The last full season, without restrictions from the Civil Defense, of the coronavirus and others, was in 2022-23, when an average of 2,663 spectators came per match. The league was then composed of 12 teams, and only for two of them (Kiryat Ata and Eilat) there were less than 1,000 spectators on average. This season, in comparison, in 8 out of the league’s 14 teams, there are less than 1,000 spectators on average.
During the 22/23 season, there was an occupancy rate of 61% in the arenas, the following season it dropped to 51%, then to 46%, and this season it is only 42%.
Sport5.co.il journalist Oded Halperin notes about Hapoel Jerusalem:
“During its good seasons in the previous decade, the occupancy rate reached an average of 6,800 spectators per match at the Arena. And always between 5,000 and 6,000. This season it is only 3,300 spectators on average, a negative record – and by far.” He adds: “Hapoel Tel-Aviv (Note: a newcomer in the Euroleague), and it’s not surprising, went from 5,191 last season to 3,191 this season – the reasons are different, but the public is voting with their feet.”
Oded Halperin reports that the war alone does not explain this regression as football stadiums, especially those of the big teams, are packed.
“And also, the schedules are not always convenient, access is difficult, there is no public transportation, and a series of other reasons – and yet, the public comes. So why in football yes, and in basketball (in the context of what we knew before), no?” he wonders, acknowledging that he does not explain the phenomenon.
