Students stand eagerly in line. Tickets begin to scan. Fans rush to their seats, ready to stand, scream and sing all game long.
These sights are commonplace at ASU football games, hockey games, soccer games, and even swim and dive.
The country has come to expect students to fill up stadiums on football and basketball game days, but it goes deeper in Tempe. The 2025 fall semester has seen ASU pack stadiums and arenas all around campus on gamedays of many sports.
The least surprising of the attendance figures in 2025 has been at Mountain America Stadium. All five football home games this season have been sold out, alongside the opening game against NAU, which broke ASU's student attendance record.
This was by design.
Head coach Kenny Dillingham has stressed the importance of fan participation. Ahead of September's blackout game against TCU, Dillingham urged fans to show up and show out.
"We need the fans there," Dillingham said. "We don't just need you there, we need you loud."
After the inferno created a deafening atmosphere in the desert, the Sun Devils took the No. 24 Horned Frogs 27-24.
However, fan participation for football is only the beginning.
50. That's how many consecutive student section sellouts ASU hockey marked after its tie against Colorado College on Nov. 7, a figure dating back multiple seasons.
The Mullett Maniacs don't just show up; they make an impact as well.
Freshman forward Jack Beck stepped into Tempe this season following the steps of his older brother, Noah Beck, who spent last season as an important piece of the Sun Devil roster. In his first game at home, Jack scored a goal in regulation, an important part of ASU coming back from a 3-0 deficit against Colorado College. He followed that up with a goal in the shootout that helped the Sun Devils defeat the Tigers. After playing his first game at Mullett Arena, Beck was amazed by the participation from the student section.
"I sadly never got to watch a game last year live," Jack said. "I would always watch at home, and I was pretty jealous of all the crowds my brother was at. So it's nice to finally see how much the student section embraces it, and they love it. And I mean, that's a huge reason why we came back tonight, just the crowd and everyone getting into it."
From the ice to the grass, fan participation has been no different.
Down the street at the Sun Devil Soccer and Lacrosse Stadium, ASU soccer's September match against then No. 10 BYU saw supporters shatter a school record. 2,207 fans showed up to watch the Sun Devils pick up an impressive victory.
So many fans showed up to the game that the entire seating area filled up, forcing people to move to a spillover area behind the goal.
ASU fans also overflowed the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center, going viral after breaking another record at a swim and dive meet. 2,867 fans, an NCAA record, packed the pool after ASU professor Matthew McCarthy urged his students to show up to an October meet against UNLV.
READ MORE: Professor McCarthy and Co. help Sun Devil Swim and Dive break attendance record
Not only are arenas filling up with Sun Devil fans, but student athletes are showing out for other sports, creating a sense of camaraderie in the ASU athletics community.
From swim and dive showing up at volleyball games to women's basketball showing up for men's basketball, ASU has a strong community of support at all athletic events in Tempe.
This feeling of community may stem not just from student athletes, but the coaches leading their teams.
As Molly Miller took over head coaching duties for women's basketball, the entire community was welcoming. However, Miller highlighted the other head coaches as an important outlet for support.
"I love our head coaches," Miller said. "They've been so welcoming. We have our own group texts, we're already planning to go to London together to the football game (next September)."
As Miller's debut in Tempe inched closer, the support from other head coaches only continued. After winning ASU's season opener, Miller was grateful for the encouragement from the other coaches on campus and saw the experience as a chance to encourage her team to continue the support into the future.
"I've got a bunch of different group chats, some subgroup chats, and about every single one of them sent me a personal text today, saying 'good luck,' so shout out to them," Miller said after the win against Coppin State on Nov. 3. "We got a lot of sports going on right now, and for them to support me today, I can only hope our program ... myself and our student athletes will get out and support our kind of ways."
Edited by Alan Deutschendorf, Henry Smardo and Ellis Preston.
Reach the reporter at aswift10@asu.edu and follow @alexswiftsports on X.
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