Study: Manchester City missing out on the most potential revenue in the Premier League due to empty seats

Every football fan will tell you that their home ground is the best, whether it’s Man Utd fans insisting that Old Trafford isn’t a library or Liverpool fans that the Anfield atmosphere isn’t a myth.
It’s a topic that will eventually lead to people talking about who has the worst atmosphere and the most empty seats and so on, but which Premier League club actually has the most empty seats per game so far this season?
With the recent news surrounding the four-year investigation around Manchester City, we were curious as to the impact of empty seats on the club's finances.
We’ve found that the Etihad Stadium is averaging the most empty seats in the Premier League so far this season (2022/23) which is resulting in the highest loss of revenue per game and season. With an average of 2,823 average seats, Manchester City have missed out on £112,920 per game at the Etihad so far this season which would equate to £2,145,480 for a whole season; and this is just Premier League games.
Statistics like these do not bode well for the current position the club finds itself in with its financial rule breaks.
In second place is St Mary’s stadium, home to Southampton, that is averaging 1,879 empty seats a game. This is less than Fulham in third but due to a more expensive average ticket price at Southampton, they are missing out on £107,103 a game!
Below is the full Premier League table sorted by Loss of revenue per game. This includes every Premier League club and their average attendance, empty seat average, and capacity. Also included is the same table sorted by most revenue per game/season.
Premier League Stadiums By Loss of Revenue
Please scroll along to see the full table if it doesn't appear on your screen
Stadium | capacity | average | Empty Seats | loss of revenue per game (£) | Predicted loss of revenue per season (£) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Etihad Stadium (Manchester City) | 55,017 | 52,194 | 2823 | 112920 | 2145480 | ||
St Mary's Stadium (Southampton) | 32,384 | 30,505 | 1,879 | 107103 | 2034957 | ||
Craven Cottage (Fulham) | 25,700 | 23,270 | 2,430 | 97200 | 1846800 | ||
Stamford Bridge (Chelsea) | 40,853 | 39,957 | 896 | 58240 | 1106560 | ||
Elland Road (Leeds United) | 37,890 | 36,441 | 1,449 | 55062 | 1046178 | ||
Brentford Community Stadium (Brentford) | 18,250 | 17,082 | 1,168 | 52560 | 998640 | ||
City Ground (Nottingham Forest) | 30,445 | 29,085 | 1,360 | 51000 | 969000 | ||
Vitality Stadium (Bournemouth) | 11,379 | 10,237 | 1,142 | 43396 | 824524 | ||
Old Trafford (Manchester United) | 74,879 | 73,838 | 1,041 | 42681 | 810939 | ||
Anfield (Liverpool) | 54,074 | 53,279 | 795 | 37365 | 709935 | ||
Selhurst Park (Crystal Palace) | 26,047 | 25,213 | 834 | 35028 | 665532 | ||
Villa Park (Aston Villa) | 42,682 | 41,627 | 1,055 | 34815 | 661485 | ||
King Power Stadium (Leicester City) | 32,273 | 31,646 | 627 | 26334 | 500346 | ||
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (Tottenham Hotspur) | 62,062 | 61,686 | 376 | 25944 | 492936 | ||
Molineux Stadium (Wolverhampton Wanderers) | 32,050 | 31,302 | 748 | 25432 | 483208 | ||
Emirates Stadium (Arsenal) | 60,704 | 60,190 | 514 | 24672 | 468768 | ||
Goodison Park (Everton) | 39,571 | 39,234 | 337 | 15165 | 288135 | ||
AMEX Stadium (Brighton & Hove Albion) | 31,800 | 31,474 | 326 | 9780 | 185820 | ||
St James' Park (Newcastle United) | 52,338 | 52,194 | 144 | 5760 | 109440 | ||
London Stadium (West Ham United) | 62,500 | 62,453 | 47 | 2726 | 51794 |