The 26 most-watched sporting events of 2013 were all NFL games, including 16 in the regular season alone.

INFOGRAPHIC

Football’s Popularity is NOT Declining

BUT FAN ATTENDANCE IS WAY DOWN

Revenue (In Billions)

The league brings in an annual revenue of $9.5 billion. To put that number into perspective, Major League Baseball, the second-highest grossing league in the USA, had an annual revenue of $7 billion in 2012 and the NFL more than doubles the National Basketball Association and their revenue of “just” $4 billion.

20082009

20102011

Attendance fell for four straight years from 2008 through 2011. The league was forced to adjust its sell-out rules to avoid having too many blacked-out television broadcasts. (If a game isn't at least 85% sold, local stations aren't allowed to carry it live.)

16.8Million

17.4Million

17.3Million

17.18Million

(2002) (2007) (2012) (2013)

Attendance by the Numbers

Ticket Prices are Climbing

Cost of Attending

Fans are No Longer Enthusiastic About Attending Games

The League is Relying More and More on At-Home Viewers

The League is Still Doing Well Financially

In 2011, the NFL posted the lowest total attendance since the league expanded to 32 teams in 2002 with the addition of the Houston Texans. That year, 16,883,310 paying customers attended the 256 regular-season games. The number climbed over the next five years, maxing out at 17,345,205 in 2007. In 2013, 17.3 million fans attended regular season games, up less than a whole percentage point from 17.18 million in 2012.

$67 $78 $82

2007 2012 2013

The average NFL ticket in 2012 was $78.38, a 2.5 percent increase from 2011. Tickets averaged only $67.11 in 2007. In 2013, the average league ticket price was up to $82.

50%While ticket prices have climbed more than 50% over the past decade, parking prices have more than doubled, according to Team Marketing Report’s annual “Fan Cost Index”. Beer prices, meanwhile, have climbed about 35% from 2003's average of $5.21.MORE

In 1998, an ESPN sports poll revealed that 54 percent of fans would rather be at a game than watch it at home. When that poll was taken again in 2011, only 29 percent of fans wanted to be at the game, a precipitous drop.

$5 BilNFL

1.5 BilMLB

930 MilNBA

Yearly Revenue Brought in by TV Contracts

Mandatory In-Stadium Wifi Begins in 2014

The NFL has deals with Fox, CBS, NBC and ESPN and will make $5 billion annually from those contracts for the 2014-2022 seasons. That completely dwarfs the annual TV revenue that the other leagues make. The MLB earns $1.5 billion and the NBA has revenue of $930 million from television.

54%

What is the League Doing About It?

The league is making steps to improve fan expe-rience in the stadiums and appeal to a genera-tion of fans that rely on TV and the internet for NFL updates: The NFL is requiring all league stadiums to meet newly crafted minimum Wi-Fi and cellular standards by the end of the 2014 season, the latest move by America’s top sport to improve the in-game experience.

Other Potential Solutions:The NFL wants to transform live games into multimedia entertainment extravaganzas that fans watch in two ways at once: on the field and through their mobile devices. The league is ex-perimenting with exclusive camera angles, on-demand video replays, free access to Red-Zone, and order-from-your-seat snack and beer service -- all controlled through apps on your smartphone or tablet.

SOURCEShttp://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2013/12/2013-ratings-wrap-nfl-dominates-list-of-most-watched-sporting-events/http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1707663-nfl-is-the-most-popular-sports-league-in-the-usa-really-too-big-to-failhttp://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/07/08/after-peaking-in-2007-nfl-attendance-steadily-has-declined/http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba--keeping-fans-in-the-stands-is-getting-harder-to-do-005355696.htmlhttp://money.cnn.com/2013/09/07/pf/football-prices/http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1707663-nfl-is-the-most-popular-sports-league-in-the-usa-really-too-big-to-failhttp://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2013/10/21/Leagues-and-Governing-Bodies/NFL-WiFi.aspx

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