Cost of Empty Seats: How Much SPFL Clubs Lose Every Matchday Due to Unsold Tickets

Dan Tracey Data Scientist and Football Editor

Writer, analyst, podcaster, Spurs fan. Three out of four is not bad. If there is a data angle, I will find it.

A few months ago, OLBG took a look at how much every Premier League club is losing this season because of unsold tickets. The findings showed that Manchester City were losing the most with an extra £100,000 of revenue going out of the window every time they play at their new state of the art new stadium.

While any football club would baulk at losing such a high sum every home game, Premier League clubs' income is so high that even these kinds of losses incurred can easily be made up for by other revenue streams. The further down the footballing pyramid you venture though, the more important income from matchdays becomes.

That’s why we decided to conduct the same research on all SPFL teams, who bring in far fewer finances from TV deals, sponsorship and various other means than clubs in England’s top tier. Here’s a full breakdown of how many clubs in these respective divisions are losing out on this season…

Cost of Empty Seats - SPFL

spfl clubs losses from unsold seats 2024 infographic

Rank	Club	Capacity	Average Capacity	Unsold Seats	% Unsold	Cheapest Ticket	Average Matchday Lost Revenue
1	Kilmarnock	18128	6334	11794	65.06%	£22	£260,709
2	Motherwell	13677	5797	7880	57.61%	£21	£163,821
3	St Johnstone	10696	4573	6123	57.25%	£18	£111,181
4	Livingston	9512	3889	5623	59.11%	£19	£109,501
5	Dundee	11850	6857	4993	42.14%	£22	£107,744
6	Aberdeen	20866	16230	4636	22.22%	£20	£92,720
7	Hibernian	20250	16932	3318	16.39%	£21	£68,979
8	Celtic	60832	58759	2073	3.41%	£29	£60,990
9	Rangers	50987	49315	1672	3.28%	£28	£46,816
10	Ross County	6541	4273	2268	34.67%	£20	£45,957
11	St Mirren	7937	6538	1399	17.63%	£19	£26,507
12	Hearts	19852	18402	1450	7.30%	£16	£22,513

Although it is Celtic and Rangers who are most used to winning league titles in Scotland, they find themselves neither top nor bottom of this particular league ladder.

At the top of the table when it comes to the highest amount of lost revenue per home league match, it is Kilmarnock who top the Scottish standings.

The Rugby Park outfit play in front of an average of 65% of their ground being empty and with their cheapest ticket coming in at £22, this means a loss of £260,709 per home game.

Nearly £100k more than Motherwell who find themselves second on the list with £163,821 worth of lost revenue per home game at Fir Park.

The Steelemen had an average of 57.61% worth of unsold seats last season, just 0.36% more than St Johnstone's McDiarmid Park in third.

However, St Johnstone's ground only has a capacity of 10,696 and even with nearly 60% worth of empty seats, it only meant lost matchday revenue of £111,181 .

Then again, that £111,181 was only slightly higher than the value of lost revenue relegated Livingston had to deal with and their £109,501 figure was only slightly higher than the £107,744 that Dundee lost.

Hardly any difference between the three clubs that round out the top five teams in our list and you have to scroll down further to find the two Glasgow giants.

Celtic finishing eighth in terms of lost revenue from highest to lowest and with 3.41% of Celtic Park going spare on average, the Hoops lost revenue per matchday equates to £60,990.

By comparison Rangers will allow themselves the ability to celebrate as the Ibrox outfit only lose £46,816 per game.

Then again, this triumph does come with the caveat that the only reason Rangers lose less than Celtic is becuase the defending champions have a stadium that holds just less than 10,000 more supporters when every seat is sold.

Which brings us to the bottom three and the teams that lose the least on matchday.

With that being said, every penny still counts and Ross County will bemoan the fact that over a third of their Victoria Park ground goes unsold - meaning that the Dingwall-based outfit lost £45,957 per home game last season.

Nearly as much as the bottom two clubs combined and the team that has the honour of sitting second bottom is St Mirren.

Their SMISA Stadium may have given up 17.63% in terms of average unsold seats but considering the ground capacity is only 7,937 in total, it means the lost revenue stands at £26,507.

A figure that is only slightly higher than Hearts who find themselves bottom of the lost revenue table.

Their Tynecastle home had an average of 7.30% seats unsold during the 2023/24 Premier League season - equating to 1,450 seats per game on average.

When considering their cheapest ticket equates to £16, that also means the Jam Tarts lost just £22,513 per home league outing.

Regardless of where each of the 12 teams ranked, it must also be noted that Scottish football is one of the most watched leagues in Europe on a per capita basis and out of 251,128 total available seats, an average total attendance of 197,899 was recorded in 2023/24.

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