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Attendance declined because Appalachian nor any other SoCon team was in it. Richmond didn't have that big a fan base. Montana, No. Iowa, etc just aren't going to bring a big crowd that far.
I think the NCAA has had attendance issues when they try to play at a neutral site. When Marshall hosted it, they drew well but Marshall was in the mix. Of course choosing between Huntington WV and Chattanooga back when I was in college would have been difficult. Both were dumps. I've heard that
Chattanooga has improved. I doubt much can be done to improve Huntington.
Years ago, back when 1AA got started, The Citadel's stadium hosted it. I think it held about 22K but was old and had no improvements at that point. Charleston's a nice city and there is good weather and things to do but its not really near anything and the NCAA moved it.
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