Due to the obvious restrictions tied to COVID, it looks like Saturday’s tilt against the Spartans will yield the lowest attendance in the history of Michigan Stadium (1927).
But the question of the previous record low is not straight-forward. Here’s a breakdown:
#1 vs. Wisconsin November 28, 1931 [Attendance: 9,190]
I’m sure you will hear people, including the athletic department, cite this game as the lowest on record. Just looking at the data, yes, this is the lowest official attendance at the Big House. But there’s a big BUT here. This was not a game on the original season schedule. This was a game benefiting charity (check out the QB tossing money to the needy on the ticket above) added later. Several of these games were held around the conference during this late-November week.
Michigan fans (including then-athletic director Yost) were pissed that U-M was assigned the Badgers in this special plus-one game, instead wanting/expecting a showdown against powerful Northwestern(!). So people avoided the event despite the charitable backdrop. One argument that this should be counted as the lowest ever–the game DID count in the conference standings. In fact with Michigan’s win and Northwestern’s loss, coach Kipke and crew claimed the 1931 conference title. More on this game here.
So should that really count as the lowest ever? At least an asterisk should be applied in my opinion. So digging deeper, it actually takes a bit to find the lowest-attended game without bizarre scheduling circumstances – read on:
#2 vs. Denison AND Michigan Normal (EMU) | September 27, 1930 [Attendance: 12,760*]
A couple times during the Great Depression the brass at #1000SSS tried a gimmick to lure fans to the corner of Stadium and Main: a doubleheader. The first was this epic clash against Denison (Ohio) and Eastern Michigan. Michigan won both games of course but no one gave a crap.
*In researching this piece I noticed that the Michigan Daily reports the attendance at 65,000. I notified the U-M Bentley Library to see if they can confirm.
#3 vs. Central State Teachers (CMU) AND Michigan Normal (EMU) | October 3, 1931 [Attendance: 13,169]
Really, similar/same circumstances as above. A gimmick doubleheader of lambs sent to the slaughter.
#4 vs. Western Michigan | September 25, 1943 [Attendance: 14,008]
So this is another weird one. If you look closely at the ticket above you’ll see Michigan State is listed as the opponent. But State didn’t field a team that season due to circumstances around WWII – so Western filled in on this fine September day and was throttled 57-6 in front of 14,000 rowdy fans.
[P.S. This ticket was the elusive final piece of the puzzle (the entire Michigan Stadium ticket stub collection) for super-collector Jack Briegel.]
#5 vs. Wisconsin | November 13, 1943 [Attendance: 15,047]
So that brings us back to Wisconsin and the game played November 13, 1943. Other than the odd period of World War II limiting teams and games – this seems to be the lowest attendance without bizarre circumstances around the schedule. Michigan won 27-0 but….but no one saw it :)
