With the start of a new football season, it’s time to review some attendance statistics at Reser Stadium. The capacity of Reser (formerly known as Parker) Stadium has varied with the fortunes of Beaver football and the size of the student body population since its opening (Fig 1). Here are past and present seating capacities for Reser Stadium:

1953 – 1957 25,000
1958 – 1964 28,000
1965 – 1966 33,000
1967 – 1989 40,593
1990 – 2004 35,362
2005 – 2006 43,300
2007 – present 45,674

Figure 1. Trends in Reser Stadium attendance and capacity.

Despite poor football performances in the past two seasons, mean attendance per game has only diminished slightly to 93% of stadium capacity. This continued turnout is testament to the resilience and loyalty of OSU’s fan base. Moreover, losses in fan ticket purchases were likely somewhat offset by record increases in student enrollment and attendance at games (Fig 2).  This lessened the effects of discouraged fans purchasing fewer tickets.

Figure 2. OSU enrollment and Reser Stadium capacity.

Below is a list of the top 50 games in fan attendance at Reser/Parker Stadium.  Note that only 9 of the top 50 games preceded the increases in capacity in 2005 and 2007 as part of the Raising Reser Campaign.

1. OSU vs. Oregon, 2010 – 46,469
2. OSU vs. Oregon, 2008 – 46,319
3. OSU vs. California, 2008 – 45,969
4. OSU vs. Washington, 2007 – 45,629
5. OSU vs. California, 2010 – 45,439
6. OSU vs. Arizona State, 2010 – 45,409
7. OSU vs. Washington State, 2010 – 45,389
8. OSU vs. Louisville, 2010 – 45,379
9. OSU vs. Washington State, 2008 – 45,289
10. OSU vs. Washington, 2009 – 45,274
11. OSU vs. Hawaii, 2008 – 45,059
12. OSU vs. USC, 2010 – 44,969
13. OSU vs. UCLA, 2011 – 44,352
14. OSU vs. Arizona State, 2008 – 44,109
15. OSU vs. Oregon, 2006 – 44,015
16. OSU vs. Stanford, 2005 – 42,960
17. OSU vs. Washington State, 2006 – 42,951
18. OSU vs. Washington State, 2005 – 42,908
19. OSU vs. Boise State, 2005 – 42,876
20. OSU vs. USC, 2006 – 42,871
21. OSU vs. USC, 2008 – 42,839
22. OSU vs. Stanford, 2011 – 42,835
23. OSU vs. Washington, 2011 – 42,766
24. OSU vs. BYU, 2012 – 42,584
25. OSU vs. Portland State, 2005 – 42,263
26. OSU vs. Arizona, 2009 – 42,119
27. OSU vs. Stanford, 2007 – 42,089
28. OSU vs. Stanford, 2009 – 41,979
29. OSU vs. Cincinnati, 2009 – 41,909
30. OSU vs. Portland State, 2009 – 41,679
31. OSU vs. Oregon, 1980 – 41,600
32. OSU vs. Sacramento State, 2011 – 41,581
33. OSU vs. Oregon, 1972 – 41,544
34. OSU vs. USC, 1967 – 41,494
35. OSU vs. Arizona State, 2005 – 41,374
36. OSU vs. UCLA, 1968 – 41,361
37. OSU vs. UCLA, 2007 – 41,137
38. OSU vs. UCLA, 2009 – 41,009
39. OSU vs. Arizona, 2005 – 40,759
40. OSU vs. Oregon, 1988 – 40,597
41. OSU vs. Arizona, 2007 – 40,489
42. OSU vs. Utah, 2007 – 40,409
43. OSU vs. Arizona, 2011 – 40,403
44. OSU vs. Idaho, 2006 – 40,317
45. OSU vs. Oregon, 1970 – 40,299
46. OSU vs. Oregon, 1968 – 40,144
47. OSU vs. Washington, 1984 – 40,000
48. OSU vs. California, 2006 – 39,309
49. OSU vs. Oregon, 1984 – 39,000
50. OSU vs. Idaho State, 2007 – 38,491