By Robbie Butler
Do we really need more seats?
This was the question I asked myself earlier in the week when I read that South Dublin County Council had opened a tendering process for the naming rights of Tallaght Stadium, home of League or Ireland football club Shamrock Rovers. The council plans to increase the capacity of the stadium to above 10,000 seats as part of a €11.5 million investment.
As our recent paper in the Economic and Social Review shows, the average attendance at Shamrock Rover's home games from 2012 to 2019 was somewhere between 2,041 and 3,444 fans. The maximum attendance at any game during the 8-year period was 7,021 . The current capacity of the stadium is 8,000. Is there really a need for a 20+% expansion?
Of course, there may be an element of Kevin Costner in Field of Dream - "If you build it, they will come". But Dublin is presently one of the most "seated" capitals in Europe right now. A post some 8 years ago on this site raised the issue and ranked Ireland as number one in Europe for stadium seats.
The illustration below is an attempt to update this, not at a country-level, but rather capital cities on these islands. I compare Dublin with Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh and London. One word of caution; this is open source data that should reliable but may have some shortcomings.
Do we really need more seats?
This was the question I asked myself earlier in the week when I read that South Dublin County Council had opened a tendering process for the naming rights of Tallaght Stadium, home of League or Ireland football club Shamrock Rovers. The council plans to increase the capacity of the stadium to above 10,000 seats as part of a €11.5 million investment.
As our recent paper in the Economic and Social Review shows, the average attendance at Shamrock Rover's home games from 2012 to 2019 was somewhere between 2,041 and 3,444 fans. The maximum attendance at any game during the 8-year period was 7,021 . The current capacity of the stadium is 8,000. Is there really a need for a 20+% expansion?
Of course, there may be an element of Kevin Costner in Field of Dream - "If you build it, they will come". But Dublin is presently one of the most "seated" capitals in Europe right now. A post some 8 years ago on this site raised the issue and ranked Ireland as number one in Europe for stadium seats.
The illustration below is an attempt to update this, not at a country-level, but rather capital cities on these islands. I compare Dublin with Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh and London. One word of caution; this is open source data that should reliable but may have some shortcomings.
Dublin currently has more than 10 outdoor stadiums with seating capacity. Two of these (Croke Park and Aviva Stadium) have in excess of 50,000 seats. Croke Park has the third biggest capacity in Europe. With the current population estimate of Dublin at just over 1.2 million people, and more than 163,000 stadium seats, there is a seat in Dublin for nearly 1 in every 8 people. The GAA is responsible for about 70,000 of these and rugby in excess of 65,000 seats. Ignoring soccer's shared use of the Aviva Stadium, traditionally a rugby venue, League of Ireland soccer provides just under 20,000 seats. Cricket, horse sport and athletics provide the remainder.
While many people will travel to Dublin from outside of the city to watch events, the ratio of people to seats is quite high. However, it is topped by both Cardiff and Edinburgh. In the Welsh capital there is a stadium seat for every 4.3 people. Edinburgh is a close 2nd. The Scottish capital has a stadium seat for nearly 1 in every 5 people.
Belfast is similar to Dublin, with one seat for every 8.67 people. London has a tighter supply, with 1 seat for every 13 Londoners. England's capital has a whopping 686,000 stadium seats spread across icon venues such as Wembley Stadium, Twickenham Stadium, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Centre Court, Wimbledon, Lord's Cricket Ground and the London Stadium, home of the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. However, with a population of nearly 9 million people and more than a dozen professional sports teams it is easy to see how these stadiums regularly sell out.
Dublin on the other hand has very few full-time professional sports teams. And even those that are regularly fail to sell out their stadiums. And while it is not as concentrated as the capitals in Wales or Scotland, Dublin has nearly twice as many stadium seats per person than London.
Do we really need more seats?
While many people will travel to Dublin from outside of the city to watch events, the ratio of people to seats is quite high. However, it is topped by both Cardiff and Edinburgh. In the Welsh capital there is a stadium seat for every 4.3 people. Edinburgh is a close 2nd. The Scottish capital has a stadium seat for nearly 1 in every 5 people.
Belfast is similar to Dublin, with one seat for every 8.67 people. London has a tighter supply, with 1 seat for every 13 Londoners. England's capital has a whopping 686,000 stadium seats spread across icon venues such as Wembley Stadium, Twickenham Stadium, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Centre Court, Wimbledon, Lord's Cricket Ground and the London Stadium, home of the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. However, with a population of nearly 9 million people and more than a dozen professional sports teams it is easy to see how these stadiums regularly sell out.
Dublin on the other hand has very few full-time professional sports teams. And even those that are regularly fail to sell out their stadiums. And while it is not as concentrated as the capitals in Wales or Scotland, Dublin has nearly twice as many stadium seats per person than London.
Do we really need more seats?
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