The Wisconsin Badgers hosted their "Spring Showcase" yesterday and the initial reports of crowd size was underwhelming. The pictures made it look sparse at best and discouraging at worst. For example Donnie Slusher posted this photo as things were kicked off:
However, later the official number was released and Nick Osen posted on social media that the Spring Showcase paid attendance was 7,870, which is certainly more than the picture seemed to indicate. Certainly it could be due to optics as Camp Randall can seat around 80,000 people. 7,870 is going to look very small in a huge stadium.
Attendance for Wisconsin Football Spring Showcase: 7,870
How does that compare to years past?
Wisconsin has never drawn in huge numbers for spring games and yet the fanbase is enormous.
It actually used to drive Barry Alvarez crazy as he tried to figure out ways in which to get more people at the spring game. In 2013, he worked to ensure that the proceeds from ticket sales would go towards the Wisconsin Education Department. That did seem to help a little, but from 2012 to 2014, the Badgers didn't have much more than 12,000 attendees. In 2014 UW only saw 8,204.
"In 2012, the announced attendance at the Badgers' spring game was 10,479 people, and that number increased to 12,050 in 2013. But in 2014, the number dipped to 8,204 people."Jesse Temple (Fox Sports)
Those seasons weren't exactly normal for the Badgers with coaching changes happening throughout. They were all winning seasons and even a Rose Bowl and Big Ten championship mixed in to those seasons.
Even while Barry Alvarez was the head coach, Wisconsin would only draw between 10,000 and 20,000 in attendance for the spring game. He's quoted as saying, "I just think there’s too many things to do in Madison that we have not — through a number of coaches — been able to generate that type of interest."
Andy Baggot from the Wisconsin State Journal, back in the Alvarez days, said it probably had more to do with where the season ticket holders came from. Many driving in for games from all over the place and they save the commute for the actual games.
That being said, Wisconsin's attendance for Luke Fickell's 2025 season may feel sparse and low, but it's fairly in line with the decades preceding it. In more recent years, they haven't even publicized the counts, and thus, it's nice to look back into the history books and see the comparison.