The Cost of Empty Seats: How Much Every Premier League Club Loses Every Matchday From Unsold Seats

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.

Manchester City were found to be the club losing the most money on empty seats
Full Breakdown of How Much Extra Revenue Each Team is Losing
Detailed report per club

TOP FOR THE WRONG REASONS

Full Breakdown of How Much Extra Revenue Each Team is Losing

OLBG’s cost of empty seats research took this season’s average attendance figures and cost of the lowest ticket price to work out how much each Premier League club is missing out on every time they play on home turf.

Rank	Club	Capacity	Average Capacity	Unsold Seats	% Unsold	Cheapest Ticket	Average Matchday Lost Revenue
1	Manchester City	55017	53288	1729	3.14%	£58	£100,282
2	Sheffield United	32702	29962	2740	8.38%	£32	£87,680
3	Crystal Palace	26047	24881	1166	4.48%	£48	£55,968
4	Tottenham	62850	61459	1391	2.21%	£37	£51,467
5	Manchester United	74879	73534	1345	1.80%	£36	£48,420
6	Nottingham Forest	30445	29386	1059	3.48%	£42	£44,478
7	Liverpool	60725	55809	4916	8.10%	£9	£44,244
8	Aston Villa	42682	41921	761	1.78%	£48	£36,528
9	Wolves	32050	31037	1013	3.16%	£35	£35,455
10	Fulham	25700	24301	1399	5.44%	£25	£34,975
11	Chelsea	40853	39576	1277	3.13%	£25	£31,925
12	Everton	39571	39042	529	1.34%	£55	£29,095
13	Luton	11850	11244	606	5.11%	£33	£19,998
14	Burnley	21994	21153	841	3.82%	£16	£13,456
15	Arsenal	60704	60236	468	0.77%	£28.50	£13,338
16	Brighton	31800	31543	257	0.81%	£30	£7,710
17	Bournemouth	11329	11098	231	2.04%	£28	£6,468
18	Newcastle	52338	52153	185	0.35%	£32	£5,920
19	Brentford	17250	17082	168	0.97%	£30	£5,040
20	West Ham	62500	62440	60	0.10%	£50	£3,000

Detailed report per club

Let's take a look at a detailed report for some of the clubs

Manchester City

Empty seats: 1,729

Average losses: £ 100,282

Manchester City were found to be the club that lost the most in matchday revenue when looking at the nuimber of empty seats within the Etihad. Although only 3.14% of the 55,017 capacity stadium was empty on an average basis, that still adds up to just over £100k when considering the cheapest ticket to watch the Premier League champions was £58. Then again, with the revenue that is generated by this footballing powerhouse, £100k is largely a drop in the ocean for City.

Sheffield United

Empty seats: 2,740

Average losses: £87,680

There is no doubt that Sheffield United had a miserable 2023/24 campaign in the Premier League and because of fortunes on the field of play, fans decided to vote with their feet and stay away from Bramall Lane. The red and white half of Sheffield recorded an average of 2,740 empty seats per home game and this equates to lost matchday revenue of just under £88k. With the relegation to the Championship also being collected, there is every chance the Blades' matchday revenue will be even less in the second tier of English football.

Crystal Palace

Empty seats: 1,166

Average losses: £55,968

Rounding out the top three was Crystal Palace and with 4.48% of their Selhurst Park ground being empty on average, each home outing in South London is currently costing the Eagles just short of £56k in lost revenue. The fact that the cheapest ticket to watch Palace was £48 may not have helped in their bid to sell out the ground every other week.

Tottenham

Empty seats: 1,391

Average losses: £51,467

Tottenham were next on the list with 2.21% of seats being unsold on average and considering the capacity of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is 62,850 it means as many as 1,391 seats are going unfilled per home game. Multiply that figure by £37 and chairman Daniel Levy is seeing just over £50k slip through his fingers each time Spurs are at home.

Manchester United

Empty seats: 1,345

Average losses: £48,420

Ranking fifth in our Premier League list is Manchester United as the Theatre of Dreams is in desperate need of repair these days, it is one of the reasons why a seat at Old Trafford is not the hottest ticket in town. That and the football that is on show in this part of Manchester and with 1,345 unsold seats per home game on average, this means the Glazer family are missing out on just under £50k per home Premier League outing,.

Nottingham Forest

Empty seats: 1,059

Average losses: £44,478

Rounding out the top six is Nottingham Forest and with the City Ground outfit just avoiding relegation at the end of last season, they will look to see more fans enter the ground for 2024/25. Last season saw an average of 1,059 seats unsold per home game and this meant an average loss of £44,478 - £234 more than Liverpool in seventh.

Brentford

Empty seats: 168

Average losses: £5,040

Second bottom on the list of average lost revenue per Premier League matchday is Brentford and with just 168 seats going unsold per home game (0.97% of the GTech Community Stadium capacity) this means the Bees only miss out on £5,040 worth of revenue per top tier clash in West London.

West Ham

Empty seats: 60

Average losses: £3,000

Due to their extremely low spare seats, West Ham came bottom of the pile in terms of matchday revenue lost, at just £3,000 because of fans packing out the London Stadium to as near to its 62,500 capacity as it gets.

Clubs though will be happy that fans are back in the grounds and the period of lockdown football is now long behind us. Our report on the cost of no fans clearly showed how much they were losing when playing behind closed doors during lockdown.

The Cost of No Fans - Which Premier League Football Clubs Will Lose the Most Money if Restrictions are Reintroduced?

cost of empty seats 23-24

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