Between a dysfunctional quarterback situation and nickname controversy, the NFL team in Washington D.C. is a complete and utter mess. The franchise’s popularity has dipped, yet the stadium has typically remained close to, if not completely full.
But per Dan Steinberg and Scott Allen of The Washington Post, for the third time in five seasons, the team is decreasing FedEx Field’s capacity.
“At an open house at FedEx Field for fans interested in buying season tickets on Saturday, thousands of seats had already been removed from the top eight rows of many sections in the stadium’s upper deck. They had been replaced by tall metal poles jutting out from the concrete floor of the grandstand.”
Steinberg and Allen continued:
“It appeared on Saturday that somewhere between 4,000 and 6,000 seats had been removed. The team declined to provide any details about the scope of the reduction, or what would be replacing the empty rows.”
FedEx Field’s capacity eclipsed 90,000 in the late 2000s, but Washington has steadily removed seats from the venue. According to the numbers offered by Steinberg and Allen, FedEx Field should hold between 79,000-81,000 peopled during the 2015 season.
ESPN attendance numbers show Washington averaged nearly 78,000 fans per home game last year, the fifth-highest mark in the league—despite the team finishing 4-12.
Washington likely won’t perform much better this season, but by decreasing the capacity, the franchise will probably keep its 47-year sellout streak alive.
At least Washington has that going, because unless quarterback Robert Griffin III shows some dramatic improvement, the team won’t be worth watching anyway.
Photo: USA Today Sports