Florida A&M Rattlers #3 in Nation in FCS Football Attendence

TALLAHASSEE, Florida  -- RattlerNation fans are proving they are committed to supporting the home team -- even during bad times.  FAMU retained the #3 position in FCS home attendance for 2017 with an attendance mark of 19,048, as reported by the NCAA.  The Rattlers attendance dropped 662 fans (3 percent) from the 2016 season as FAMU ended the year at 3-8 overall.

In 2016, the #3 ranked attendance leader had an average of 19,710 in 25,000 seat Bragg Memorial Stadium on FAMU campus.  The Rattlers finished with a 4-7 record.

2017 National FCS Football Champions North Dakota State Bison finished at #7 with home attendance at 18,333.  

The undefeated 2017 HBCU and MEAC Champions North Carolina A&T State Aggies finished the season in the #10 spot at 15,697.  2017 FCS National Championship Runner-up James Madison Dukes clocked in at #2.

The average attendance at FCS games dropped by less than 2 percent this past season, although the number of overall fans rose slightly to over 5.5 million because there were more games than in 2016.

The NCAA's release of its annual attendance report on Thursday reflected the average FCS crowd size was 8,223, down 134 per game from 8,357 in the 2016 season. The 670 games, based on home and neutral-site attendance plus the FCS championship game, drew 5,509,277 fans (neutral-site games between FBS and FCS teams are included for FBS attendance figures, not the FCS). A year earlier, 5,473,956 fans attended 655 FCS games.

The 23-game playoffs, included in the statistics, drew 222,424 fans, an increase of over 10 percent from 2016. 

The Florida A&M University/Bethune-Cookman University owned Florida Classic drew 47,819 at Orlando's Camping World Stadium on Nov. 18, 2017. The Rattlers and Wildcats record for this neutral site annual rivalry is 73,358.  Since the game inception in 1973, over 1.8 million fans have attended this annual FCS battle for Florida supremacy. 

Montana remains the heavyweight in FCS attendance even as it's missed the playoffs in back-to-back years for the first time since 1991-92. The Grizzlies led the subdivision for the third straight season and the sixth time in the last decade while averaging 23,535 over six home games at Washington-Grizzly Stadium. However, that was a 7.3 percent drop from the school's 2016 average of 25,377.

James Madison was the FCS leader in regular-season attendance average (24,841) at Bridgeforth Stadium, but three playoff games dropped the Dukes to No. 2 overall at 21,724.

Rounding out the top 10 in average attendance were Florida A&M (19,048, four games), Yale (18,940, five), Montana State (18,617, six), Jacksonville State (18,388, sixth), national champion North Dakota State (18,333, nine), Prairie View A&M (17,803, five), Delaware (16,648, six) and North Carolina A&T (15,697, five).

Half of the schools in the attendance top 20 were HBCUs -- historically black colleges and universities. That helped the Southwestern Athletic Conference to average an FCS-high 13,694 fans per game, with the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference ranking fifth out of 13 conferences at 9,450.

HOME ATTENDANCE LEADERS
No. School Games Attendance Average

1. Montana 6 141,212 23,535
2. James Madison 9 195,514 21,724
3. Florida A&M 4 76,190 19,048
4. Yale 5 94,699 18,940
5. Montana St. 6 111,702 18,617
6. Jacksonville St. 6 110,328 18,388
7. North Dakota St. 9 164,996 18,333
8. Prairie View A&M 5 89,016 17,803
9. Delaware 6 99,890 16,648t
10. North Carolina A&T 5 78,486 15,697
11. Grambling State 4 59,699 14,925
12. Alabama State 6 87,689 14,615
13. Southern U. 4 57,261 14,315
14. Youngstown St. 6 85,220 14,203
15. Alcorn State 6 83,078 13,846
16. Jackson State 5 68,780 13,756
17. Tennessee State 4 48,320 12,080
18. South Dakota St. 8 95,951 11,994
19. South Carolina State 5 59,414 11,883
20. Illinois St. 5 57,200 11,440
21. SFA 5 56,881 11,376
22. New Hampshire 6 66,141 11,024
23. Western Caro. 5 52,735 10,547
24. Mercer 5 52,725 10,545
25. Abilene Christian 5 52,204 10,441
26. North Dakota 5 52,139 10,428
27. Harvard 5 52,055 10,411
28. Eastern Wash. 5 50,617 10,123
29. McNeese 5 49,695 9,939
30. UNI 6 58,175 9,696

Prairie View A&M University football led the Southwestern Athletic Conference and ranked eighth in attendance nationally in the Football College Subdivision (FCS).

In 2017, the Panthers averaged 17,803 for five home dates, including the State Fair Classic in which Prairie View A&M was the home team last season. The NCAA counts neutral site attendance in matchups of FCS vs. FCS teams.