The year has ended, and while most leagues are technically not halfway yet, we did take a look at how attendances compare thus far with those last year.
The below chart shows the difference in average league attendance between this season until the new year and those over the same period last season:
We see a steep decline in attendances in the Bundesliga, a more modest decline in the English Championship, few changes in most leagues, but a reasonable increase in the English Premier League.
However, these averages include all promoted and relegated clubs, which can give a deceiving picture. In the Bundesliga, for example, well-attended Hertha BSC got replaced by SpVgg Greuther Fürth, who have a rather small stadium, which has an automatic impact on averages.
The following chart leaves the promoted and relegated clubs out, and therefore provides a fairer picture:
There is still a significant decline in Bundesliga attendances, but not as much as before. We also see that in particular the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, and Eredivisie profited from promoted clubs with higher attendances than those that relegated.
West Ham United, Sampdoria, Deportivo de la Coruña, and PEC Zwolle have, for example, all significantly higher attendances than the likes of Blackburn Rovers, Novara, Villarreal, and Excelsior.
Ligue 1’s attendances look even better if just measured on autonomous growth, though much of this increase was caused by Lille more than doubling their attendances after moving to Grand Stade Métropole.
If we look back at the season that ended in 2012 and include a few more leagues, than this is how the world’s major leagues rank in terms of attendances.
Mexico’s, Argentina’s, and possibly Turkey’s league would also be in there, but no reliable attendance data exists for these leagues.