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

Dan Tracey Your Data Guide

Your data guide to football betting, Dan Tracey shows you where the numbers point before the market catches up.

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 Fulham were losing the most with an extra £90k of revenue going out of the window every time they play at the Craven Cottage.

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	Sheffield Wednesday	39859	26560	13299	33.37%	£24	£323,802
2	Blackburn	31367	16186	15181	48.40%	£19	£283,159
3	Middlesbrough	33746	25416	8330	24.68%	£25	£207,888
4	Cardiff City	33280	19646	13634	40.97%	£13	£183,170
5	Sunderland	48707	39259	9448	19.40%	£19	£180,744
6	Stoke City	30089	22786	7303	24.27%	£15	£109,227
7	Sheffield United	32702	28130	4572	13.98%	£22	£101,975
8	Millwall	20146	15339	4807	23.86%	£19	£92,169
9	Preston North End	23408	16505	6903	29.49%	£13	£88,238
10	Swansea	21088	15499	5589	26.50%	£16	£87,237
11	Bristol City	27000	22303	4697	17.40%	£17	£79,645
12	Derby County	33597	29083	4514	13.44%	£17	£78,308
13	Hull City	25586	21323	4263	16.66%	£15	£63,389
14	Coventry	32609	27812	4797	14.71%	£11	£52,141
15	Watford	21577	19371	2206	10.22%	£17	£38,557
16	Burnley	21994	19785	2209	10.04%	£15	£33,807
17	Leeds United	37890	36128	1762	4.65%	£19	£33,248
18	West Brom	26850	24942	1908	7.11%	£17	£33,100
19	Plymouth Argyle	18173	16473	1700	9.35%	£18	£29,935
20	Queens Park Rangers	18360	15826	2534	13.80%	£11	£27,764
21	Norwich City	27244	26316	928	3.41%	£24	£22,010
22	Oxford United	12500	11352	1148	9.18%	£14	£16,421
23	Portsmouth	20688	20259	429	2.07%	£20	£8,487
24	Luton	11850	11551	299	2.52%	£20	£6,110

Championship - cost of empty seats infographic

Sheffield Wednesday came out on top, with an average attendance this season (2024/25) of just 26,560 (which is well shy of Hillsborough's 39,859 max capacity) meaning they average 26,560 empty seats per home game, accounting for a staggering £323,802 of lost revenue per match.

The Yorkshire-based club are struggling to get fans through the doors because of an ongoing dislike for Wednesday's current owner Dejphon Chansiri. No funding for the team both in terms of transfers and player wages has given few reasons for people to enter Hillsborough but at the same time, that lack of revenue is hampering the ability to spend.

A vicious circle that no football club wants to find itself in.

Sheffield Wednesday Top the Empty Seats League Table

Sheffield Wednesday's Hillsborough 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

Similarly, Blackburn have been within the process of managed decline since their demotion out of the Premier League more than a decade ago. A stint that has even seen the Ewood Park outfit spend time in League One and although they somehow exceed expectations with top half finishes, it's still not enough to tempt punters through the door.

Their Ewood Park ground has a capacity of 31,367. By comparison, they only mustered an average attendance of 16,186 across the 2024/25 season. With 15,181 empty seats per home game and at a ticket price of £19, this means £283,159 is going uncollected each time.

Shining 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 £109k each time the Black Cats play in front of their own support. Then again, with promotion being earned via the play-offs, they will soon be able to cash in on the riches of the Premier League.

Middlesbrough (£207,888), Cardiff (£183,170) and Sunderland (£180,744) round out the top five on our list. All have the three of biggest stadium capacities in the league (north of 33,000) but also had differing fortunes across the season. 'Boro stayed in the division, Cardiff suffered relegation and Sunderland won promotion via the play-offs.

At the other end of the table, it is Leicester who find themselves with the lowest average matchday lost revenue figure. However, that means very little when you consider a second successive relegation for the Kenilworth Road outfit.

Demotion from the Premier League, followed by demotion from the Championship and although they only lost £6,110 per home game this season, the figure may increase for the 2025/26 season in League One.

Luton are the Stadium Filling Champions

The Hatters may have won the award fo the lowest matchday revenue but they would rather swap that for a place in next season's Championship.

While we round out our analysis by looking at the fortunes of the two teams that secured automatic promotion out of the Championship. Champions Leeds had Elland Road rocking most weeks and this is reflected by the £33,248 that was recorded in lost revenue per home game.

That figure placed them 17th in the table (highest loss to lowest) and as they pipped Burnley to the title, they also pipped the Clarets in this particular table. Whereas Leeds were losing £33,248 their Lancashire-based rivals were worse off by just £559 at a total of £33,807. The irony being that £559 is roughly the equivalent of one single season ticket.

About OLBG

OLBG is a sports betting community whose users help each other to find the best bets and the best betting sites to place them at. If you are interested in opening a new online betting account then you may want to check out the latest free bets. For those who like to try their luck at the casino, OLBG also has lists for the best UK casino sites and latest casino offers.