Premier League fans are coming back in record numbers after 16 months of not being able to attend games.
Matches are averaging 39,440 fans each so far — per data from transfermarkt.com — bringing in close to $955 million in match-day income, according to Kieran Maguire, lecturer of football finance at Liverpool University.
The attendance numbers could be a record for the league’s 30-year history if those crowd sizes are maintained throughout the season — each match is 95% full on average.
- Amex Stadium, home to Brighton & Hove Albion, increased its seating by 1,250 seats, totaling 32,000.
- All corporate membership areas for Amex Stadium are sold for the next five years.
Top leagues in other European countries haven’t been so lucky, with Spain’s La Liga only drawing in an average of 16,872 fans compared to the 26,811 it brought in before the pandemic forced shutdowns.
Clubs are also calling on the Premier League to form a lending pool between $1.36 billion and $2.04 billion so they can borrow at cheaper rates than they do from banks and investment funds.
The league’s teams lost around $2.73 billion total during the pandemic, holding almost $5.4 billion in net debt by the end of the 2019-2020 season.
