For a while in the 2022 NFL season, the Washington Commanders were in an excellent position to earn a postseason berth. When Washington defeated the Atlanta Falcons on Nov. 27 to improve to 7-5, the Commanders held the NFC’s No. 6 playoff spot with five games to play — three at home.
When Washington tied the New York Giants in Week 13, defensive tackle Jonathan Allen told fans how much the team needed them in the Week 15 rematch, promising to buy at least 100 tickets for fans.
Allen followed through, giving tickets away to fans on Twitter.
Fans showed up. Unfortunately, the Commanders didn’t, falling 20-12 to the Giants. Two weeks later, Washington was eliminated from postseason contention with an embarrassing home loss to the Cleveland Browns.
Speaking of the fans, Washington’s home attendance at FedEx Field improved by 10.15% from the previous year, according to the Sports Business Journal. That was the third-largest improvement in the league behind the Detroit Lions and Jacksonville Jaguars.
That’s the good news.
Now for the bad news, 31 of the 32 NFL teams sold at least 92% of their stadium’s capacity. The only team that didn’t? You guessed it, the Washington Commanders, who sold 85.9% of their capacity.
Overall, it was a good year for the NFL.
The average NFL crowd grew by 3.25% to 69,442 per game in 2022, the second-largest figure in the last 19 years, according to an SBJ analysis of published box score attendance.
Throughout the year, Washington was encouraged by the increase in ticket sales. The Commanders also honored multiple stars from the past, including Sean Taylor, The Hogs and Sonny Jurgensen during games, hoping to encourage fans to return to FedEx Field.
With a potential new owner in 2023, it will be interesting to see if that translates into more fans returning to support the franchise.