Cal’s 5-year attendance figures look bleak

With a heavy dose of reality served, our friends over at College Football News released their findings of average attendance over the past five years in major college football. The questions as to who packs their stands more often, and more frequently, have been answered.

For the California Golden Bears, the news wasn’t so good.

Cal ranked ninth in the Pac-12 in total average attendance per game at just 43457.0 people. It was the 50th-highest in the country but only the 48th out of 64 Power-5 schools.

Making matters even worse, however, was the fact that you’re more likely to see an empty seat at California Memorial Stadium more frequently than you would at any other school in the Pac-12.

Cal ranked dead last in the conference by averaging just 69.57% of the stadium filled compared to capacity. That mark trailed UCLA by over a whole percentage point and the rest of the Pac-12 by nearly 10 percentage points.

It also ranked fifth-worst in the Power-5 and 84th-worst among all 130 teams in the country.

Those are some bleak numbers when comparing them against the conference and against the country.

Here’s how the Pac-12 stacked up in each figure:

Average 5-year attendance:
1. Washington
2. USC
3. UCLA
4. Oregon
5. Arizona State
6. Utah
7. Colorado
8. Arizona
9. Cal
10. Stanford
11. Oregon State
12. Washington State

Filled Stadium Capacity %:
1. Oregon
2. Utah
3. Washington
4. Washington State
5. Colorado
6. Stanford
7. USC
8. Arizona
9. Oregon State
10. Arizona State
11. UCLA
12. Cal

When you’re safely allowed to do so — no more excuses Bear fans. Get out there and support your team.