MOORHEAD, Minn.-- The Concordia-Moorhead football team finished fourth in the nation in NCAA Division III in average attendance per game last fall it was announced by the NCAA national office on Thursday. The Cobbers averaged 4,091 fans for their six home games with a total attendance of 24,550.

Concordia was a big part of the nation’s leading conference in attendance. The MIAC led all NCAA Division III conferences in football attendance in 2005. Leading the nation for the first time ever, the MIAC's nine football teams had an average of 3,018 spectators per game. In 43 total home games this season, the MIAC attracted a total of 129,785 spectators.

The Ohio Athletic Conference, which won two of the last three attendance titles, took second behind the MIAC with 2,680 fans per game while totaling a Division III-best 150,072 fans. The Old Dominion Conference, on top for 13 of the past 15 years, dropped to third with 2,513, while the American Southwest Conference (2,430) and the Northwest Conference (2,378) followed.

The 615 NCAA teams totaled 43,486,574 fans for all four divisions in 2005. That is the third-highest attendance recorded since the NCAA began tracking attendance in 1948. Division III attendance dropped slightly but eclipsed two million fans for the third straight year. The 2,088,019 people attending games in 2005 was down 19,836 in total number but down only 27 fans per game.

NCAA Division III Top 10 Attendance Per Game
1. St. John’s University (7,925)
2. Ithaca College (4,782)
3. Linfield College (4,416)
4. Concordia-Moorhead (4,091)
5. Wartburg College (3,996)
6. Hampden-Sydney (3,986)
7. Trinity (Conn.) (3,943)
8. Emory & Henry (3,914)
9. Christopher Newport (3,852)
10. Williams (3,809)