MADISON — Wisconsin football fans have not hid their displeasure with the current state of the program in Luke Fickell’s third season.
It has been evident with the “Fire Fickell” chants and booing. It has been evident with the vast number of fans — especially students — who have exited shortly after “Jump Around.”
It has been evident, too, with an official average attendance in the first four games of 70,233, which is at pace to be UW’s lowest since 1992. The announced attendance figures only partially capture the level of Fickell fatigue permeating in Madison, however.
Wisconsin has averaged only 51,980 tickets scanned per game so far in the 2025 season, according to data obtained via an open records request and analyzed by the Journal Sentinel. That is roughly only 72% of the ticketed seats for a game at Camp Randall Stadium.
Official attendance numbers include staff, media and others who do not need to scan a ticket to enter the stadium, so tickets scanned numbers will inevitably be at least a little lower than the announced attendance. Wisconsin’s one sellout this season had 72,276 tickets distributed — notably below Camp Randall’s advertised capacity of 76,067 or the announced attendance of 76,064.
But even in the case of the sellout — Oct. 11 vs. Iowa during homecoming — UW scanned only 58,215 tickets, or about 81% of the unofficial capacity of ticketed fans in the stadium.
The numbers were even worse in Wisconsin’s previous three home games of the 2025 season. The Badgers’ Aug. 28 game against Miami (Ohio) had only 47,699 tickets scanned, suggesting that 34% of the ticketed seats at Camp Randall were empty for the season opener.
Wisconsin scanned 53,030 tickets for its game against Middle Tennessee and 48,977 tickets for its game against Maryland.
The Badgers’ Week 1 game against Miami (Ohio) was in an unconventional Thursday night time slot, but they benefited from a 3 p.m. kickoff against Middle Tennessee and an 11 a.m. kickoff against Maryland. The Iowa game had a 6 p.m. kickoff.
Wisconsin has distributed 66,673 tickets per game through the first four home games, according to data obtained via the open records request and analyzed by the Journal Sentinel. That suggests that 14,693 tickets per game are sold or distributed, but going unused.
The lackluster fan interest correlates with lackluster results on the field. The Badgers are 2-4 — their worst six-game start since 1990 — and have been outscored, 126-34, in their four games against power-conference opponents.
Fickell, the apparent source of many fans’ frustration, has a 15-17 record since Chris McIntosh hired him at the end of the 2022 season. He is 0-8 in games against ranked opponents during his two-plus-year tenure at UW.
Wisconsin’s three remaining home games are against No. 1 Ohio State on Oct. 18, one-loss Washington on Nov. 8 and No. 25 Illinois on Nov. 22.
Fickell — asked about what he would say to a frustrated fan base ahead of the challenging Ohio State matchup — said the fans “got to be just like us.”
“Every game is a new game,” Fickell said. “And I know it’s frustrating. I know it’s disappointing. I don’t blame you. But the truth of the matter is Saturday is Saturday. And we need our guys’ best effort, we need our coaches’ best effort and we need the people’s best effort, too. … They can be mad at me, that’s fine. Don’t be mad at those kids, and those kids need them. They need to feel that support. They need to see that support.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin’s tickets scanned data shows severity of attendance woes
