The town of State College, PA has a population of about 42,000.
Beaver Stadium (where Penn State plays) has a capacity of more than 106,000.
In other words - if Penn State held a game where the town's residents all got first dibs on tickets, and all of them showed up, more than 60% of the stadium would still be available for other fans.
With college football season now in full swing, I figured I might ask: what other major college towns are there where the football stadium holds more people than there are who live in the town in which the stadium is located? I know there are several, like, for example, Auburn (64K local residents, 87K seat stadium), but I believe Penn State may have the biggest such ratio in that regard.
Bonus: are there any college football stadiums that seat more people than live in the county in which they are located?
Clemson SC town population is about 14k, and the stadium capacity is 81k, which might be a better ratio.
Idk if there are any stadiums larger than their county, but Clarke County GA (Univ of GA) is small enough that its population is only about 25k larger than Sanford Stadium (County population 117k, stadium capacity 93k)
Oklahoma State (Boone Pickens Stadium) in Stillwater: stadium 60K, city 50K
Purdue University (Ross-Ade Stadium) in West Lafayette, IN: stadium 57K, city 48K
Rutgers (SHI Stadium) in Piscataway, NJ - stadium 57K, city a hair under 57K
Purdue's Ross Ade Stadium have a capacity of a bit over 57k, and the population of West Lafayette is 55k.
Tuscaloosa is a little under 100K, and Bryant-Denny is about 102K.
Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on September 11, 2021, 12:06:28 AM
Rutgers (SHI Stadium) in Piscataway, NJ - stadium 57K, city a hair under 57K
You could invite the entire state of NJ to a game and still have empty seats!
WVU fits 60k, Morgantown is 30k
Change "College" (University sports are unheard of in Europe) to "Association", and then I'll present you the Rhein Neckar Arena, home of Hoffenheim, with a capacity of over 9 times the otherwise random German village's population (30,350 vs 3,272).
Ann Arbor is very close. The population is about 123,000 and the capacity of Michigan Stadium is about 107,000 but there have been crowds of over 115,000. Ann Arbor's 2010 census was around 113,000 and the stadium held more than the city population a few times.
Rynearson Stadium at Eastern Michigan has a capacity of 30,200. Ypsilanti has a population of 20,648.
How about this one? Saginaw Valley State University's football stadium seats 6,800 and is located in Kochville Township in Saginaw County which has a population of around 5,000.
The CDP of Notre Dame, IN, has a population of 6,432 with Notre Dame Stadium having a capacity of 77,622.
Also, Prucell Pavilion at the Joyce Center (men's/women's basketball, volleyball) has a capacity of 9,149
Spartan Stadium holds 75,005 versus a population of 47,741 in East Lansing.
A bonus entry that's darn close but cool.
Warroad, MN's high school hockey arena has a capacity of 1,800. The town has a population of 1,795. Hence why it is the real "Hockeytown, U.S.A.".
Chris
Another close one: Martin Stadium (Washington State) is a hair under 33K, Pullman is 33,600.
Scott Stadium at the University of Virginia seats 61,500 (plus around 3,000 to 4,000 more on the general admission hill at one end). Charlottesville's population is about 46,500 within city limits, though of course the surrounding area in Albemarle County adds a considerable number if you count those people.
Virginia Tech 66K, Blacksburg 44K
Ole Miss 64K, Oxford 28K
Mississippi State 61K, Starkville 26K
Barker Lane has 5500 for capacity
pop of buies creek is 2585
:pan: :colorful: :bigass:
Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on September 11, 2021, 11:59:03 AM
Another close one: Martin Stadium (Washington State) is a hair under 33K, Pullman is 33,600.
Absurdly low for P5
Quote from: SkyPesos on September 11, 2021, 12:16:22 AM
Purdue's Ross Ade Stadium have a capacity of a bit over 57k, and the population of West Lafayette is 55k.
Lafayette sits around 72k and adding W Lafayette you get about 130k, which is well over Ross Ade's capacity. Similar treatment could be made to other stadiums in 2 city metros (Tuscaloosa/Northport, Auburn/Opelika, Lansing/East Lansing, etc.)
Here's a few I managed to find:
(NOTE = Marked with * means already mentioned.)
Rynearson Stadium (Eastern Michigan) - 30.2K capacity*
Ypsilanti - 20,648
Kelly/Shorts Stadium (Central Michigan) - 30,255
Mount Pleasant - around 25K
Spartan Stadium (Michigan State) - 75,005*
East Lansing - 47,741
Harvey Randall Wickes Memorial Stadium (Saginaw Valley State) - 6,800*
Kochville Twp. - 5,078
Frank "Muddy" Waters Stadium (Hillsdale College) - 8,500
Hillsdale - 8,036 (as of 2020 Census)
Of Ohio's 8 FBS schools there are 2 that qualify (barely):
Ohio University
Peden Stadium: 27,000
Athens: 24,420
Miami University
Yager Stadium: 24,286
Oxford: 23,035
Utah State's stadium at one time was larger than Logan. The stadium's capacity was expanded to 30,000 in 1980 - a bit greater than the city's 1980 population of 27k - but Logan would pass the 30k mark within ten years.
Michie Stadium, home to the Black Knights, has a much larger capacity than West Point's population, with the stadium having a capacity of 38K and West Point having a population of 6,763 as of 2010.
Quote from: jlam on December 07, 2021, 03:00:57 PM
Michie Stadium, home to the Midshipmen, has a much larger capacity than West Point's population, with the stadium having a capacity of 38K and West Point having a population of 6,763 as of 2010.
So the Naval Academy's team has taken over West Point? :-D
Quote from: CtrlAltDel on December 07, 2021, 03:03:49 PM
Quote from: jlam on December 07, 2021, 03:00:57 PM
Michie Stadium, home to the Midshipmen, has a much larger capacity than West Point's population, with the stadium having a capacity of 38K and West Point having a population of 6,763 as of 2010.
So the Naval Academy's team has taken over West Point? :-D
jlam took the wrong nickname just like the Army cadets took the wrong goat recently. :-D
Quote from: jayhawkco on December 07, 2021, 03:06:56 PM
Quote from: CtrlAltDel on December 07, 2021, 03:03:49 PM
Quote from: jlam on December 07, 2021, 03:00:57 PM
Michie Stadium, home to the Midshipmen, has a much larger capacity than West Point's population, with the stadium having a capacity of 38K and West Point having a population of 6,763 as of 2010.
So the Naval Academy's team has taken over West Point? :-D
jlam took the wrong nickname just like the Army cadets took the wrong goat recently. :-D
Fixed
Auburn, AL: 76143
Jordan-Hare Stadium: 87451
Quote from: golden eagle on January 19, 2022, 02:55:10 PM
Auburn, AL: 76143
Jordan-Hare Stadium: 87451
Mentioned that one in the OP.
Isn't Beaver Stadium's seating capacity greater than the population of the State College, PA metro area?
Mike
Quote from: mgk920 on January 31, 2022, 08:54:21 PM
Isn't Beaver Stadium's seating capacity greater than the population of the State College, PA metro area?
Mike
Centre County (the sole county of the State College metro area) has 158,172. Beaver Stadium holds 106,572. State College itself has about 40,000.
Itta Bena, MS, home to Mississippi Valley State University, has at 1800 people, but Rice-Totten Stadium seats 10K.
Casem-Spinks Stadium at Alcorn State University seats over 22000. Lorman, MS is an unincorporated community, maybe a few hundred people. In fact, it has triple the population of Jefferson County.
Ole Miss' and MSU's stadium capacities are also larger than the populations of their counties (Lafayette for Ole Miss, Oktibbeha for MSU).
I want to rob a bank in Itta Bena.
Quote from: golden eagle on February 02, 2022, 09:27:07 AM
Quote from: mgk920 on January 31, 2022, 08:54:21 PM
Isn't Beaver Stadium's seating capacity greater than the population of the State College, PA metro area?
Mike
Centre County (the sole county of the State College metro area) has 158,172. Beaver Stadium holds 106,572. State College itself has about 40,000.
The State College
urbanized area has a population of about 87k from the 2010 Census. So by that metric Beaver Stadium is larger.