Tennessee State is having one of its best seasons in recent years under third-year head coach Eddie George as they won their third straight game to give them a 5-2 record for the season.
Although they are having their first winning season since 2017, attendance remains to be an issue as Tennessee State had under 3,000 fans in attendance at Nissan Stadium in their last win.
Tennessee State coach Eddie George questioned the fans for their love of the game after only 13,975 were in attendance for their homecoming win over Norfolk State. This past week’s win over Division II Lincoln (CA) was followed by a season-low of 2,727 fans in attendance.
Eddie George explained that he was happy for the 13,975 that showed up for the homecoming game and that he hoped for the same crowd for their game versus Lincoln, but something is not connecting with the fans
Tennessee State’s only other home game this year was their win over Gardner-Webb in front of 3,869.
Through the first three home games of the 2023 season, Tennessee State averaged 6,857 fans per home game, which is down from the 13,340 fans that they averaged in the first three home games last season. In the 2022 home opener loss against Lane College, 11,553 were in attendance. The following week 22,231 were present for their homecoming win over Bethune-Cookman.
TSU having more wins in 2023 but fewer fans showing up to the stadium seems to support George’s questioning on whether fans love the game.
Tennessee State has two home games remaining on the schedule against conference opponents Lindenwood University and Tennessee Tech University.