As one of the world's most beloved sports, it comes as no surprise that major soccer leagues around the world attract spectators in their thousands. The German Bundesliga sat top of the pile in the 2022/23 season, with an average of over nearly 43 thousand fans flocking to the stadiums to watch the live action every weeekend.
Success of the Premier League
The best attended soccer league in the world in 2021/22 was the Premier League. The Premier League has been on top, leading the other major soccer leagues in Europe in terms of revenue and continues to be the financially most successful sports league worldwide, also throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
MLS can't compete with the NFL
The average attendance of the MLS in North America stood at just under 22 thousand in the 2018/19 season. These figures pale in comparison to the popularity of the National Football League - a total of 17.1 million fans watched NFL games live during the 2018 regular season, with the number consistently over 17 million for the last decade. During the 2018 regular season, the Dallas Cowboys had the highest average home attendance in the league, with an average of over 91,000 fans watching each home game. This figure is almost 14,000 more than the average attendance of the New York Giants, which is the second highest in the league. Although the Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium has an official capacity of 80,000 for football games, it is expandable to 105,000 with standing room.
NBA lagging behind
In contrast to the NFL, the average attendance of NBA games is still relatively low, with an average of 21,930 people watching each game live in the 2018/19 season. These figures can be attributed to the smaller size of basketball arenas, with the largest arena in the NBA, The United Center, home of the Chicago Bulls, having a capacity of just under 25,000 people. The Philadelphia 76ers were the best supported team throughout the whole of the 2018/19 regular season, as over 838,000 total fans attended their home games.
Average number of attendees per game of major soccer leagues worldwide in 2022/2023
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weltfussball.de. (June 7, 2023). Average number of attendees per game of major soccer leagues worldwide in 2022/2023 [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved December 21, 2024, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/270301/best-attended-football-stadiums-in-the-world-by-average-attendance-2010/
weltfussball.de. "Average number of attendees per game of major soccer leagues worldwide in 2022/2023." Chart. June 7, 2023. Statista. Accessed December 21, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/270301/best-attended-football-stadiums-in-the-world-by-average-attendance-2010/
weltfussball.de. (2023). Average number of attendees per game of major soccer leagues worldwide in 2022/2023. Statista. Statista Inc.. Accessed: December 21, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/270301/best-attended-football-stadiums-in-the-world-by-average-attendance-2010/
weltfussball.de. "Average Number of Attendees per Game of Major Soccer Leagues Worldwide in 2022/2023." Statista, Statista Inc., 7 Jun 2023, https://www.statista.com/statistics/270301/best-attended-football-stadiums-in-the-world-by-average-attendance-2010/
weltfussball.de, Average number of attendees per game of major soccer leagues worldwide in 2022/2023 Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/270301/best-attended-football-stadiums-in-the-world-by-average-attendance-2010/ (last visited December 21, 2024)
Average number of attendees per game of major soccer leagues worldwide in 2022/2023 [Graph], weltfussball.de, June 7, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.statista.com/statistics/270301/best-attended-football-stadiums-in-the-world-by-average-attendance-2010/
