I found this on the College Sports and Realignment board.
We know football attendance has been pitiful at Miami for many years but now we also know the only reason they can maintain being FBS is because the school buys the majority of their tickets.
"The Miami Student" reports an average of 10,000 tickets per football game were being bought by the school to keep it from falling out of the Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly called Division I-A). The NCAA requires each school in the FBS to average at least 15,000 in actual or paid attendance per game.
The word "paid" in the football game attendance requirement allows the school the opportunity to buy up the tickets and not be required to have actual attendance, "The Miami Student" reports. So, it's legal.
In 2016 and 2017, there was a large difference between the number of scanned (actual attendance) versus announced tickets (actual attendance plus paid but unused).
• In 2016, Miami of Ohio had an average of 12,531 tickets bought by the athletic department per game
• In 2017, Miami of Ohio had an average of 10,514 tickets bought by the athletic department per game
• In 2018, that number was 11,772 per game
Source: The Miami Student
Miami's athletic department bought nearly 59,000 of the tickets to five home games at Yager Stadium in the 2018 season, The Miami Student reports.
https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/nati...-divisions