Despite frustration with the lack of a consistent winner for years, IU men’s basketball fans are still showing up.
Or perhaps better said, they’re at least still buying tickets.
Indiana ranked sixth nationally in 2025-26 with 282,193 of total attendance. That’s an average of 15,677 per game played at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, which ranked No. 9 in the nation.
It isn’t clear exactly how attendance is calculated, but based on IU’s own game-by-game reporting, it appears to measured by tickets sold rather than the actual people who came to the game. Indiana reports sellouts (17,222) for all games when the students are on campus, and less than capacity attendance when the students are on break, and the general public can purchase those seats.
In reality, there were a lot of empty seats at all but a few games this past season. IU reported 91.03% percent of capacity, which ranks No. 39. The eye test says the percentage was lower, especially for a couple games surrounding the football team’s College Football Playoff run. In year one of the Darian DeVries era, the building did not consistently have the energy that is often attributed to or expected of the Indiana home court.
Based on the way attendance is reported, IU ranked No. 1 in the Big Ten in both total and average attendance for 2025-26. Seven programs in the conference reported a higher percentage of capacity on the season.
Last year (2024-25), Indiana reported average attendance per game of 16,447 (95.5% capacity), which ranked No. 8.
Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall has the No. 17 capacity in the nation, and third-most in the Big Ten behind Ohio State and Maryland.
The IU women’s basketball program ranked No. 10 nationally with 133,727 of reported total attendance — again likely based on tickets sold. Average attendance of 7,866 at women’s games was good for No. 9 in the nation.
The IU women ranked No. 2 in the Big Ten behind Iowa in average attendance per game.
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