Attendance hits a new low for ISL match at Fatorda

PANAJI

Aftera much delay, the Indian Super League (ISL) finally kicked off onFebruary 14. In its opening match, FC Goa managed to secure 1-1 draw,thanks to Dejan Drazic’s penalty in the 83^rd minuteagainst the newly promoted Inter Kashi at Fatorda on February 14.

Butthat match was attended by mere 1,577 spectators – the lowest inthe history for any ISL game played in Goa ever since the tournamentbegan in 2014. In that match, majority of the seats in the stadiumwere empty, with the stadium filled to just 8.3 percent of itscapacity 19,000. It was a very dismal sight to see players playing infront of a near empty stadium.

Theattendance figures are indeed shocking. It was the first time everthat attendance had gone below the 5,000 mark at Fatorda. Theprevious least attended ISL match at Fatorda was between FC Goa andNorth East United on 4 October 2024. That match was attended by 5,205spectators.

Itis a known fact that attendance for ISL matches at Fatorda has beenon a steady decline over the years. Unlike IPL, attendance for ISLmatches across India have been on the decline, not just in Goa.Getting crowd back to the stadium will be the biggest challenge forthe organizers.

Ofthe total 12 games played by FC Goa at Fatorda during last season2024-25, 123,548 spectators had attended the matches. That makes itan average of 10,295 spectators per game.

Thesefigures were slightly better than 2023-24 season. During that season,95.064 spectators had watched the games at Fatorda, with an averageof 8.480 per game.

Thisis a far cry from the initial days of ISL. During earlier seasons,there used to be festive atmosphere inside the stadium, lot ofenthusiasm among the crowd. That kind of atmosphere is clearlymissing now during ISL games at Fatorda.

Theinitial seasons were a huge success, with high TV ratings andattendance figures. The league was able to create a buzz aroundfootball in India that had not been seen before. The buzz andexcitement seem to have fizzled out.

Inthe first four seasons, Fatorda stadium was filled with more than 90percent of its capacity for every single game involving the Gaurs.The average attendance per match was 18,066, 18,843, 17,661, 17,604and 16,378 during 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasonsrespectively. These numbers have reduced by more than 50 percent now.

Leastattended ISL Matches at Fatorda

ISLMatches at Fatorda