Ligue 1, the top tier of club football in France, posted a record average attendance during the 2023-24 season, with crowds also continuing to rise in Ligue 2.
A total of 8.27 million fans attended Ligue 1 matches last season as the league moved to an 18-team competition instead of 20. The average attendance across the season stood at 27,113, a 14% year-on-year increase and the highest average figure in the history of Ligue 1.
Nine clubs – Olympique de Marseille, Paris Saint-Germain, Olympique Lyonnais, LOSC Lille, RC Lens, FC Nantes, Stade Rennais, Toulouse and RC Strasbourg – finished with average attendances of more than 25,000.
Ligue 1 also posted a record stadium occupancy rate of 85.4%, with eight clubs filling at least 90% of their stadium over the course of the season: RC Lens, Paris Saint-Germain, RC Strasbourg, Stade Brestois 29, FC Lorient, Olympique de Marseille and Clermont Foot 63.
Additionally, Ligue 1 broke its record for the highest average crowd on one specific match day (32,338), which was set in week 25.
The two newly promoted clubs last season – Le Havre and FC Metz – recorded the greatest increase in their average attendance, with rises of 75% and 51%, respectively. Stade de Brestois 29 (15%) and Stade de Reims (14%) were the two existing Ligue 1 clubs with the highest increases.
Only two clubs – Paris Saint-Germain and RC Lens – posted 99% occupancy rates during the 2023-24 season. AS Monaco posted the lowest average crowd of 7,587, as well as the lowest occupancy rate (46%).
In Ligue 2, a total of 3.24 million fans attended matches last season, marking the highest number since 2008-09. The average attendance stood at 8,645, with five clubs – AS Saint-Étienne, Girondins de Bordeaux, SM Caen, AJ Auxerre and SC Bastia – averaging more than 10,000 fans.
The figures were boosted by Saint-Étienne and Bordeaux, two historically top-tier clubs, who posted average crowds of 24,613 and 21,632, respectively. Saint-Étienne has secured promotion back to Ligue 1 for next season, but Bordeaux will remain in Ligue 2.
The average occupancy rate in Ligue 2 last season was 55.3%.
