Following up on our round-up of the Dutch Eredivisie attendances, we continue with the German Bundesliga. The Bundesliga had a record breaking 2011-12 season with an average of 45,116 spectators per match, by far the highest in Europe.

Have they been able to pull off a similar feat this season? Here is our summary:

• The answer to that question is a very resounding “no”. In fact, the decline in attendances has been significant with over 5.5% less visitors per match than last season, resulting in an average of 42,627 [chart 1].
• However, this decline was largely caused by the disappearance of three big clubs out of the league, with especially newly promoted Greuther Fürth bringing the average down. If we only look at the 15 clubs that played Bundesliga in both seasons, then the decrease is a more modest 1.85%.
• That said, things don’t look particularly well when we zoom in at club level. Twelve of the fifteen clubs saw attendances decline, with only Bayern (who added 2,000 additional seats to the Allianz Arena), successful Freiburg, and Dortmund the exception. Stuttgart, Hoffenheim, and Mainz noted the biggest relative losses [chart 2 and 3].
• There has been no sign of reduced interest at the big clubs though, with Bayern, Dortmund and Schalke playing (almost) every other week in front of a full house. Overall, less than 8% of all available tickets remained unsold this season, which was one percent more than last season [chart 4].
• There were less sell-outs as well, with the percentage of full houses dropping below 50% of the matches. The buzz of Bundesliga football and a new stadium seemed to have worn off at the likes of Hoffenheim, Mainz, and Augsburg, for whom a packed stadium was not as self-evident as a year ago. The hype of the Bundesliga was also lost on the inhabitants of Fürth.
• All clubs sold out at least two home matches though, which were the ones versus Bayern and Dortmund [chart 5].
• When free capacity increases, so tends to do the volatility of attendances, which we indeed see. On average, attendances moved 12% up or down from one home match to the next, with Nürnberg’s fans being the most fickle. Hannover and Stuttgart’s fans also turned out to be a lot less reliable in showing up than last season [chart 6].
• Nobody will be surprised to find out that Bayern and Dortmund were once again the most appealing guests as they drew the largest crowds away from home. Frankfurt, and to a lesser extent Düsseldorf, also proved to be welcome additions to the Bundesliga, whereas Hoffenheim, Augsburg, and Freiburg received the least enthusiasm away from home. Fürth saw their standing boosted by packing the Grundig Stadion of close neighbours Nürnberg, which is not done easily [table 1].
• The 2. Bundesliga recored a very respectable average attendance of 17,214 this season with FC Köln and champion Hertha BSC leading the pack. What stands out though is the inequality between the top and bottom clubs with bottom Sandhausen barely attracting 5,000 spectators per game.

After years of breaking attendance record after attendance record it was only a matter of time for the Bundesliga having to take a step back, which seems to have happened this season.

It is hard to identify a clear cause for this, though contributing factors might have been that ticket prices are not as cheap as the common perception is, that visitors may have been turned away by incidents with various dissatisfied fan groups, or simply that there has been relatively little competition at the top and bottom of the table (until the final day).

Whether this means that attendances are set to drop further or to bounce back is impossible to predict. But with on the one hand little stadium development being able to boost further growth and on the other a still very positive vibe surrounding the German game, one expects that attendances will find their medium-term equilibrium between 40,000 and 45,000.

Chart 1: league attendance average 2012-13 vs 2011-12 and growth percentage

Chart 2: club average attendances and ranking 2012-13

Chart 3: club average attendances 2012-13 vs 2011-12 and growth percentage

Chart 4: club fill rates 2012-13 (average attendance divided by stadium capacity)

Chart 5: number of sold out matches 2012-13 vs 2011-12 (sell out = fill rate of 97% or higher)

Chart 6: volatility of attendances (average attendance movement from one match to the next).

Table 1: appeal of clubs away from home (fill rate, position compared to other clubs, and extra spectator draw in absolute numbers)*

* read more about the methodology of above table here.

Chart 7: 2. Bundesliga club average attendances and ranking 2012-13.

The 2012-13 Bundesliga season in attendances

Key facts

Club: none | Opening: 1944 | Capacity: 37,500 seats

History and description

Estádio Nacional, often referred to as Jamor, is Portugal’s national stadium, though only gets used for the annual Portuguese Cup final these days.

Estádio Nacional got built to provide the country with a new flagship venue for sports and other public events. Construction started in 1939 and took a total of five years. It officially opened on the 10th of June 1944.

The stadium hosted its first Cup final in 1946 and has gone on to host the final up to today with only the odd diversion to Estádio das Antas or Estádio José Alvalade.

In 1967, Estádio Nacional hosted the European Cup final between Celtic and Inter (2-1).

The owner of the stadium, the Portuguese FA, have made tentative plans to renovate the stadium which has hardly changed since its inauguration. The status of any redevelopments is currently unknown though.

(photos of the present Estádio Nacional below)

Getting there

Estádio Nacional is located in the Oeiras municipality west of the city of Lisbon.  It lies about 12 kilometres west of Lisbon’s historic centre, 5.5 kilometres from the Belém area, and about a kilometre inland from the Atlantic coast.

The stadium can be reached with tram 776, stop Cruz Quebrada, which lies a 10 to 15-minute walk from Estádio Nacional. Take the tram from Algés, which in turn can be reached with tram 15E from Lisbon’s historic centre or Belém.

An alternative is taking a train from Cais do Sodré station in Lisbon’s historic centre. Take a train to Cascais and get off at Cruz de Quebrada. Trains run regularly though make sure to take one that stops in Cruz de Quebrada as not all do. The journey only takes 8 minutes.

Address: Av. Pierre de Coubertin, Cruz Quebrada – Oeiras

Photos

Relevant Internet links

Jamor.idesporto.pt - Official website of Centro Desportivo Nacional de Jamor.
Visitlisboa.com – Official tourism website of the city of Lisbon.
Carris.pt – Information on Lisbon’s bus and tram services.
Cp.pt – Check train times and fares.

Estádio Nacional

The Dutch Eredivsie is the first of Europe’s major leagues to finish. We have once more collected the attendances and will present you our findings below.

We will be a bit more to the point than last year, when we presented our conclusions in an extensive article, and instead just keep to a few bullet points followed by the charts.

These are our findings:

• The Eredivisie recorded a modest attendance growth of +0.62% to reach an average of 19,636 visitors per match. This growth, however, was primarily a function of the promoted clubs adding more spectators than the clubs that relegated. The 16 teams that played Eredivisie in both seasons noted a decline in attendances of -1.35 % [chart 1].
• Things don’t look good at all at club level, where 12 out of 16 clubs recorded declines in attendances. ADO Den Haag, VVV Venlo, and, surpisingly considering their excellent season, FC Utrecht provided the worst figures with all declines in the double digits. Holland’s big clubs were the exception and did relatively well [chart 2 and 3].
• If it comes to filling up stadiums, the province of Overijssel is king. The three clubs with the highest fill rate, i.e. Heracles Almelo, FC Twente, and PEC Zwolle all come from this north-eastern province. Traditional always-sell-outs like Groningen, Heerenveen, and NEC have dropped the ball this season and witnessed increasing numbers of empty seats [chart 4].
• Overall, 87.9 % of all available seats were filled this Eredivisie season and 29.4% of all matches sold out, which is significantly lower than last year’s 37.3% [chart 5].
• With more free capacity becoming available, logic states that attendances should move up and down more, which we see has indeed been the case in the Eredivisie this season. Whereas last season’s attendances typically moved 8% up or down from one match to the other, this has increased to 9% this season. ADO Den Haag’s fans are the most fickle with typical movements of 20% up or down, ranging from a high of 14,009 versus Ajax to a low of 8,254 versus Roda JC [chart 6].
• Holland’s “Big 3″ were, as usual, the teams that drew the biggest crowds away from home with hardly any other team causing notable attendance bumps on the road. ADO Den Haag followed up on previous seasons by once again being the least appealing club to come to town [table 1].

It is hard to draw firm conclusions from this data, but it is clear that the Eredivisie is in a bit of a rough spot if it comes to attendances. No wonder, of course, considering the continuing poor economic environment, which has also resulted in various new stadium projects and developments having stalled.

That’s not to say that the Eredivisie is in a bad place – their crowds are far superior to those in comparable medium-sized leagues such as Portugal, Russia and Belgium, and on a similar level as those in France.

Whether attendances will decline further in the upcoming years or bounce back up again is impossible to predict, but one expects attendances to keep hovering around present levels. Real gains can only be made again once Dutch clubs attract back the neutral football fans that have been scared away with club card and safety requirements and when renewed economic growth frees up the finances for another round of stadium development.

Chart 1: league attendance average 2012-13 vs 2011-12 (growth percentage in brackets)

Chart 2: club average attendances and ranking 2012-13.

Chart 3: club average attendances 2012-13 vs 2011-12 (growth percentage in brackets)

Chart 4: club fill rates 2012-13 (average attendance divided by stadium capacity)

Chart 5: number of sold out matches 2012-13 vs 2011-12 (sell out = fill rate of 97% or higher).

Chart 6: volatility of attendances (average attendance movement from one match to the next).

Table 1: appeal of clubs away from home (fill rate, position compared to other clubs, and extra spectator draw in absolute numbers)*

* read more about the methodology of above table here.

The 2012-13 Eredivisie season in attendances

Key facts

Club: Club Atlético Huracán | Opening: 1947 | Capacity: 48,314

History and description

Estadio Tomás Adolfo Ducó got built in the early 1940s after Huracán had purchased the site of the new stadium in 1939 and laid the first stone in 1941.

The first match at the still unfinished Estadio Tomás A. Ducó was played between Huracán and Boca Juniors (4-3) on the 7th of September 1947.

Works were finally completed two years later and the stadium officially opened on the 11th of November 1949 with a friendly between Huracán and Peñarol (4-1).

Estadio Tomás A. Ducó has hardly changed since apart from some small improvements made in 1977. It was declared a protected heritage site in 2007.

Getting there

Estadio Tomás A. Ducó is located in the Parque Patricios area in the south of the city of Buenos Aires (Capital Federal). It lies about 5 kilometres from Buenos Aires’ city centre (microcentro), a little less from the San Telmo area, and a little more from the Palermo and Recoleta areas situated in the north of the city.

The stadium can be reached with metro (subte) line H. Station Caseros lies a short 10-minute walk from the stadium. Line H connects with line A and E a little further north, which in turn connect with microcentro.

Address: Amancio Alcorta 2570, Parque Patricios, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires

Photos

Relevant Internet links

Clubahuracan.com.ar – Official website of Club Atlético Huracán.
Bue.gov.ar – Official website of the city of Buenos Aires.
Subte.com.ar – Information on the Buenos Aires metro network.
Comoviajo.com – Public transport journey planner

Estadio Tomás Adolfo Ducó

Key facts

Club: SønderjyskE | Opening: 2001 | Capacity: 10,000 (6,995 standing)

History and description

Haderslev Fodboldstadion was built in 2001 and initially consisted of one seating stand and open terraces on the other sides.

Further seats were installed in 2011 following the promotion of the club to Denmark’s top league to reach the obligatory 3,000-seat limit.

The club has presented plans to build a new 3,000-seater main stand, which they hope to have completed by 2015.

Getting there

Haderslev Fodboldstadion is located in the north of the town of Haderslev at about a kilometre from the town centre and busstation. The walk should take no more than 15 to 20 minutes.

Haderslev can be reached by bus from nearby Vojens, which has a reasonably frequent train connection with Copenhagen.

Address: Stadionvej 7, 6100 Haderslev

Tickets

Tickets for SønderjyskE games can be bought on the gate on the day of the match. SønderjyskE hardly ever sell out.

Tickets cost either DKK 125.00 for a seat or DKK 100.00 for standing.

Photos

Relevant Internet links

Soenderjyske.dk – Official website of SønderjyskE.

Haderslev Fodboldstadion

The legendary Maracanã stadium in Rio de Janeiro has reopened with a first test match after three years of building works. Before hosting another test match on the 15th of May, it will then officially open on the 2nd of June with a friendly between the Brazilian and English national teams.

The reconstruction of Maracanã has been a painful one, plagued by workers strikes, delays, and budget overruns. What results is a stadium that still has the same look and feel of the original arena, but with new stands and a new roof, and a capacity of 78,838 seats, of which 1,000 premium seats.

Last night’s occasion was an exhibition match between two teams of Brazilian ex-players led by Ronaldo and Bebeto. Capacity was capped at about 30,000 spectators, which were comprised of the builders that helped build the stadium, their friends and relatives, and the obligatory dignitaries from the football and political world, including Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff.

The stadium’s opening faced similar glitches as those surfaced during the opening ceremonies of other Brazilian World Cup stadiums, such as a lack of water in various toilets and a number of seats coming loose.

After the official opening, Maracanã will go on to be a playing venue of the Confederations Cup this summer and will host seven matches during the 2014 World Cup, among which, of course, the final. It will also become the home of Rio clubs Flamengo and Fluminense.

(Photo credits: Glauber Queiroz/Ministério do Esporte)

Maracanã reopens with first test match

Key facts

Club: Kashiwa Reysol | Opening: 1985 | Capacity: 15,349 seats

History and description

Kashiwa Hitachi Stadium was built in 1985, but was only a modest structure until it got significantly expanded in 1995 following the promotion of Kashiwa Reysol to J-League.

The stadium received a last minor renovation in 2009, which also slightly raised capacity to its current total.

Getting there

Kashiwa Hitachi Stadium is located in  the south of the city of Kashiwa at about 1.5 kilometres from central Kashiwa and Kashiwa Station.

The walk from Kashiwa Station takes about 15 minutes, or you can take the Nadogaya-Yuki Tobu Bus from stop 1 at the station. Get off at Kashiwa Hitachi Stadium. There are extra buses on the day of the match.

Kashiwa, in turn, can be reached with trains on the Jōban Line, which run from Ueno Station in Tokyo. Ueno Station can be reached with metro lines G and H, which run through central Tokyo.

Address: 1-2-50 Hitachidai, Kashiwa, Chiba

Tickets

Tickets for Kashiwa Reysol games can be bought online through Lawson Ticket or J-League Ticket, or in person at the Lawson convenience stores.

Tickets range in price from Y$ 2,800 for a seat behind the goal to Y$ 5,500 for a central seat at the main stand.

Kashiwa Reysol play two home games per year at Tokyo’s larger National Stadium.

Photos

Relevant Internet links

Reysol.co.jp – Official website of Kashiwa Reysol.
Tobu-bus.co.jp – Kashiwa public transport information.

Kashiwa Hitachi Stadium

Key facts

Club: SD Ponferradina | Opening: 2000 | Capacity: 8,400 seats

History and description

Estadio El Toralin officially opened on the 5th of December 2000 with a friendly between Ponferradina and Celta de Vigo.

El Toralin could initially hold about 6,000 spectators, but got later expanded following the Ponferradina’s promotion to the Segunda División.

Getting there

Estadio El Toralin is located on the northern edge of the small city of Ponferrada at about 1.5 kilometres from its city centre and a similar distance from the train station. Ponferrada’s bus station lies right next door the stadium.

The walk from most city centre areas and rail station to the stadium takes no more than 20 minutes.

Address: Calle El Toralin, 24400 Ponferrada

Tickets

Tickets for Ponferradina matches can be bought at the ticket windows of Estadio El Toralin before the start of the match.

Tickets range in price from €20.00 for a seat behind the goal to €30.00 for a seat at the main stand. Prices can get increased for a few high-profile matches.

Photos

Relevant Internet links

Sdponferradina.com – Official website of SD Ponferradina.
Ponferrada.org – Ponferrada tourist information.
Tupbus.com – Ponferrada public transport information.

Estadio Municipal El Toralin

Queens Park Rangers will keep pushing ahead with their plans to build a new 35,000 to 40,000-capacity stadium even if the club relegates, something that has became increasingly probable in recent weeks. They also took out a loan in connection to their plans:

QPR owner Tony Fernandes hopes to have some “good news” about the club’s search for a new stadium within a fortnight.

The struggling Premier League club made the news on Tuesday when it emerged that a £15 million loan had been taken out against their assets, including current stadium Loftus Road, with Barclays Bank in Hong Kong.

But Fernandes took to Twitter on Tuesday morning to explain his decision to borrow money.

Loan for qpr is for new stadium. Next 2 weeks will be hopefully good news. But work is starting. We will not say anymore on stadium.

— Tony Fernandes (@tonyfernandes) April 17, 2013

QPR is thought to be focusing on two different sites for a new stadium: one in the west of London and one in the north-west.

Swansea City have also released further details on how they want to expand Liberty Stadium:

The club have submitted plans to increase the capacity, which from next season will be 22,500, to around 33,000.

If backed by Swansea council, work will be carried out over three phases.

The club have included how they will handle the extra traffic that an increased capacity will bring.

In a statement, the club said: “The works proposed would see the extension of the North, South and East stands of the stadium in a phased manner over the next three to five years.”

…

Phase one could begin at the end of next season and would see the East Stand capacity increased by 3,844 which does not include completing the corner sections. The other two phases would follow.

Separate works on the West Stand at the end of this season will already lift capacity from the present 20,500 to 22,500 seats.

Southend United’s plans for a new stadium, on the other hand, have been one long struggle and are now said to a on “knife-edge“:

The club has planning permission for a 22,000-seat stadium at Fossetts Farm.

If the scheme goes ahead, Sainsbury’s plans to build a supermarket on the site of its current Roots Hall ground.

But in a letter to Southend Council the partners said that a £6m donation towards the town centre was no longer viable and have offered £3.5m instead.

The League Two club originally agreed to make the payment as part of planning conditions, but the sum has been at the centre of a dispute which has delayed work on the scheme.

…

“The scheme was conceived in an entirely different world when the offer of £6m was made in 2007 and we, along with many others, could not have foreseen the financial landscape of today.”

Finally, West Ham United vice-chairman Karen Brady has addressed West Ham fans in a 7-minute video on the club’s Olympic Stadium conversion plans:

QPR, Swansea, Southend and West Ham elaborate on stadium plans

Key facts

Club: FC Kryvbas | Opening: 1970 | Capacity: 29,734

History and description

Stadion Metalurh officially opened on the 11th of April 1970 with a match between Kryvbas and Gomel (1-4).

Since then the stadium has only undergone minor refurbishments, of which the last in 1999.

Getting there

Stadion Metalurh is located in central Kryvyi Rih. The walk from Kryvyi Rih’s railway station, which lies north of the centre, takes about 30 minutes.

Address: Metalurhiv Ave 5, 50006 Kryvyi Rih

Tickets

Tickets for FC Kryvbas matches can be bought at the ticket windows of Stadion Metalurh.

Expect to pay about UAH 40.00 for a ticket.

Photos

Relevant Internet links

Fckryvbas.com.ua – Official website of FC Kryvbas.

Stadion Metalurh