When UMass football opened the 2018 season against Duquesne, the announced crowd at 17,000-seat McGuirk Stadium was 8,684 fans — essentially a half-full stadium. For the next home game against Charlotte a month later, the announced crowd was 10,086.



Over six home games in 2018, including a matchup with BYU at the New England Patriots’ Gillette Stadium, UMass averaged 10,385 fans, based on the announced attendance. Amid a 4-8 season in which head coach Mark Whipple was fired at the end, there was not much reason to expect big crowds.



But when UMass submitted its annual NCAA attendance audit, it reported an average paid attendance of 15,075 per game.



Why the change? The NCAA requires an average attendance of 15,000 fans per game once every two years to maintain FBS status. But the reality is a number of programs don’t reach that mark, especially in an era in which attendance is falling across the board while the number of FBS schools has...