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NFL games last week were the top-rated shows in all 30 of the league's markets for the first time.
NFL season attendance also was the highest ever.
Paid attendance for regular-season games was 66,329 per game. The previous record was set in 2000, when an average of 66,078 tickets were sold for regular-season games.
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Total paid attendance for the 2003 season increased to 16,913,944, topping last
year's all-time mark of 16,833,310.
One reason was the opening of a bigger new stadium in Philadelphia, plus refurbished stadiums in Chicago and Green Bay.
The ratings that set the mark began with the game on Monday night, Dec. 22, when Green Bay beat Oakland, and continued through last Saturday and Sunday, the games topped all other ratings.
For the season, NFL games were the top-rated shows 73 percent of the time, up from 69 percent last year and 55 percent in 2001.
According to the NFL, the previous high was on opening weekend this season, when the games were the top-rated show in 28 markets.
There are 32 NFL teams,
but 30 markets -- New York has two teams and San Francisco/Oakland is one television
market.