UA Drops Attendance Ball

University of Arkansas mouthpieces made sure we heard all summer about football ticket sales being at all-time highs. But going into its Nov. 3 game against South Carolina, the UA needed better than a sellout to average more than 70,000 fans for the season.

Capacity at Reynolds Razorback Stadium is listed at 72,000 and the Hogs averaged 73,895 fans per game during 2006. Through five games, Arkansas is averaging nearly 4,400 less at 69,499.

In February, we estimated (based on past attendance numbers) that Arkansas could expect at least a 3,500 per game drop, which we also projected would cost the Northwest Arkansas economy around $4.45 million based on the $212 per person-trip factor used by the state tourism department.

So far, unwatchable opponents like North Texas and Florida International have lived up to historical attendance averages for non-BCS games in mid-season.

The Hogs’ 0-3 start to Southeastern Conference play and constant turmoil haven’t helped, either.

The Associated Press even had a bit of an editorial comment in its FIU game story, noting “the crowd appeared smaller than the announced 60,750.”

We’ll pretend for a moment the UA’s attendance number is even close to accurate – that is still a 12,000 fan drop off from last year’s Homecoming game played against Southeast Missouri State.