Purdue Football Has Highest Average Attendance Since 2005 – Will it Last?

Purdue football celebrated today, but what happens next year?

Purdue Football touted their average attendance hitting its highest level since 2005 all over social media today. It was a great accomplishment! The crowds at Ross-Ade Stadium have been great this year. I’m talking alumni, students, everyone.

You can see in the Tweet above that Purdue averaged 59,887 fans per game this year which was the highest since 2005. Ross-Ade Stadium’s current capacity is 61,441 just FYI. That was when I was a sophomore in college and Joe Tiller was still roving the sidelines. So kudos to all involved in the football program and the Athletics Department. It’s not an easy task to get to that number and so there’s plenty of reason to celebrate that. So let’s celebrate it!

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Okay, now we’re done celebrating. Let’s get down to it. We all know that football is the driver of every athletic department. Yes, cable money is the largest chunk of money but an individual school doesn’t control that money and it gets split up between all of the members of the conference. For Purdue Athletics to succeed they need Purdue football to succeed financially. And listen, we are all adults, we know that for Purdue football to succeed financially that means that Purdue needs to win games. Average attendance likely won’t remain as high next year if the head coach remains. Will nearly 60K fans show up each and every week to cheer on a team that may not win a single home game? I’m skeptical.

There are already numerous fans online stating that they won’t return next season if Walters does. But talk is cheap and it’s easy to say you’re not going to renew your season tickets today when you’re feeling negative about the team, but hope springs eternal. Or at least that’s the…ahem…hope from the athletic department it seems. Purdue seems to believe that making some cosmetic changes to the coaching staff while keeping Ryan Walters will be enough to satisfy fans that the future is bright. I’m just not sure that’s the case.

I’ve been a fan of Purdue football for many years and I can’t recall the fanbase ever being this sour. I lived through the Hazell years as a writer on this very site and while I remember fans being angry and despondent, it didn’t seem to be this bad but perhaps recency bias is playing a role here. Maybe it’s because Purdue was so recently in the Big Ten Championship game. Maybe it’s because Purdue’s two main rivals IU and Notre Dame are knocking on the door of the College Football Playoff. Maybe it’s because the landscape of college football is so different now and instant results ARE more possible today than in 2012 when Hazell was hired.

Whatever the reason, the fanbase has clearly turned on Ryan Walters. If he sticks around next season, how bad could things get? Let’s go back to the final year of the Hazell era. In 2016, Purdue averaged less than 35K fans per game. Some quick math tells me that’s about a 25K fan drop from where Purdue is right now. We obviously can’t know the average ticket price so let’s go ultra conservative here and say it’s $15. That would mean you’re losing $375K in ticket revenue PER GAME. There are seven home games in 2025. Let’s just continue that average for seven games and we see a loss of $2.625 million. Now remember, I’m being conservative here with my average ticket price. Then, take into account the money you’re losing on concessions, merchandise, parking. I’ll again go ultra conservative and say that easily brings you up to $4 million over seven home games. That feels reasonable to me.

So, if we take those numbers at face value, and again I think I’m being very conservative, you’re looking at a drop off of $4 million or more by keeping Ryan Walters next year. Could it be less than that? Sure, maybe fans will renew in droves because they love spending Saturday afternoons at Ross-Ade regardless of the product on the field. I wouldn’t count on that, but it is possible. Ryan Walters contract has a buyout that would cost the university $9.3 million if he’s fired at the end of the season. That’s $5.3 million more than my estimated loss due to overall game day revenue. Seems like a good reason to keep him right? Wrong, because this would not be a one year drop in attendance. You’d need to build it all back up again unless you somehow find your way to IU heights in year one of a new coach. You’re likely looking at a 3-4 year decline if a new coach comes in and has to completely rebuild the program. Purdue fans have been great about supporting the program and giving new coaches the benefit of the doubt, but they’ve been burned so many times lately.

Mike Bobinski surely has better figures on all of this than I do. He also knows how much money he has allocated and where it’s going for next year. I don’t. He also is likely concerned about possibly having to pay players in the very near future as a part of the NCAA lawsuit and settlement. If that happens Purdue will need money and need it fast. In that sense I understand the hesitation to throw $9.3 million plus the $6 million or so it would take for a new staff just out the door. I get it. But, how long will Purdue fans deal with what has been an abysmal product on the field? How long can the product on the field hold their attention? Sports fans are notoriously fickle and even though Purdue fans have held up their end of the bargain they won’t do so forever. It’s up to the administration to do their part and put a good product on the field. The clock of goodwill is ticking.