When it comes to attendance figures, is the I-League better than the ISL?

The I-League after its first gameweek, announced that it had posted good numbers for the first round of matches.

Though early days, its looks like the league may be more popular than ever after two scintillating underdog triumphs in its last two seasons. The Aizawl and Minerva Punjab victories have definitely raised the profile of the league but it remains to be seen whether this momentum can be sustained.

With 10 matches over, the I-League has been able to fill 50% of its seats whereas the Indian Super League claims to have filled 61% of its designated capacities. But a closer look at these capacities proves to be more interesting.

Ticketing capacities and Stadia capacities

It is very important to differentiate between the two capacities, ticketing and in-stadia. The in-stadia capacity usually indicates the maximum number of people a stadium can hold when full.

For example, the Vivekananda Yuva Bharati Krirangan (VYBK) Stadium or the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata can hold 85,000 post its renovation for the 2017 Under-17 World Cup. While the Indian Super League allows a maximum number of 68,012 tickets to be sold for ATK matches, the I-League pegs it at 65,000.

The ticketing capacity, which includes the total number of tickets printed (made available for sale) and the number of complementary passes offered, can be reduced for various reasons. Security concerns are often listed in closing out entire sections of the stadiums. Some clubs ban spectators from standing or cordon off certain standing sections, reducing capacity.

“Sometimes entire stands are discontinued or only some portions are made available to the general populace. What this does is make sure that certain stands look full due to the clumping together of the crowd so that it looks good on broadcast,” says an ISL insider.

Deviation from full capacity

For stadia of certain ISL teams, these capacities show a huge deviance from their in-stadia capacity. Infact, five of the 10 stadia were also involved in the history of the U17 World Cup, and featured much larger capacities.

Until two days earlier, the ‘About Venue’ sections of the ISL teams featured capacities, which have now been removed. The JLN Stadium in New Delhi had previously displayed a capacity of 14,342 whereas the World Cup renovation had capped maximum capacity at 60,000.

Similarly, the JLN Stadium in Kochi had its capacity reduced from 55,000 to 29,000 due to Fifa’s concerns about the third-tier but had it increased to 38,036 for this year’s ISL. The JLN Stadium in Chennai, a 40,000-seater had its capacity reduced to 19,691.

The I-League however has the in-stadia and ticketing capacity of its stadiums very close to each other. Infact, some stadiums like the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Maulpui, Aizawl have often seen over-crowding, resulting in crowds larger than capacity, due to the enormous popularity of the local team.

The infusion of two very popular teams, Gokulam Kerala and Neroca, has also added to the attendance figures of the I-League. Located in two football crazy regions, Kozhikode and Imphal namely, last season was the first in the top flight for both of these teams and the respective attendances for the first home matches this season was confirmation of the adulation that both receive locally.

The Kolkata giants have seen their attendances dwindle over the years, but the twin Kolkata derbies, scheduled for December 16 and January 27, should be sold out nevertheless. When it comes to attendances and atmosphere, there is no bigger game on Indian soil than the derby.

The jury is out on which league remains the more popular, the I-League or the ISL. While it is still early days for this edition of the I-League, it is undeniable that certain parts of India enjoy the game more than most. This is certainly something for the league committee to keep in mind, while undertaking the re-structuring of the leagues next year.