With fans buoyed by a long-awaited change in ownership, the Commanders led all NFL teams in attendance growth with a 10% gain in their average crowd size to 63,951, according to an SBJ analysis of published box scores for the 2023 season.

The Commanders, who were purchased by a group led by Josh Harris from Dan Snyder for a record price of $6.05B, helped the NFL increase its leaguewide per-game average to 69,524 fans, the highest figure since SBJ began tracking the figure in 2004. The previous high-water mark, 69,487, came in 2016, and the league has now wiped out the ensuing attendance decline of the late 2010s.

All told, the league’s total attendance in 2023 grew slightly from 18.8 million to 18.9 million, which is notable because the inventory declined slightly — the international venues were collectively 13% smaller by capacity than a year earlier, and the extra home games under the 17-game schedule went to the AFC, which has smaller markets and smaller stadiums on average.

As a result, the percentage of inventory distributed grew from 96.7% to 98.6%. No team used less than 92% of its available seats. This metric is critical to NFL club business development leaders, who emphasize maximizing the business impact of available assets over sheer numbers.

Aside from Washington, other top gainers included: the Jaguars   (up 5.2% to 66,946), the Texans (up 4.8% to 71,194), and the N.Y. Giants (up 3.7% to 79,307).

The biggest declines came from the Buccaneers (down 7.6% to 63,756 in their first season after Tom Brady’s retirement), the Titans (down 5.3% to 64,959), and the Patriots, which still sold out but cut capacity after renovations at Gillette Stadium (down 1.9% to 64,628).

For the first time, SBJ did not include international games in the attendance figures for the designated “home” teams. Year-over-year comparisons have been adjusted to reflect that change.

Box score attendance figures — not to be confused with ticket sales or revenue — have limitations. They generally include all tickets distributed, whether sold or given away, and not actual turnstile activity. Team and ticketing industry veterans say there’s little rigor or oversight to methodology, which changes from time to time.