February 9 – Premier League stadiums continued to operate close to full capacity on matchday 24, underlining the competition’s sustained demand even as the season moves past the midway point and the table positioning becomes a clearer picture.
The stats are clear: across the ten fixtures played on January 31, clubs filled 452,033 of a possible 462,790 seats, producing an aggregate utilisation rate of 97.49%. Just over 10,700 seats were left cold – a marginal shortfall largely driven by a small number of fixtures rather than a league-wide decline in attendance.
Manchester United led the matchday on absolute attendance, drawing 73,932 fans at Old Trafford – a 99.49% fill rate – while Liverpool, Chelsea, Nottingham Forest and Brighton all operated above 98%. At the other end of the spectrum, Wolves (94.11%) and Sunderland (95.21%) recorded the highest volumes of empty seats, together accounting for more than 4,200 unfilled places.
Manchester United were also given plenty more to cheer about, as interim manager Michael Carrick extended his side’s winning streak thanks to substitute Benjamin Sesko, who rifled a shot into the top corner in added time to seal yet another victory.
The matchday snapshot aligns closely with the season-long attendance trend for 2025/26 so far. After 24 rounds, clubs in the English top flight have collectively filled 9.98 million seats from a total available capacity of 10.2 million, equating to an average utilisation rate of 97.64% across the campaign.
Only two rounds so far have dipped below 97% capacity, while eight have pushed beyond 98%, highlighting the consistency of attendance, especially compared with other leagues around Europe’s elite.
The strongest rounds were matchdays 13 and 18, both approaching or exceeding 98.8%, while matchday 14 posted the lowest average of the season at 95.87% – with the swing decided by the 10 teams selected to play at home in a particular week.
From a commercial standpoint, the figures reinforce the Premier League’s position as one of the most reliable gate-driven leagues in global sport. These high utilisation rates provide a degree of predictability around matchday revenue, strengthening the case for premium pricing in hospitality and sponsorship inventory, and also proving the case for necessity of long-term stadium investment strategies. Something Manchester United are working on.
Contact the writer of this story, Harry Ewing, at [email protected]