Attendance Increase Among Nation’s Highest
April 12, 2017 | Football
Bulls saw average attendance increase by 10,961 per game in 2016, third-most in the nation
TAMPA, APRIL 12, 2017 – A school-record 11-2 campaign and a dynamic offense that set nearly 40 individual and team records helped spur a large increase in home attendance for USF football in 2016. According to data released this week by the NCAA, the Bulls ranked third in the nation with an increase of 10,961 fans per game for seven home games in 2017.
USF, which finished the season ranked No. 19 in the final polls following a bowl game victory over South Carolina, saw average attendance in Raymond James Stadium increase from 26,578 fans per game in 2015 to 37,539 in 2016. The increase of 41 percent year-over-year ranked as the fourth-largest percentage increase nationally. USF saw its highest average attendance since an average of 44,130 fans attended six home games in the 2012 season. The 2012 season marked the last of six straight seasons in which USF averaged better than 40,000 fans, highlighted by a record average of 53,170 fans per game in 2007.
The Bulls' 2016 average home attendance ranked third among American Athletic Conference programs and well above the average of 31,611 for the 12 football programs in the conference. East Carolina (44,113) and Houston (38,953) were the only programs in The American to post a higher average home attendance in 2016.
USF opens the 2017 season on the road at San Jose State on Saturday, Aug. 26 before returning to Tampa for the 2017 home opener vs. Stony Brook on Saturday, Sept. 2 in Raymond James Stadium.
USF will host three games against 2016 bowl participants who won at least nine games last year when Houston, Temple and Tulsa come to Raymond James Stadium.
New season tickets for the 2017 USF football season will be available in-person at the Spring Game on Saturday and go on sale on-line and via phone starting Monday, April 17. Tickets can be purchased by calling 1-800-Go-Bulls, visiting www.USFBullsTix.com or in-person at the USF Ticket Office (Lee Roy Selmon Athletic Center) Monday-through-Friday between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
USF finished the 2016 season ranked No. 19 in the Associated Press poll with a school record 11 wins following the program's fifth-ever bowl victory in the Birmingham Bowl. The Bulls' 11-2 record marked the fifth-best winning percentage in FBS football in 2016 and one of just 11 teams to reach 11 wins. USF set nearly 40 team and individual records in 2016, including team records for total yards (6,650), rushing yards (3,714), touchdowns (77) and scoring (569). Junior quarterback Quinton Flowers was named the American Conference Offensive Player of the Year and led a school-record 10 players named to the all-conference team, six of which, including Flowers, will return in 2017.
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