FBS Attendance

An institution classified in Football Bowl Subdivision shall meet all the Division I membership

requirements set forth in NCAA Division I Bylaws 20.9.1 through 20.9.5 and in addition, shall:

1. Sponsor a minimum of 16 varsity intercollegiate sports, including football, based on the

minimum sports sponsorship and scheduling requirements set forth in Bylaw 20.

Sponsorship shall include a minimum six sports involving all male teams or mixed teams

(males and females), and a minimum of eight varsity intercollegiate teams involving all

female teams. Institutions may use up to two emerging sports to satisfy the required eight

varsity intercollegiate sports involving all female teams. [Bylaw 20.9.7.1]

2. Schedule and play at least 60 percent of its football contests against members of Football

Bowl Subdivision. Institutions shall schedule and play at least five regular season home

contests against Football Bowl Subdivision opponents. [Bylaw 20.9.7.2]

3. Average at least 15,000 in actual or paid attendance for all home football contests over a

rolling two-year period. [Bylaw 20.9.7.3]

4. Provide an average of at least 90 percent of the permissible maximum number of overall

football grants-in-aid per year over a rolling two-year period. [Bylaw 20.9.7.4-(a)]

5. Annually offer a minimum of 200 athletics grants-in-aid or expend at least four million

dollars on grants-in-aid to student-athletes in athletics programs. [Bylaw 20.9.7.4-(b)]

This means that the home game attendance at any given FBS school from any two consecutive years should average at least 15,000 fans. Six MAC programs, two WAC programs, and two Sun Belt programs have failed to meet the home attendance requirement over the past two seasons.

School	2009	2010	Average
San Jose State	14,474	15,344	14,909
Buffalo	12,981	15,960	14,471
Western Kentucky	14,577	14,103	14,340
Akron	10,185	17,382	13,784
Bowling Green	13,306	14,044	13,675
Miami (OH)	15,519	11,810	13,665
Florida International	16,545	10,204	13,375
Idaho	12,730	12,546	12,638
Eastern Michigan	15,885	5,016	10,451
Ball State	8,947	10,888	9,918

Over the 2009-2010 rolling period, ten teams failed to meet the attendance requirement. Over the 2008-2009 rolling period, six teams failed to meet the attendance requirement. The economy is definitely not getting better. Interestingly, five schools--Bowling Green, Miami (OH), Florida International, Idaho, and Eastern Michigan--have failed to meet NCAA bylaw 20.9.7.3 over the 2008-2009 rolling period and the 2009-2010 rolling period. Miami (OH) and Florida International both won bowl games this past season and should draw a bit better next year.

Should more FCS teams be allowed to move up into the Football Bowl Subdivision when 1/12 of the existing teams in the FBS cannot even meet the FBS attendance requirement? It appears the NCAA does not enforce this rule, which makes some sense: demoting schools would cause even more conference chaos and it is demoralizing for an FBS program to be demoted to the Football Championship Division. But still, rules are rules, and it's seen as favoritism when some rules are strictly enforced by NCAA and others are ignored.

Reference