Ligue 1 season – goals galore, packed stadia!

Article posted by Coliseum, January 31^st, 2023

Image: Paris SG

The French professional league for men’s association football clubs – Ligue 1 Uber Eats (France) – is soaring high on the popularity chart in the first half of the season.

‘ligue1.com’ stated that goals galore and packed stadiums! That’s the theme for the first half of the 2022-2023 Ligue 1 Uber Eats season, marked by the highest number of goals scored in 43 years (558 goals, 2.94 goals/game) and by an all-time record of 4.52 million spectators in total.

Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men’s association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country’s primary football competition.

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The 2022-2023 Ligue 1, also known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is the 85^th season of the Ligue 1, France’s premier football competition. It began on August 5^th, 2022 and will conclude on June 4^th, 2023.

Attendance up by 12 percent

‘ligue1.com’ further stated that with the momentum of the second half of 2021-2022, mid-season attendances are up 12 percent compared to the same period last year, representing a total of more than half a million additional spectators in the stadiums. The increase is also marked compared to the seasons before COVID (+5 percent compared to 2019-2020 and +7 percent compared to 2018-2019).

Concerning the average number of spectators per Ligue 1 Uber Eats match (23,773 spectators on an average), boosted by massive season-ticket sales (+13 percent vs. 2021-2022), a record level was reached.

OM Fans on Fire

Thus, 18 of the 20 clubs have seen their average attendance increase this season, notably the Ligue 1 club Olympique de Marseille, who has exceeded 62,000 spectators on an average at their residence – the 67,000-capacity Orange Vélodrome in Marseille, France (+12 percent). The stadium recorded its best attendance of the season for the OM-AC Ajaccio match held on October 8^th, 2022 with no fewer than 63,416 spectators attending the same.

The three promoted clubs (Toulouse FC, AC Ajaccio and AJ Auxerre) are the clubs with the biggest increase in average attendance at the halfway stage of the season. And among the clubs present in Ligue 1 Uber Eats last season, FC Nantes is the one whose attendance has increased the most (+44 percent).

Average Attendance by Club in 2022-2023 (up to R19):

Olympique de Marseille – 62,449 spectators on an average (+12 percent vs. mid-season 2021-2022);
Paris Saint-Germain F.C. – 47,667 (+2 percent);
Olympique Lyonnais – 46,305 (+24 percent);
RC Lens – 37,562 (+5 percent);
LOSC Lille – 36,115 (+8 percent);
FC Nantes – 28,612 (+44 percent);
Stade Rennais F.C. – 27,542 (+5 percent);
RC Strasbourg Alsace – 25,290 (+5 percent);
Toulouse FC* – 23,161 (+145 percent);
OGC Nice – 22,024 (+7 percent);
AJ Auxerre* – 15,144 (+107 percent);
FC Lorient – 14,816 (+10 percent);
Stade de Reims – 13,425 (+18 percent);
Montpellier Hérault SC – 12,827 (+18 percent);
Stade Brestois 29 – 11,705 (-5 percent);
Clermont Foot 63 – 11,060 (-4 percent);
Angers SCO – 10,361 (+37 percent);
ES Troyes AC – 9,242 (+6 percent);
AC Ajaccio* – 7,597 (+177 percent); and
AS Monaco – 6,865 (+36 percent).

Le Parc des Princes, Stade Bollaert-Delelis and La Meinau on the podium!

As for the percentage of capacity across top-flight stadia, Ligue 1 Uber Eats reached an average of 81 percent – an increase of 11 percentage points compared to the last season and seven percentage points compared to 2019-2020. There are six clubs who reached 90 percent at the mid-season point: PSG, RC Lens, RC Strasbourg Alsace, Stade Rennais F.C., OM, and Clermont Foot 63. That’s four of the top five clubs on the Ligue 1 Uber Eats table.

Percentage of Capacity by Club 2022-2023 (up to R19):

Paris Saint-Germain F.C. – 99 percent (+1 pt);
RC Lens – 98 percent (+4 pts);
RC Strasbourg Alsace – 97 percent (+5 pts);
Stade Rennais F.C. – 94 percent (+4 pts);
Olympique de Marseille – 94 percent (+7 pts);
Clermont Foot 63 – 90 percent (-3 pts);
FC Lorient – 88 percent (+8 pts);
AJ Auxerre* – 87 percent (+48 pts);
AC Ajaccio* – 82 percent (+46 pts);
FC Nantes – 80 percent (+24 pts);
Olympique Lyonnais – 80 percent (+15 pts);
Stade Brestois 29 – 77 percent (-5 pts);
LOSC Lille – 74 percent (+6 pts);
Toulouse FC* – 73 percent (+41 pts);
Stade de Reims – 65 percent (+9 pts);
OGC Nice – 64 percent (+5 pts);
Angers SCO – 59 percent (=);
Montpellier Hérault SC – 58 percent (+6 pts);
ES Troyes AC – 47% (+4 pts); and
AS Monaco – 42 percent (+4 pts).

(*) Ligue 2 BKT clubs in 2021-2022.

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