BoyleSports Study Reveals Premier League Attendance Gaps Despite Sold-Out Claims
A new BoyleSports analysis of Premier League attendance data shows that while most clubs report sold-out fixtures, actual crowd figures reveal notable gaps between reported sales and seats filled.
Bookmaker BoyleSports has published a study examining Premier League attendance figures across all 20 clubs following gameweek 12 of the 2024/25 season, which concluded with West Ham United’s 2-0 win over Newcastle United at St James’ Park on a Monday night attended by 52,094 fans.
The operator compiled data from Statista, Transfermarkt and Football Web Pages, comparing reported attendance against official stadium capacities. The analysis found that while clubs frequently describe fixtures as sold out, actual attendance can differ due to no-shows, travel disruption and fixtures scheduled on weekdays. Across the league, average stadium occupancy currently stands at 98.26%.
Top and bottom performers
West Ham top the list with an average attendance of 99.95% at the London Stadium, just short of a full house at 62,468 spectators per game. Newcastle United follow closely, filling 99.74% of St James’ Park’s 52,338 capacity.
Newly promoted Ipswich Town also feature prominently, with Portman Road averaging 99.51% occupancy. Arsenal (99.36%) and Liverpool (99.27%) complete the top five, reflecting strong demand at both established and newly promoted clubs.
Brighton & Hove Albion and Bournemouth also recorded high fill rates of 99.13% and 99.10% respectively, despite operating smaller stadiums than many rivals.
The study highlighted a contrast between the two Manchester clubs. Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium averaged 98.89% occupancy, while Manchester United’s Old Trafford, the league’s largest ground, ran at 98.31%, equating to roughly 1,200 empty seats per match on average, despite drawing crowds of 73,667.
Further down the list, Aston Villa (97.62%), Chelsea (96.86%), Crystal Palace (96.53%) and Southampton (96.23%) recorded comparatively lower fill rates.
Fulham finished bottom of the rankings at 93.46% occupancy, a figure the study attributes largely to ongoing redevelopment of the Riverside Stand at Craven Cottage, which has temporarily reduced capacity to an estimated 27,840 seats. The study noted online criticism from Fulham supporters regarding ticket pricing, including comments shared on social media platform X about fans being priced out of matches. Once redevelopment work is completed in December, Craven Cottage is expected to hold 29,600 fans, with new Riverside Stand tickets reportedly priced between £150 and £160 for the fixture against Arsenal on 8 December 2024.
BoyleSports said the findings suggest that even top-flight clubs can struggle to consistently fill every seat, and that improving fan engagement, pricing accessibility and matchday experience remain key factors in attendance levels.