WMU News

Broncos set attendance records in three sports

March 20, 2000

KALAMAZOO -- WMU Bronco fans established a number of new attendance records during the 1999-2000 campaigns. Football fans set two Mid-American Conference single-game attendance records, the women's basketball team established a new school record, and the volleyball Broncos finished among the top 40 programs in the nation in attendance.

Western Michigan University set the current single-game MAC football record of 36,102 fans, when the Broncos hosted Central Michigan, Oct. 2, 1999. The previous record of 35,874 was set by the Broncos just three weeks earlier on CommUniverCity Night; and the record prior to that (35,107) was set by WMU on CommUniverCity Night in 1998. Three football crowds in 1999 surpassed the stadium capacity of 30,000, as a new average attendance record of 26,874 was established.

Volleyball fans also showed outstanding support, setting the pace for MAC total attendance for a third consecutive season. WMU averaged 644 fans per match, nearly twice as many fans as any other MAC school. According to official statistics provided by the NCAA, the Broncos were No. 39 in the nation in average home attendance, ranking higher than, among others, Michigan, Notre Dame and Indiana. The volleyball Broncos drew 10,940 fans to their 17 home matches in 1999.

The women's basketball team set a new average attendance record of 1,135 fans per home game. On two occasions more than 2,000 women's basketball fans packed University Arena. WMU had more than 1,000 fans in the building for one-half of its women's basketball games in 1999-2000.

Media contact: Chris Hanna, 616 387-3673; chris.hanna@wmich.edu


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