Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium Attendance History

Mark BlankenbakerAugust 31, 2016

2015 was the 5th highest average attendance in Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium history for Louisville Football game at 49,068.8 people in the stands per game. With just 6 home games the season wide number is down compared to seasons with 7 home games (in 2008 the Cards had 8 at home pre-expansion).

What is most interesting is comparing Year 1 & Year 2 of Charlie Strong & Bobby Petrino: We see the same trend. 2014, Petrino’s first season back at UofL was Louisville’s highest average attendance EVER (52,971.5) and in 2015 the Cards saw a 3902.7 drop in average attendance (49,068.8) as the Cards had a difficult start to the season starting 0-3. From 2010 to 2011 with Louisville struggling early in 2011 from Year 1 to Year 2 of Charlie Strong the Cards went from a then all-time average high in 2010 of 50,648.1 to 48,537.5 a loss of 2110.6 off the average. However the period of 2012-2014 saw steady increases in average attendance and despite the recent slide in 2015 they didn’t dip below the 2011 level.

Year 2 of the ACC saw a pretty limited schedule in terms of ‘fan appeal’ compared to 2014. Year 1 of the ACC the Cards opened the season with Miami and hosted Florida State and Kentucky. In 2015 the Cards hosted Clemson and did host undefeated Houston, but the buzz on Houston now is much different than when they visited in the 2nd week of the season. Boston College, Syracuse, and Virginia didn’t inspire the natives quite like it would have during the C-USA, Big East, and AAC schedules. And it rained off & on throughout the Boston College game, the lowest attendance of 2015, whereas 2014 benefited from fabulous weather throughout. Lastly, UofL played 4 of its 6 games in 2015 in the noon TV window.

In 2016 the Cardinals schedule is LOADED Florida State, Duke, North Carolina State, and Kentucky are the highlights. The Cards also open with a low-profile opponent in Charlotte, but the opener is always well-attended despite the opponent. The Cards also host Wake Forest mid-November in a game that may be SUPER important despite the profile of the opponent. Still just 6 home games, but the Cards may be able to take a run at the all-time record.

SUMMATION

With Louisville only having played two seasons EVER in the ACC, Louisville fans have a demonstrated appetite for football. With continued traditions, an increase in profile, and an annually enhanced schedule that appeals to fans, the expansion announced in August makes sense. Particularly when taking into account that Louisville has sold out each of its luxury boxes for the past two seasons, has a waiting list for both season tickets and club level seating. The University is most certainly doing the right thing by “Closing the Bowl” and allowing the football fanbase an avenue to expand.

	2015	2014	2013	2012	2011	2010
	50019	55428	55332	55386	46157	55327
	55396	50179	53647	47553	47228	51427
	50121	51463	51586	53334	53267	48427
	41486	50227	55168	50167	48435	55106
	46158	55414	55215	53271	44817	48591
	51233	55118	53027	44609	51321	43887
			46421	45618	–	51772
				–	–	–
Total	294413	317829	370396	349938	291225	354537
Average	49068.8	52971.5	52913.7	49991.1	48537.5	50648.1

	2009	2008	2007	2006	2005	2004
	39344	42696	42185	42597	42647	42681
	39948	38694	40882	42704	40219	40220
	37268	42208	40922	41549	41334	42032
	21497	42523	40894	43217	42692	40107
	33223	38319	34792	40348	41219	37617
	23422	40384	39612	38476	37896	–
	–	37822	–	–	–	–
	–	34796	–	–	–	–
Total	194702	317442	239287	248891	246007	202657
Average	32450.3	39680.3	39881.2	41481.8	41001.2	40531.4


	2003	2002	2001	2000	1999	1998
	40205	42660	38129	42510	38147	42643
	38489	38109	35214	41227	40332	38231
	40432	34127	39256	38121	41214	35479
	38119	32428	39389	39233	33879	39247
	30114	36253	33627	38024	27261	32649
	33268	35261	40479	30387	34786	40349
	–	–	–	40328	41826	–
	–	–	–	–	–	–
Total	220627	218838	226094	269830	257445	228598
Average	36771.2	36473	37682.3	38547.1	36777.9	38099.7