NU Home Attendance | HailToPurple.com

NU Home Game Annual Average Attendance

For 2024 and 2025, NU is playing most of its home football games on the lakefill, at Northwestern Medical Field at Martin Stadium. The transitional venue has a capacity of just over 12,000. This will, understandably, reduce NU's average home attendance until Ryan Field II is ready in 2026.

What follows is a year-by-year account of NU's historic average home attendance.

For a list of attendance record and sold-out games, click here.

Home Game Annual Average Attendance,
1876 - 1904 (Main Campus Era)
(All averages in this era are estimates based on best available data.)

Year	Avg. Att.	Vs. YA	Comments
1876 - 1887	175	n/a	ATHLETIC GROUNDS / CAMPUS MEADOW FIELDS These years did not have "seasons"; instead, most years had single games. Average is for all home games played during this period.
1888	200	n/a
1889	200	0	Includes first game with Notre Dame.
1890	260	60	Includes the first game played on North Campus Field in Nov.
1891	775	515	NORTH CAMPUS. Includes one off-campus home game.
1892	890	115	First season with grandstand (SHEPPARD FIELD). 3 out of 5 games topped 1,000. Includes one off-campus home game.
1893	1,185	295	First season to top 1,000. Incudes one off-campus home game.
1894	560	-625	Terrible season, with the team needing to regroup midway through the schedule. Three home games with Evanston HS!.
1895	1,160	600	Strong season.
1896	1,714	554	Record attendance for Sheppard Field-only games. Wisconsin game set the Sheppard Field record with upwards of 5,000 fans.
1897	1,025	-689	Disappointing season.
1898	895	-130	Rough estimate. An unprecedented 12 home games. One game sold out (Wisc., 2,000 fans) and one game was private (Chicago A.C.), with less than 100 in attendance!
1899	800	-95
1900	1,110	310
1901	1,029	-81	Includes one off-campus home game.
1902	1,233	204	Includes two off-campus home games.
1903	2,010	777	This includes three home games played at Sox Park (avg. attendance = 5,000). Average of just the Sheppard Field games = 729.
1904	2,589	579	Record avg. for the era. Includes one off-campus game: vs. Minnesota at Marshall Field, which drew 11,000-- NU's "home" record for the era. Sheppard Field-only games averaged 1,537

1905 to 2023 (First Central Street Era)

Year	Avg. Att.	Vs. YA	Comments
1905	3,630	1,041	NORTHWESTERN FIELD OPENS. First games on Central Street. Estimate (based on 7/10 games). Initial games had very low attendance. Chicago game was capacity.
'06-'07	n/a	n/a	NU did not field a varsity team.
1908	6,000	n/a	Varsity football resumes. Estimate (based on 2/3 games).
1909	5,250	-750	Estimate (based on 2/3 games).
1910	5,250	0	Estimate (based on 2/3 games).
1911	3,300	-1,950	Non-conf. games had very low attendance.
1912	5,330	2,030
1913	4,500	-830	Estimate (based on 3/4 games).
1914	7,500	3,000	Estimate (based on 3/4 games)
1915	6,200	-1,300
1916	8,500	2,300	Attendance picked up as NU contended for Big Ten title.
1917	9,330	830	Estimate (based on 3/4 games)
1918	2,767	-6,563	Lowest avg. attendance of Central Street era until 2020. WWI dropped attendance, as did flu outbreak. Flu canceled some games, heavily restricted attendance in October.
1919	11,667	8,900	Post-war. Use of expanded seating.
1920	12,000	333	Estimate (based on 3/4 games). ND game was overflow.
1921	10,750	-1,250	Estimate (based on 3/4 games)
1922	10,000	-750	Lowest post-WWI attendance. Only one Big Ten home game.
1923	17,625	7,625	Includes home game at Wrigley Field. Thistlethwaite's team turnaround is underway.
1924	18,333	708	Estimate (based on 5/6 games). Includes Soldier Field home game vs. Notre Dame.
1925	16,000	-2,333	Includes home games at Stagg and Soldier Fields. Highest-ever avg. for Northwestern Field games.
1926	32,833	16,833	DYCHE STADIUM OPENS. One game sold out.
1927	34,000	1,167	One game over 50K
1928	38,333	4,333	No game under 35K
1929	39,167	834	Oct. 5 double-header attendance counts as only one event. Two other games crack 50K.
1930	38,800	-367
1931	36,400	-2,400	Attendance falls despite back-to-back Big Ten titles. Great Depression begins to affect attendance.
1932	27,000	-9,400	Weaker team vs. 1930-'31. NU does not host Illinois or Notre Dame. Depression continues to erode attendance.
1933	30,286	3,286	Includes two Soldier Field home games
1934	27,167	-3,119
1935	27,200	33
1936	34,469	7,269	Big Ten title run. First sold out game since 1930.
1937	35,167	698
1938	38,417	3,250	Two sold out games
1939	40,000	1,583
1940	42,600	2,600	Increased newspaper coverage of successful team
1941	40,833	-1,767
1942	32,630	-8,203	World War II and a decline in team wins hit attendance.
1943	36,820	4,190	Graham is a featured draw
1944	31,939	-4,881
1945	39,362	7,423	First postwar season
1946	40,566	1,204
1947	44,819	4,253
1948	45,362	543
1949	46,744	1,382	First year with south side enclosure; no sig. change in attendance
1950	47,828	1,084
1951	45,471	-2,357
1952	34,862	-10,609	Two-win season; Vanderbilt only non-conf. home game
1953	40,766	5,904	Included 51K game vs. Illinois
1954	34,795	-5,971	Voigts's last season
1955	33,234	-1,561
1956	36,788	3,554
1957	38,066	1,278
1958	36,665	-1,401
1959	47,204	10,539	Parseghian's team ranked AP #2
1960	50,641	3,437	Only season in NU history to average over 50K. Only four home games, including Notre Dame
1961	40,305	-10,336	Returned to five home games. Boston Col. only home non-conf.
1962	46,929	6,624	Only four home games. Notre Dame game sets Dyche attendance record (55,752). NU ranked AP #1
1963	45,224	-1,705
1964	45,011	-213	Agase's first season
1965	39,625	-5,386	Seven home games, up from four. 2nd straight losing season
1966	42,122	2,497
1967	37,107	-5,015
1968	38,771	1,664
1969	34,785	-3,986
1970	37,177	2,392
1971	35,294	-1,883
1972	37,604	2,310
1973	25,703	-11,901	Pont's first season; beginning of Dark Ages
1974	34,765	9,062	Notre Dame home game boosted average…
1975	23,037	-11,728	…but NU continues to slide
1976	25,755	2,718
1977	20,064	-5,691	Pont's last season.
1978	19,862	-202
1979	20,220	358
1980	19,755	-465	Venturi's last season; worst NU attendance in modern history
1981	24,370	4,615	Green's first season; NU sets losing streak record
1982	25,937	1,567
1983	31,910	5,973	Illinois game sells out with over 50K
1984	30,022	-1,888
1985	32,040	2,018
1986	27,350	-4,690	Peay's first season: attendance drops w/ Green's departure
1987	28,870	1,520
1988	28,006	-864
1989	29,018	1,012
1990	28,062	-956
1991	27,038	-1,024
1992	32,989	5,951	Barnett's first season
1993	30,965	-2,024
1994	34,382	3,417
1995	38,230	3,848	NU begins selling out in second half of season
1996	42,310	4,080	Best attendance since '64 on heels of Big Ten title
1997	41,868	-442	RYAN FIELD. Stadium renovation and seat reduction have no sig. effect on attendance. Largest season tix base since early '60s
1998	40,907	-961	(Ranked 47th Div IA attendance)
1999	30,890	-10,017	Walker's first season. (attendance 67th. NCAA figure differs from NU records). 1998: winless in Big Ten, negative program publicity.
2000	34,237	3,347	Despite good record, NU only sells out Michigan game (64th. NCAA figure differs from NU records)
2001	33,763	-474	NU ranked for much of first half of season (63rd nationally)
2002	28,032	-5,731	NU's collapse in the 2nd half of 2001 led to lower attendance in '02
2003	28,763	731	(73rd)
2004	28,408	-355
2005	32,527	4,119	(73rd) Exciting '04 season and strong team led to gains in '05; increased marketing
2006	27,996	-4,531	(80th) Fitzgerald's first season; began playing Div I-AA home games
2007	24,589	-3,407	(86th) Big Ten Network launched; all home games televised; none sell out
2008	28,590	4,001	(79th) OSU game sells out
2009	24,190	-4,400	(83rd) No sold out games. Weak non-conf. sched.
2010	36,449	12,259	(68th) Includes Wrigley Field game. Huge marketing push; four straight bowl-eligible seasons.
2011	33,442	-3,007	(70th) Sold out vs. Michigan. But disappointing mid-season performance and Nov. non-conf. game led to drop.
2012	35,697	2,255	(65th) Sold out vs. Nebraska. Good non-conf. slate; continued marketing push.
2013	39,307	3,610	(60th) Success in 2012, larger season ticket base, and continued marketing push. All non-conf. games over 32K.
2014	38,613	-694	(59th) Season tix base remains high. Strong non-conf. attendance. 2014 attendance higher than Purdue's
2015	33,366	-5,247	(65th) 1st season without a sellout since 2009. No Nebraska game: Husker season tix at Ryan drop off. No OSU/Mich game.
2016	34,798	1,432	(64th) No sold out games. Relatively strong non-conf. attendance. Only 30K reported attendance for post-Thanksgiving Illinois game.
2017	35,853	1,055	(63rd) Five B1G home games, only two non-conf. (both of which topped 33K). No sold out games.
2018	43,873	8,020	(46th; 9th in B1G) Largest increase vs. YA in NCAA for 2018. Large increase in season tix: Notre Dame game demand; NU coming off 10-win season. Four straight sold out games.
2019	37,736	-6,137	Drop in season tix, partially due to change in parking fees and fans who bought 2018 season tix only for ND game. Poor record affected attendance 2nd half of the season.
2020	0	n/a	Pandemic eliminated attendance at NU's four home games. While the official # for all games is zero, unofficially there were several hundred spectators at each game, mostly family members.
2021	30,796	n/a	Includes Wrigley Field game. Low attendance primarily due to lingering COVID concerns, a weak home slate, and a losing season. No sold out games.
2022	28,697	-2,099	Does not include the Ireland game, which is considered a neutral playing site. Lowest attendance since 2009 due to a bad team and a very weak non-conf. slate (no non-conf. game cracked 25K). Even Ohio State did not sell out.
2023	23,257	-5,440	Includes Wrigley Field game. Worst average attendance since 1980. 2022's 1-11 record, combined with the Fitzgerald controversary, led to a steep decline in fan attendance. No Ryan Field game reached 26K.

2024 - (Transition and Second Central Street Era)

Year	Avg. Att.	Vs. YA	Comments
2024	---	---	MARTIN STADIUM. Expanded capacity to 12,023. Will include two off-campus home games played at Wrigley Field. Avg. was 11,552 when counting only games at Martin.