Editor’s note: The following was posted on February 10 to the UW-W website.

The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater football team led NCAA Division III in both cumulative and average attendance during the 2021 season, drawing nearly 70,000 fans to Perkins Stadium for home games.

The Warhawks averaged a nation-leading 6,975 fans over 10 home games, including six in the regular season and four in the NCAA Playoffs.

The team’s total attendance of 69,754 was nearly 18,000 more than its closest peer and is believed to be the most in one season in school history, passing the 2016 team, which drew 51,459 fans.

UW-Whitewater has now finished among the top 10 in the nation in attendance in each of the last 15 seasons. Perkins Stadium’s unique atmosphere, highlighted in this video, includes fan tailgating, the “Cannon Guy” firing off the cannon after each Warhawk scoring play, one of the best bands in NCAA Division III under the direction of Dr. Glenn Hayes and a winning tradition that includes six national championships and 10 trips to the Stagg Bowl since 2005.

“I get the chills every time,” defensive lineman Mackenzie Balanganayi (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) said on the Inside Warhawk Athletics podcast in 2020 regarding the Perkins Stadium atmosphere. “It’s different anywhere else, you don’t get that anywhere else. You feel unbeatable.”

Former UW-W head coach Bob Berezowitz, who coached the Warhawks from 1985-2006, spoke of the fan experience for a 2020 story on the 50th anniversary of the venue.

“I feel UW-W has the best tailgating gathering in Division III football,” Berezowitz said. “I am so excited every Saturday to be at Perkins Stadium to see everyone getting ready for a great game. Attendance just keeps increasing each year.”

More than 11,000 fans walked through the Perkins Stadium gates three times during the 2021 season:

15,406 against UW-Platteville on Oct. 9 – ninth-highest single-game attendance in Division III history according to D3football.com (sixth highest on-campus attendance) and second-highest single-game attendance in program history
11,248 against UW-Eau Claire on Oct. 30 – ranks among the top 50 in single-game attendance in Division III history according to D3football.com
11,991 against UW-La Crosse on Nov. 6 – ninth-highest single-game attendance in program history and among the top 30 in Division III history according to D3football.com

UW-Whitewater’s three other regular season games each drew more than 7,000 fans:

7,423 against Carthage on Sept. 4
8,102 against Berry (Ga.) on Sept. 18
8,963 against UW-Stout on Oct. 2