Earlier in the week, Rams officials said they would be ecstatic if they ended up with 45,000 tickets distributed and 40,000 fans in the stands for Sunday’s season opener against Seattle.
But there must have been a late surge in ticket sales, or more action than anticipated on the secondary market — StubHub, etc. — because the team announced that 51,792 tickets were distributed for the contest, a 34-31 Rams overtime victory.
“Tickets distributed” represents the number of tickets sold or given away. It does not represent the number of fans in the stands, which probably numbered around 45,000 in the 66,000-seat Edward Jones Dome.