Official FCS attendance figures were released by the NCAA in late January, giving us a look at which teams drew the most and least fans in 2021.
Jackson State ran away with the No. 1 spot, setting a subdivision record with an average home crowd of 42,293 people. The SWAC was represented in the Top 10 two other times with No. 5 Southern U (18,698) and No. 6 Florida A&M (16,967).
Two teams departing to the FBS are in the Top 10 — No. 3 James Madison (19,631) and No. 7 Jacksonville State (16,809).
No. 2 Montana and No. 4 Montana State saw an increase in fans compared to 2019. Montana went from a 2019 average of 22,545 to a 2021 average of 24,584 fans. Montana State went from 17,281 to 19,176.
North Dakota State remained in the Top 10 in 2021. But its attendance has been slipping, going from 18,106 in 2018 to 17,440 in 2019 to 15,101 in 2021.
Here are the average home attendance figures for all FCS teams (playoffs are included):
| Rank | School | Avg |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jackson St. | 42,293 |
| 2 | Montana | 24,584 |
| 3 | James Madison | 19,631 |
| 4 | Montana St. | 19,176 |
| 5 | Southern Univ. | 18,698 |
| 6 | Florida A&M | 16,967 |
| 7 | Jacksonville St. | 16,809 |
| 8 | North Dakota St. | 15,101 |
| 9 | Yale | 13,263 |
| 10 | Delaware | 12,844 |
| 11 | South Dakota St. | 12,668 |
| 12 | N.C. A&T | 12,437 |
| 13 | New Hampshire | 11,576 |
| 14 | Eastern Ky. | 11,539 |
| 15 | Harvard | 11,201 |
| 16 | Alabama St. | 10,881 |
| 17 | Youngstown St. | 10,512 |
| 18 | UC Davis | 10,422 |
| 19 | Alabama A&M | 10,241 |
| 20 | Missouri St. | 10,156 |
| 21 | The Citadel | 9,982 |
| 22 | Norfolk St. | 9,965 |
| 23 | Western Caro. | 9,824 |
| 24 | North Dakota | 9,661 |
| 25 | Furman | 9,577 |
| 26 | ETSU | 9,508 |
| 27 | Tarleton St. | 9,204 |
| 28 | Mercer | 8,908 |
| 29 | Illinois St. | 8,574 |
| 30 | SFA | 8,349 |
| 31 | Elon | 8,254 |
| 32 | South Carolina St. | 8,206 |
| 33 | Cal Poly | 7,952 |
| 34 | McNeese | 7,903 |
| 35 | Murray St. | 7,844 |
| 36 | Southern Ill. | 7,742 |
| 37 | Northern Ariz. | 7,620 |
| 38 | Sacramento St. | 7,615 |
| 39 | Ark.-Pine Bluff | 7,567 |
| 40 | Central Ark. | 7,560 |
| 41 | Grambling | 7,532 |
| 42 | William & Mary | 7,511 |
| 43 | Chattanooga | 7,482 |
| 44 | Abilene Christian | 7,415 |
| 45 | Sam Houston | 7,283 |
| 46 | North Ala. | 7,175 |
| 47 | Holy Cross | 7,156 |
| 48 | N.C. Central | 7,022 |
| 49 | Princeton | 7,019 |
| 50 | Richmond | 6,940 |
| 51 | Nicholls | 6,855 |
| 52 | Stony Brook | 6,777 |
| 53 | UNI | 6,757 |
| 54 | Texas Southern | 6,710 |
| 55 | Morehead St. | 6,707 |
| 56 | Northwestern St. | 6,566 |
| 57 | Howard | 6,529 |
| 58 | Villanova | 6,513 |
| 59 | Weber St. | 6,404 |
| 60 | South Dakota | 5,816 |
| 61 | Kennesaw St. | 5,803 |
| 62 | Tennessee Tech | 5,756 |
| 63 | Eastern Wash. | 5,725 |
| 64 | Lamar University | 5,716 |
| 65 | Lehigh | 5,639 |
| 66 | Austin Peay | 5,617 |
| 67 | Towson | 5,561 |
| 68 | Columbia | 5,549 |
| 69 | Dartmouth | 5,480 |
| 70 | Mississippi Val. | 5,440 |
| 71 | Bethune-Cookman | 5,323 |
| 72 | VMI | 5,217 |
| 73 | Southeastern La. | 5,215 |
| 74 | Northern Colo. | 5,168 |
| 75 | Campbell | 5,164 |
| 76 | Maine | 5,051 |
| 77 | Indiana St. | 4,976 |
| 78 | Penn | 4,971 |
| 79 | Rhode Island | 4,892 |
| 80 | Idaho | 4,878 |
| 81 | Merrimack | 4,860 |
| 82 | Sacred Heart | 4,854 |
| 83 | Alcorn | 4,833 |
| 84 | St. Thomas (MN) | 4,739 |
| 85 | Dixie St. | 4,728 |
| 86 | Wofford | 4,686 |
| 87 | Albany (NY) | 4,684 |
| 88 | Southern Utah | 4,591 |
| 89 | Eastern Ill. | 4,441 |
| 90 | Davidson | 4,225 |
| 91 | UT Martin | 4,208 |
| 92 | Gardner-Webb | 4,142 |
| 93 | Morgan St. | 4,049 |
| 94 | Tennessee St. | 4,023 |
| 95 | Samford | 3,949 |
| 96 | Prairie View | 3,827 |
| 97 | Brown | 3,752 |
| 98 | Southeast Mo. St. | 3,729 |
| 99 | Cornell | 3,682 |
| 100 | Hampton | 3,680 |
| 101 | Idaho St. | 3,674 |
| 102 | Fordham | 3,668 |
| 103 | Butler | 3,352 |
| 104 | Portland St. | 3,329 |
| 105 | Western Ill. | 3,282 |
| 106 | Drake | 3,176 |
| 107 | Charleston So. | 3,102 |
| 108 | Monmouth | 3,093 |
| 109 | Central Conn. St. | 2,926 |
| 110 | Bryant | 2,883 |
| 111 | Lafayette | 2,861 |
| 112 | Dayton | 2,692 |
| 113 | Delaware St. | 2,649 |
| 114 | UIW | 2,483 |
| 115 | Valparaiso | 2,480 |
| 116 | Bucknell | 2,415 |
| 117 | Marist | 2,362 |
| 118 | Presbyterian | 2,351 |
| 119 | Georgetown | 2,265 |
| 120 | Robert Morris | 2,150 |
| 121 | Houston Baptist | 2,148 |
| 122 | Colgate | 2,042 |
| 123 | San Diego | 1,987 |
| 124 | Wagner | 1,921 |
| 125 | Duquesne | 1,616 |
| 126 | Stetson | 1,221 |
| 127 | Saint Francis (PA) | 1,216 |
| 128 | LIU | 943 |
