Attendance matters

Over 1.2 million devoted fans attended the top 35 black college football games in the 2003 season.

The annual Black College Sports Page listing of the top attended games unveiled this week shows that 35 games topped the 20,000 mark in attendance this year, up from 27 a year ago. Those top 35 games drew 1,283,736 fans, an average of 36,736 per game.

The top 27 games a year ago drew a total of 932,746 fans, an average of 35,546 fans per game.

Orlando's Florida Classic pitting in-state rivals Bethune-Cookman and Florida A&M topped the list for the fourth straight year, drawing 73,358 for this year's exciting 39-35 B-CC win.

Florida A&M was also involved in the second best-attended game, the Atlanta Classic, which also topped the 70,000-mark drawing 70,185 to the Sept. 20 game at the Georgia Dome.

The Bayou Classic in New Orleans between Louisiana rivals Grambling State and Southern finished second for the third year in a row. A crowd of 70,151 packed the Superdome to watch another thriller as Southern knocked off the G-Men 44-41 en route to winning the SWAC and black college championships.

The in-state rival theme continued as the fourth largest crowd (63,117) witnessed the Magic City Classic battle between Alabama A&M and Alabama State, won by A&M, 20-17.

The newest entrant into the top ten was the inaugural Detroit Classic played at the new Ford Field that drew 54,941 to the Florida A&M vs. Alabama State matchup won by 'Bama State, 38-22.

Classic Attendance

As they say, black college Classic games are the bomb.

A look at 2003 NCAA attendance statistics released on Dec. 20, shows that the top 19 neutral-site games are of the black college Classic variety. The numbers are a testament to the fact that no one else on the Div. I-AA level can draw the numbers and fill the major venues like black college Classic games.

The only I-AA schools to make the neutral-site list are The Citadel with a game in Charlotte, N.C., and Maine, with a date in Portland, Me.

By School

Florida A&M, who is moving from NCAA Div. I-AA to Div. I football, is listed as the top black college in I-AA football attendance this year. The Rattlers averaged 21,343 fans for their three home games this season to finish behind Yale (23,578 avg.) and Montana (22,469 avg.) in the national statistics.

Southern, which drew an average of 19,732 fans for its six home games finished just behind FAMU in fourth place.

Two other black colleges finished in the top ten; perennial leader Jackson State was sixth at 18,196 for its five home games and North Carolina A&T eighth at 16,066 for four dates. Four other black colleges finished in the top 20, Texas Southern (13), Norfolk State (15), Tennessee State (17) and Grambling State (20).

I-AA ATTENDANCE LEADERS

		Total Attend.	Avg Attend.	Games
1	Yale	117,891	23,578	5
2	Montana	179,754	22,469	8
3	Florida A&M	63,968	21,343	3
4	Southern	118,391	19,732	6
5	Delaware	188,947	18,895	10
6	Jackson State	90,979	18,196	5
7	Citadel	83,794	15,759	5
8	N. C. A&T	64,262	16,066	4
13	Texas Southern	82,065	13,681	6
15	Norfolk State	67,302	13,460	5
17	Tennessee State	63,493	12,699	5
20	Grambling State	47,949	11,987	4
21	South Carolina St.	35,880	11,960	3
23	Alcorn State	57,194	11,439	5
24	Alabama A&M	55,694	11,139	5
27	Alabama State	44,155	11,039	4
37	Bethune-Cookman	47,664	9,533	5

At Homcomings

The attendance at eight black college homecoming games topped the 20,000 mark this year led by the 29,467 that attended the Nov. 8 Tuskegee game.

North Carolina A&T, which topped the list a year ago, had the second largest homecoming crowd this year with 26,685 for its game vs. Howard.

© 2003 Azeez Communications, Inc.

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