Home Attendance and TV Ratings Highlight Challenges For Washington Commanders

The Washington football franchise’s 2024 season has been a historic season full of unexpected success, a transcendent rookie quarterback, riveting last-second games, and a thrilling post-season ride to the NFC Championship game. Even someone like myself who had grown distant from the Washington Redskins due to Dan Snyder’s odious antics and then the loss of the Redskins name and branding suddenly felt the flicker of a long-dormant passion. A passion that I last felt back in 2012 during RG3’s rookie year.

As the Commies began piling up one win after another during the 2024 season, I began to see more and more Commies fans coming out of the shadows. Fans whose passions had long laid dormant over the past decade. Fans who had boxed up old Redskins gear and placed them away in dusty attics. Not only was old Redskins gear donned for the first time in years, I also saw something I had never seen before in public. Washington Commanders jerseys. To be specific, number 5 Washington Commanders jerseys.

The stunning rise of Jayden Daniels as a Top 5 quarterback in the NFL made old Redskins fans and young Commies fans excited. Suddenly, wearing a lame Commies jersey was cool. Especially if it was a number 5 jersey. Because Daniels is a football savant seemingly sent from heaven to resurrect the long-moribund Washington franchise. Even teenagers, who before would not have been caught dead in a Washington Commanders jersey, were seen wearing Daniels jerseys. The Commies went from being decidedly uncool and lacking a nationally popular player to being a trendy team with a nationally popular player in Daniels.

Just how popular has Daniels been in the DMV and across the country? Sales data from official NFL shops lists Jayden Daniels as the 5th best-selling jersey of the 2024 season. That is pretty impressive. Though still behind fellow rookie Caleb Williams who had the 2nd best-selling jersey in the 2024 season. Of course, the Chicago fanbase is bigger than the Washington fanbase which dwindled under Snyder’s ownership and then suffered a loss of even more fans once the team lost the Redskins name and uniforms.

I was fairly convinced that the Commies’ wildly successful and entertaining 2024 season combined with the sublime talent of Jayden Daniels was going to translate into an increase in the number of fans returning to the franchise. How could it not? After all, the Commies finally hit the franchise quarterback lottery with Daniels and enjoyed massive success making it to the NFC Championship game. 2024 was the best season the Washington football franchise has had in over thirty years!

On top of that, the team was likable. Josh Harris and Co. are classy owners who have done all they can to win the fans’ loyalty and trust. The players assembled by general manager Adam Peters were all quality guys who were easy to root for. The Commies were fun to watch. The games were exhilarating. The season had multiple take-your-breath-away moments. There was no way that the Commies were not going bring back most of the fans who had abandoned the franchise for one good reason or another.

Before the 2024 season, the Commies struggled to lure old fans back to the team even with a new owner in Josh Harris. The hatred of the Commanders name and brand by a large percentage of the fanbase made many fans feel like the Commies were an expansion team. Losing the Redskins name and brand created a massive emotional disconnect between numerous fans of the Washington franchise. I know that all of this is true.

Before the magical 2024 season, it had been discussed if the Commanders name and brand were a barrier to bringing fans back to the franchise. Various personalities on the radio and online claimed that all the Commies had to do was win and the fans would return in droves. I never agreed with that statement. Such a facile view discounted the passion and emotional attachment that drives much of a fan’s connection with an NFL franchise.

I felt that some fans might return if the local 53 suddenly improved. But, I knew that a large percentage of the fanbase was lost due to the Commanders name and brand. That winning would not be able to perfume over the foul stench of Dan Snyder that covers the Commanders name and brand. And this is the heart of the problem. A huge percentage of the fanbase will forever equate the Commanders name and brand with Dan Snyder. That the Commanders brand was a sloppy and lazy rebrand foisted on the fans by Dan Snyder as a final middle finger salute as he left the franchise.

Of course, it also did not help that the Commanders’ uniforms made the team unrecognizable to fans. The result is that many fans viewed the Commies as an expansion team that just moved into town after the Redskins left. For many fans, the Commanders were no more the same franchise as the Redskins kind of like how the Baltimore Ravens are no more the same franchise as the Baltimore Colts.

However, witnessing a season as amazing as this 2024 season and being gifted an arguably Top 5 franchise quarterback made me think that maybe those people were correct. That fans would no longer care about the name and branding and gladly run back to the Washington franchise. That all that mattered was winning and getting a franchise quarterback. After all, I had seen more people than ever before walking around town in Daniels jerseys and rocking old Redskins gear. Personally, I had felt that old familiar joy of watching the Washington football franchise battle its way to the NFC Championship game with incredible style.

The 2024 season was the perfect storm. Josh Harris could not have scripted a more desirable season. The Commies delivered entertaining games every week, attained their best regular season record in over thirty years, and made it to the NFC Championship game for the first time in over thirty years. On top of that Harris got blessed with Daniels turning out to be a legitimate Top 5 franchise quarterback. The 2024 season was beyond even Harris’ wildest dreams. Harris has to feel like he hit the football lottery with the 2024 season. I had to admit that perhaps I was wrong and the Commies just benefited from almost impossibly good luck and Harris would avoid having to deal with a name and brand change.

And yet, the proof is always in the numbers. Therefore, I was interested in the Commies’ 2024 season home attendance numbers and their local TV ratings. This data was vital in determining how much of the once proud fanbase had returned due to a dazzling 2024 season. The numbers were surprising and not encouraging.

ESPN has the 2024 season home attendance numbers for all the NFL franchises. The Commies came in an embarrassing 30th place out of 32 teams. The Commies averaged 63,428 people per game. Now, keep in mind that Northwest Field ranks 20th out of the 30 NFL stadiums in size with a capacity of 67,717. So, it is easier for The Commies to sell out games compared to the twenty-one franchises with larger stadiums.

Another factor to keep in mind was the number of times that Northwest Field got taken over by fans of the opposing team this year. This was seen in the home games against the Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles, New York Giants, Baltimore Ravens, and Pittsburgh Steelers. 2024 did show some improvement for the Commies in terms of selling tickets and having more fans at the games. But, ranking 20th out of 30 stadiums in average attendance is awful given the amazing season and the draw of a star rookie in Jayden Daniels. Also, the Commies still lack a consistent dominant home crowd that many other successful NFL franchises enjoy.

Then there are the important local TV ratings for the Commies’ games during the 2024 season. TV ratings are far more important in telling the health of a fanbase than attendance numbers for home games. On January 29, 2024, John Ourand from Puck News appeared on the Kevin Sheehan Podcast and reported that the local TV numbers for the Washington Commanders games in 2024 were surprisingly low. The Commies came in 21st place among the 32 NFL franchises in the local TV ratings. My jaw dropped open as I heard that. Keep in mind that the Washington, DC DMA is ranked 7th in the nation.

It is unfathomable that local TV ratings for the Commies would be this low. Nobody would have ever imagined that a team that had its best season in over thirty years, went to the NFC Championship game, and possessed an enchanting Top 5 quarterback in just his rookie year would have been as low as 21st out of 32 teams. These local TV ratings have to be crushing for Josh Harris and Co. and far more alarming than the low average attendance ranking.

The odds are that the Commies will not return to the NFC Championship game in 2025. After all, neither the Detroit Lions nor the San Francisco 49ers made it back to the NFC Championship game in 2024. The 2025 schedule will be much harder. The Commies will not likely enjoy as much good fortune and luck as they did this season. What happens if Daniels regresses some like C.J. Stroud did this year and the Commanders have a worse record and do not go as far in the playoffs?

The local TV ratings cast a light on the fact that there is still something terribly broken in the Commies’ fanbase. Harris and Co. should be on high alert and concerned that such an amazing season produced such terrible local TV ratings. My initial belief that Josh Harris is going to have to deal with the Snyder-created Commanders name and brand sooner than later is now bolstered by this data. If 2024 did not create a massive turnaround in the fanbase then nothing will. Well, other than finally erasing the last vile vestige of Dan Snyder by getting rid of the Commanders name and brand.