NFF highlights passion for college football

IRVING, Texas – The National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame highlighted on Tuesday numerous powerful facts from the 2017 college football season that emphasize the strong popularity of college football among millions of fans across the country, including the 56 percent of U.S. adults who cited themselves in a Gallup Poll as college football fans, a two percent increase from 2011 and more than professional baseball, basketball, hockey and soccer. Additionally, excluding the combined numbers for Olympic Sports, college football ranks second in core fans behind only the NFL, and the sport's fan base grew by 1.4 million people in 2017, according to media outlets.

"College football will celebrate its 150th anniversary in 2019, and our sport has certainly come a long way from several hundred spectators lining a wooden fence to watch the first game in 1869," said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. "We saw a big shift this year in the metrics and how things are measured with the adaptation of total live audience numbers by several media outlets. The need for the switch highlights that fans truly are reveling in the vision of college football anytime, anywhere and on any screen."

Among the top highlights of 2017, included a handful of Fresno State mentions, showcasing the prominence of Bulldog football and most notably the spike in attendance at Bulldog Stadium.

Those highlights are:

The top 10 FBS schools with the largest increases in attendance all averaged more than 4,200 additional fans per game with Purdue leading the way with 13,433 additional fans at each game, followed by Akron (9,232), Florida Atlantic (8,875), New Mexico State (8,694), Penn State (6,450), Iowa State (5,374), Fresno State (5,139), Colorado State (4,462), Washington (4,233) and Southern California (4,224).
The top 10 FBS schools with the largest percentage increases in attendance included New Mexico State (91.1%); Akron (89.3%); Florida Atlantic (88.1%), Purdue (38.9%); Ball State (27.1%); Kent State (20.9%); Fresno State (20.16%); Colorado State (16.2%); North Texas (12.5%); and Boston College (11.7%).
The Hawai'i Bowl on ESPN between Fresno State and Houston on Dec. 24 attracted 2,097,000 viewers and a 2,368,000 total live audience, the highest for the bowl since 2013.
Fresno State's 33-27 win over Houston in the Hawai'i Bowl gave the Bulldogs their first 10-win season in five years. The win also marked the biggest turnaround in FBS this season with the Bulldogs going from 1-11 last year to a 10-4 record, making them just the second team in FBS history to go from double-digit losses the previous season to double-digit wins the next.
Hawai'i Bowl, ESPN: Fresno State 33 – Houston 27. (Attendance: 20,546) & [U.S. Household coverage rating: 1.14] & [Household impressions: 1,369,000] & [Viewers: 2,097,000].

To view all the top facts from 2017 highlighted by the National Football Foundation, click HERE to read the full report.

"Just the Ticket to Build Our Community" – The Bulldog Scholarship Fund gives Bulldog alumni, fans and friends the opportunity to support Fresno State Athletics and the student-athletes who inspire them. For information about how you can support the Bulldog Scholarship Fund, please visit www.bulldogscholarshipfund.com or call 559-278-7160

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NFF highlights passion for college football

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