Attendance Matters:
Florida Classic leads again
LUT WILLIAMS
BCSP Editor
The 2004 Walt Disney World Florida Classic once again sits atop the list compiled by the BCSP of black college football games with the largest attendance (See, THE STAT CORNER).
This year's game on Nov. 20 at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, a 58-52 overtime thriller that saw Bethune-Cookman get its unprecedented third straight win over Sunshine State and MEAC rival Florida A&M, drew a capacity crowd of 71,153. It was the only black college game this season to top the 70,000 mark.
This marks the sixth straight year Florida Classic attendance has
topped 70,000 and the fourth straight year the storied rivalry has led all black
college games in attendance.
Since moving to Orlando from Tampa in 1997, which included moving the game from the Thanksgiving weekend to the weekend before Thanksgiving, the Florida Classic has experienced phenomenal success.
The game has moved past the former perennial attendance champ, the Bayou Classic pitting Grambling State and Southern at the New Orleans Super Dome on Thanksgiving weekend, topping the charts five of the last six years.
This year's Florida Classic tops a list of 32 black college games that drew over 20,000 fans, down from 35 games that drew that many a year ago. The 32 games this year averaged 35,286 while the 35 a year ago averaged 36,678.
There was also a little shake-up in this year's top five.
A crowd of 68,911 turned out to this year's Bayou Classic to witness Grambling turning the tables and pulling off a 24-13 upset of Southern.
Grambling had won just one of the last ten matchups between the SWAC and Louisiana rivals. The attendance number allowed the Bayou to move past the Atlanta Classic into second place. The Atlantic Classic finished second last year.
The Tennessee State vs. Florida A&M matchup at the Georgia Dome took third this year after drawing a hefty 67,712 to watch the Rattlers pull out a last-minute 21-15 win over the Blue Tigers.
Birmingham's Magic City Classic held on to fourth place drawing 65,312 fans to the Oct. 30 battle at Legion Field for Alabama State's 24-20 win over in-state SWAC rival Alabama A&M.
Moving into fifth place was the Al Lipscomb/State Fair Classic at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas that drew 61,642 fans to the Prairie View vs. Grambling matchup. Grambling won 53-32 this year. The game was in the eighth position a year ago with 42,622.
All of the top five games had attendance increases over 2003.
Dropping out of the top five, moving from fifth down to seventh, was the Circle City Classic at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis. This year's game pitted Tennessee State against South Carolina State and drew 51,082, more than last year's total of 47,598.
Finishing sixth this year was the Southern Heritage Classic (Tennessee State vs. Jackson State) which drew 55,015 to Memphis's Liberty Bowl.
There were seven games that drew over 50,000 fans this season, with a total of ten over 40,000. Another five topped the 30,000 mark.
Homecomings
The attendance at seven on-campus black college Homecoming
Games topped 20,000 in 2004, the same number as 2003 (See MORE
STAT CORNER). A total of 24 homecoming games drew over 10,000 fans. There were 21
such games in 2003.
At the top of the list this year was the Southern Jaguar Nation's homecoming on Oct. 30 vs. Texas College that drew 27,675. Tuskegee, which topped th e list last year with 29,467, finished fourth this year for its Oct. 23 game vs. Lane with 22,348.
Florida A&M, which was third last year with 26,514, moved into second place this year with 24,163 for its Oct. 23 date vs. Savannah State.
Tennessee State, fifth last year, moved up to third with the 23,421 that showed for its game Nov. 6 with Southeast Missouri.
North Carolina A&T, first in 2002 and second in 2003, finished fifth this season attracting 21,340 for the Oct. 9 date vs. Morgan State.
© 2004 Azeez Communications, Inc.