Dallas Cowboys lead NFL in best total fan attendance

The Dallas Cowboys led the NFL in total fan attendance during the 2023 season while recording their third straight 12-5 regular season record. According to the NFL’s official attendance figures, the Dallas Cowboys once again topped the league, meanwhile, the Chicago Bears finished last, just trailing the Arizona Cardinals and Las Vegas Raiders.

Dallas has ranked first in average home attendance every year since the opening of AT&T Stadium in 2009. The stadium capacity of 100,000 when expanded is No. 2 in the league. SoFi Stadium can contain just a few hundred more.

The Cowboys averaged 93,594 fans per home game in 2023, up from 93,465 in 2022. Second in total attendance for the season behind Dallas were the New York Jets, but the Giants had the second-highest average for fan attendance at MetLife with an average of 79,307 fans.

Cowboys top NFL attendance figures for 14 straight seasons

Dallas’s NFC East rivals, the Giants, Eagles, and Commanders ranked No. 2, No. 13, and No. 27, respectively.

Jerry Jones’ Cowboys are still the most valuable sports franchise in the world. The team is worth a whopping $8 billion, which is $1.8 billion more than the No. 2 most-valuable team, the New England Patriots. The Cowboys have managed to post massive valuations despite not claiming the Lombardi Trophy since 1995.

Of the world’s 50 most valuable sports franchises, the NFL oversees 30 of them, according to Forbes. The staggering numbers prove how dominant the NFL’s grip on American sports culture has become. Football became the nation’s favorite sport to watch for the first time in 1972 and hasn’t lost steam since.

AT&T Stadium won’t host World Cup final

Jerry Jones and Dallas had designs on hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup final, however, it is Metlife Stadium in New Jersey that the committee chose as the site of the final. That came after a few media reports had emerged a few weeks back that AT&T Stadium was going to be selected to host the final.

Jones indicated the decision was a close one and he’s proud of Dallas’ efforts to land the most prestigious game in the world. Dallas will still play host to nine World Cup games in the 2026 cycle. That will give local fans plenty of chances to attend games.

“What we had to sell was we believe that we represent, in the center of the country, what America’s about in our way,” Jones said. “And we believe we showed the future. And we tried to sell that. And we wanted the committee of them to buy into that as opposed to going to one of the other coasts, New York or Los Angeles. It was a hell of a battle. We almost got there.”