2012 NFL Attendance Recap

Photo of Qualcomm Stadium before a San Diego Chargers home game.

The outcome of the 2012 NFL season was anything but dull. The San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens both returned to their former dominance by earning a trip to the Super Bowl in New Orleans. For the first time ever, two brothers would coach against each other in a Super Bowl (Jim and John Harbaugh). The Baltimore Ravens went on to win their second Super Bowl since 1999.

Here is how each team fared in attendance for the 2012 NFL season.

Venue/Team	Total Season Attendance	Avg. Nightly Attendance	Percentage of Capacity
1. AT&T Stadium (Cowboys)	708249	88531	110.70%
2. Metlife Stadium (Giants)	643964	80495	97.60%
3. Fedex Field (Redskins)	637236	79654	86.90%
4. Metlife Stadium (Jets)	632704	79088	95.90%
5. Sports Authority Field at Mile High (Broncos)	613062	76632	100.70%
6. Bank of America Stadium (Panthers)	586347	73293	99.30%
7. Mercedes-Benz Superdome (Saints)	583107	72888	99.90%
8. NRG Stadium (Texans)	573321	71665	100.90%
9. M&T Bank Stadium (Ravens)	570229	71278	100.40%
10. Lambeau Field (Packers)	564062	70507	96.70%
11. Georgia Dome (Falcons)	560773	70096	98.40%
12. Candlestick Park (49ers)	557856	69732	99.30%
13. Lincoln Financial Field (Eagles)	553152	69144	102.30%
14. LP Field (Titans)	553144	69143	100.00%
15. Gillette Stadium (Patriots)	550044	68755	100.00%
16. Arrowhead Stadium (Chiefs)	548070	68508	89.30%
17. CenturyLink Field (Seahawks)	543570	67946	101.40%
18. FirstEnergy Stadium (Browns)	533058	66632	91.00%
19. Lucas Oil Stadium (Colts)	521518	65189	103.50%
20. Everbank Field (Jaguars)	519872	64984	96.80%
21. Ralph Wilson Stadium (Bills)	454653	64950	88.90%
22. Ford Field (Lions)	510158	63769	98.90%
23. Soldier Field (Bears)	498633	62329	101.30%
24. Paul Brown Stadium (Bengals)	489504	61188	93.40%
25. Heinz Field (Steelers)	489135	61141	94.10%
26. University of Phoenix Stadium (Cardinals)	487125	60890	96.00%
27. The Metrodome (Vikings)	485802	60725	94.70%
28. Qualcomm Stadium (Chargers)	479716	59964	84.10%
29. Sun Life Stadium (Dolphins)	459033	57379	76.30%
30. Edward Jones Dome (Rams)	396925	56703	76.30%
31. Raymond James Stadium (Buccaneers)	440819	55102	83.90%
32. O.co Coliseum (Raiders)	433732	54216	86.00%

An astonishing ten teams finished the season having sold out every home game. The Dallas Cowboys operated at an attendance capacity of a whopping 110% and as usual were first in attendance. They were able to reach that number with all of the 'Party Pass' tickets offered at AT&T Stadium. These are the standing room only tickets for fans. The NFC East as a conference also boasted strong attendances with three of it's four teams in the top five.

What's intriguing is how the Pittsburgh Steelers are always at the bottom of the league's attendance lists yet boast by far one of the league's most popular franchises. Those numbers should change in coming years when they add some 4,000 additional seats to Heinz Field.

The largest jump in attendance in 2012 were the Cincinnati Bengals and Paul Brown Stadium. The team finished dead last in attendance in 2011 with less than 400,000 fans attending a Cincinnati Bengals game. In 2012, they climbed eight spots with nearly 490,000 Bengals fans turning out for games. The largest drop in attendance happened in Kansas City who finished 8th in NFL attendance in 2011 but 16th in NFL attendance in 2012. Arrowhead Stadium has always been one of the more frequented stadiums with it's passionate fan base and lively tailgate scene.

For the second straight year, the Tampa Buccaneers, St. Louis Rams, Oakland Raiders and Miami Dolphins all finished in the bottom five on the NFL attendance list. This is simply because of the lack of competitiveness of those teams.

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