PANAJI
When FC Goa thrashed Hyderabad FC 4-0 at the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Fatorda last Friday, it was one of the biggest victories registered by the Gaurs in this ISL season.
Midfielder Noah Sadaoui scored a hat-trick in that match to power FC Goa to a memorable win.
But, unfortunately, this match was attended by only 5,326 spectators – the lowest in the history of any ISL games played in Goa ever since the tournament started in 2014.
In that match, majority of the seats in the stadium were empty, with only nearly about 30 per cent capacity of the stadium being filled.
Infact, attendance at ISL matches at Fatorda has been on a steady decline over the years and this season, it has been worst. The FC Goa v/s Kerala Blasters match on December 3, 2023 was attended by 12,706 spectators, highest for any FC Goa home game this season.
Of the total 10 games played by FC Goa at Fatorda so far in this season, only 84,796 spectators have attended the matches. That makes it an average of just 8,479 spectators per game out of the total capacity of 19,000. This is less than 50 percent of the stadium.
The early seasons of the ISL were a huge success, with high TV ratings and attendance figures. The league was able to create a buzz around football in India that had not been seen before. However, in recent years, the league has struggled to maintain this momentum.
In the first four ISL seasons, the Fatorda stadium was more than 90 percent filled for every single game involving the Gaurs. The average attendance per match was 18,066, 18,843, 17,661, 17,604 and 16,378 during 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons respectively. These numbers have reduced by more than 50 per cent now.
Infact, during 2017-18 ISL season 176,038 spectators had attended the matches at Fatorda while 169,590 attended during 2015 season.
During earlier ISL seasons, there used to be festive atmosphere inside the stadium, lot of enthusiasm among the crowd. That kind of atmosphere is clearly missing now at ISL matches at Fatorda.
In the last ten years, the Fatorda stadium has hosted ISL finals on five occasions -- the most by any stadium in ISL history. On December 20, 2015, when FC Goa played their maiden ISL final against Chennaiyin FC, it was attended by a decent crowd of 18,477 spectators. These attendance figures are in sharp contrast to the 11,879 spectators who attended the ISL finals at Fatorda last year between ATK Mohun Bagan and Bengaluru FC on March 18, 2023.
It is not just in Goa, the ISL attendance figures have been on a sharp decline over the years across the country across venues.
But, despite the decline in stadium attendance, there has been a significant increase in TV and online viewership in recent years. The long season of ISL and the tendency of people to prefer watching football matches on their smartphones and smart TVs can be attributed to the reduction in attendance at the stadium.
