The EuroLeague, European basketball’s top club competition, set new attendance records during the 2022-23 regular season.
The campaign averaged 8,748 spectators per game, beating the previous high of 8,676 during the 2019-20 campaign.
The 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Throughout the year, a total of 2,668,148 attended regular season games.
More than half of the teams played in front of crowds of at least 80% capacity this season and four of them were at 90%. Lithuania’s Zalgiris Kaunas and Israel’s Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv led the way as their home games were at 96% capacity this season.
Serbia’s Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade led the league in overall attendance, with 17,763 spectators per game while playing in front of 88% capacity.
There was a strong correlation between attendance and team performance as six of the eight playoff teams boasted fill rates above 80% and five of the six teams that averaged more than 10,000 fans per game reached the playoffs.
The EuroLeague playoffs will begin tomorrow (April 24) with Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv facing France’s Monaco and Partizan taking on Spanish giants Real Madrid in the opening games of the quarter-finals.
The other last eight ties will see Zalgiris Kaunas face Spain’s Barcelona and a matchup between Turkey’s Fenerbahce and Greek outfit Olympiacos.
The winners of each series will advance to the Final Four championship finale of the EuroLeague campaign that will place in Kaunas, Lithuania.
The Zalgirio Arena, home of Zalgiris Kaunas, will stage the semi-finals on May 19, as well as in the third-place and championship games on May 21.
