Akron Soccer attendance is up 28% this year over last year


Over the past 2 seasons (13 home):
5 Home Games above 4,000 - 38%
3 Home Games between 3,500 & 3,999 - 23%
2 Home Games between 3,000 & 3,499 - 15%
2 Home Games between 2,500 & 2,999 - 15%
1 Home Games below 2,500 - 8%

Akron is 2nd in the nation for attendance:

Attendance last night was terrible when you look at the circumstances. Our biggest conference game, homecoming with many thousands of extra visitors on campus, perfect weather, and we can't break 4k.

there are people who don't like to stand the entire game. Until they build more seating, you're going to see a variance like this. Getting the casual fan to return to the games requires proper seating.

This is a good problem to have but requires immediate attention. I hope to see further stadium expansions next year.

Also remember that OSUcks had a football game at 8.

Statistically... you compare the first 5 games last year to the first 5 games this year ….or the average for ALL the games last year to ALL the games this year. Your analysis is flawed....but it probably does not make any difference. It does look like you are manipulating the data for your argument. FYI

Here is a question for you. Do you think that the Zips football team would play in front of 66% capacity if they were the defending national champions?? The Soccer team did just that last night.

I'm not making any argument here in this thread, just showing the numbers. Hard to see how they're manipulated when this is all we have to compare with. You have the first 5 home games this year vs first 5 last year, then you have overall. All the data is given so you can make your own statistics if this boggles your mind.

If you take only seating into account, Akron soccer is bringing in over 100% attendance for each game.

Akron football will never win more than 2 games in a season with Ianello as the coach so why play what if's? Akron Football averaged 16,132
the year after they won the MAC championship and went to the Motor City Bowl. That is only 49% of the Rubber Bowl capacity for that year.

BTW your question is flawed. You asked if Akron football would play in front of 66% capacity if they were the defending national champions. They would have to play in front of exactly 66% for the answer to be a yes. Whether they played in front of 80% or 50% wouldn't matter because exactly 66% is what you asked. It is easier to give a no answer given the odds of hitting exactly 66%.

LOL You spent 76 words to make that argument about 66%.

There were 13 home games (in Akron) last year. No argument in THIS TREAD?? How would one know?? You have been on this attendance crusade all season.

Please don't put a list of games up and lots of data, averages and year over year increases if you ARE NOT using it to prove your point. If you expect me to do the math...let me know.

*EDIT* you used a format that does not bring your all your data to the post input section (the games table...large font). If you included the first 5 games...I missed it and apologize for that part of my post. If you edited it...good job.

You already did......you added up the words of the last argument. LOL

Season attendance has grown, soccer is growing. What's not to like about these numbers?

I cheated...cut and pasted to MS Word ;-)

Nothing. I love it that soccer is doing so well. I have my Costa Rican friends in California following the Zips now because of Brenes.

But why use one Zip program as a basis to denigrate another??

If you look at the football attendance thread, I've shown that football attendance has increased 19% this year over last year. I don't see where I'm denigrating another program.

I made an argument in that thread, which was Akron Soccer program could outdraw Akron Football. It officially did for one football game being last year against Buffalo. Overall, I gave up on this argument because it can not be proven based on official attendance. If you look at the football attendance thread, there's speculation about how they come up with that number. Because of the speculation, it's hard to take that number as a serious measure to compare with Akron soccer. So if you want to continue thinking Akron football outdraws Akron soccer, I have no argument against that. But you have to at least respect that you would have a poor argument to say Akron soccer does not outdraw Akron football based on actual butts in seats.

I'm not here to argue with you, I grew up playing American football and it's still my #1 sport. I think what we have with our soccer program is special and make observations that are unique to Akron, like attendance.

I did not edit the original chart, sorry if it created confusion. There have only been 13 home games (8 last year and 5 this year) so far over the past 2 seasons if you don't count the playoffs, which I don't.

Although official football attendance is up 19%, it doesn't represent the actual situation our football team is in. Akron soccer attendance is up 28% and does represent their situation better.

holy cow did this get out of hand. you guys are fighting over numbers. theyre all there for you to see, draw your own conclusions about them, not attack someone else because they may have presented the data in the wrong way.

we're still drawing a larger crowd this year than we did last year, and thats fact.

I'm working on a big attendance report and wanted to show you the big variance at other schools. I don't see how anyone can complain about Akron's variance after look at this:

The NC stats are what I found on NC's site and I verified them by looking it up from the opposing team's site. Those are huge differences. One of the low games was on a Tuesday, so it's not because there was a football game going on at those times.

You know...this probably started because I misread the initial chart. But please look at what I wrote...I was not being critical. It was more for informational purposes. I am financial guy good with numbers. Initially I thought he was comparing 5 games this year with 8 last year. Statistically...it would not make a difference. My point was that if you compare 5 with 8, some may think that the numbers may be manipulated for maximum effect. I do not think it was...and in fact it was not because he did make the 5 to 5 comparison. I love Bobbyake's passion for the soccer program and wish I had not made the initial mistake. But...I do not think I was being critical of the interpretation or his posting it.

Again… Bobby I am sorry that I did not take the time to read carefully. This whole debate could/should have been avoided. The fault was all mine.

If you take only seating into account, Akron soccer is bringing in over 100% attendance for each game.

@bobbyake I'm not sure from where you are viewing the main grandstand but I can assure you they are not 100% occupied let alone over 100%. In just three rows in my section there were at least 15 no shows this past Saturday. This is not the only game with empty seats. The CSU and OSU games were the only ones without empty seats near me. Great attendance but not 100%.

If you took everyone that sat on the grass or stood during the game, those seats would be filled without a problem. BTW, I'm spending time on an attendance sheet for other schools as well, I've covered the top ranked schools and it appears Akron is 2nd in the nation for attendance. UCSB is 1st averaging 5,033, and Maryland is 3rd averaging 4,093. I'll post the numbers when I'm done.

Of course people in GA would fill out the grandstand. Are you suggesting that the people who purchased the reserved seats are choosing to stand the whole game or sit on the grass?? The reserved seats are sold out or nearly sold out and some are choosing to not show up. That's the bottom line. The attendance is still very good. The percentage of sold seats to actual attendance is great. Much better than football. Your passion is obvious. Soccer will not be outdrawing football in paid attendance this year or the foreseeable future no matter how much you would like for that to happen. I'm not trying to sway your opinion, it appears to be set in stone. Just trying to set the record straight.

I have sat/stood in the grass instead of the grandstad for games this year. It happens but this is a silly argument. Enjoy the crowd and the atmosphere. I wish it cold last forever.

I think the main problem I have with this thread is that Bobbyake did not sufficiently lay out just what his argument is! Perhaps I mssed another thread where it was stated (That soccer does or COULD outdraw Am. Football?). I think that's a possible future reality, considering the "progress" the FB team is making. It's also an argument that is SO politically incorrect, you are going to have rotten veggies thrown at you if you go near some people on the FB board!

I started a thread in the football forum for Akron Football attendance. I did mention there that Akron Soccer has outsold last year's Buffalo game and that it is possible Akron Soccer could outsell Akron Football. I honestly thought that we would see numbers similar to the Buffalo game last year but that hasn't been the case. In fact, Akron Football attendance is up 19% this year.

I updated the first page of this thread with a chart showing attendance figures for 63 schools. I made sure to include every school that cracked the top 50 last year, and added more just to make sure that when I say Akron is ranked 2nd in the nation, it's the truth. Enjoy the numbers.

@bobbyake, great work on the attendance numbers. I know from past experience it can take up a lot of time researching good numbers.

Gotta be careful with the "butts in seats" references, though, as there aren't nearly enough seats for all the butts at soccer games.

The only thing better than "standing room only" from an attendance point of view would be to have all seats and standing room filled and a big SOLD OUT sign at the gate. UA soccer is at least starting to approach that, which is great news for all Zips fans.

I'm not one of the people on here predicting major soccer attendance numbers, but I was even shocked that the NIU game attendance was so low, considering that the football crowd and tailgaters were on campus all day, the weather was perfect, and the homecoming alums were all over the campus. I think a lot of that has to do with the tradition most schools have of going to the football game as a homecoming activity. Soccer obviously was not on most of those people's minds. Maybe someday there'd be interest in a soccer homecoming. You never know.

I know Bobby just wishes for soccer to become something much bigger at Akron. As a Zips fan, I hope for the same. But, as I've said many times, the lofty attendance predictions of near 5k average get competely blown out of the water when you have just a couple of bad games. NIU failed to bring in the tired football homecoming crowd, and the Penn State game was a disaster with the temps being a little cooler and a little bit of water on the ground. I can only speculate what might happen on Saturday if it's wet again, and we're playing a virtually unknown school like Hartwick, and college football games are on TV. I guess the so-called "die hards" are waiting for playoff time to jump back on the bandwagon.

To be honest, i thought attendance last night was pretty good considering the weather conditions. It wasn't packed, to say the least, but it was still a respectable showing in cold, wet weather conditions.

Thought the Penn St attendance was disappointing - would have thought the sticker value of a big name school would have gotten people out

You think so? Just the "announced" crowd (2,500) wasn't even 1/2 the size of the biggest crowds this year, and it was against one of the biggest names on our schedule. And there were certainly quite a few no-shows, so the actual attendance was probably well under 2,000, which may have made it more like 1/4 or 1/3 the size of Ohio State or Cleveland State crowds. If people were paying attention to the forecast, they could see that the rain was ending. I was surprised and disappointed.

Just inserting a little perspective: Prior to 1980, the school record attendance was "well under 2000". I bet it didn't pass 2000 till after the 1986 Final-4 trip.

I'm well aware of that. I've been around here a long time. If you go back a couple of posts, you'll see that I am responding to those people who were predicting some very lofty attendance numbers this year. A 2,500 "announced" attendance against a big-name program should be pretty humbling, and a return to semi-reality for everyone.

updated the first page with this chart:

Attendance is up 13% over last year.
Not sure if we're still ranked 2nd in the nation, I'll update those numbers later.

It seems that chasing a National Championship is strong motivation. Your analysis would be improved if you added weather conditions for both years. I am wondering if weatehr played a bigger role this year over the last 2 games.

thats an interesting point as we all know that attendance lags when the weather is crappy...

HOWEVER.... we had a pretty large crowd during the playoff game against Cal last year...

But that was deep into the playoffs.

Despite what people may think...sports are entertainment and will always draw a significant amount of "casual" fans. Weather will keep many away but "casual" fans will want to see big games.

thats precisely my point. taking weather conditions at gametime will only show a part of the story as you have the added variable of "marquee" matchups and the playoffs. It would still be another good way to look at attendance, I was just pointing out a valid flaw in the data such considerations would produce.

Yea...there are lots of variables. But if you look at our attendance trend over the past years and some of the ACC schools...it appears that attendance declines when the weather gets cold and or rainy. Even big names draw less in late fall. I am not trying to throw water on the analysis...quite the opposite. Bobbyake spent lots of time (incredible actually) putting this together. I think some are disappointed that the attendance has dropped. I am trying to show that weather will play a big role...even in a National Championship year. We should be very proud of our attendance. My guess is that we do not take as big a hit as other big soccer programs at this time of year.

Weather was the cause for the Penn State game, but temperatures weren't too bad for Hartwick. The casual fans will eventually turn into hardcore fans, the biggest change in attendance seems to be coming from the student section. I believe adding additional seating would help. Does anyone know the exact number of seating available for FE/CC?

BTW, I overheard someone working the ticket stand say over 1,300 season tickers were sold. So at worst, Akron's attendance would be 1,300.

Agreed. Weather inevitably affects attendance regardless of the sport and our position in this region forces that hand. I too am happy to see our attendance is still up even with the weather getting colder and less "perfect"

From what I remember, the only bad weather last season was during the Cal game. For some reason, although bad weather was predicted for a number of games, it always cleared up or held off for the 3+ hours (warm ups through end of game) for our Men's Soccer team. I guess it was a sign of destiny. And, of course, weather probably didn't keep many away from the Elite 8 game vs. Cal.

Weather isn't the only variable. There are other variables including day of the week, whether or not classes are out and students are out of town on holiday, whether or not other major local or televised events are going on, etc., etc. Actually, you can drive yourself crazy trying to keep up with all the variables. I think bobbyake is doing a good job of tracking the basic stats without making himself go crazy trying to track all the variables.

Final Attendance figures for the regular season:

A 1.2% increase.

After all regular season games are performed, I'll update the rest of the NCAA so we can see how we compared.

BTW, Akron's attendance would rank 3rd in the NASL, 4th in the USL-Pro, and 2nd in the PDL.

It is critical in this type of analysis to identify both invalid and valid flaws.

comparing weather conditions would help determine your hardcore base vs casual, but I'm not interested in pulling the stats for that.

Akron moved down to the 3rd spot in regular season attendance average. I only updated the top 15 teams from my last pull which covers all teams up to Oct 7, so this top 15 list isn't official. But the odds of a team that was below the top 15 passing Akron with only a few games left are less than 1%. Also note that the teams that aren't highlighted still have a home game to play, which will all take place today.

Here's the top 20 for regular season attendance. I did not update schools beyond the top 20, which means some from 15-20 might not be in the top 20. I made the data public for anyone to update https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key...bE03UmZCWFBxRXc

Here's the top 20:

Attendance for other teams against Akron:

Cal St. Fullerton @Northridge 539
Cal St. Northridge 1097
St. Louis 4637
Tulsa 795
Western Michigan 1431
UC Santa Barbara 4340
Michigan 750
Buffalo 316
Florida Atlantic 453

Total 14358
Average 1595

Our attendance for every team except for UC Santa Barbara should be higher than their season averages. It will be interesting to see how many people SMU can get to the game.

I went ahead and put together the stats for the Lady Zips:

I found attendance figures posted on University of Nebraska Omaha's website. Not sure if these are official, the NCAA website does not have them posted yet.

NCAA Division I Home Attendance
1. UC Santa Barbara 4782
2. Maryland 3781
3. New Mexico 3749
4. Connecticut 3579
5. Akron 3300
6. Louisville 3023
7. Creighton 2909
8. Cal Poly 2140
9. Clemson 2111
10. Wake Forest 2007
11. Indiana 1928
12. Saint Louis 1885
13. North Carolina 1828
14. Charlotte 1542
15. Notre Dame 1447
16. Virginia 1444
17. USF 1405
18. St. John's 1371
19. South Carolina 1327
20. Michigan 1136
21. Nebraska Omaha 1130
22. Portland 1112
23. Furman 1096
24. West Virginia 1087
25. College of Charleston 1017