Attendance for 2010-11 Division I and Division III women’s basketball reach record highs
Attendance leaders by Division
Overall attendance for NCAA women’s basketball surpassed 11 million for the fourth straight year. Fans totaled 11,159,837 falling just short of the 11,160,293 mark set in 2008-09 according to data released by the NCAA Tuesday.
Division I and Division III attendance set records. Division I attendance in 2010-11 totaled an all-time high of 8,127,779 passing the 8,090,084 set in 2007-08. Division II had 1,692,085 fans and Division III also set a record at 1,206,054.
Tennessee led the nation in home attendance at 12,599 fans per game. A record 333 Division I teams averaged 1,642 fans in 4,949 games or sessions this season, up slightly from 2009-10. The record of 1,693 fans per game was set in 2007-08.
Highlights of the attendance figures from the NCAA:
- The Big 12 Conference led all leagues at 1,005,377 fans in 2010-11. The conference set the current record of 1,091,289 during the 2009-10 season.
- Louisville led all teams in the largest improvement in attendance from the previous season. The Cardinals averaged 10,859 fans per home game, 4,462 more per game than in 2009-10.
- The Division I championship tournament drew 248,702 spectators for an average of 5,921 fans per session over 42 sessions (first and second rounds, regionals and the Final Four). That is well over the 5,515 average in 42 sessions last year but short of the all-time tournament session average of 7,966 set in 2003.
- The Division II tournament saw 34,680 fans after the 2010 tournament had set a record of 56,430. The reason for the drop was that the tournament format switched from 44 sessions in 2010 to 36 in 2011. The 2011 average over those 36 sessions was 963 fans a game.
- The Division III tournament had 37,415 fans for an 891 average in 42 sessions.
- In Division II, Northern State captured the attendance title for the fourth straight season, averaging 2,399 fans per game. Next was Emporia State at 2,051, followed by Benedict (1,924) and Washburn (1,854).
- In Division III, Hope ran away with its third straight attendance title by averaging 1,546 per game, just short of the record 1,549 set by Howard Payne in 2007-08. The rest of the top five were Howard Payne (953), Coe (790), George Fox (769) and Wartburg (740).
- For Division II conferences, the 12 teams of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association recorded a third straight attendance title by averaging 1,067 per game. In Division III, the nine teams of the Iowa Intercollegiate earned the league’s ninth title all-time at 507 fans per game.
Division I leaders
| Team | Games | Attendance | Average |
| Tennessee | 17 | 214,187 | 12,599 |
| Louisville | 15 | 162,892 | 10,859 |
| Connecticut | 22 | 215,328 | 9,788 |
| Iowa St. | 17 | 159,293 | 9,370 |
| Notre Dame | 17 | 145,409 | 8,553 |
| Baylor | 21 | 166,593 | 7,933 |
| New Mexico | 15 | 115,152 | 7,677 |
| Purdue | 17 | 129,671 | 7,628 |
| Michigan St. | 16 | 118,214 | 7,388 |
| Texas Tech | 17 | 119,731 | 7,043 |
Division II leaders
| Team | Games | Attendance | Average |
| Northern St. | 13 | 31,187 | 2,399 |
| Emporia St. | 12 | 24,613 | 2,051 |
| Benedict | 12 | 23,087 | 1,924 |
| Washburn | 13 | 24,105 | 1,854 |
| Augustana (SD) | 14 | 24,554 | 1,754 |
| Tarleton St. | 14 | 23,990 | 1,714 |
| Fort Hays St. | 14 | 23,338 | 1,667 |
| Winston-Salem | 11 | 17,594 | 1,599 |
| Midwestern St. | 13 | 19,874 | 1,529 |
| S.C. Aiken | 14 | 21,216 | 1,515 |
Division III leaders
| Team | Games | Attendance | Average |
| Hope | 17 | 26,274 | 1,546 |
| Howard Payne | 13 | 12,385 | 953 |
| Coe | 16 | 12,641 | 790 |
| George Fox | 12 | 9,229 | 769 |
| Wartburg | 14 | 10,358 | 740 |
| Ill. Wesleyan | 16 | 11,765 | 735 |
| Lebanon Valley | 18 | 12,400 | 689 |
| Calvin | 16 | 10,565 | 660 |
| Wis.-Stout | 12 | 7,854 | 655 |
| Bowdoin | 14 | 9,101 | 650 |
