And more fans will attend a Pitt-WVU or VT-WVU game
than they will for a UConn-BC or UConn-Syracuse game. If the ACC added both UConn and WVU, then this is how they would rank in terms of stadium size.
1. Memorial Stadium (Clemson) 81,500
2. Doak Campbell Stadium (FSU) 79,560
3. Heinz Field (Pitt) 68,400
4. Lane Stadium (VT) 66,233
5. Hard Rock Stadium (Miami) 65,326
6. Kenan Memorial Stadium (UNC) 62,980
7. Scott Stadium (UVA) 61,500
8. Milan Puskar Stadium (WVU) 60,000
9. Carter-Finley Stadium (NC State) 57,583
10. Bobby Dodd Stadium (GT) 55,000
10. Papa John's Cardinal Stadium (L'ville) 55,000
12. Carrier Dome (Syracuse) 49,250
13. Alumni Stadium (BC) 44,500
14. Wallace Wade Stadium (Duke) 40,000
14. Rentschler Field (UConn) 40,000
16. BB&T Field (Wake) 31,500
I agree regional rivalries is important for both attendance and TV viewing. Why pick a school that would rank near the bottom in terms of attendance over a school that would be in the middle of the pack? Plus, WVU could have 4 regional rivalries (Pitt, VT, L'ville, and UVA) to UConn's 2 regional rivalries (BC and Syracuse). I included L'ville because if WVU had remained in the Big East then a rivalry could have easily developed between both schools in football and basketball. And UVA because...well....the headline to the link says it all.
Something else I found interesting is that UConn has a larger total attendance (31,624 vs. 29,175) than WVU. However, WVU has the larger endowment ($515 million vs. $436.9 million). I would consider that to be surprising since CT is a more affluent state and UConn has much better academic reputation.
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In response to this post by HOO86)
Link: UVa Apologizes to WVU for Pep Band
Posted: 08/17/2016 at 9:38PM