Introduction

Traditionally game attendance has been a major statistic for sports administrators to judge the support for and the financial health of a sporting team. While this remains true, the importance of matchday attendance, especially its percentage financial contribution is declining. For example, For Manchester United, crowd attendance receipts, which include ticket sales, food, merchandise, and hospitality offerings, typically account for about 13-15% of their total revenue. (Premier League Clubs Matchday Income)

This is at the lower end of matchday dependence but as shown in Table1 matchday percentage of total revenue rarely exceeds 25%  for many major clubs

Table 1 Matchday receipts as a percentage of total revenue of selected clubs

Source: Various annual reports (New York Jets revenue 2023 | Statista)

 Note: Appollo Projects Stadium is known as Rugby League Park

Some caveats attach to table 1, as all the clubs mentioned are large and successful and such percentages may not apply to smaller or second division clubs where matchday receipts as a percentage of total revenue would almost certainly be higher. Still data from the top are the main indicators of sporting trends.

No one’s building big stadiums anymore.

Famous clubs attract big crowds but maintaining a large stadium and catering for massive matchday crowds is both expensive and risky, especially if the stadium is not covered. As a result the trend in new stadium is towards creating more versatile, engaging, and sustainable sports venues. These trends include

• Smaller, More Intimate Venues: There’s a shift towards building smaller stadiums that offer a more intimate experience. This is partly due to the competition with home entertainment systems, which means stadiums need to offer something unique (The future of sports stadiums: Smaller arenas, more tech, greener (cnbc.com)
• High-Tech Enhancements: To enhance  fan experience and improve efficiency modern stadiums are incorporating advanced technology, such as 5G connectivity, smart flooring, and autonomous drones for security and maintenance (What will the sports stadium of the future look like? – SportsPro (sportspromedia.com)
• Eco-Friendly Designs: Sustainability is a major focus, with new stadiums being designed to be more environmentally friendly. This includes using renewable energy sources, reducing waste, and incorporating green spaces (The Future of Sports Stadium Design Trends to Watch (allsportltd.org)
• Multi-Use Facilities: There is a trend towards creating multi-use arenas that can host a variety of events, not just sports. This makes them more economically viable and ensures they are used more frequently (Mid-size, multi-use arenas setting a trend for the future (bdcnetwork.com)
• Enhanced Fan Engagement: Interactive fan experiences are becoming more common, with features like augmented reality, personalized content, and mobile apps that enhance the in-stadium experience.

Where does the money come from?

Table 2 sets out the distribution of total revenue for major football clubs of various codes between media. Commercial and matchday receipts

Table 2 Percentage Revenue by Source Various Football Codes

 Source: Annual accounts

The data in table 2 confirms the growing importance of media /broadcasting relative to matchday receipts. Most reliant on media revenue was the Dallas Cowboys with 60% but Collingwood, Melbourne and the Crusaders are all well over 40% dependent

On media/broadcast rights as a source of total income. Bayern Munich is perhaps a guide for trends to come with nearly 60% of its revenue generated by commercial activities. In Australia, commercial activities ae also being driven at the organisational level by .the AFL and the NRL

The relative shift away from dependence on matchday receipts is in recognition of the high cost of maintaining large stadiums and serving massive crowds with the accompanying security, transport and other logistics. Broadcast contracts, once negotiated, are less subject to variation than matchday receipts and represent stable income, which assists in development planning. Similarly commercial activities and merchandise. Through subject to fluctuations are also a more stable source of income than matchday receipts

Implications for contemporary Australian sport

The large crowds associated with finals and special games will always remain part of the Australian sports scene, but these are associated with large scale main-stream sports however, recent trends have confirmed that crowd size is not the main source of revenue even to these clubs anymore and there are significant costs both to the clubs and the fans of attending large scale events.  For this reason, the modern trend is to build small to medium sized multiple use stadiums. They are particularly useful in providing accommodation to smaller sports and (now) female sports that would be dwarfed in massive stadiums like the MCG. The downside of these trends however is the growing power of media companies to influence sports particularly in terms of timing and scheduling.