Despite dismal seasons, Giants and Jets both finished in NFL's top 5 for home attendance at MetLife Stadium

The 2025 season was another miserable one for both the 3-14 Jets, who extended their playoff drought to 15 seasons — the longest in North American pro sports — and the 4-13 Giants, who finished at least five games under .500 for the third straight season.

Despite those dismal seasons, each team’s paid attendance at MetLife Stadium ranked among the highest in the NFL.

The Giants’ total paid attendance for their eight home games was 638,295, an average of 79,786.9 fans per game, the second-highest average in the NFL, they confirmed. The Jets had 599,091 fans at their eight home games, the team confirmed. Their 74,886.4 average ranks fifth in the NFL, according to Newsday’s research.

Paid attendance is measured by tickets sold but doesn't reflect the number of fans who actually show up.

“That sounds like a lot more fans than [there] are in the stadium, if we're being honest,” said Giants fan Linda Sleezer, 37, of Lake Ronkonkoma, who attended every home game the past two seasons. “I'm actually surprised to hear that stat. I mean, I think that's great. That says that we have some loyal fans that really are holding on to their tickets and keeping them in the family and in the Giants' territory.

“However, being a fan and being at all the games, it definitely didn't always feel like a home game. A lot of the attendance seemed to be visiting teams, especially towards the latter end of the season with the fact that, obviously, our record was subpar.”

Neither team immediately responded to further requests for comment on attendance. The Giants and Jets jointly own MetLife Stadium and lease the land from the state of New Jersey.

Based on Pro Football-Reference’s 2024 attendance numbers, the Giants’ average home attendance this season was a 1.7% increase from last season (78,470.1). The Jets’ home attendance dropped 5.1% from 2024 (78,918.3), not necessarily a surprise, given the impact of Aaron Rodgers.

MetLife Stadium’s listed capacity is 82,500, the highest in the league. AT&T Stadium, home of the Cowboys, is listed at only 80,000 but has the capability to expand to more than 100,000. Dallas, which played eight home games this season, led the NFL in both total home attendance (743,934) and average home attendance (92,991.8).

The Bears, who play in the smallest NFL stadium, Soldier Field (61,500 capacity), ranked last in the league in total home attendance (465,014) and average home attendance (58,126.8).

The factors

Jodi Balsam, a sports law professor at Brooklyn Law School, a longtime Giants season-ticket holder and previously an attorney with the NFL, had multiple takeaways from the attendance numbers. She said the NFL has mastered “basic scarcity economics” with ticket sales, capitalizing on having fewer games than other sports and fans valuing rare experiences more than accessible ones.

She also noted that the Giants and Jets — two historic franchises in a major media market and hub for several industries — have mastered the season-ticket model. The model guarantees that a large number of tickets are sold well in advance of the season, therefore contributing to high announced attendance figures regardless of how many fans show up on game day. She said the actual attendance, though it drops when the teams do not perform well, is a lot better than one would think because of the secondary ticket market — especially in New York.

“People are coming to New York City for a lot of reasons and will throw in a football game when tickets are available, as they will be on the secondary market when the teams are not performing well,” Balsam said. “So you have visiting team fans who might bundle attendance at their team’s away game in MetLife Stadium with a holiday visit to the Big Apple.

“And both of those teams are in divisions with strong rivalries, which further incentivizes fans of divisional opponents to make the trip to New York City to see their team’s away game in MetLife. So I think all of these factors are contributing to both paid and actual attendance.”

Week by week and the opposing fan problem

The Jets’ biggest crowd came in Week 1, when 83,253 was the announced paid attendance for the team’s 34-32 loss to Rodgers and the Steelers. It was the only Jets crowd this season that reached or exceeded MetLife’s capacity.

The following week against the Bills, the paid attendance was 80,875. In Week 5 against the Cowboys, it was 81,738. The Jets’ next-biggest crowd was in Week 10: 72,623 to see the 2-6 Browns face the 1-7 Jets.

“You have to really look at who's really coming to the game, specifically right after the first five weeks of the season,” said Jets season-ticket holder Will Chiarucci, 35, of Bellmore. “The quality of the fans matter at the end of the day. We know it, you know it, I know it: The Jet fan gave up on the team after Week 5 after another 0-5 start, and it's been opposing fans no matter what.”

The Jets’ paid attendance dipped to a season low against the Dolphins in Week 14 at 68,625. In the Jets’ home finale against the Patriots in Week 17, it was 70,918, including many who were chanting “MVP!” for New England quarterback Drake Maye.

“I don't necessarily believe [the attendance was] that high in the last five weeks,” said Jets season-ticket holder Josh Brown, 30, a Cold Spring Harbor native. “It was some of the lowest attendance I've seen in a long time. I've looked at that metric before. I've seen that stat. It does blow my mind . . .  If they said it was 70-something in the last game, there's no shot there were more than 40,000 people there.”

The Giants’ first five home games each had a paid attendance of at least 80,690, peaking in Week 9 against the 49ers (83,258). The Giants’ offense used silent counts in that game and the Week 11 game against the Packers (82,438) to counter opposing fans.

“I am an eyewitness to MetLife Stadium being overrun by visiting team fans who purchase their tickets on the secondary market,” Balsam said. “I think it was the Vikings game and another late-season game, the [Packers] game, where MetLife had as many purple and then green jerseys as blue jerseys when those teams visited.”

Said Sleezer: “I would love to see our attendance go back to full blue, and I mean Giants blue and no other blue.”

The MetLife fan experience

Since it opened in 2010, MetLife Stadium has been criticized over the years for its lack of character.

Balsam put it like this: “It's not that it’s a negative experience, it's just that it's absolutely nothing special.” She also said MetLife felt “outdated and basic” from the moment construction was complete, comparing it to “great fan experiences” at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium, Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium, Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium and Detroit’s Ford Field.

Sleezer knows MetLife cannot control the inevitable tough traffic from Long Island, but she did say there have been improvements with entering the stadium and its security.

Chiarucci never has had a problem dealing with the Jets or his ticket reps, but he would like to see more giveaways at games along with the showcasing of Jets history — such as the Lombardi Trophy from Super Bowl III — around MetLife. He avoids traffic by taking multiple trains to games, which he said was “the best way to go.”

Brown is a “big hater” of MetLife, calling it “totally vanilla.” He said the 82,500 capacity is too big, wishing they built the stadium at about 65,000 like Allegiant and Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium.

While the teams are among the league leaders in attendance on an annual basis, only one thing can happen to make the MetLife experience truly optimal: winning.

“Winning takes precedent to eve rything,” Chiarucci said. “You put a winner on the field, the fans are going to come.”