Bengals Attendance Improves By 24 Percent In 2012

Despite generating a .500 record at home this season, the Cincinnati Bengals attendance vastly improved compared to 2011, according to the Cincinnati Business Courier. Following the regular season finale, attendance at Paul Brown Stadium reached 489,504, an average 61,188 per game and 24 percent increase over last year's average of 49,000.

If you remember, the Bengals only sold out twice in 2011 against the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens, blacking out the remaining six games. Against the Arizona Cardinals, the second-to-last game in 2011, the Bengals only sold 41,273 tickets, prompting the team to offer a two-for-one ticket deal with season ticket holders during the regular season finale.

Of course the 2011 squad wasn't expected to do much and compounding the problem with the team's 2010 four-win season was embarrassing national stories of futility and a franchise quarterback that desperately demanded a trade. Season tickets, which make up a huge percentage of sell outs, dropped significantly.

This year's squad is following up a postseason berth with far more stability and encouragement during the offseason, while also promoting the youth movement with characters on this team you must root for, or be categorized as a puppy-kicker. As a result the team nearly renewed 100 percent of their season tickets and announced an additional 5,000 new season ticket holders.

Despite all of that, the Bengals weren't selling games out this year until the 11th hour in all but two games (Pittsburgh Steelers, Dallas Cowboys). On the other hand if the Bengals postseason this year takes on a positive stride by winning at least one postseason game, we figure those season tickets will only increase.