Alabama Fans Break Practice Attendance Turnout Record
TUSCALOOSA, Ala., April 27 - The fire marshals had to close the gates to Bryant-Denny Stadium in the second quarter of the spring practice game on A-Day because the fans were still coming when the count hit 92,138 - the most people ever to attend an NCAA college football practice.
The unoffficial national record attendance for a spring college football game came in 1986, when 73,000 fans watched Tennessee scrimmage at Neyland Stadium, according to TideSports.com. This year, the SEC's top spring game crowd before Saturday was the 47,500 who showed up to watch defending national champion Florida.
This year's A-Day game was no usual practice, however, as Nick Saban made his coaching debut before the Tide faithful on a gorgious but warm spring day. Many fans came back with red faces from the hot sun in the jam packed stadium.
UA officials opened up the East Upper Deck just before halftime. Before that, the new North Upper Deck was made available to fans. Both decks quickly filled with fans, with hundreds more moving around the stadium looking for room to sit.
The original plan was for the lower bowl and West Upper Deck to be open - allowing approximately 71,000 fans a chance to watch the Crimson play the White. UA officials and local law enforcement were ready to open the rest of the stadium as needed.
Eyewitnesses to the traffic coming into Tuscaloosa before the game said it looked like the Florida game on the Interstates.
GW