Spectators are returning to European stadiums, with over 60 million people attending games in the five major leagues last season, a 2.4% growth. In the Premier League and Bundesliga, stadiums are operating practically at capacity limits, with occupancy rates of 97.4% and 97.1%, respectively. The Bundesliga recovered the lead in average attendance per game with 42,308 spectators, a 9.4% year-on-year growth. Everton in England stood out with the move from Goodison Park to Hill Dickinson Stadium, increasing attendance from 39,173 to 52,132 spectators, almost 13,000 more per game.
In Portugal, a different scenario was observed: the number of spectators declined from 3.7 million to 3.6 million, with the average per game falling from 12,334 to 11,979 spectators. SL Benfica remained the Portuguese club with the most supporters in stadium, with 997,738 spectators and an average of 58,690 per game. The three main Portuguese clubs have planned investment of over 520 million euros in stadiums during this decade.
According to UEFA financial reports, European clubs invested between 2.2 and 2.4 billion euros per year in stadiums and infrastructure since 2020, totaling over 10 billion euros accumulated. It is estimated that this investment could reach 15 to 18 billion euros by 2030.
