With the Chargers gone and Mission Valley up for grabs, it seems everybody is suddenly *keenly* interested in San Diego State’s football attendance. Trouble is, that number has always been kind of tough to pin down. The official count is a tickets-distributed figure, and that often doesn’t jibe with the butts in seats. THE HATERZ on the other hand have it on good authority that literally zero people have ever attended an Aztecs football game. We’re here to find the truth, people.
Game
September 2, 2017: SDSU vs. UC Davis, season opener, KGB SkyShow. Read the recap.
Drawing cards
- Fireworks go boom. KGB SkyShow is always the most attended Aztecs game of the year.
- The season opener generally has the largest student turnout of the season by far.
- The 2016 Aztecs were dope and attendance increases generally kick in the year after.
- Chargers: No longer a co-tenant for the first time in 50 years.
Mitigating factors
- It was a hot one.
- Like, seven inches from the midday sun.
- You can’t spell UC Davis Football without FCS.
- The Padres and Dodgers had a well-attended doubleheader downtown.
Announced attendance
46,132
That’s pretty much in line with what SkyShow has drawn in recent years.
Evidence: Exhibit A
I took a muggy stroll around STADIUM during the second quarter and snapped these photos.
Evidence: Exhibit B
These photos were crowd-sourced from our loyal Twitter followers.
Verdict
Rating the official attendance figure on a scale of one to five fudge elves, with one being accurate and five being fudged to the point of demanding a public records request.
Ehhhhh I might be splitting hairs here, but it kind of looked low 40k to me. Wouldn’t be surprised if a few ticketholders stepped outside into the inferno Saturday afternoon, said screw this and watched the Bama game with their A/C on. Unrelated, but I’m guessing the heat really screwed with the walkup as well. Two fudge elves.
KABEER THIRTY 