Louisville Football might be sitting on a monster season from an attendance perspective. With new Head Coach Jeff Brohm, a son of Howard Schnellenberger’s ‘Collision Course’, a fully stocked roster and a manageable schedule, the excitement for UofL Football is the highest its been since the 2017 season when the Cards had Lamar Jackson returning for his junior year.
To date, Louisville’s highest average attended season ever is the 2016 season when Lamar Jackson was tearing up defenses and winning the Heisman Trophy. UofL averaged 54,065 fans per game in 2016. Sadly there were only 6 games at home that season so the season high landed at 324,391. The most fans through the gates still is the 2013 season with Teddy Bridgewater as the Cards were fresh off a Sugar Bowl win with the core group returning…. and UofL had 7 home games in 2013.
| Season (# of home games) | Total Attendance | |
| 1. | 2013 (7 games) | 370,396 |
| 2. | 2010 (7 games) | 354,537 |
| 3. | 2018 (7 games) | 351,755 |
| 4. | 2012 (7 games) | 349,938 |
| 5. | 2016 (6 games) | 324,391 |
| 6. | 2014 (6 games) | 317,829 |
| 7. | 2008 (8 games) | 317,442 |
| 8. | 2021 (7 games) | 307,761 |
| 9 | 2019 (6 games) | 299,475 |
| 10. | 2015 (6 games) | 294,413 |
| Season | Average Attendance | |
| 1. | 2016 | 54,065.2 |
| 2. | 2014 | 52,971.5 |
| 3. | 2013 | 52,912.71 |
| 4. | 2010 | 50648.14 |
| 5. | 2018 | 50250.7 |
| 6. | 2012 | 49991.14 |
| 7. | 2019 | 49912.5 |
| 8. | 2015 | 49068.8 |
| 9 | 2011 | 48537.5 |
| 10. | 2017 | 46,159.5 |
Following COVID Louisville Football’s attendance didn’t rebound like the rest of the country. Louisville averaged 49,912.5 fans in the last season before the pandemic. And in 2021 the Cards averaged 43,965 fans and then followed that up in 2022 with an average of 41,691. Major slippage. Some of that is a 4 win 2020 campaign, a Scott Satterfield flirtation with South Carolina and just general lack of buy in from the fans.
Can Louisville See Its Highest Attendance Ever?
There is a TON of hype. Louisville appears to have a good football team coming in for 2023 and the Cards get a very favorable schedule. The Jeff Brohm factor is undeniable especially for a fanbase that needed a reason to ‘Rebuy In’. Brohm turned down the Cards after the 2018 season and Louisville went with Scott Satterfield. Now Brohm is fresh off a Big Ten Championship Game appearance, having put a former walk-on into the NFL at QB.
Everyone knows the Brohm family and Louisville Football. Word is that season ticket sales are STRONG and there is even a contingent of fans headed to many of the Cards’ upcoming road games. But can Louisville surpass 370,396 through the gates in 2023? Can the Cards average more than 54,065?
Here are the positive factors:
- 7 Home Games
- Projected Favorite in All 12 Regular Season Games according to Action Network.
- FCS games is Game #1 on a Week Night
- Boston College in September
- Notre Dame
- Kentucky
- Brohm
The good news is that Louisville has 7 home games in 2023. Making that 370K+ number attainable. AND Louisville opens on a Thursday Night at Cardinal Stadium vs. Murray State in what should be a very strong opener against an FCS opponent. If you are going to play an FCS game, play it when there is excitement and hunger for the program…. not in November when its potentially cold and we have a lot of info on our current team. Also, playing a game like Boston College helps big time in September. It’s not a marquee game, but September 23rd has potential for outrageously good weather. And having Notre Dame and Kentucky are obvious pluses on the schedule no matter where they are slotted.
Here are the negatives/unknowns:
- Weather
- Are We As Good As We Think We Will Be?
- Duke, Virginia Tech, Virginia late October-Early November
Louisville gets the luxury of being at home 3 straight weeks against Duke, Virginia & VT from October 26-November 9 (Virginia is a Thursday night game). The bad news is that Virginia & VT are most likely not going to be very good in 2023 and late in the year fans may elect to stay home if the weather isn’t ideal against a perceived sub-par opponent. Duke is going to be a GOOD football team in 2023 but they don’t carry the name recognition reflective of their actual team quality.
And we never know what kind of monsoon, cold snap, ice game might pop up. In 2017 Louisville had terrible weather for its game against Syracuse and despite having a Heisman winner only 34,265 showed up.
Lastly…. is UofL going to live up to the hype? I think we know what the early returns will look like for Murray State & Boston College. If the Cards are rolling then the attendance numbers will just continue to build……… but if UofL Football under Year 1 of Jeff Brohm isn’t firing the way we think it will….. we’ll have to see how the fans react.
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