Based on its proposed plan to build a riverfront stadium and impassioned pleas from fans, St. Louis might have put forth the best effort to keep its NFL team from relocating to L.A.
Based on attendance this past year, however, St. Louis did the worst.
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In a showdown with the Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers, the two other franchises looking to relocate to L.A., the Rams will almost certainly finish last in average attendance.
With its eight-game home schedule complete, the Rams averaged 52,402 spectators per game, just 80 percent of the Edward Jones Dome’s capacity. (This number is based on tickets sold, not the number of people actually at a game.) Both of those figures are last in the NFL.
The Chargers played their final home game on Sunday, ending the season averaging 66,772 fans per game (94 percent capacity). The Raiders host the Chargers next week; with a lone home game remaining, Oakland averaged 54,644 (87 percent capacity.) The Chargers’ tally puts the franchise 18th in attendance and Oakland in 30th.
Sitting at 31st are the Minnesota Vikings, which played at the University of Minnesota this season while a stadium is being built in downtown Minneapolis. A favorite to clinch a playoff spot, the Vikings have drawn an average of 52,426 people over seven games—but that’s 105 percent of capacity for the small stadium that the team is temporarily calling home. The proposed new downtown stadium would seat 64,000 fans, including suites and luxury boxes.
Rams owner Stan Kroenke wants to move his team to a self-financed stadium in Inglewood, California, which would seat 80,000; if the team sold out all games, it would finish behind only Dallas (91,649) in attendance. The Chargers and Raiders’ proposed $1.7 billion stadium in Carson, California, would also seat 80,000. (If every seat were filled during every game in the Rams’ current stadium, that would place the team 23rd in attendance, just behind the Pittsburgh Steelers, who averaged 64,356.)
Rounding out the top five in attendance for 2015, after the Cowboys: the New York Giants (79,141), Green Bay Packers (78,114), New York Jets (78,160), and Denver Broncos (76,944).
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated from an earlier version.
