NFL is world’s best attended pro sports league

LOS ANGELES – The National Football League beat out Bundesliga Football for the honor of being the best attended professional sports league in the world, Sportingintelligence.com reported Friday.

The NFL took the top spot with an average of 67,591 fans per game in 2012, an increase from 67,394 a year earlier.

Germany’s Bundesliga came in second with 45,116 average fans per game in 2011-12 — the highest average ever for that league — up from 42,673 during the prior season.

The English Premier League (34,602) took third place, surpassing Australia’s Aussie Rules football, which saw a season-on-season decline from 36,428 to 32,748.

The National Hockey League attracts the largest crowds of the indoor sports, with an attendance of 17,455 in 2011-12, finishing just ahead of the National Basketball Association (17,274).

There have been no NHL games this season after the owners locked out the players in a labor dispute that began in September.

Two sports that have seen increases in average attendance year-on-year are Major League Baseball and the Canadian Football League.

MLB came in fifth with an average attendance of 30,895, up from 30,366 a year earlier. The CFL sits seventh with an average of 27,882, compared to 27,192 previously.

Sixth place went to Spain’s La Liga, with an average attendance of 28,462, down from 29,128 the year before.