Hawaii Football Attendance Struggling, Hurting Budget

The University of Hawaii is hoping games against two traditionally attractive opponents will prevent football attendance from sliding below a six-year — or more — low and allow the Warriors to close the gap on lagging budget projections.

The 5-5 (3-3 WAC) Warriors are averaging 30,172 fans through the turnstiles at Aloha Stadium after four games and have three at home remaining. Two of them, Fresno State on Saturday and Brigham Young on Dec. 3, have historically been good draws. The Nov. 26 game vs. Tulane is sandwiched between them.

The attendance average is so far running at the lowest point since 2006, when an average of 27,361 turned out through the first four games, while ticket receipts this season “are down a couple hundred thousand (dollars) from what we initially projected,” said Jim Donovan, UH athletic director.

Donovan cited a rough economy and inconsistent play as factors for the drop and said complete numbers were not immediately available.

UH had projected to take in $5 million this season, according to associate athletic director Carl Clapp.

Football ticket sales are the biggest single money-maker for the 19-sport UH athletic program, which operates on a budget of approximately $29 million annually.

The last time the average trended this low through four games was 2006. That was Colt Brennan’s junior year and, after a slow start, attendance was buoyed by turnouts of 44,298 for Purdue and 46,683 for Oregon State in the final two games. They raised the average to 32,184.

Only once in 12 previous years has average attendance finished below 32,000, that was 28,139 in the 5-7 season of 2005.

UH’s most recent home game Nov. 5 against Utah State drew 26,205.

Donovan said he is hopeful attendance will receive a boost down the stretch, “because we still have Fresno and BYU.”

BYU and Fresno have historically drawn well here, though the Cougars haven’t played at Aloha Stadium since their 2001 sellout. This year’s BYU game will be shown on ESPN. The Bulldogs have drawn an average of 35,242 in their past three biennial visits, but at 3-7 (2-3 WAC) are suffering through what could become the worst season in head coach Pat Hill’s 15 years at the school and will not be bowl eligible.

Tulane is 2-9 and head coach Bob Toledo resigned under pressure last month.