Not surprisingly, fewer fans are going to games in person. Financial news site 24/7 Wall St. used sports attendance data from ESPN over the past 10 years and found every one of the four major sports leagues in the United States has seen a decline in total attendance from 2008 to 2018.
But not every team is losing fans at the same rate.
Of the 12 franchises in the four sports to see the biggest decline in attendance, four were NFL teams.
Washington saw the biggest attendance decline among NFL franchises, ranking fifth with a 31.1 percent drop in average attendance, according to 24/7 Wall St.
The team led the NFL in average attendance in 2008, with 88,604 fans packing FedEx Field that season. In 2018, Washington averaged 61,028 fans, a decline of 31.1 percent.
Washington was the only NFL team that failed to fill at least three-quarters of seats in its stadium last season, per the website.
If Dwayne Haskins does what Washington drafted him to do, the team could see a resurgence.
The Bengals rank seventh on the list with a 21.4 percent drop in average attendance, the Buccaneers 10th with a 15.7 percent decline and the Colts 12th with a 10.8 percent decline.
If you’re wondering why the Chargers aren’t listed, 24/7 Wall St. did not consider teams that “switched venues or made significant changes to their existing venue.”
Major League Baseball had the top four teams on the list led by the Detroit Tigers, with a 41.3 percent average attendance drop since 2008.