12-22-2025, 02:29 PM
That’s kind of a non-sequitor. If it were just the size of the metropolis near a team then Columbia should have the highest attendance in college football. Alas, there is very little evidence that having a nearby large city has any impact on attendance.
I’m going to twist the knife a little bit but this example is illustrative. Georgia Tech, sitting in Atlanta, a metro area with 6.3 million inhabitants, averaged 38,200 fans in 2024. The university of Georgia, sitting in a metro area with 215,000 people (1/30 the size of Atlanta) had an average attendance of 93,000, over twice that of Georgia Tech.
Being in a large metro area is neither necessary nor sufficient to engender high attendance. It might even be a barrier, since large metro areas have a host of competing cultural activities, not the least of which are professional sports teams.
BC
I’m going to twist the knife a little bit but this example is illustrative. Georgia Tech, sitting in Atlanta, a metro area with 6.3 million inhabitants, averaged 38,200 fans in 2024. The university of Georgia, sitting in a metro area with 215,000 people (1/30 the size of Atlanta) had an average attendance of 93,000, over twice that of Georgia Tech.
Being in a large metro area is neither necessary nor sufficient to engender high attendance. It might even be a barrier, since large metro areas have a host of competing cultural activities, not the least of which are professional sports teams.
BC