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As the Bengals took the field Thursday night to take on the Panthers, most fans were probably not expecting much more than they saw in the first two preseason games. That's probably one of the biggest reasons that only 41,735 people decided to spend the money on tickets to see the game in person at Paul Brown Stadium.
According to The Cincinnati Enquirer's Joe Reedy, that's the fifth-lowest crowd in PBS history.
Announced paid attendance of 41,735 is fifth-lowest crowd in PBS history #bengalsless than a minute ago via TweetDeck 
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Joe Reedy
joereedy
The official capacity of Paul Brown Stadium is 65,790.
It's not like this is that big of a deal. Fans not going to preseason games isn't a recent phenomenon. The tickets and concessions can be just as expensive as regular season games and the game your watching doesn't even count. Maybe tickets didn't sell because it was a Thursday night game and people have to get up early to go to work on Friday. Maybe the economy has left most Bengals fans without the expendable income necessary to buy preseason tickets. There are a lot of maybes.
I have a strong feeling, though, that based on how the Bengals played against the Panthers, there will be a lot more than 41,735 fans in Paul Brown Stadium when the Bengals host the Colts on Thursday, Sept. 1.