After two straight summers of pandemic-induced travel restrictions, American’s were outside over the July 4, 2022 weekend.
About 8.8 million people passed through TSA checkpoints between Friday and the holiday on Monday, compared to 7.9 million in 2021. Just 2.6 million people travelled during the same period in 2020.
While this year’s numbers didn’t reach the more than 10 million air travelers that travelled pre-pandemic in 2019, nearly 9 million is still an impressive number considering that airlines collectively cancelled more than 2,200 flights in the U.S. since Thursday.
AAA predicted that 47.9 million Americans travelled 50 miles or more from home over the holiday weekend despite gas prices that have been hovering near $5 per gallon.
The national average started the week at $4.87 per gallon before jumping to $5.05 a gallon for regular unleaded gas, according to data from GasBuddy.
Americans bring their love of travel during the summer season to the fall during the NFL season when they travel with their home teams when they go on the road.
NFL Fans Who Travel
The fans of some NFL franchises are notorious for having a strong presence when their team goes on the road.
About 30% of NFL fans were willing to travel 100+ miles to see their team in action, according to a 2018 Ticketmaster survey.
The Pittsburgh Steelers fanbase is probably the most visible in visiting team stadiums waving their terrible yellow towels. Green Bay Packers fans also tend to travel well.
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The Dallas Cowboys are always among the country’s most popular teams, and their fans are everywhere like a termite infestation.
According to a 2019 Ticketmaster survey, an NFL fan travels an average of 296 miles for a game.
Fans of the Los Angeles Rams traveled the most at an average of 483 miles for games. New Orleans Saints fans were second, traveling an average of 444 miles, and New England Patriots fans were next at an average of 433 miles.
Team fandom is one thing, but when choosing which away date to attend fans also consider the city their going to be visiting and the area around the stadium.
Top NFL Cities to Visit
Everyone from ApartmentGuide.com to Bleacher Report has a ranking of the top NFL cities to visit.
While there are tons of different lists, there are certain cities and experiences that show up in most top-5s.
The New Orleans Saints and the Superdome are often one of the highest-ranked destinations thanks to the food and the culture of the city that hosts the team and the atmosphere of the stadium itself.
Lambeau Field, home of the Green Bay Packers, is another bucket list NFL city destination where anyone who is a fan of the league should make a pilgrimage due to the history and atmosphere in northeastern Wisconsin.
The Las Vegas Review Journal ranked Las Vegas’ new Allegiant Stadium on The Strip as the top NFL destination. And biases aside, as an experience, having the NFL right on the Las Vegas Strip is something that can’t be duplicated anywhere in the world.
Rounding out the top-5 for the Review Journal are New Orleans, the Tennessee Titans stadium in Nashville, Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, and Soldier Field in Chicago.
