The thick of the college football spring game activity is about to get going in the next few weeks, so these numbers will look much different in a short period of time. But for now, BYU reigns supreme in the world of spring football game attendance.
BYU reported an estimated turnout of 14,000 fans to its recent spring scrimmage. That is more than double what BYU saw for the 2014 spring game, which attracted a reported an estimated 6,500 fans. This also makes BYU the first school to break the 10,000-fan mark this spring, but they will not be the last. BYU more than doubled the turnout for Baylor’s rainy spring scrimmage (5,610) and Vanderbilt’s recent spring scrimmage (5,000). BYU also outdid a couple of other power conference programs; Colorado and Miami.
Here are the updated numbers from schools reporting a spring game attendance.
- BYU: 14,000
- Baylor: 5,610
- Vanderbilt: 5,000
- Colorado: 4,100
- Miami FL: 3,500
- USF: 3,200
- Fresno State: 1,500
- San Jose State: 500
San Diego State has not replied to a request for an attendance figure or estimate. Texas Tech did not track attendance after moving its scrimmage to another site due to stadium renovations. It is also important to remember these figures are all estimated totals. The odds each of these schools pulled in a total ending in a zero on the nearest hundred or thousand would be pretty unforgiving. We should also remind you each school handles its spring scrimmage differently, with some making more of a big deal of it than others. We will really see that come into play when we start getting totals from schools like Ohio State, Penn State, Alabama and Auburn in the coming weeks.
Navy and North Carolina did not hold a spring game. Duke and Air Force each held a closed scrimmage.
You can view the updated attendance records as they come in and are updated on this Google Doc, which will also break down the spring attendance by conference.