maintain status…” as a member of FBS and that the membership requirements should establish an attendance standard consistent with the expectations for participation at the top of collegiate football.
There have been efforts to amend the attendance requirement in a variety of ways over the years—some proposals not gaining enough support for adoption while others getting adopted that tweak how tickets get counted.
In 2005, a proposal was adopted to soften the football attendance criteria even further. Leading up to 2005, the attendance rule required annually an average of 15,000 in actual attendance for all home games. With the proposal adopted in 2005, the rule was diluted down to averaging 15,000 in actual or paid attendance on a two-year rolling basis.
Interestingly, the NCAA manual has multiple provisions underneath the core attendance requirement spelling out what counts as “actual” and what counts as “paid” attendance.
At one juncture, Division I considered a provision where the conference as a whole could be assessed on home-game attendance for its members instead of an institution-by-institution assessment. That proposed provision was not adopted.
The pliable provisions that spell out how an FBS school can satisfy either the actual or paid attendance standards is a virtual legislative Candyland of options to meet the criteria including how discounted and student tickets can be computed in.
The NCAA rules state that for purposes of computing actual attendance figures, an individual may be counted if any one of the following conditions applies:
(a) Attendees are issued tickets that are collected on admission to the game and retained;
(b) Attendees enter through and are counted by a turnstile that is monitored by a representative of the department of athletics who verifies in writing the accuracy of the count on a per-game basis; or
(c) Attendees enter through a gate at which a representative of the department of athletics counts them individually with a manual counter, and the representative provides a written statement verifying the accuracy of the count on a per-game basis.
For purposes of computing paid attendance figures, tickets must be sold for at least one-third of the highest regular established ticket price as established prior to the season, regardless of whether they are used for admission.
Tickets sold at less than one-third of the highest regular established price may be counted as paid attendance only if they are used for admission.
Student attendance may be counted as paid attendance if the student pays at least one-third of the highest regular established ticket price or, if the student actually attends the game and any one of the following conditions applies:
(a) The student paid an athletics fee;
(b) The student paid an institutional fee of which a certain portion was allocated to the department of intercollegiate athletics; or
(c) The student paid no athletics fee, but the institution allocated to the department of intercollegiate athletics a certain portion of tuition income or general operating funds as the equivalent of a student athletics fee.
Student attendance must be verified through one of the following methods:
(a) Such students are issued tickets that are collected on admission to the game and retained;
(b) Such students enter through and are counted by a turnstile (which is not used by others in attendance) that is monitored by a representative of the department of athletics who verifies in writing the accuracy of the count on a per-game basis; or
(c) Such students enter through a gate (that is not used by others in attendance) at which a representative of the department of athletics counts them individually with a manual counter, and the representative provides a written statement verifying the accuracy of the count on a per-game basis.
Student-athletes and cheerleaders scheduled by the institution to be at the game and students performing services at the stadium (e.g., concessionaires, ticket takers, parking-lot attendants, ushers, grounds keepers) shall not be counted toward meeting the attendance requirements.
For an institution to meet the FBS attendance requirements, tickets for a football contest obtained by an institution through an exchange agreement or a purchase agreement with another institution may be used only if sold for at least one-third of the highest regular established ticket price and are used to attend the game.
The consequences for not meeting a football-specific criterion begin with a “notice of noncompliance” for a first strike. Then a school could move in to a 10-year restricted membership status and lose out on post-season bowl eligibility.
Specifically, NCAA rules hold that an institution that fails to satisfy any of the FBS membership requirements shall receive notice of such noncompliance. After receiving notice, any further noncompliance with the FBS requirements within a 10-year period shall cause the institution to be placed in restricted membership.
While in restricted membership, the institution shall not be eligible for postseason football competition.
As CBS Sports reported last year, success does not always bring out the fans. In conference championship seasons, Michigan, Cincinnati and Baylor all lost attendance. ACC attendance overall is down almost a quarter (23.5%) since an all-time high in in 2004 (55,735 per game). During that time, the league grew its footprint in realignment and averaged more than one New Year's Six bowl per year while Clemson became a national power.
The national attendance dip remains both real and ongoing. Administrators have long been concerned about retaining students. If students don't go to games, they have less of an emotional attachment when it comes to giving back to their alma mater in their peak earning years.
"Look at the 25-40 age range," outgoing Big12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby told CBS Sports. "They're more inclined to give their donation dollars to someplace other than athletics. They aren't quite inclined to commit to six Saturdays in the fall."
As the strength of FBS football seems to be marked more by media rights agreements, recruiting rankings, and appearances in News Year 6 bowl games or the College Football Playoff, whether an FBS team averages 12,000 fans or 72,000 fans seems to be of less consequence. The multitude of options— including watching multiple games from the comfort of home— are also eroding the attendance picture nationally.
“I've even caught myself sometimes during a season [where] I don't want to go to a game because I like to watch three or four games that are on television," said Todd Berry, executive director of the American Football Coaches Association.
Although digital ticketing has made the monitoring and calculating of football attendance easier in some respects, the overarching value of football game attendance as a reflection of the highest level of college football and asking FBS members to report their numbers annually may seem outdated and an administrative burden just the same.
Athletics Veritas is presented for information purposes only and should not be considered advice or counsel on NCAA compliance matters. For guidance on NCAA rules and processes, always consult your university’s athletics compliance office, conference office, and/or the NCAA.
