Total attendance National Football League regular season games 2008-2021

Total attendance at National Football League (NFL) games reached a record 18.29 million fans across the regular season in 2021. This high came after a significant low in the 2020 season when many games were forced behind closed doors as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Attendance at NFL games

Over the last few years the total attendance at regular season games of the National Football League has consistently been at more than 16 million per season. The NFL is composed of 32 teams and each team plays a minimum of eight home games during the regular season for a total of 256 games per season. The average attendance at National Football League games was at around 67,000 in the 2021 season.

In 2021, the Dallas Cowboys drew the most spectators to their home games with a total attendance of more than 747 thousand. The Cowboys also had the highest average attendance that season with around 93,420 people attending each home game. The Detroit Lions drew the fewest fans with an average attendance of 51,522 per game during the regular season. The average price for a ticket to an NFL game was at 107.05 U.S. dollars in 2021. On average, tickets to Las Vegas Raiders games were the most expensive (153.47 U.S. dollars), while tickets for Los Angeles Chargers games were the least expensive with an average price of 80.38 U.S. dollars.

Coronavirus throws 2020 season into chaos

Attendance at NFL regular season games during 2020 plummeted to 2.37 million as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. All preseason games were cancelled, along with the annual Pro Bowl, and games were played either in front of a greatly reduced crowd or in front of no fans at all. Although several games had to be postponed as a result of the crisis, all 256 regular season games were completed according to the original schedule.