SEC attendance figures after 2014 regular season

Attendance numbers were up in the SEC this season, with eight of 14 teams experienced a rise in average attendance this year compared to 2013. Only five teams saw a drop in average attendance, while Georgia’s average remained the exact same in 2014 as it was in 2013.

The Dawgs sold out all seven of their home games this season and all six of their home games in 2013, and their average attendance of 92.746 the last two seasons is also Sanford Stadium’s capacity.

Of the eight teams with improved attendance numbers in 2014, four of them experienced a rise of at least 4 percent or greater. To contrast, none of the five teams that experienced a drop in attendance suffered a drop of 4 percent or greater.

Many of the teams with the greatest improvements in attendance can thank additions and renovations to their home stadiums for attracting more fans than in 2013. Texas A&M saw the biggest growth in attendance, a rise of more than 20 percent from 2013. The Aggies attracted 18,000 more fans per game in 2014 than 2013 thanks to a major renovation of Kyle Field prior to the start of the year.

Mississippi State also made additions to Davis Wade Stadium prior to the start of the season, and they, too, experienced a major rise in attendance this year. The Bulldogs attendance numbers were up more than 9 percent from 2013, thanks to the additions to the stadium as well as the school’s first 10-win regular season in 70 years.

LSU expanded Tiger Stadium before the start of the season, and that expansion led to a nearly 15 percent rise in attendance this season. The Tigers went from drawing just 91,000 fans per game in 2013 to attracting nearly 105,000 per contest in 2014. LSU played all 12 of its games at night this season, including all seven at home.

The team with the greatest drop in attendance was Vanderbilt, which regressed from back to back nine-win seasons to a putrid 3-9 campaign in 2014. The Commodores only drew about 1,400 fewer fans per game, but in the smallest stadium in the SEC that number represents a major chunk of the stadium’s capacity.

Kentucky was the only other team to experience a drop of greater than 3 percent from 2013-14. The Wildcats drew exactly 1,900 fewer fans per game than they did in 2013, even though the team won five games this season compared to just two a season ago.

It’s worth noting Kentucky is scaling back Commonwealth Stadium to provide fans with a more intimate, raucous environment for games in the future, and that project will likely continue to hurt UK’s attendance numbers at the expense of improving the atmosphere at home games.