SEC Leads Nation in Football Attendance

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- For the 25th straight season, the Southeastern Conference recorded the largest total attendance figure of any conference in the country, according to figures compiled from NCAA statistics.

In 2005, a total of 5,593,699 fans attended 75 games hosted at SEC institutions, an average of 74,583 fans per game, which is also best in the nation. SEC stadiums were filled to 97.43 percent of capacity for each home game in 2005, which was also best in the nation. The SEC has led the nation in percentage of capacity since the statistic was first kept in 1983.

The Big Ten Conference was second in total and average attendance in 2005. A total of 5,007,067 fans attended 69 Big Ten home games, an average of 72,566 fans per contest. The Big Ten's percentage of capacity at 93.88 was third, behind the SEC and the Big 12 Conference. The Big 12's percentage of capacity was at 95.01 percent in 2005, with 4,204,574 fans attending 72 home games, an average of 58,397 fans per game.

No neutral site games were not counted in this survey. Below is a list of the top seven conferences in percentage of capacity as well as the numbers from the 12 SEC institutions this season:


CONFERENCES (By Percentage/Games Hosted at Conference Institutions Only)

Conference G Total Attendance Total Capacity Average Percentage
SEC 75 5,593,699 5,741,371 74,583 97.43
Big 12 72 4,204,574 4,425,186 58,397 95.01
Big Ten 69 5,007,067 5,333,226 72,566 93.88
ACC 72 3,762,511 4,150,596 52,257 90.65
Pac-10 60 3,448,759 4,063,411 57,479 84.87
Big East 46 1,812,406 2,170,505 39,400 83.50
Mountain West 48 1,693,216 2,154,584 35,275 78.59


SEC School G Total Attendance Total Capacity Average Percentage
Alabama 7 567,126 567,126 81,018 100.0
Arkansas 6 382,070 395,454 63,678 96.6
Auburn 7 589,124 612,157 84,160 96.2
Florida 6 542,435 531,288 90,406 102.1
Georgia 6 556,476 556,476 92,746 100.0
Kentucky 6 374,697 405,636 62,450 92.4
LSU 6 549,480 554,400 91,580 99.1
Ole Miss 6 325,348 363,480 54,225 89.5
Miss. State 6 286,127 330,492 47,687 86.6
South Carolina 7 559,071 561,750 79,867 99.5
Tennessee 6 645,558 624,474 107,593 103.4
Vanderbilt 6 216,187 238,638 36,031 90.6
TOTALS 75 5,593,699 5,741,371 74,583 97.43