Attendance is slipping for the Green Bay Packers with their star quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, warming the bench due to an injury.
This year, an average of 78,093 people attend their games. According to data compiled by the SportsBusiness Journal, an affiliated publication of the Milwaukee Business Journal, the average attendance is down 0.2% from the Packers' 2016 season.
Low attendance appears to be an overall issue lately for the NFL. Numerous issues contribute to this lack of participation and interest. Many star players are not healthy to play, like Rodgers. Protests over players kneeling during the National Anthem have created tension and division in the fans. In addition, people are generally concerned with players' safety and potential saturation of the product.
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Twenty of the 32 NFL teams have seen drops in attendance this year compared to the 2016 season. This data, from the SportsBusiness Journal, includes all games through Sunday night, but not Monday night games in Week 14 from 2016 or 2017.
Overall, the biggest decrease in fans this season have been for the Los Angeles Rams and Chargers. Perhaps the Chargers' recent move to the StubHub Center plays a role in this decrease. The StubHub Center usually hosts Major League Soccer games and only holds 27,000 fans. The Rams have been playing in the Los Angeles Coliseum, which holds 94,000 fans, since their move from St. Louis.
The Detroit Lions have seen the largest increase in fans in the entire league. Their attendance is up 6.9% from 2016.
2017 has been a year of rise and fall of fan attendance at NFL games.
