“We need all of you this week,’’ said cornerback Adam “Pacman’’ Jones, one of a handful of players who made postgame pitches.
Cincinnati has finished in the middle of the pack in attendance season after season despite results that would doom a franchise in just about any other pro sport. But as a trio of TV deals announced just two weeks ago proved again, the NFL is unlike any other league. Despite stumbling through a lockout this summer and scrambling to cope with a growing concussion problem, it remains North America’s most popular game by just about any measure.
But even the NFL is not immune to a struggling economy. According to figures compiled by Business Insider, attendance at games has slipped four years in a row. In 2007, the league’s teams, on average, played to 99.9 percent capacity; last season, that figure was 94.6 percent. An NFL spokesman said Monday that 2011 attendance was down 0.5 percent ahead of the final regular-season weekend.
Already ahead of the curve, the Bengals touched a new low at Paul Brown Stadium this season against Buffalo (41,142) and sold out only one home game — a gift from thousands of Steelers’ fans who made the journey from Pittsburgh. Although Cincinnati currently occupies the league’s cellar in terms of attendance — 72 percent capacity, on average — St. Louis, Tampa Bay, Miami, Buffalo and even NFL-crazy Washington are all below 90 percent this season. Large swaths of empty seats weren’t uncommon in Jacksonville, San Diego, Kansas City and Indianapolis, too.
