Cost of Empty Seats: How Much Championship 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 £100k of revenue going out of the window every time they play at the Etihad.

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 Championship 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 - Championship

Rank	Club	Capacity	Average Capacity	Unsold Seats	% Unsold	Cheapest Ticket	Average Matchday Lost Revenue
1	Blackburn	31367	15579	15788	50.33%	£23	£363,124
2	Sunderland	48707	37853	10854	22.28%	£31	£339,777
3	Sheffield Wednesday	39859	26762	13097	32.86%	£25	£321,161
4	Cardiff	33280	21037	12243	36.79%	£23	£281,589
5	Middlesbrough	33746	26842	6904	20.46%	£31	£211,923
6	Birmingham	29409	21180	8229	27.98%	£26	£211,092
7	Stoke	30089	22742	7347	24.42%	£23	£165,787
8	Preston	23408	16720	6688	28.57%	£23	£155,569
9	Coventry	32609	25468	7141	21.90%	£22	£155,239
10	Bristol City	27000	22703	4297	15.91%	£29	£126,108
11	Millwall	20146	16448	3698	18.36%	£26	£94,540
12	Southampton	32384	29373	3011	9.30%	£30	£91,508
13	Swansea	21088	16586	4502	21.35%	£17	£78,100
14	Watford	21577	18876	2701	12.52%	£25	£66,586
15	Hull	25586	21980	3606	14.09%	£18	£65,849
16	West Brom	26850	24052	2798	10.42%	£20	£57,055
17	Huddersfield	24500	19418	5082	20.74%	£11	£55,018
18	QPR	18360	16682	1678	9.14%	£29	£48,078
19	Leeds	37890	35988	1902	5.02%	£22	£42,175
20	Plymouth	18173	16491	1682	9.26%	£21	£34,737
21	Leicester	32273	31238	1035	3.21%	£33	£34,200
22	Rotherham	12000	10674	1326	11.05%	£21	£27,961
23	Norwich	27244	26053	1191	4.37%	£23	£27,652
24	Ipswich	29673	28845	828	2.79%	£32	£26,388

Blackburn Rovers came out on top, with an average attendance this season (2023/24) of just 15,579 (which is well shy of Ewood Park’s 31,367 max capacity) meaning they average 15,788 empty seats per home game, accounting for a staggering £363,124 of lost revenue per match.

The Lancashire based club have been on a negative slide for years after a very successful period in the 90s, and then maintaining their top-flight status throughout the 2000s. But since relegation in 2012/13, they have endured a single season in League One and then struggled to get anywhere near a return to the promised land.

Blackburn Top the Empty Seats League Table

Blackburn's Ewood Park has a capacity of more than 30,000 and due to the number of unsold seats, they are leaving the most most money on the table through empty seats at home games

Given that it is perhaps no surprise that Rovers fans do not turn out in droves anymore, and with Ewood Park's capacity being 30,000 plus and only being around one-third full on an average matchday, the amount lost was always going to be huge.

Similarly, Sunderland have been on a slide over the last decade or so and although they have managed to climb out of depths of League One in recent years, that was clearly not enough for fans to return in great numbers, reflected in the average attendance of 37,853 this season.

With their Stadium of Light holding 48,707 and the lowest ticket prices at £31, The Black Cats lose out on £339,777 every time they play at home.

No Light On Wearside

Although Sunderland's Stadium of Light can host nearly 49,000 supporters per home game, the number of unsold seats means the Black Cats are averaging a loss of £339k each time the Black Cats play in front of their own support.

Sheffield Wednesday (£321,161), Cardiff (£281,589) and Middlesbrough (£211,923) round out the top five on our list. All have the three of biggest stadium capacities in the league (north of 33,000) but the first two are missing around one-third of fans each home game and the latter 20%, meaning they lose a considerable amount of money every matchday.

At the other end of the table, Ipswich, who defied expectations this term, lose out on the least per matchday with just over £26,388 per game. Average attendances at Portman Road this year have been 9,487, which is on 828 unsold tickets on average and more importantly, they just pip local rivals Norwich to the honour of losing the least matchday revenue.

Ipswich are the Stadium Filling Champions

The Tractor Boys may have arrived from League One but that did not stop Portman Road from being close to sell out in each of Ipswich's 23 home league games.

Ipswich ending up as one of the three promoted teams to reach the promised land of the Premier League for 2024/25, but what of the other two?

Leicester found themselves fourth bottom with lost revenue of £34,200 per game and Southampton could only finished 12th overall.

Championship Clubs Loses Infographic

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