Which FCS football programs have the best home attendance?

Montana has the best home attendance average of any FCS team from 2015–2019.

With Marshall, Old Dominion and Southern Miss officially headed to the Sun Belt, Conference USA will likely turn its attention to the FCS level in a search for new members.

While there are many factors that will impact these decisions, the conference will likely be looking for new members that have strong fan support for their football programs. One of the best ways to measure fan support is to look at home attendance averages.

James Madison, which is also reportedly finalizing a move to the Sun Belt, ranked third in average home attendance among all 123 FCS programs from 2015–2019.

So, which other programs could feasibly jump to the FBS level? Here are the five-year home attendance averages for each FCS program from 2015–2019, followed by some analysis:

1. Montana — 24,055
2. Jackson State — 21,040
3. James Madison — 20,017
4. North Dakota State — 18,186
5. Jacksonville State — 18,059
6. Montana State — 17,910
7. Florida A&M — 17,646
8. Southern U—16,337
9. Delaware — 15,905
10. North Carolina A&T — 15,516
11. Alcorn State — 13,782
12. Yale — 13,614
13. Alabama State — 13,302
14. Youngstown State — 13,014
15. Grambling — 11,975
16. South Dakota State — 11,959
17. Tennessee State — 11,937
18. Harvard — 11,721
19. South Carolina State — 11,435
20. McNeese State — 10,796
21. Mercer — 10,337
22. Idaho* — 10,308
23. Northern Iowa — 10,227
24. Western Carolina — 10,103
25. The Citadel — 10,017
26. Prairie View A&M — 9,928
27. Illinois State — 9,858
28. New Hampshire — 9,643
29. Norfolk State — 9,286
30. North Dakota — 9,273
31. Chattanooga — 8,945
32. Eastern Washington — 8,895
33. Sacramento State — 8,495
34. Missouri State — 8,477
35. South Dakota — 8,334
36. Eastern Kentucky — 8,249
37. Alabama A&M — 8,190
38. William & Mary — 8,183
39. Richmond — 7,966
40. East Tennessee State — 7,953
41. Weber State — 7,947
42. North Alabama*—7,888
43. Central Arkansas — 7,886
44. Abilene Christian — 7,759
45. UC-Davis — 7,682
46. Princeton — 7,681
47. Northwestern State — 7,660
48. Lamar — 7,530
49. Elon — 7,503
50. North Carolina Central — 7,437
51. Stony Brook — 7,341
52. Cal Poly — 7,315
53. Southern Utah — 7,275
54. Northern Arizona — 7,118
55. Stephen F. Austin — 7,092
56. Southern Illinois — 7,089
57. Nicholls State — 7,044
58. Kennesaw State — 6,998
59. Holy Cross — 6,974
60. Texas Southern — 6,961
61. Idaho State — 6,876
62. Sam Houston State — 6,823
63. Lehigh — 6,727
64. Bethune-Cookman — 6,704
65. Austin Peay — 6,696
66. Penn — 6,622
67. Cornell — 6,496
68. Furman — 6,492
69. Tennessee Tech — 6,485
70. Hampton — 6,323
71. Murray State — 6,136
72. Wofford — 6,077
73. Towson — 6,053
74. Morehead State — 6,015
75. Lafayette — 5,952
76. Villanova — 5,910
77. Arkansas-Pine Bluff — 5,901
78. Maine — 5,893
79. Columbia — 5,787
80. Southeastern Louisiana — 5,770
81. Tarleton State* — 5,741
82. Dartmouth — 5,492
83. Eastern Illinois — 5,333
84. Samford — 5,320
85. Campbell — 5,289
86. Albany — 5,193
87. Indiana State — 5,078
88. Western Illinois — 4,992
89. Colgate — 4,861
90. Rhode Island — 4,797
91. Fordham — 4,794
92. Portland State — 4,741
93. VMI — 4,685
94. SEMO — 4,570
95. Morgan State — 4,480
96. Northern Colorado — 4,467
97. Howard — 4,389
98. Incarnate Word — 4,089
99. Brown — 4,028
100. Gardner-Webb — 3,833
101. Bryant — 3,774
102. Mississippi Valley — 3,716
103. UT-Martin — 3,542
104. Butler — 3,485
105. Davidson — 3,440
106. Central Connecticut — 3,425
107. Dixie State* — 3,261
108. Sacred Heart — 3,049
109. Charleston Southern — 2,972
110. Bucknell — 2,969
111. Monmouth — 2,888
112. Dayton — 2,887
113. Presbyterian — 2,635
114. Houston Baptist — 2,478
115. Stetson — 2,416
116. Jacksonville — 2,263
117. Wagner — 2,239
118. San Diego — 2,216
119. Valparaiso — 2,193
120. Drake — 2,155
121. Georgetown — 2,091
122. Marist — 2, 051
123. Delaware State — 1,948
124. Robert Morris — 1,775
125. Duquesne — 1,726
126. St. Francis (Pa.) — 1,511

• For four schools, the five-year average includes years spent outside of the FCS. Idaho played at the FBS level through the 2017 season and North Alabama played in Division II through the 2017 season. Tarleton State and Dixie State played in Division II all five years before moving up in 2020.

Analysis

Assuming James Madison is off the board, there are very few options that jump off the page if you’re Conference USA.

Schools like Montana, North Dakota State and Montana State don’t fit the footprint of a conference that already stretches from South Florida (FIU) to West Texas (UTEP).

Jackson State — which has seen an even bigger attendance surge since Deion Sanders took over as head coach in 2020 — and other HBCUs like Florida A&M and Southern U have never really shown an interest in moving up to the FBS level. Nine of the top 20 programs in home attendance are HBCUs.

So, if we’re using home attendance as a key indicator, the best and maybe only remaining options are Jacksonville State and Delaware.

Jacksonville State (which is in Jacksonville, Alabama) would fit the current Conference USA geographic footprint perfectly, but the Gamecocks just moved from the Ohio Valley to the Atlantic Sun a few months ago.

Delaware would be a bit of a geographic outlier, though it is sandwiched between UConn and Liberty, both of whom Conference USA is reportedly pursuing.