Jags attendance has improved - Ingles

At some point during the NFL season, some national pundit will repeat a misguided argument about Jaguars fans not supporting their team.

Jacksonville has become the national pariah for NFL attendance problems, but the facts from 2010 reveal otherwise.

After struggling to finish 30th in attendance in 2009, the Team Teal campaign paid dividends. In 2010, the Jaguars did not have a blackout and rose to No. 24 in average attendance (see chart below). This is no excuse for Jaguars fans to return to the bottom of the list in 2011.

But when some lazy sports commentator or journalist spouts off on the Jaguars’ poor attendance, feel free to remind them of the eight teams with worse attendance figures in 2010.

They include usual suspects along with two teams that won the Super Bowl in the last 12 years — Tampa Bay and St. Louis — and teams with rich traditions like Chicago. The Steelers, who play in a smaller stadium, averaged only 51 more fans per game than the Jaguars in 2010.

2010 average NFL attendance

1. Dallas 87,047

2. Washington 83,172

3. N.Y. Giants 79,019

4. N.Y. Jets 78,596

5. Denver 74,908

6. Carolina 72,620

7. Baltimore 71,227

8. Houston 71,080

9. Green Bay 70,795

10. New Orleans 70,038

11. San Francisco 69,732

12. Philadelphia 69,144

13. Tennessee 69,143

14. New England 68,756

15. Atlanta 67,850

16. Miami 67,744

17. Kansas City 67,672

18. Seattle 66,992

19. Indianapolis 66,975

20. Cleveland 66,116

21. San Diego 65,530

22. Buffalo 63,195

23. Pittsburgh 63,083

24. Jacksonville 63,032

25. Arizona 62,774

26. Chicago 62,195

27. Cincinnati 60,364

28. Minnesota 58,751

29. Detroit 56,285

30. St. Louis 52,922

31. Tampa Bay 49,314

32. Oakland 46,431

This article was written by David Johnson and appeared in The Florida Times-Union.