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Falcons’ actual attendance fell well short of announced attendance

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Falcons GM Thomas Dimitroff discusses how the Patriots have been able to maintain their level of success and Atlanta's plans for the offseason.

When NFL teams announce attendance, they’re typically announcing something other than the actual number of fans who attend a game. Usually, the attendance number is the number of tickets sold.

In the case of the 2018 Falcons, the actual attendance was well below the number of tickets sold: Although fans bought up tickets early in the year because they were expecting a third consecutive playoff season, as the team slumped to a losing record, there were tens of thousands of no-shows.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that average attendance was actually much lower than the “official” attendance of more than 72,000 that the Falcons announced for two late-season games.

Documents obtained by the stadium authority show that 60,626 fans attended the Falcons’ seventh home game, which had an announced attendance of 72,262. And only 56,470 fans attended the Falcons’ final home game, which had an announced attendance of 72,084.

Those weren’t the only games at Mercedes-Benz Stadium that had lower attendance than announced. The SEC Championship Game had an actual attendance of 69,614 compared to an announced 77,141, the MLS Cup had an actual 69,004 compared to an announced 73,019 and the Peach Bowl had an actual 68,413 compared to an announced 74,006.