NFL Attendance Ratings Show Poor Numbers For California Teams

Maybe the NFL and California just aren’t the match made in heaven that every wants.

California may be the most populated state in the country, but it’s hardly the home to sellout crowds in the NFL. As we head into the halfway point of this regular season, there’s a glaring trend that doesn’t paint a pretty picture for California: the NFL simply lacks popularity among the “Golden State.”

Only five teams this year have failed to hit the 90 percent sellout mark at home thus far, three of which are located in (you guessed it) California. Those three teams are the San Diego Chargers (80.3%), the Oakland Raiders (86%) and the new Los Angeles Rams at 89.8 percent.

Now, those percentages may seem high to some, but that’s hardly the case. Eleven teams are averaging more than 100 percent attendance at home-with the Dallas Cowboys leading at 114.6 percent-many of which are spread around throughout different regions of the country. Take for example small little Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers home attendance rate this year is 107.5 percent despite the “small,” “cold” and “boring” city persona.

The only California-based team not in the bottom five is the San Francisco 49ers, who respectively rank sixth overall. Although Jed York and 49ers management are making a great deal of money from sold tickets, things aren’t always what they seem. Many 49ers games barely even appeared occupied by home fans by the Bay.

Photos from CBS Sports captured from Week 7 show some disappointing images for the York’s. The pictures show a barely one-fifth filled Levi’s Stadium. Maybe fans have had it with Chip Kelly’s squad. Maybe fans don’t want to travel across the bridge from San Francisco. Is it possible fans have had it with Colin Kaepernick’s protests? Maybe. One thing is for sure, 49ers fans are not filling Levi’s Stadium during the most beautiful time of the year. Just wait until it gets cold.

But how could this be? How could the 49ers have the sixth highest home attendance, but have an empty stadium? The answer is presales. It appears as if 49ers fans chose to buy an exuberant amount of tickets before the season began, but have chosen not to appear to the games themselves. Again, we can debate all day why that is the case, whether it’s travel, high taxes, poor play or something else, but the numbers and photos don’t lie.

This is a very bad sign for California, especially with the Raiders more than likely on their way out heading to Las Vegas, Nevada. This is nothing new. We’ve seen the NFL fail in California numerous times before. Just last season the Raiders had the second lowest home attendance rate in the league, and the San Diego Chargers, like the Raiders also need a new stadium. The Chargers are the bottom dwellers this year in home ticket sales, and they desperately need a new facility.

Good news for California fans, it’s almost NBA season.