National Collegiate Athletic Association

The NCAA News - News and Features

June 15, 1998

Attendance Bounce...

Women's basketball attendance soars past seven million

BY RICHARD M. CAMPBELL
NCAA STATISTICS COORDINATOR

NCAA women's national home basketball attendance in 1997-98 reached an all-time high for the 17th consecutive year and in the process cruised past the seven million mark for the first time.

The total of 7,387,335 for all NCAA varsity teams, including selected double-header games with men, was a net increase of 653,194 (nearly 10 percent) over the 1996-97 total. The figures include all 911 NCAA institutions with varsity teams -- 300 of which are Division I members.

A new method of counting home double-header games with men was used for the second straight year as the women continued a record-breaking trend that stretches back to 1981-82, the first season of NCAA sponsorship and the first season for which the NCAA Statistics Service began tabulating women's attendance.

The new method used to determine women's double-header attendance is to count attendance by half time of the women's game as long as the institution has a way to single out women's attendance from men's. Before the 1996-97 season, double-header attendance was not counted at all for the women.

The total increase this year marked a 9.70 percent improvement. Attendance also increased at every level. Division I upped its total by 434,006 (up 9.60 percent) and raised its average per game to 1,334. The NCAA Division I tournament also set new marks for total attendance (285,428) and per-game average (6,796).

Division II home attendance was up 81,490 (7.66 percent), while Division III was up 53,174 (7.79 percent). The Divisions II and III tournaments also showed an increase in per-game attendance.

NCAA women's national attendance has almost quadrupled from just more than 1.9 million in its first year to nearly 7.4 million in 1998. Per-game attendance also has increased by almost 2 1/2 times from 281 to 692 this year.

Six for Big Ten

For the sixth consecutive year, the Big Ten Conference captured the Division I conference attendance title and set national records in both total and per-game attendance.

Led by Wisconsin (third), Purdue (sixth), Iowa (ninth), Penn State (11th) and Illinois (15th), the Big Ten set a total attendance mark of 604,356, averaging a record 4,139 spectators per game.

The Southeastern Conference was second in both total (551,425) and per-game (3,581) attendance, followed by the Big 12 Conference with 545,081 total and 3,428 per game. In all, 13 Division I leagues averaged more than 1,000 spectators at every home game and a record six conferences averaged more than 2,000 per game.

Eighteen of the 30 Division I conferences set total attendance records and 12 established new per-game marks.

Rocky toppers tops

Riding a wave of success in the 1990s, Tennessee's Lady Vols not only won a third consecutive national championship on the court this year, but coach Pat Summitt's troops also set new marks for both total (239,511) and per-game (14,969) attendance. The per-game standard broke the previous record -- set last year by Tennessee -- by 4,469.

Tennessee also set a single-game women's attendance record by drawing 24,597 to Knoxville's Thompson-Boling Arena for an 84-69 victory over Connecticut January 3.

Connecticut finished second in home attendance, averaging 10,744 and edging out Wisconsin, which drew 10,455 per game. Texas Tech was fourth at 7,946 and Southwest Missouri State was fifth at 7,751.

Forty-five Division I teams averaged more than 2,000 spectators per contest. In overall attendance (including home, road and neutral sites), Tennessee topped Division I teams with 386,713. With 14,969 per game in 1997-98, Tennessee's women's team would rank ahead of all but the top 10 men's teams.

In Division II, North Dakota State, averaging 2,438 per game, captured the attendance title for the seventh straight year. South Dakota State was second at 2,290, followed by Emporia State at 2,234, North Dakota at 2,052 and Augustana (South Dakota) at 1,768.

Defiance won the Division III attendance title for the third consecutive year, averaging 950 per game to edge New York University's 891. Wisconsin-Eau Claire (865), Southern Maine (792) and Hendrix (700) finished third, fourth and fifth, respectively.

Top teams

Division I Rank/Inst. Avg. Att.
1. Tennessee 14,969
2. Connecticut 10,744
3. Wisconsin 10,455
4. Texas Tech 7,946
5. Southwest Mo. St. 7,751
Division II Rank/Inst. Avg. Att.
1. North Dak. St. 2,438
2. South Dak. St. 2,290
3. Emporia St. 2,234
Division III Rank/Inst. Avg. Att.
1. Defiance 950
2. New York U. 891
3. Wis.-Eau Claire 865

1997-98 Women's Basketball Attendance

(NCAA teams only; home attendance includes double-headers with men in which separate attendance was taken by half time of the women's game)

Total Teams G or Sess. 1997-98 Net Attendance Avg. PG or Sess. Change @ In Total
Change @ In Avg.
Home Attendance, NCAA Division I *300 *3,716 *4,956,057 *1,334 Up 434,006 Up 79
NCAA Division I Tournament -- 42 *285,428 *6,796 Up 59,505 Up 1,417
Other Division I Neutral Sites -- *132 *140,557 1,065 Up 25,735 Up 21
NCAA DIVISION I TOTALS *300 *3,890 *5,382,042 *1,384 Up 519,246 Up 89
Home Attendance, NCAA Division II 248 *2,786 *1,145,436 411 Up 81,490 Dn 2
Home Attendance, NCAA Division III *363 *3,806 *735,787 193 Up 53,174 Dn 4
Neutral-Site Attendance, Divisions II & III -- 122 47,119 386 Up 10,007 Up 7
NCAA Division II Tournament -- 28 38,312 1,368 Up 1,242 Up 44
NCAA Division III Tournament -- 44 38,639 878 Dn 11,965 Up 6
NATIONAL TOTALS *911 *10,676 *7,387,335 692 Up 653,194 Up 17

*Record. Net attendance includes some double-headers with men if attendance is counted by half time of the women's game.

@The 1996-97 figures used for comparisons reflect 1997-98 changes in divisional lineups to provide parallel comparisons (i.e., 1997-98 lineups vs. same teams in 1996-97, whether members or not).

Note that neutral-site attendance for Divisions II and III does not include any tournaments.

1997-98 Women's Conferences

Division I

Total Teams G or Sess. 1997098 Attend. Avg. PG Or Sess. Changes in Total Changes in Avg.
Big Ten 11 *146 +604,356 +4,139 Up 59,577
Southeastern 12 154 *551,425 *3,581 Up 80,459
Big 12 12 159 *545,081 *3,428 Up 21,484
Big East 13 *171 *377,279 *2,206 Up 43,668
Pacific Ten 10 130 281,473 2,165 Dn 30,548
Missouri Valley 10 *126 *253,506 *2,012 Up 49,001
Atlantic Coast 9 *125 *248,006 1,984 Up 8,351
Sun Belt 8 105 146,983 1,400 Dn 5,239
Western Athletic 16 *219 *282,896 *1,292 Up 58,766
Colonial 9 *112 *130,459 *1,165 Up 18,919
Southwestern Athletic 8 *78 *89,023 *1,141 Up 38,747
America East 10 117 129,920 1,110 Dn 12,203
Big Sky 8 99 106,583 1,077 Dn 3,152
Atlantic 10 12 *155 *140,573 907 Up 12,196
Ohio Valley 10 110 95,085 864 Dn 901
Conference USA 12 153 114,784 750 Dn 3,737
Mid-American# 12 *149 *110,881 744 Dn 7,474
Big South# 7 86 *62,076 *722 Up 23,608
Big West 11 *137 96,045 701 Dn 5,081
Southland# 10 *126 81,677 648 Up 4,074
Mid-Eastern# 11 *127 *82,317 648 Up 20,501
Patriot 7 *76 *47,896 *630 Up 19,572
Mid-Continent# 9 102 *62,942 617 Up 10,878
West Coast 8 108 63,444 587 Dn 2,564
Midwestern Collegiate# 8 95 46,059 485 Up 5,425
Metro Atlantic# 10 *115 *48,861 *425 Up 11,603
Ivy Group 8 *97 *38,941 401 Up 425
Trans America# 11 *130 *50,371 *387 Up 8,449
Southern# 9 *105 37,628 358 Dn 289
Northeast# 9 104 29,487 284 Dn 1,907

*Record high for that conference. +Indicates national record. @All figures used in this report reflect 1997-98 changes in conference lineups, to provide valid comparisons (i.e., the 1997-98 lineup vs. same teams in 1996-97, whether or not members in 1996-97 or whether or not the conference existed in 1996-97); conference marked (#) had different lineups in 1997-98.

Division II

Total Teams G or Sess. 1997-98 Attend. Avg. PG Or Sess. Changes in Total Changes in Avg.
North Central 10 126 157,712 1,252 Up 14,383
Mid-America Intercollegiate 11 147 131,274 893 Up 39,339
South Atlantic# 8 87 46,210 531 Up 19,323
Rocky Mountain 14 161 82,231 511 Up 121
Southern Intercollegiate. 11 107 53,666 502 Dn 11,844
Lone Star# 13 141 66,997 475 Dn 5,722
Northern Sun 7 71 30,768 433 Up 8,512
Central Intercollegiate# 12 109 46,450 426 Up 4,336
Great Lakes Valley 12 151 63,115 418 Up 780
Pacific West# 5 68 27,374 403 Up 3,520
Gulf South# 15 170 67,663 398 Dn 10,138
Great Lakes Intercollegiate 13 159 63,129 397 Dn 2,921
Northern California Athletic# 8 107 35,510 332 Up 1,310
Peach Belt# 12 123 35,386 288 Dn 14,378
West Virginia# 14 129 35,901 278 Up 4,015
Pennsylvania State Athletic 14 159 45,212 284 Dn 2,818
California Collegiate 6 67 17,634 263 Up 509
Northeast-10# 11 113 29,420 260 Dn 2,030
Division II Independents# 14 143 33,902 237 Dn 5,114

@All figures used in this report reflect 1997-98 changes in conference lineups, to provide valid comparisons (i. e., the 1997-98 lineups vs. same teams in 1996-97, whether or not members in 1996-97 or whether or not the conference existed in 1996-97): conferences marked (#) had different lineups in 1997-98.

Division III

Total Teams G or Sess. 1997-98 Attend. Avg. PG Or Sess. Changes in Total Changes in Avg.
North Central 10 126 157,712 1,252 Up 14,383
Mid-America Intercollegiate 11 147 131,274 893 Up 39,339
South Atlantic# 8 87 46,210 531 Up 19,323
Rocky Mountain 14 161 82,231 511 Up 121
Southern Intercollegiate. 11 107 53,666 502 Dn 11,844
Lone Star# 13 141 66,997 475 Dn 5,722
Northern Sun 7 71 30,768 433 Up 8,512
Central Intercollegiate# 12 109 46,450 426 Up 4,336
Great Lakes Valley 12 151 63,115 418 Up 780
Pacific West# 5 68 27,374 403 Up 3,520
Gulf South# 15 170 67,663 398 Dn 10,138
Great Lakes Intercollegiate 13 159 63,129 397 Dn 2,921
Northern California Athletic# 8 107 35,510 332 Up 1,310
Peach Belt# 12 123 35,386 288 Dn 14,378
West Virginia# 14 129 35,901 278 Up 4,015
Pennsylvania State Athletic 14 159 45,212 284 Dn 2,818
California Collegiate 6 67 17,634 263 Up 509
Northeast-10# 11 113 29,420 260 Dn 2,030
Division II Independents# 14 143 33,902 237 Dn 5,114
@All figures used in this report reflect 1997-98 changes in conference lineups, to provide valid comparisons (i. e., the 1997-98 lineups vs. same teams in 1996-97, whether or not members in 1996-97 or whether or not the conference existed in 1996-97): conferences marked (#) had different lineups in 1997-98. **New conference.

1997-98 Attendance Team Leaders

Division I

Change (Min. 4 home games G/S Attend. Avg. Per/G in Avg.
1 Tennessee 16 239,511 14,969 Up 4,469
2 Connecticut 19 204,132 10,744 Up 270
3 Wisconsin 12 125,464 10,455 Up 1,919
4 Texas Tech 14 111,249 7,946 Up 70
5 Southwest Mo. St. 17 131,766 7,751 Up 971
6 Purdue 13 99,338 7,641 Up 312
7 Vanderbilt 12 83,724 6,977 Up 2,122
8 Texas 14 88,243 6,303 Dn 1,164
9 Iowa 13 69,679 5,360 Dn 35
10 Stanford 13 68,218 5,248 Dn 1,002
11 Penn St. 15 78,002 5,200 Dn 1,592
12 Arkansas 13 65,796 5,061 Up 1,209
13 New Mexico 17 85,172 5,010 Up 147
14 Maine 16 77,238 4,827 Up 198
15 Illinois 15 68,883 4,592 Up 569
16 Montana 14 61,633 4,402 Up 67
17 Oregon 11 45,858 4,169 Up 730
18 Old Dominion 14 58,284 4,163 Up 1,116
19 Louisiana Tech 18 71,254 3,959 Dn 124
20 Iowa St. 17 64,179 3,775 Up 2,087
21 Ohio St. 12 44,589 3,716 Dn 764
22 Baylor 15 54,849 3,657 Up 1,796
23 Washington 14 50,518 3,608 Dn 381
24 Nebraska 16 55,233 3,452 Up 71
25 Drake 12 39,649 3,304 Up 185
26 Virginia 13 42,547 3,273 Dn 317
27 Colorado 13 39,571 3,044 Dn 384
28 North Caro. St. 14 42,181 3,013 Up 801
29 North Caro. 17 46,448 2,732 Dn 532
30 Clemson 13 32,552 2,504 Dn 170
31 Michigan 11 27,385 2,490 Dn 106
32 Arizona 15 36,378 2,425 Up 745
33 Western Ky. 15 36,256 2,417 Dn 411
34 Michigan St. 11 26,568 2,415 Dn 780
35 Duke 15 35,359 2,357 Up 608
36 Kansas St. 13 30,578 2,352 Dn 511
37 Rutgers 16 37,592 2,350 Up 779
38 Tennessee Tech 14 32,582 2,327 Dn 148
39 Kansas 11 25,579 2,325 Dn 293
40 Colorado St. 13 29,668 2,282 Up 406
41 Georgia 11 24,436 2,221 Dn 1,147
42 Liberty 16 35,432 2,215 Up 1,285
43 Florida 16 34,814 2,176 Dn 69
44 Hawaii 18 38,201 2,122 Up 859
45 Missouri 11 23,096 2,100 Up 801
46 Stephen F. Austin 11 21,495 1,954 Dn 823
47 Memphis 12 23,045 1,920 Up 194
48 UCLA 14 26,860 1,919 Dn 361
49 Notre Dame 13 24,885 1,914 Up 167
50 Providence 12 22,761 1,897 Up 1,131
51 Arkansas St. 12 22,304 1,859 Dn 266
52 Minnesota 13 23,553 1,812 Up 514
53 Toledo 15 26,665 1,778 Dn 1,125
54 Alabama 12 20,313 1,693 Dn 39
55 Grambling 10 16,273 1,627 Up 76
56 Auburn 12 19,491 1,624 Up 37
57 Youngstown St. 13 20,886 1,607 Up 199
58 Oklahoma 12 18,692 1,558 Dn 451
59 Tenn.-Martin 11 17,101 1,555 Up 944
60 Mississippi Val. 10 15,523 1,552 Up 1,349
61 Oklahoma St. 14 21,579 1,541 Dn 503
62 Illinois St. 12 18,117 1,510 Dn 629
63 Utah 11 16,518 1,502 Up 85
64 Dayton 13 19,380 1,491 Up 141
65 Vermont 12 17,769 1,481 Up 127
66 Massachusetts 14 20,497 1,464 Up 91
67 Indiana 16 23,184 1,449 Up 373
68 UC Santa Barb. 12 17,227 1,436 Dn 827
69 Kentucky 11 15,728 1,430 Up 748
70 Georgia Tech 15 21,198 1,413 Dn 7
71 Boise St. 13 17,761 1,366 Dn 94
72 Texas A&M 9 12,233 1,359 Dn 193
73 James Madison 13 17,625 1,356 Dn 138
74 Jackson St. 12 15,985 1,332 Up 832
75 LSU 14 18,601 1,329 Dn 755
76 Louisville 13 16,793 1,292 Dn 3
77 Virginia Tech 13 16,581 1,275 Up 511
78 South Caro. 11 13,966 1,270 Up 838
79 Duquesne 13 15,661 1,205 Up 136
80 Texas Christian 16 19,237 1,202 Up 232
81 Marquette 13 15,586 1,199 Up 124
82 Wichita St. 13 15,405 1,185 Up 577
83 Northwestern 15 17,711 1,181 Dn 292
84 Holy Cross 14 16,410 1,172 Up 504
85 Maryland 13 14,873 1,144 Dn 404

All games (home, road, neutral)
1 Tennessee 386,713
2 Connecticut 290,776
3 Purdue 208,056
4 Wisconsin 189,462
5 Southwest Mo. St. 168,295
6 Louisiana Tech 163,675
7 Old Dominion 158,305
8 Texas Tech 157,663
9 Penn St. 156,910
10 Illinois 156,401

Division II

Change G/S Attend Avg. Per/G in Avg.
1 North Dak. St. 16 39,007 2,438
2 South Dak. St. 13 29,767 2,290
3 Emporia St. 17 37,984 2,234
4 North Dak. 5 10,260 2,052
5 Augustana (S. D.) 13 22,979 1,768
6 Neb.-Kearney 11 18,922 1,720
7 Southern Ind. 15 21,450 1,430
8 Washburn 13 16,745 1,288
9 St. Cloud St. 12 13,924 1,160
10 Mesa St. 15 16,408 1,094
11 Presbyterian 10 10,889 1,089
12 Pittsburg St. 15 16,306 1,087
13 Morningside 13 14,101 1,085
14 Harding 13 14,099 1,085
15 Arkansas Tech 11 11,785 1,071

Division III
Change G/S Attend. Avg. Per/G in Avg.
1 Defiance 7 6,650 950 Dn 290
2 New York U. 11 9,798 891 Dn 96
3 Wis.-Eau Claire 12 10,385 865 Up 29
4 Southern Me. 9 7,126 792 Up 438
5 Hendrix 9 6,300 700 No Change
6 Mississippi Col. 14 9,600 686 Up 173
7 Bridgewater (Va.) 11 7,411 674 Up 314
8 Capital 13 8,411 647 Dn 216
9 Binghamton 8 4,957 620 Up 210
10 St. Thomas (Minn.) 15 9,100 607 Up 161
11 Wis.-Stout 10 5,510 551 Up 157
12 Central (Iowa) 10 5,500 550 Dn 225
13 Millikin 11 5,884 535 Up 22
14 Beloit 10 5,266 527 Up 252
15 Williams 12 6,096 508 No Change

[Less than 4 home games: Maryville (Tenn.), 3 games, 2,045 for 682.]