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Publish date: Apr 26, 2011

Men’s basketball attendance tops 32 million again

By Gary K. Johnson
NCAA.org

Men’s basketball attendance for all three NCAA divisions during the 2010-11 season equaled 32,820,701, the fifth-highest all-time.

NCAA Men's Basketball Attendance


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All Divisions

Attendance Year Teams Average
33,396,316 2008 1,017 2,393
33,111,020 2009 1017 2,365
32,835,863 2007 982 2,449
32,820,701 2010 1,033 2,302
32,631,817 2011 1,027 2,301
30,939,715 2006 984 2,351
30,760,510 2004 981 2,355
30,568,645 2005 983 2,327
30,124,304 2003 967 2,339
29,395,240 2002 936 2,373

Division I

Attendance Year Teams Average
28,135,901 2008 328 5,524
27,767,111 2009 330 5,378
27,705,912 2007 325 5,548
27,626,165 2011 335 5,237
27,539,459 2010 334 5,245
25,808,346 2006 326 5,426
25,548,468 2004 326 5,443
25,366,317 2005 326 5,334
25,001,678 2003 325 5,372
24,499,611 2002 321 5,287

Division I leaders

Team Games Attendance Average
Kentucky 15 354,046 23,603
Syracuse 19 423,924 22,312
Louisville 21 458,463 21,832
North Carolina 15 287,155 19,144
Tenneesee 18 341,130 18,952
BYU 14 261,989 18,714
Wisconsin 16 275,680 17,230
Memphis 19 318,601 16,768
Kansas 18 295,856 16,436
Illinois 16 253,623 15,851

Division II leaders

Team Games Attendance Average
Northern St. 15 45,234 3,016
Benedict 13 36,210 2,785
Dixie St. 9 24,611 2,735
Winston-Salem 11 28,253 2,568
Midwestern St. 14 35,459 2,533

Division III leaders

Team Games Attendance Average
Hope 14 39,451 2,818
Wooster 19 38,307 2,016
Calvin 13 23,301 1,792
Whitworth 15 22,047 1,470
Maryville (TN) 9 12,781 1,420

The record is 33,396,316 from the 2008 season.

Division I attendance in 2011 was fourth all-time at 27,626,165 and showed an increase of 86,706 fans from 2010. The record was set in 2008 at 28,135,901. Division II totaled 2,695,025 fans and Division III attracted 1,962,344.

Overall attendance for 2010-11 was down about one-half percent from the previous year.

Kentucky led the nation in home attendance average at 23,603 fans per game. It was the 15th time in the last 16 seasons and the sixth straight year that Wildcat fans led the way. Syracuse was second at 22,312. One of those two schools has led the nation in each of the past 35 seasons.

Louisville took advantage of 21 home games to lead the nation in total home attendance with 458,463 fans. Next was Syracuse (423,924 in 19 games), Kentucky (354,046 in 15), Tennessee (341,130 in 18), Memphis (318,601 in 19) and Ohio State (302,498 in 20).

For all-game attendance – including home, road and neutral site games – Kentucky was tops as 755,748 fans watched the Wildcats over 38 games. Twelve teams played in front more than a half million fans this season.

The Big Ten Conference led the nation for the 35th consecutive year in conference attendance. Its 11 teams totaled 2,475,440 fans and averaged 12,826 per game.

After the Big Ten, the Big East (11,323), Southeastern (11,187), Big 12 (10,716) and Atlantic Coast (10,266) rounded out the top five in conference attendance average per game.

The 16 teams of the Big East totaled 3,170,540 fans, the second most ever for a conference. The record is 3,259,992 by the Big East in 2007.

The top five conferences in average attendance were also the only leagues to total more than 2 million fans each. However, four of the 31 Division I conferences set a league best for total attendance. The four were the Mountain West (previous best was in 2003), West Coast (2010), Mid-Eastern (2003) and Northeast (2000).

Other attendance highlights from 2010-11:

Gary K. Johnson is NCAA associate director of statistics


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