Report – How to explain the increase of fans match attendance across Europe this season?

With the culmination of the leagues season for 2022/23, a number of national leagues across Europe hailed historical performances showing unprecedented stadium attendances for the season 2022-23. These figures show once again that after a tough COVID-19 crisis, things definitely seem to be returning to normal.

The French Ligue de Football Professionnel reported a “historic attendance record in stadiums during the 2022-2023 season” with a recorded 16% increase in total attendance compared to 2021-22, and the Scottish league (SPFL) similarly set a new “top flight attendance record”. The Danish Superliga also announced “the second highest average attendance in Superliga history” for the same season.

The ongoing summer leagues have also seen a significant rise in match attendance. The Swedish league (Svensk Elitfotboll) has seen large increase in stadium visits and reported that “there is a chance that the total spectator record for both leagues can be beaten this year” The League of Ireland also reported that attendances “have risen 32.2% compared to last year”. The pattern of rising average attendance is clear across both winter and summer leagues throughout Europe.

One of the best examples is the Swiss Football League, who registered an “all-time attendance record” in the national top-tier division: the Crédit Suisse Super League. By the end of the 2022-23 season, the 10 stadiums of the Super League witnessed a match attendance never seen before in the history of Swiss football. This season’s attendance is significantly higher than the previous record, with the average exceeding 13’000.

With an average of 13’172 fans per match and a total of 2’370’901 entries this season, the Super League beats a record going back to season 2012/13 (12'253). Outside the “top 5” leagues in Europe, only the Netherlands and Scotland are ahead of Switzerland, which is ranked 8th in Europe.

The question we should be asking is how can we explain a substantial increase of fan attendance in European stadiums? We took Switzerland as an example to better understand the factors affecting stadium attendance across Europe this season and caught up with Daniel Marti, head of marketing at the BSC Young Boys, the Super League’s club with the highest attendance increase this season.

Sporting stake & Competitiveness

It is clear that BSC Young Boys dominated the competition with little challenge this year. Apart from that, suspense was at its peak when it came to European competitions qualifying spots and relegation in the second division.

In Switzerland, second, third and fourth (& fifth because of the Cup Winner in the first 3 positions) positions qualify for UEFA Club Competitions (UCL, UEL, UECL). This season, 6 clubs were aggressively competing for the coveted UCC positions, and there was only a point gap of 6 between Luzern (4th) and FC Zurich (8th). Simultaneously, the relegation battle between the bottom half of the table remained intensive until late into the season.

Final standing Crédit Suisse Super League Season 2022/23

Source: Swiss Football League – 15.06.2023

One thing is for sure, fans value sporting contest and competitiveness. Both the uncertainty of outcomes and the unpredictable nature of matches have a significant impact on fans’ interest which is substantially influenced by the sporting stake and the relative balance between the two teams.

Alongside competitiveness, fans are also motivated by sporting results and their team’s performances. The BSC Young Boys have won 7 trophies in the past 6 years (5 national champion titles, 2 cup winner). The club witnessed the largest average attendance increase in the Swiss Super League and a record value in the club’s history (+4276 after 36 matchdays, average of 29’097). Daniel Marti states “we experienced a huge identification of people around the city of Bern. Our season ticket and attendance figures, (as well as merchandising revenues) have steadily been growing over the last years, only interrupted by the pandemic of course. The main reason for that development is the success of our team, which won four championship titles in a row from 2018 to 2021. But it’s great to see that the increase went on even though we did not win the title in 2022”.

Composition of the Swiss Super League

For the first time in decades, the Super League is composed of ten of the most historical and successful clubs in Switzerland. The ten clubs performing in first division have won at least one National Champion title in their history. Grasshopper Club Zürich, FC Basel, Servette FC, BSC Young Boys and FC Zürich have more than 10 titles each, and for the second season in a row they are all back in the first division. In a recent past, the competitiveness of the Swiss Super League has led to many of these clubs languishing in a lower division for years. Gathering the top 5 clubs in the same division had not happened since season 2012-13.

More than just being successful, these ten clubs are monuments in the history of Swiss football. All Super League clubs are more than 114 years old, and FC St. Gallen has been created 144 years ago which makes it the oldest club on the European continent. History and tradition create strong rivalries between clubs and that is particularly the case of the Zürich derby which is one of the oldest across the world.

This perfect composition of the Super League this season is definitely a major reason for average stadium attendance reaching unprecedented numbers. It featured the country’s traditional and successful clubs with the biggest fan bases in the country and a lot of exciting rivalries and stories to tell.

Modern infrastructures

Stadiums have always been an important part of competitive football, and the development of their infrastructure and amenities have always been a significant factor in attracting fans to games. Aside from the high quality competition that we discussed above, fans also want to have a good experience within a safe and comfortable environment including exciting atmosphere and good food. The match alone is no longer sufficient, it is the total experience that gets fans engaged.

Seven of the ten stadiums hosting Super League clubs have been built in the 2000’s. The UEFA EURO 2008 in Switzerland (and Austria) has definitely boosted the construction of new stadiums, with the four hosting venues having been built between 2001 and 2008:

· St. Jakob-Park (Basel) – 2001

· Stade de Genève (Geneva) – 2003

· Stade de Suisse (Bern) - 2005

· Stadion Letzigrund (Zurich) – 2007

Other arenas with clubs in the Super League:

· Kybunpark (former AFG Arena, St.Gallen) – 2008

· Swissporarena (Lucerne) – 2011

· Stade de la Tuilière (Lausanne) – 2020

· Lugano – to be built in 2026

Focus on local football

After a controversial FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar and a gap constantly increasing between big and small/medium-size clubs, Swiss fans have slowly turned toward a more accessible and local football. Switzerland is a conservative country and people are very attached to their traditional values and habits, but in the right sense of the word. With all the major changes happening right now in European football, Swiss fans are getting more and more interested into local rivalries and stories, through which they feel more represented.

Furthermore, since the start of the current UEFA Club Competitions cycle (UCC 2021/2024), the European competitions rights have been acquired by a pay-television broadcaster (Blue Sport). For many years, the Swiss public-service operator SRG SSR was the exclusive broadcaster of UCC on a free-to-air basis. The privatisation of UEFA competitions’ rights is also one of the reasons that can justify Swiss fans prioritize their national football leagues.

Post COVID-19 effect

In the wake of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, we were all wondering whether or not it would be possible to gather thousands of people again in stadiums as society adjusted to new realities. However, in a remarkable show of resilience, football came back stronger than ever. Indeed, one of the most encouraging developments has been the resurgence in football fan culture. Across Europe and especially in Switzerland, matchday attendance is rising as fans return to the stadiums to support their teams.

Following the pandemic, the main challenge was obviously to bring back fans to the stadiums, Daniel Marti stresses that “at the beginning we had quite high numbers of no-shows among season ticket holders. There was a part of the population that hesitated returning to the stadiums after the pandemic. But on the other side, there were a lot of people who were extremely hungry coming to the stadiums and experiencing football live again after such a long time without big social events”.

Latest figures published by the Swiss Football League definitely show that the pandemic is way behind us and this challenge has successfully been overcome by the European football family.

CAP app - 21.03.2023