Recently, I read in a sports magazine that attendance at sports events is at an all-time high. But that's diddling with numbers. Certainly, a greater number of people are going to sports events, but there are more teams. If there are 16 teams in a particular sport and the collective attendance for their season is 32 million, that comes to an average of 2 million a team. I don't believe announced attendance figures anyway.
Attendance is supposed to mean how many people attended.
Just last Wednesday, prior to the Al Gore and George W. Bush network appearances, my TV was tuned to a hockey game between Detroit and Florida. The stands at Detroit's Joe Louis Arena were less than half-filled. The TV commentators noted the sparseness of the crowd, rightfully attributed it to an awful snowstorm battering Detroit. Wednesday night, the NBA Charlotte Hornets announced they had sold 12,806 tickets for their game with Sacramento. The arena they play in holds 19,925.