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            NFL-16             3/29/04

NFL SETS ALL-TIME PAID ATTENDANCE RECORD SECOND STRAIGHT YEAR; SURPASSES 21 MILLION IN TOTAL ATTENDANCE SECOND YEAR IN ROW; WASHINGTON SETS ALL-TIME
NFL HOME ATTENDANCE RECORD

Paid attendance for all NFL games set an all-time record for the second consecutive year, the NFL announced today.

NFL paid attendance for all games played in 2003 of 21,639,040 rose by nearly 150,000 (133,902) over the previous record total of 21,505,138 in 2002.  It marked the second time in league history that the 21-million paid attendance mark was reached.    

The 2003 NFL regular-season total paid attendance of 16,913,584 and the average of 66,328 per game were both all-time records.            

A total of 3,919,910 tickets were sold for 66 preseason games for an average of 59,393.  Twelve postseason games produced a sale of 805,546, including 71,525 for Super Bowl XXXVIII. 

For the fourth consecutive year, the Washington Redskins set an all-time NFL regular-season home paid attendance record with a total of 667,033 for eight games.  Three other teams topped the 600,000 paid total at home in 2003: the New York Giants (628,962), Kansas City (627,981) and New York Jets (622,781).

Nine teams drew more than 1.1 million paid attendance home and away during the regular season, led by Washington (1,220,724).  The others were:  NY Giants (1,179,157), Kansas City (1,164,821), NY Jets (1,158,734), Buffalo (1,141,344), Denver (1,115,099), Cleveland (1,113,440), Philadelphia (1,113,380) and New England (1,110,691).  
 

2003 NFL PAID ATTENDANCE BREAKDOWN
 

*  Total does not include October 27 Miami at San Diego game played in Tempe, Arizona, for which admission was free.