The ten biggest stadiums in FCS

[GAD]

A look at the largest stadiums in FCS

https://youtu.be/fwVGdqAjJIQ

[wapiti]

A look at the largest stadiums in FCS

https://youtu.be/fwVGdqAjJIQ

This is what I learned from this video.
Large capacity stadium does not equal to having a good team.
I would be curious what the total number of playoff games and playoff wins the teams in this list has. It can't be very many.

[Go Lehigh TU owl]

This is what I learned from this video.
Large capacity stadium does not equal to having a good team.
I would be curious what the total number of playoff games and playoff wins the teams in this list has. It can't be very many.

Lots of National Titles though...

[DFW HOYA]

This is what I learned from this video.
Large capacity stadium does not equal to having a good team.
I would be curious what the total number of playoff games and playoff wins the teams in this list has. It can't be very many.

Nine of the ten schools do not participate in the playoffs. The tenth (Tenn St.) rents the Titans' stadium.

Playoff wins is one measure of success if you just joined the subdivision. Other schools have been playing college football since before some playoff schools were even founded.

[POD Knows]

This is what I learned from this video.
Large capacity stadium does not equal to having a good team.
I would be curious what the total number of playoff games and playoff wins the teams in this list has. It can't be very many.Average 2019 attendance at the schools on the video:

Florida A&M 16K
Alabama State 17K
Princeton - must be bad, couldn't find the number
Southern 17K
Norfolk State 11K
Harvard 11K
Penn 8K with a 52 THOUSAND seat stadium
Jackson State 33K
Yale 12K
Tennessee State 9K

It must be pretty depressing at most of these places on game day.

[wapiti]

Lots of National Titles though...

Celebration bowl title does not count as a national title.

How many Div 1 football national titles in the past 20 years from these 10 schools?

[POD Knows]

Celebration bowl title does not count as a national title.

How many Div 1 football national titles in the past 20 years from these 10 schools?Zero and you can probably count playoff appearances on one hand for the entire group considering how many of these schools are not even part of the national title "process". But they have big stadiums, at least a few of them draw decent crowds but outside of Jackson State, there are a lot of empty seats at all of these places.

Some of those old stadiums are pretty cool though. Be tough to demo them.

[FUBeAR]

Average 2019 attendance at the schools on the video:

Yale 12K
2,861 hearty souls at the 1 game FUBeAR attended in the Yale (Mud) Bowl (& Sand Pit)

Actually, had a Yale fan, who was 10 rows behind me...on the 2nd Tier (I was on the 1st Tier)...yell at me to sit down because he couldn’t see the game. C’mon man...there are 66,000 empty seats in this relic. Feel free to move.

Yep - pretty depressing. Glad I went. No desire to go back. It was cool, but once is enough.

[POD Knows]

2,861 hearty souls at the 1 game FUBeAR attended in the Yale (Mud) Bowl (& Sand Pit)

Actually, had a Yale fan, who was 10 rows behind me...on the 2nd Tier (I was on the 1st Tier)...yell at me to sit down because he couldn’t see the game. C’mon man...there are 66,000 empty seats in this relic. Feel free to move.

Yep - pretty depressing. Glad I went. No desire to go back. It was cool, but once is enough.Yea, I bet asses in the seats is a lot less than the numbers I posted.

[Mocs123]

Yeah lots of history there, but not much recent history - like in the last 40+ years.

We have a 20K seat stadium and have 10K average attendance and it looks empty - I couldn't imagine 8K in a 52K stadium or 9K in an NFL stadium.

[GAD]

Tenn. st numbers are probably from Hale stadium (10,000k) not Nissan

[EKU05]

Tenn. st numbers are probably from Hale stadium (10,000k) not Nissan

It probably includes both, but you're correct inasmuch as Nissan is no longer their primary home stadium. Also, even when it was the entire stadium wasn't open. They typically only used the lower level which helped atmosphere at least a little.

[DFW HOYA]

For some reason, Franklin Field looks more desolate with 10,000 than the Yale Bowl does.

When it was (close to) full, however, it must have been great.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=147&v=bhU5ouhdhXs&feature=youtu.be

And this one wasn't bad, either: the last sellout at the Yale Bowl: 72,000.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDJgZsoH-6k

[UAalum72]

Average 2019 attendance at the schools on the video:

Florida A&M 16K
Alabama State 17K
Princeton - must be bad, couldn't find the number
Southern 17K
Norfolk State 11K
Harvard 11K
Penn 8K with a 52 THOUSAND seat stadium
Jackson State 33K
Yale 12K
Tennessee State 9K

It must be pretty depressing at most of these places on game day.
Princeton averaged 7,225 in 2019, highs of 10,625 vs Butler and 9,078 vs Harvard

[KPSUL]

Georgia State played in the Georgia Dome during their brief period in the CAA - it looked like a 2020 Covid19 crowd.

[Go Lehigh TU owl]

Franklin Field was Temple's early season homefield off and on from the late 70's until the Linc opened in 2003. Once the Phillies season wrapped up the Owls would move over to Veterans Stadium which was 10x worse than than Franklin Field for a college football game. Especially, when you stink and the only reason to go is to see the other team play!

Franklin Field might not have played host to any FCS playoff games in the last 40 years but a historically great 1-A team competed there. Temple hosted #1 and defending national champion Miami there 9/14/02. The game was only 24-14 at half!...Before Miami pulled away for a still respectable 44-21 win. The Owls were actually a fairly competitive 4-8 (2-5) in 2002. Miami was a very questionable PI call away from being perhaps a notch above '95 Nebraska. Talent wise, they were absolutely stacked.

Here's my student ticket stubs from the two Temple games I attended that year (I went to more Lehigh games). Oregon State was pretty solid that season, 8-5. Dennis Erickson, former U coach, was still in Corvallis.
https://scontent.fagc1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-0/p526x296/134568789_3967937323238669_600554275526320890_o.jp g?_nc_cat=107&ccb=2&_nc_sid=8bfeb9&_nc_ohc=rjABBFWCEd8AX_WunyW&_nc_ht=scontent.fagc1-2.fna&tp=6&oh=7a296491182c6ddfbb8454e2b4254352&oe=601115D7


https://youtu.be/7blkxyDqdI0

[OhioHen]

For some reason, Franklin Field looks more desolate with 10,000 than the Yale Bowl does.

When it was (close to) full, however, it must have been great.



It IS great when it's full - for the Penn Relays. Even on the least interesting day of the meet, the stands are filled close to capacity. If you have a preferred location to watch the racing, get there early and make sure at least one person in your group stays in the seats at all times - GA seating and folks flock to any open spots near the finish line or at the other end of the straightaway.

[Anthony215]

If they renovated Franklin Field and reduced capacity down from 52k to say 25k I suspect they'd be able to improve game day atmosphere quite well. Also having better OOC games would help too especially the years where Harvard and Princeton aren't on the home schedule. Bringing a Villanova, James Madison, ND State or even an HBCU like FAMU/Grambling would do wonders for game day attendance. Nova travels very well when they play Temple at the Linc.

[Go Lehigh TU owl]

If they renovated Franklin Field and reduced capacity down from 52k to say 25k I suspect they'd be able to improve game day atmosphere quite well. Also having better OOC games would help too especially the years where Harvard and Princeton aren't on the home schedule. Bringing a Villanova, James Madison, ND State or even an HBCU like FAMU/Grambling would do wonders for game day attendance. Nova travels very well when they play Temple at the Linc.

I would never want to see a serious reduction in seating or configuration. FF was the first stadium to feature a double deck and scoreboard in the USA. I don't see how you can significantly reduce capacity without completely destroying the architectural integrity of the stadium. It's had at least 30k seats since 1895.

I'm actually surprised FF is not registered as a Historical Place like the Yale Bowl. I'd hate to see a Soldier Field type renovation to FF. At that point just tear it down an be done with it....

[Go Lehigh TU owl]

JFK Stadium in Philly, capacity 102,000. It's final act was an epic Grateful Dead show on July 7th 1989 after it was condemned by the city of Philadelphia a few days prior.

Villanova lost 6-0 to Oregon State in the 1962 Liberty Bowl at JFK. The Liberty Bowl was founded by former Villanova athletic director Bud Dudley in 1959. Not sure if another current FCS'er played at JFK?

*I'm also pretty sure this was the largest stadium east of the Mississippi during its entire existence 1926-1992. It depends how people look at early Soldier Field configurations?

https://external-preview.redd.it/SeelGWMkSctk4pYLEzN5rSYJ7FdF2HBDVvXgpBGtuec.jpg?wi dth=1024&height=536.12565445&auto=webp&a698a35dhttps://external-preview.redd.it/SeelGWMkSctk4pYLEzN5rSYJ7FdF2HBDVvXgpBGtuec.jpg?wi dth=1024&height=536.12565445&auto=webp&a698a35dhttps://i.redditmedia.com/SeelGWMkSctk4pYLEzN5rSYJ7FdF2HBDVvXgpBGtuec.jpg?w= 320&

[caribbeanhen]

Franklin Field was Temple's early season homefield off and on from the late 70's until the Linc opened in 2003. Once the Phillies season wrapped up the Owls would move over to Veterans Stadium which was 10x worse than than Franklin Field for a college football game. Especially, when you stink and the only reason to go is to see the other team play!

Franklin Field might not have played host to any FCS playoff games in the last 40 years but a historically great 1-A team competed there. Temple hosted #1 and defending national champion Miami there 9/14/02. The game was only 24-14 at half!...Before Miami pulled away for a still respectable 44-21 win. The Owls were actually a fairly competitive 4-8 (2-5) in 2002. Miami was a very questionable PI call away from being perhaps a notch above '95 Nebraska. Talent wise, they were absolutely stacked.

Here's my student ticket stubs from the two Temple games I attended that year (I went to more Lehigh games). Oregon State was pretty solid that season, 8-5. Dennis Erickson, former U coach, was still in Corvallis.
https://scontent.fagc1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-0/p526x296/134568789_3967937323238669_600554275526320890_o.jp g?_nc_cat=107&ccb=2&_nc_sid=8bfeb9&_nc_ohc=rjABBFWCEd8AX_WunyW&_nc_ht=scontent.fagc1-2.fna&tp=6&oh=7a296491182c6ddfbb8454e2b4254352&oe=601115D7


https://youtu.be/7blkxyDqdI0

I saw Delaware beat Temple at The Vet in late September of 1980, Not sure what was going on at Franklin field but I sure would’ve liked to have seen that game there like you said .... by the way, a current FCS head coach had a 60 yard pick 6 in that game .. I had a great view from the upper deck

[GAD]

FAMU vs Southern 2019

https://youtu.be/WS9tK4zqIrI

[GAD]

Jackson State vs Southern...as our drum major heads out to start the halftime show they pan the crowd

https://youtu.be/me5KwvtZF40

[bulldog10jw]

Yeah lots of history there, but not much recent history - like in the last 40+ years.

We have a 20K seat stadium and have 10K average attendance and it looks empty - I couldn't imagine 8K in a 52K stadium or 9K in an NFL stadium.

Just watch this years NFL games and you won't have to imagine it.

[bulldog10jw]

2,861 hearty souls at the 1 game FUBeAR attended in the Yale (Mud) Bowl (& Sand Pit)

Actually, had a Yale fan, who was 10 rows behind me...on the 2nd Tier (I was on the 1st Tier)...yell at me to sit down because he couldn’t see the game. C’mon man...there are 66,000 empty seats in this relic. Feel free to move.

Yep - pretty depressing. Glad I went. No desire to go back. It was cool, but once is enough.

So you're not going in 2022 to see the new turf? ;)

[FUBeAR]

So you're not going in 2022 to see the new turf? ;)nah...I’m sure it will be better (couldn’t really be worse) and I enjoyed the trip, but doubtful we’d make a return visit. Hated to not go to Mercer @ Army this year and would certainly (try to) make the trip up if Mercer were @ Harvard or @ Army again, but in the spirit of Hank Williams Jr....I like to go to venues where I’ve never been...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bAV_KuLN9M

[GAD]

Average 2019 attendance at the schools on the video:

Florida A&M 16K
Alabama State 17K
Princeton - must be bad, couldn't find the number
Southern 17K
Norfolk State 11K
Harvard 11K
Penn 8K with a 52 THOUSAND seat stadium
Jackson State 33K
Yale 12K
Tennessee State 9K

It must be pretty depressing at most of these places on game day.

Furman
Northern Iowa
Colgate
Richmond
Villanova
Eastern Washington
Sam Houston State
Towson
Illinois State
Youngstown State
The teams I listed above have won in the playoffs over the last 20 years, and have played in the national championship game could you post there attendance average from the 2019 season?

[JacksFan40]

On the plus side these teams don’t have to worry about social distancing whenever they play again.

[POD Knows]

Furman
Northern Iowa
Colgate
Richmond
Villanova
Eastern Washington
Sam Houston State
Towson
Illinois State
Youngstown State
The teams I listed above have won in the playoffs over the last 20 years, and have played in the national championship game could you post there attendance average from the 2019 season?OH, I bet it is worse, but I was just posting the numbers as a reference to the large brick and mortar facilities. Below is a list of the top 30, some of those places you referenced didn't even hit the report for 2019:

http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/Attendance/2019.pdf

https://i.imgur.com/MBA6asw.jpg

[ST_Lawson]

On the plus side these teams don’t have to worry about social distancing whenever they play again.

The benefits of being a Western Illinois fan. Our average attendance the last two seasons hasn't gone over 20% of the stadium's listed capacity, so if that's what we're limited to...shouldn't be a problem.

[NY Crusader 2010]

JFK Stadium in Philly would've hosted many an Army-Navy game over the years. By the looks of the pitch of that stadium, last row is probably close to 100yd away from the sideline.

[unknown3]

You had to know that any topic where hbcu's were a majority would be turned into something negative on this forum.

[POD Knows]

You had to know that any topic where hbcu's were a majority would be turned into something negative on this forum.What the bloody **** are you even talking about??

[caribbeanhen]

2,861 hearty souls at the 1 game FUBeAR attended in the Yale (Mud) Bowl (& Sand Pit)

Actually, had a Yale fan, who was 10 rows behind me...on the 2nd Tier (I was on the 1st Tier)...yell at me to sit down because he couldn’t see the game. C’mon man...there are 66,000 empty seats in this relic. Feel free to move.

Yep - pretty depressing. Glad I went. No desire to go back. It was cool, but once is enough.

I was at the Yale Bowl On a beautiful September afternoon in 2019 for the Cornell game, I’m not sure where the announced attendance was but I would bet it was around 2,500

[DFW HOYA]

It's a supply and demand question.

Unless you're the school that hates empty seats or can't afford deferred maintenance, there's very little downside to a large stadium.

The Yale Bowl endures for the Harvard-Yale Game. A 12,000 seat stadium would work for nine out of ten home games but the majesty of the H-Y game (at the same stadium that hosted it in the 1910's) is worth the emptiness for Brown or Columbia.

The other choice is to go small. Richmond moved from 21,000 seat City Stadium to 8,217 seat Robins Stadium. In the event that UR suddenly had a surge of interest, they won't be able to handle the crowd and that's revenue lost.

[Professor]

What the bloody **** are you even talking about??

What he is referring to is that just because it was HBCUs in the majority of the top 10 , the sly comments started instead of talking about what this thread was about

[POD Knows]

What he is referring to is that just because it was HBCUs in the majority of the top 10 , the sly comments started instead of talking about what this thread was about
Oh, OK, I was getting the sense that the Ivy's were getting most of the **** here given their attendance numbers. Yea, the barbs were being directed at the teams/stadiums on the list but all of the "top 10" here were getting a little trash talk, reference to national titles, etc. Also, the HBCU's didn't have a majority of these, they had 5 of the biggest stadiums, which is half but I digress.

[katss07]

Most of these stadiums are hot garbage

[ASU33]

What he is referring to is that just because it was HBCUs in the majority of the top 10 , the sly comments started instead of talking about what this thread was about

Unfortunately that's par for the course on here!

[JacksFan40]

The benefits of being a Western Illinois fan. Our average attendance the last two seasons hasn't gone over 20% of the stadium's listed capacity, so if that's what we're limited to...shouldn't be a problem.
Don’t worry, SDSU doesn’t seem to have a problem with available seating at the end of the season or during playoffs.

[JacksFan40]

Oh, OK, I was getting the sense that the Ivy's were getting most of the **** here given their attendance numbers. Yea, the barbs were being directed at the teams/stadiums on the list but all of the "top 10" here were getting a little trash talk, reference to national titles, etc. Also, the HBCU's didn't have a majority of these, they had 5 of the biggest stadiums, which is half but I digress.
Don’t diss on the Ivy’s and their national titles from when five total teams were playing.

[POD Knows]

Unfortunately that's par for the course on here!You know what else if par for the course on here, your butthurt over the smallest slight. Got a little bit of a victim mentality going on dude, the Ivy's folks didn't care that they were getting **** on during this thread. Man up. xthumbsupx

[ASU33]

You know what else if par for the course on here, your butthurt over the smallest slight. Got a little bit of a victim mentality going on dude, the Ivy's folks didn't care that they were getting **** on during this thread. Man up. xthumbsupx

No I call isht out for what it is!

[POD Knows]

No I call isht out for what it is!So does somebody with paranoid delusions, it doesn't mean they are correct.

[ASU33]

So does somebody with paranoid delusions, it doesn't mean they are correct.

You are the King of paranoid delusions! You're probably wearing a helmet and camouflage vest as we speak. Clown!

[POD Knows]

You are the King of paranoid delusions! You're probably wearing a helmet and camouflage vest as we speak. Clown!Victim. You in your safe space combing through the web looking for things that might be offensive. Filtering all this stuff, all this nuance, reading between all these lines looking for the slight, the insult, obsessed, fixated, until you spot the tiniest hint of something and then BOOM, you strike, with all the self righteous indignation that you can muster at the moment. You have it down to an art. A master.

Oops, I said master, now I did it.

[ASU33]

Victim. You in your safe space combing through the web looking for things that might be offensive. Filtering all this stuff, all this nuance, reading between all these lines looking for the slight, the insult, obsessed, fixated, until you spot the tiniest hint of something and then BOOM, you strike, with all the self righteous indignation that you can muster at the moment. You have it down to an art. A master.

Oops, I said master, now I did it.

K

[Panther88]

You are the King of paranoid delusions! You're probably wearing a helmet and camouflage vest as we speak. Clown!

*rubbing chin*

lmao! xlolx

[Go Lehigh TU owl]

Don’t diss on the Ivy’s and their national titles from when five total teams were playing.

I thought that's what people were poking at. I didn't see anything distasteful said anywhere else. This thread deserves a better fate.

Alabama State definitely has one of the best stadiums in FCS. Otherwise, most of those stadiums all need some level of refurbishment. The Yale Bowl has gotten better but is far from refined. Penn has kept Franklin Field overall in very good shape but everything remains dated and old. It could easily be modernized without changing its appearance.

[Sonic98]

This whole debate is funny. Mostly empty stadiums? Yale's size is a little excessive, and of course we know TnSU probably shouldn't be playing in an NFL stadium. But the 3 SWAC schools have a few games a year where most of the capacity is warranted. And I might be wrong, but I for think SU and ASU their capacity is due to expansion or a new stadium being built within the last decade. I've been to Southern games. It usually doesn't feel empty, and the game day experience at all 3 schools is just fine. And we don't know what joining joining the SWAC and other changes going on for them will do for FAMU. I somewhat question the numbers for other schools. I find it it hard to believe a stadium in the 20,000 range could be at least half full and feel empty. Are they counting ticket buyers who didn't hit the turnstiles? Even outside of FCS, when you look at non-power 5 FBS you're going to see many games with not a lot of people on the visiting side. Are their stadiums too big too? How did this turn into a conversation about playoff wins. I would guess a few of these schools have more people at one of their regular games than many playoff games. Not that it's a fair comparison. So, then we complain about how sold some of the stadiums are or how they look. They all look fine to me. I kind of like Yale and Harvard's stadium. And to be perfectly honest from a strictly football standpoint, I really don't care much for the design of a lot of the newer stadiums. Some seem pretty mad someone else is playing in a big stadium

[Mocs123]

A lot of the SWAC may be the some of the few FCS teams that play in large stadiums that are not too big. A lot of other FCS (and G5) schools have stadiums that are just too big.

It is my understanding that tickets sold, and not butts in the seats is the measure used by most schools. Some schools have people tailgating that never enter the stadium (which is crazy to me) or tickets sold and people don't show up.

[Sonic98]

Want to show someone this video, but I guess YouTube removed it.

[Franks Tanks]

Harvard Stadium, the Yale Bowl and Franklin Field are pretty much historical landmarks.

The dimensions of the modern football field were standardized based on Harvard Stadium.

Franklin Field was the first double decked stadium. Jim Thorpe played there. Vince Lombardi roamed the sideline. Pretty neat.

[Friday I'm in Love]

Want to show someone this video, but I guess YouTube removed it.

They remove virtually anything now. Many times I follow a college sports-themed content creator, the video/channel is removed before long.

[semobison]

Harvard Stadium, the Yale Bowl and Franklin Field are pretty much historical landmarks.

The dimensions of the modern football field were standardized based on Harvard Stadium.

Franklin Field was the first double decked stadium. Jim Thorpe played there. Vince Lombardi roamed the sideline. Pretty neat.

Franklin Field, also home of the prestigious Penn Relays. The list of athletes who have competed their are T&F Royalty!

[melloware13]

Georgia State played in the Georgia Dome during their brief period in the CAA - it looked like a 2020 Covid19 crowd.
But 2020 didn't have the money drops