College Football Attendance Figures Down In 2013

Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, La.

We haven't even reached the halfway point of the 2013 college football season yet, but through five weeks, attendance at FBS games is down 3 percent compared to attendance at the same time last year.

Also, according to the Birmingham News, analysis from AL.com released on Tuesday also points out that the average attendance of 45,596 this year is down almost 6 percent from the average attendance of 48,279 at this point back in 2011.

There are probably a number of reasons for the decline in attendance, such as increased ticket prices, increased television coverage, the addition of more FBS schools over the past couple of years, and the decline of a top-flight program, or two, such as USC, but the article points out that13 of the top 25 attendance leaders are down compared to the first five weeks of 2012.

As for the SEC, seven of the 14 conference members have seen their attendance numbers decline compared to last year, although eight are within 2 percent of where they were in 2012.

LSU, who averaged 92,299 people a year ago, is averaging 90,596 through four home games this year.

Tennessee, Mississippi St., Auburn, Vanderbilt, Arkansas, and Missouri have also seen a decline in attendance this year, with Missouri suffering the biggest drop-off, at 13.2%.

The poll included only schools from BCS conferences.