NCAA conference realignment and football game day attendance

Between the 2004 and 2005 football seasons, 17% of the college football programs competing in the NCAA's Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) changed conference affiliation. Football represents nearly half of the revenue generated by athletic departments competing at the FBS level and is thus critical to their financial success. The objective of this study is to estimate the impact a change in conference affiliation has on football game day attendance. The results indicate teams that changed conferences enjoyed an increase in attendance even after controlling for the increase in quality of competition. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.