I know this isn't everyone's favorite topic but I do like to track it. Every MAC team has played at least one home game now.

Western Michigan 24,605
Ohio 21,037
Central Michigan 19,005
Sac State 18,523
Toledo 18,435
UMass 14,895
Bowling Green 13,367
Miami 11,126
Ball State 10,390
Akron 10,032
Buffalo 8,690
Kent State 7,887
Eastern Michigan 7,524 (two game average)

Some weaker numbers than I expected around the conference.

I know Akron had to cancel all the pregame events as it was raining heavily up until shortly before kickoff. I'm sure that didn't help student turnout or day of game sales. All that said, attendance probably wasn't going to be great regardless.

Dear wmubroncopilot,
What are these figures based on? Butts in the stands, total tickets sold, what? Based by what I saw on some sites, some of those totals are way off, if you are talking butts in the seats.
Anyway, all this discussion causes, is acrimony among teams in the conference. Then we get the time honored discussions of who should be kicked out of the league, and on, and on.
I also find it interesting that the team who is first in attendance, or first in league play, always seem to bring something like this to discuss.

(09-13-2026 11:16 AM)Ken Barna Wrote:  Dear wmubroncopilot,
What are these figures based on? Butts in the stands, total tickets sold, what? Based by what I saw on some sites, some of those totals are way off, if you are talking butts in the seats.
Anyway, all this discussion causes, is acrimony among teams in the conference. Then we get the time honored discussions of who should be kicked out of the league, and on, and on.
I also find it interesting that the team who is first in attendance, or first in league play, always seem to bring something like this to discuss.

We have one of these threads every year. Some people like it, some don't.

I'm pretty sure everyone is using tickets sold at this point. I think all of these numbers are probably slightly higher than actual people in the stands, although the only one I've seen that looked way off was Miami.

Good to see Western Michigan fans supporting their team.

Im going to cautiously defend Toledos crowd. The two biggest games of the year for Michigan and Ohio State affect no other team like BG or Toledo. Being sandwiched inbetween kept a lot of folks at home. With the schedule looming of two bigger home games ALSO in September in the non con makes me think Over 21 and 24k for the next two home games against Temple and SDSU.

(09-13-2026 11:16 AM)Ken Barna Wrote:  Dear wmubroncopilot,
What are these figures based on? Butts in the stands, total tickets sold, what? Based by what I saw on some sites, some of those totals are way off, if you are talking butts in the seats.
Anyway, all this discussion causes, is acrimony among teams in the conference. Then we get the time honored discussions of who should be kicked out of the league, and on, and on.
I also find it interesting that the team who is first in attendance, or first in league play, always seem to bring something like this to discuss.

https://www.mlive.com/galleries/TH26Z2QH...LCVCBCNVQ/

But I agree with you about stupid comments about kicking any team out of the MAC.

(09-13-2026 12:36 PM)AllBronco Wrote:  

(09-13-2026 11:16 AM)Ken Barna Wrote:  Dear wmubroncopilot,
What are these figures based on? Butts in the stands, total tickets sold, what? Based by what I saw on some sites, some of those totals are way off, if you are talking butts in the seats.
Anyway, all this discussion causes, is acrimony among teams in the conference. Then we get the time honored discussions of who should be kicked out of the league, and on, and on.
I also find it interesting that the team who is first in attendance, or first in league play, always seem to bring something like this to discuss.

https://www.mlive.com/galleries/TH26Z2QH...LCVCBCNVQ/

But I agree with you about stupid comments about kicking any team out of the MAC.

Ken Barna, were you satisfied with the answer to your question about butts in the stands?

(09-13-2026 11:22 AM)wmubroncopilot Wrote:  

(09-13-2026 11:16 AM)Ken Barna Wrote:  Dear wmubroncopilot,
What are these figures based on? Butts in the stands, total tickets sold, what? Based by what I saw on some sites, some of those totals are way off, if you are talking butts in the seats.
Anyway, all this discussion causes, is acrimony among teams in the conference. Then we get the time honored discussions of who should be kicked out of the league, and on, and on.
I also find it interesting that the team who is first in attendance, or first in league play, always seem to bring something like this to discuss.

We have one of these threads every year. Some people like it, some don't.

I'm pretty sure everyone is using tickets sold at this point. I think all of these numbers are probably slightly higher than actual people in the stands, although the only one I've seen that looked way off was Miami.

Akron is also going to be wildly off this season due to that OC promotion they held. I wouldn't be surprised if 2k-3k tickets got sold to people who solely bought for the lotto ticket for the experience. Maybe a few of those, if they live close, will attend a game or two, but most won't.

Dear AllBronco,
If, you were pointing out the butts in the seats in Kalamazoo, no question they were what was reported.
However, butts in the seats in other games did not meet the smell test.

(09-14-2026 10:26 AM)Ken Barna Wrote:  Dear AllBronco,
If, you were pointing out the butts in the seats in Kalamazoo, no question they were what was reported.
However, butts in the seats in other games did not meet the smell test.

Ken, Ken, Ken...

Butts are 2 x the number of persons attending the game and I'm not going into smell except to say, we should keep bathroom issues out of polite company.

(09-13-2026 11:22 AM)wmubroncopilot Wrote:  

(09-13-2026 11:16 AM)Ken Barna Wrote:  Dear wmubroncopilot,
What are these figures based on? Butts in the stands, total tickets sold, what? Based by what I saw on some sites, some of those totals are way off, if you are talking butts in the seats.
Anyway, all this discussion causes, is acrimony among teams in the conference. Then we get the time honored discussions of who should be kicked out of the league, and on, and on.
I also find it interesting that the team who is first in attendance, or first in league play, always seem to bring something like this to discuss.

We have one of these threads every year. Some people like it, some don't.

I'm pretty sure everyone is using tickets sold at this point. I think all of these numbers are probably slightly higher than actual people in the stands, although the only one I've seen that looked way off was Miami.

I think each schools counts differently. There doesn't seem to be a standard. From EMU's perspective, there was a good crown at the week 0 game but it was reported much lower than the same crowd would've been reported in years past. EMU appears to be counting butts, not tickets.

EMU has all the enthusiasm expected for the 13th year of a less than mediocre coach.

The 18.5k for our home opener against Mississippi Valley State was the largest home opener in history and the 5th most attended game in our history. We should (at least I hope) see a strong turnout for the NDSU game on ESPN this week. I fear for the UMass game attendance as we will be coming into that game off of 2 lopsided losses.

WMU's highest home opener attendance since 2017. Getting screwed on national TV has its plusses, I guess, lol.

(09-13-2026 10:24 AM)wmubroncopilot Wrote:  I know this isn't everyone's favorite topic but I do like to track it. Every MAC team has played at least one home game now.

Western Michigan 24,605
Ohio 21,037
Central Michigan 19,005
Sac State 18,523
Toledo 18,435
UMass 14,895
Bowling Green 13,367
Miami 11,126
Ball State 10,390
Akron 10,032
Buffalo 8,690
Kent State 7,887
Eastern Michigan 7,524 (two game average)

Some weaker numbers than I expected around the conference.

For reference, our stadium has a max capacity of 17000 at the moment.

(09-16-2026 09:59 AM)e-parade Wrote:  

(09-13-2026 10:24 AM)wmubroncopilot Wrote:  I know this isn't everyone's favorite topic but I do like to track it. Every MAC team has played at least one home game now.

Western Michigan 24,605
Ohio 21,037
Central Michigan 19,005
Sac State 18,523
Toledo 18,435
UMass 14,895
Bowling Green 13,367
Miami 11,126
Ball State 10,390
Akron 10,032
Buffalo 8,690
Kent State 7,887
Eastern Michigan 7,524 (two game average)

Some weaker numbers than I expected around the conference.

For reference, our stadium has a max capacity of 17000 at the moment.

That's a good stat to consider in this as well. Hornet Stadium capacity is just about 22k.

Not a lot of home games this week and I think weather was a factor at CMU and Toledo.

Central Michigan 15,552
Toledo 19,011
UMass 12,233
Sac State 13,322

WMU and Toledo should draw well with good opponents coming in next week. Akron and BGSU also have quality opponents coming in although not sure if they'll move the needle enough to overcome the poor performance of their teams so far.

(09-20-2026 10:50 AM)wmubroncopilot Wrote:  WMU and Toledo should draw well with good opponents coming in next week. Akron and BGSU also have quality opponents coming in although not sure if they'll move the needle enough to overcome the poor performance of their teams so far.

The fact that next weekend's South Florida game is homecoming for Bowling Green may help in our case. I also think the decision to play the season opener on a Saturday rather than a Thursday night may have hurt attendance. We'll see.

(09-20-2026 10:50 AM)wmubroncopilot Wrote:  Not a lot of home games this week and I think weather was a factor at CMU and Toledo.

Central Michigan 15,552
Toledo 19,011
UMass 12,233
Sac State 13,322

WMU and Toledo should draw well with good opponents coming in next week. Akron and BGSU also have quality opponents coming in although not sure if they'll move the needle enough to overcome the poor performance of their teams so far.

About 15k fans have actually seen the Rockets this year. 2 inches of rain up until kickoff, but none during the game. Thank God, because the passing attack thrived. Students got to start caring now. Perfect 70 and Sunny predicted for Saturday.