HBCU football is in full swing and we can tell by the attendance rankings when the NCAA released the FCS attendance rankings for this year. In the top ten, half of them were HBCUs including the first.
Jackson State led the way for all of FCS, even without Deion Sanders. The average attendance for the Tigers this year is 27,313, outranking the defending national championship South Dakota State.
With Coach Prime at Jackson, they brought more than 40,000 fans to home games. So, the attendance isn’t through the roof with him on the sidelines, but the fans are still showing up and showing out.
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The Southern Jaguars and their faithful fans come in ranked fourth on the list, averaging 20,905 a game.
Their highest attendance for a game this year was the home opener against, ironically, Jackson State, with almost 30,000 fans in A.W. Mumford Stadium.
The magnificent Human Jukebox band of Southern and the 5-3 football team give the fans a reason to come out and enjoy their Saturdays. Their next home game comes against Prairie View A&M on Nov. 11th.
In the last two years, Southern has been in the top five in attendance in FCS, and they look to make that three years in a row.
Coming in at six on the list is the FAMU, with an average of 18,406 fans in attendance for games this year. Before their homecoming game this past Saturday, they had only played two home games.
After this week’s homecoming game against Prairie View, that number could definitely be on the rise. Especially after the showing they put on, they won the homecoming game 45-7.
The Rattler fans look to make a return to the top ten like they did in 2021 after missing in 2022.
Alabama State came in ranked eighth on the list, with the average attendance of games being 17,384. Head coach Eddie Robinson Jr. gave the fans a reason to come out after beating in-state rival Alabama A&M 31-16 in the Magic Classic.
Alabama State’s home opener against Southern brought in 22,726 fans, the most this season. The next highest attendance was the homecoming game against Bethune-Cookman, with 17,995 fans in attendance.
Norfolk State ranks right behind Alabama State, with an average of 17,281 in attendance. The Spartans are the only MEAC school to make the top ten list.
Like FAMU, Norfolk had their homecoming game this weekend, and that number could rise. Norfolk blew an 18-point lead to Morgan State in their homecoming game with 24,976 fans in attendance, the highest this season.
