In an era of modern stadia, 3D television and soaring petrol prices, attendances in English football are stuttering as fans are becoming more suited to walking up to the pub than using public transport or driving to their preferred ground. Away fans are also finding that it is getting tougher and tougher to continuously follow their side around the country due to the FA, clubs and television rights.
It seems that smaller Premier League clubs are far too hasty about moving into large, modern stadiums without thinking it through in the long run. Wigan Athletic may share their ground with a well supported Rugby League team but there aren’t 25,000 people that want to go and watch a Wigan Athletic home game. In their five home games this season the Latics are averaging 17,000 which is just 68% of the capacity, and there are usually 4,000 away fans from better supported clubs filling one end.
Another relatively new stadium, the Reebok Stadium in Bolton is another victim of the ‘eyes too big for your belly’ syndrome. Fairing slightly better than their North West rivals Wigan with their percentage, just 81% of their ground is filled on average for a home game, still depressing as empty seats are becoming far too common in the majority of Premier League grounds.
The English attendances are still far superior to Italy and Spain with the lowly clubs in Italy averaging anywhere between 25% and 40% and in Spain between 40% – 60%, a tough reality check for foreign supporters but television rights and cost are equally high abroad. The attendance drop all around Europe is a worry for clubs and supporters alike.
Television rights are a constant area of discussion in football and more and more games are being shown live, rearranging kick off times making it harder and harder for fans to make it to the games. With a game at 12.45pm on a Saturday followed by a 5.30pm game the same day both on television, with two games on Sunday and another on Monday night, travel and cost are becoming a major issue for supporters getting to their ground around work and family commitments.
The League currently sells only 138 of its 380 live games per season to Sky and ESPN because it tries to restrict disruption to the traditional 3pm Saturday kick-offs. However, the fear is more televised games shown at 3pm would impact on attendances at clubs across the Premier and Football Leagues.