Do you remember waiting in lines for days outside of Gill Coliseum for a men’s basketball game?  If you do, you were likely a student at OSU in the 1980s because there has not been crowds consistently filling Gill to capacity at any other time during the life of the facility.

The average per game attendance for men’s basketball in relation to capacity over the life of Gill Coliseum is shown in the graphic below.  Peak attendance was evident for a number of years in the early and mid-1980s but very competitive teams in the 1960s failed to draw capacity crowds on a regular basis.  The decline in attendance started even before Ralph Miller had retired and accelerated with the start of the long-losing streak in the 1990s.  There has been a recent upsurge in attendance following the hiring of Wayne Tinkle and return to the NCAA tournament.

OSU men’s basketball attendance and Gill Coliseum capacity. (Click to enlarge)

The history for women’s basketball at OSU is far shorter and the records are harder to find.  The graphic below shows the average per game attendance for OSU women’s basketball.  Women’s basketball in general has lower attendance than men’s basketball even when the women’s team is really good and the men’s team is not.  There are two peaks in attendance for women’s basketball, both in periods of women’s basketball excellence at OSU.  The early peak was in the 1990s when OSU fielded some of its good teams.  OSU is currently in the other peak with the school fielding the program’s best ever teams populated with popular players, a combination that draws very large crowds for the sport.

OSU Women’s basketball attendance and Gill Coliseum attendance. (Click to enlarge)