NFL attendance

The National Football League is the largest live spectator sport in the world in terms of average attendance. Despite the recession and rising ticket prices,^[1] as of the 2009-10 season the NFL averaged 67,509 live spectators per game, and 17,282,225 total for the season.^[2]

Although average attendance is the highest in the world, ticket sales have been declining since the recession began in 2007. The 2010-11 season attendance numbers are expected to decline slightly as well.^[3] The recession, rising ticket prices,^[4], competition with other sports, competition with other forms of entertainment like movies, and high television coverage^[5] have all been to blame for declining league attendance.

2010 Attendance Statistics

Soldier Field

Gillette Stadium

CenturyLink Field (formerly Qwest Field)

Cleveland Browns Stadium

Team	Stadium	Home Games	Average Attendance	Total Attendance	Capacity Percentage
Dallas Cowboys	Cowboys Stadium	8	87,047	696,377	108.8%[6]
Washington Redskins	FedExField	8	83,172	665,380	90.7%
New York Giants	New Meadowlands Stadium	8	79,019	632,156	95.8%
New York Jets	New Meadowlands Stadium	8	78,596	628,768	95.3%
Denver Broncos	Invesco Field at Mile High	8	74,908	599,264	98.4%
Carolina Panthers	Bank of America Stadium	8	72,620	580,965	98.4%
Baltimore Ravens	M&T Bank Stadium	8	71,227	569,817	100.3%
Houston Texans	Reliant Stadium	8	71,080	568,643	100.0%
Green Bay Packers	Lambeau Field	8	70,795	566,362	97.1%
New Orleans Saints	Louisiana Superdome	8	70,038	560,304	96.0%
Philadelphia Eagles	Lincoln Financial Field	8	69,144	553,152	102.3%
Tennessee Titans	LP Field	8	69,143	553,144	100.0%
New England Patriots	Gillette Stadium	8	68,756	550,048	100.0%
Atlanta Falcons	Georgia Dome	8	67,850	542,800	95.2%
Miami Dolphins	Sun Life Stadium	8	67,744	541,959	90.1%
Kansas City Chiefs	Arrowhead Stadium	8	67,672	541,380	88.2%
Seattle Seahawks	Qwest Field	8	66,992	539,141	100.0%
Indianapolis Colts	Lucas Oil Stadium	8	66,975	535,942	106.3%
Cleveland Browns	Cleveland Browns Stadium	8	66,116	528,933	90.3%
San Diego Chargers	Qualcomm Stadium	8	65,530	524,241	91.9%
Pittsburgh Steelers	Heinz Field	8	63,083	504,669	97.1%
Jacksonville Jaguars	EverBank Field	8	63,032	504,262	93.8%
Arizona Cardinals	University of Phoenix Stadium	8	62,774	502,197	99.0%
Chicago Bears	Soldier Field	8	62,195	497,561	101.1%
San Francisco 49ers	Candlestick Park	7	69,732	488,124	99.3%
Cincinnati Bengals	Paul Brown Stadium	8	60,364	482,917	92.1%
Minnesota Vikings	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome**	8	58,751	470,009	94.1%
Detroit Lions	Ford Field	8	56,285	450,286	87.3%
Buffalo Bills	Ralph Wilson Stadium**	7	63,195	442,366	86.5%
St. Louis Rams	Edward Jones Dome	8	52,922	423,383	81.0%
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Raymond James Stadium	8	49,314	394,513	75.1%
Oakland Raiders	Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum	8	46,431	371,448	73.7%

2010 Notes

• Total does not include the one regular season home game the Buffalo Bills play each year from 2008–2012 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario as part of the Bills Toronto Series.
• Total does not include the NFL International Series regular season game played in London, England in which the San Francisco 49ers were designated the home team in 2010.
• Total includes 2 home games the Minnesota Vikings played at Ford Field and TCF Bank Stadium due to the collapse of the Metrodome roof.

2009 Attendance Statistics

FedEx Field

LP Field

Heinz Field

Ralph Wilson Stadium

Team	Stadium	Home Games	Average Attendance	Total Attendance	Capacity Percentage
Dallas Cowboys	Cowboys Stadium	8	89,756	718,055	112.2% [7]
Washington Redskins	FedExField	8	84,794	678,352	92.5%
New York Giants	Giants Stadium	8	78,701	629,615	98.1%
New York Jets	Giants Stadium	8	77,052	616,420	96.0%
Denver Broncos	Invesco Field at Mile High	8	75,116	600,928	98.7%
Carolina Panthers	Bank of America Stadium	8	73,289	586,314	99.3%
Baltimore Ravens	M&T Bank Stadium	8	71,082	568,660	100.1%
Green Bay Packers	Lambeau Field	8	70,708	565,666	97.0%
Houston Texans	Reliant Stadium	8	70,608	564,864	99.4%
New Orleans Saints	Louisiana Superdome	8	70,105	560,840	96.1%
San Francisco 49ers	Candlestick Park	8	69,732	557,856	99.3%
Philadelphia Eagles	Lincoln Financial Field	8	69,144	553,152	102.3%
Tennessee Titans	LP Field	8	69,143	553,144	100.0%
Cleveland Browns	Cleveland Browns Stadium	8	68,888	551,110	94.1%
New England Patriots	Gillette Stadium	8	68,756	550,048	100.0%
Atlanta Falcons	Georgia Dome	8	68,173	545,389	95.7%
San Diego Chargers	Qualcomm Stadium	8	67,543	540,345	94.7%
Miami Dolphins	Sun Life Stadium	8	67,542	540,342	89.8%
Kansas City Chiefs	Arrowhead Stadium	8	67,514	540,114	88.0%
Seattle Seahawks	Qwest Field	8	67,392	539,141	100.6%
Indianapolis Colts	Lucas Oil Stadium	8	66,549	532,398	105.6%
Cincinnati Bengals	Paul Brown Stadium	8	64,004	512,032	97.7%
Minnesota Vikings	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	8	63,775	510,203	99.5%
Pittsburgh Steelers	Heinz Field	8	63,485	507,882	97.7%
Arizona Cardinals	University of Phoenix Stadium	8	63,142	505,143	99.6%
Chicago Bears	Soldier Field	8	62,250	498,000	101.2%
Buffalo Bills	Ralph Wilson Stadium**	7	70,128	490,898	95.9%
St. Louis Rams	Edward Jones Dome	8	55,237	441,901	84.6%
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Raymond James Stadium	7	68,756	440,940	96.0%
Jacksonville Jaguars	Jacksonville Municipal Stadium	8	49,651	397,214	73.9%
Detroit Lions	Ford Field	8	49,395	395,162	76.6%
Oakland Raiders	Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum	8	44,284	354,276	70.3%

2009 Notes

• Total does not include the one regular season home game the Buffalo Bills play each year from 2008–2012 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario as part of the Bills Toronto Series.
• Total does not include the NFL International Series regular season game played in London, England in which the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were designated the home team in 2009.
• Until the 2009-10 season the New York Giants, and New York Jets played at Giants Stadium. They began play at New Meadowlands Stadium on August 16,2010.

References

1. ^ http://roughingthepasser.wordpress.com/2010/08/17/the-real-truth-concerning-nfl-attendance/
2. ^ http://www.sportingintelligence.com/2010/01/04/nfl-maintains-massive-lead-in-attendance-040105/
3. ^ http://content.usatoday.com/communities/thehuddle/post/2010/09/nfl-attendance-likely-to-fall-for-third-straight-season-in-2010-to-lowest-level-since-1998/1
4. ^ http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/09/01/nfl-ticket-sales-expected-to-fall-to-lowest-level-since-1998/
5. ^ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/18/AR2010091803691.html
6. ^ http://espn.go.com/nfl/attendance/_/year/2010/sort/homePct
7. ^ http://espn.go.com/nfl/attendance/_/year/2009/sort/homePct