NFL sets regular-season paid attendance record

National
Football League

The NFL
set a regular-season attendance record for the fifth year in a row, averaging
more than 67,000 fans per game for the second consecutive year, the NFL
announced.

Total paid
attendance for the 2007 regular season averaged 67,738 fans per game and
increased to 17,341,012, topping last year’s all-time mark of 17,340,879.

“Our teams
and players are most appreciative of the large and fervent crowds that make NFL
games so unique,” said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. “We again thank the most
dedicated fans in sports for their continued support.”

The
17,341,012 tickets sold to the NFL’s 256 regular-season games in 2007
represented paid attendance at more than 90 percent of stadium capacity.

In 2007,
NFL games were the top-rated program in local NFL TV markets a record 86
percent of the time (the previous record was 80 percent in 2006). TV blackouts
were lifted due to sold-out games (72 hours in advance) in 96 percent of games
this season (only 10 local TV blackouts in 256 games).

Top five
regular-season average paid attendances:

Rank

Year

Avg.

Games

1

2007
67,738

256

2

2006
67,738
256

3

2005
66,455

256

4

2004

66,409

256

5

2003
66,328
255