NFL attendance for 2019 shows the league is still struggling to put fans in the seats. In fact, attendance crashed to a 15-year low.
The NFL averaged 66,648 fans in the seats per game, the lowest level since 2004, according to David Broughton and Andrew Levin of Sports Business Daily.
For the last 11 years, the Cowboys have had the highest average attendance with 90,929 fans. But 15 teams lost fans including the Jaguars (down 8.7 percent), the Raiders (minus 7.6 percent) and the Bengals (down 7.0 percent).
On the other hand, Redskins attendance gained 7.3 percent and the Buffalo Bills attendance grew by 6 percent.
“Attendance peaked in 2016, with 69,487 per game. In 2004, 66,328 attended each game, on average,” Profootball Talk reported.
On the other hand, the league witnessed a rise in TV ratings. With a concerted push to get back to football and leave the politics behind, the league saw a five percent hike in its TV audience.
The NFL saw a significant ratings gains for the second season in a row, Breitbart Sports reported this week. In particular, 2019 ratings were rosier than its previous three seasons.
Sports Business Journal reporter Austin Karp noted that viewership was up 5 percent for 2019 compared to 2018. The average game for 2019 earned 16.498 million viewers, whereas the 2018 season only saw 15.759 million viewers.
NFL viewership was up 5% across the board for 2019 season (16.498 million viewers vs. 15.759 million). CBS, NBC, Fox, ESPN each post solid gains. Despite a Week 16 Saturday tripleheader helping NFL Network to its best day ever, the network was down 8% for season for game coverage
— Austin Karp (@AustinKarp) December 31, 2019
Follow Warner Todd Huston on facebook.com/Warner.Todd.Huston.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.