July 10 – New research from KPMG’s Sport practice into attendances in the big five European football markets has found that the top two divisions in each territory attracted more than 77 million spectators at an average of 19,500 spectators per match.
The figures for the 2014-15 season were a 1% increase on the previous season.
The top divisions in each country accounted for 53 million of the aggregate figure at an average attendance of 30,000.
The figures show that the big winner last year, in terms of growth, was the Spanish second division, Liga Adelante, which boosted attendance by 38%, an average increase of 2,300 per game. In contrast Spain’s Primera dropped 5%, though percentage of capacity available remained constant at 69% – the drop in absolute numbers being a result of clubs with smaller stadiums having replace clubs with larger stadia at the end of the 2013-14 season.
France saw the opposite trend, showing the biggest drop in Ligue 2 of 22%, while there was a 6% increase in Ligue 1 attendance, with stadia being on average 72% full.
When it comes to percentage of stadium capacity filled, the Premier League leads Europe with its clubs on average selling 96% of their seats – though this was down by 1% on the 2013-14 seaon. The average attendance in the Championship, England second tier, grew by over 7%, to reach an average of more than 17,800.
Germany’s Bundesliga has the highest average attendance in Europe with 42,685 – an average stadiums are 90% full. Average attendances in Germany’s second tier decreased slightly from about 17,900 to 17,700.
For more information go to www.footballbenchmark.com.
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