HERO Sports recently released the 2023 regular season attendance figures for all FCS member schools. Once again, Jackson State led all of FCS in attendance, bringing in more fans on average than second-ranked Montana State. However, several other HBCUs were also featured on the list with prominent attendance numbers.
Flordia A&M, Southern, Alabama State, and Norfolk State join Jackson State in the top 10 of highest FCS attendance, and Alabama A&M and Alcorn aren't that far off. HBCU fans are passionate about attendance numbers, seeing it as a sign of rising interest in the sport of HBCU football as well as the popularity of their institutions. These attendance numbers are sure to make numerous fans excited and cause a lot of discourse in the HBCU community.
Below are the HBCU Attendance numbers, courtesy of HERO Sports.
| HBCU | 2023 Attendance Number | Overall FCS Ranking | 2022 Attendance Number | Percentage change (2022 to 2023) |
| Jackson State University | 30,060 | 1st | 42,049 | -28.51% |
| Florida A&M University | 17,616 | 6th | 14,418 | +22.18% |
| Southern University | 17,465 | 7th | 19,844 | -11.98% |
| Alabama State University | 17,385 | 8th | 18,069 | -3.78% |
| Norfolk State | 15,656 | 9th | 9,571 | +63.57% |
| Alabama A&M University | 12,934 | 13th | 8,112 | +59.44% |
| Alcorn State University | 12,018 | 14th | 16,527 | -27.28% |
| South Carolina State | 10,681 | 21st | 9,766 | +9.36% |
| North Carolina A&T | 9,582 | 29th | 12,781 | -25.02% |
| North Carolina Central | 9,055 | 33rd | 7,783 | +16.34% |
| University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff | 7,761 | 45th | 6,609 | +17.43% |
| Hampton University | 7,431 | 47th | 2,956 | +151.38% |
| Texas Southern | 7,422 | 48th | 10,677 | -30.48% |
| Bethune-Cookman | 6,398 | 58th | 6,714 | -4.7% |
| Grambling | 6,170 | 60th | 9,788 | -36.96% |
| Prairie View A&M | 6,062 | 62nd | 6,090 | -0.45% |
| Mississippi Valley State | 5,692 | 66th | 3,851 | +47.80% |
| Howard University | 5,433 | 75th | 6,793 | -20.02% |
| Tennessee State | 5,400 | 77th | 9,811 | -44.95% |
| Delaware State | 5,009 | 82nd | 2,160 | +131.89% |
Observations
The biggest finding in the numbers gathered by HERO Sports comes from Jackson State's attendance numbers. Jackson State still maintained its status as the most active FCS fan base even after the departure of Deion Sanders to Colorado in December 2022. The attendance numbers only decreasing by 28.51% shows that Jackson State fans support didn't dip significantly after last year and should hold steady for the following seasons.
The biggest year-over-year attendance increases came from Hampton University and Delaware State University, who saw significant gains in fan support at the games. Also of note, Florida A&M surged to 6th on the FCS Attendance list, bringing in an extra 3,000 fans on average this season.
Follow Us
Subscribe