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NCAA attendance data: Turnstile takeaways from the 2016-17 season

By Russell Steinberg

STORRS, CONNECTICUT- FEBRUARY 13: UConn students and fans supporting their team during the UConn Huskies Vs South Carolina Gamecocks NCAA Women's Basketball game at Gampel Pavilion, on February 13th, 2017 in Storrs, Connecticut. (Photo by Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images)
STORRS, CONNECTICUT- FEBRUARY 13: UConn students and fans supporting their team during the UConn Huskies Vs South Carolina Gamecocks NCAA Women's Basketball game at Gampel Pavilion, on February 13th, 2017 in Storrs, Connecticut. (Photo by Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images) /
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Division I women’s basketball posted a record-high in fan attendance in 2016-17, according to annual attendance data from the NCAA.

It was the second consecutive record-breaking year, with 8,300,103 total fans seeing games last season. Overall, the average per-game attendance was down slightly (1,538 from 1,548 a year ago), but has not changed dramatically over the last half-decade.

South Carolina led the country in average attendance for the third consecutive year, though the Gamecocks only drew 12,277 fans per game compared to 14,364 in 2015-16. Tennessee and Iowa State were second and third respectively in each of the last two years, but they both saw their averages dip as well.

UConn, which enjoyed an undefeated regular season and played as four-time defending national champions, placed fourth (8,888 fans per game). It should be noted, however, that Gampel Pavilion, where the Huskies play half their home games, only seats 10,167.

Some takeaways…

First, the obvious: It helps if you’re good

Who would have guessed?

All four 1 seeds in the 2017 NCAA Tournament (South Carolina, UConn, Notre Dame, and Baylor) ranked in the top 10 nationally in attendance. Mississippi State, which received a 2 seed but knocked off UConn in the Final Four, not only ranked seventh, but had the third-largest increase in attendance in the nation from 2015-16 to 2016-17.

Tennessee remains popular, though attendance is falling

Since Pat Summitt’s retirement, Tennessee’s attendance has decreased every year except for one, and it is down almost 42 percent since 2007-08, when the Volunteers drew 15,796 fans per game.

Recent on-court struggles certainly haven’t helped, as Tennessee is coming off consecutive double-digit loss seasons. The Volunteers’ 7 seed in the 2016 NCAA Tournament and 5 seed in 2017 would be points of pride for many, but for Tennessee, they represent some of the poorest finishes in program history. Still, Tennessee has reached the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament in seven of the past eight years.

The AAC is UConn…and no one else

UConn has won every AAC regular season and tournament championship since the conference formed in 2013. In fact, UConn has never lost a conference game. And 81 out of the Huskies’ 82 conference wins have come by double digits.

The Huskies own the AAC in the stands as well as on the court.

UConn led the AAC in attendance with 8,888 fans per game. Central Florida was a distant second at 2,399. UConn drew a total of 142,213 fans all season, while the other 10 AAC teams combined drew 202,725.

The UConn-Tulsa game in Hartford drew 9,347 fans. Tulsa drew a combined 5,808 fans to all of its home games all season.

The Kelsey Plum Effect

Washington led all Division I schools in attendance increase in 2016-17. By a lot. After drawing just 1,880 fans per game in 2015-16, the Huskies brought in 4,080 last season. It makes sense that people would want to see Plum in her final collegiate season as she chased (and eventually shattered) the NCAA’s all-time scoring record.

Sure, most women’s college basketball fans knew Plum before her senior season, but it was not until this year that she was able to finally force her way into the mainstream of American sports fandom. Of course it also helps that the Huskies went 29-6 — their best record since the early 1990s.

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