Serie A Match Attendances Continue Downward Trend In First Half Of Season

Crowd figures in Serie A have "dropped again, according to figures released for the first half" of the '16-17 season, according to Ben Gladwell of ESPN.com. With an average of 21,833 fans taking in fixtures during the first half of the current Serie A campaign, a drop of 1.7% year-on-year has been recorded "with only AC Milan and Juventus bucking the trend with crowd increases." The figures, published by Il Messaggero, "are the lowest in the past five seasons with some of Italy's most supported clubs leading the decline." Napoli's average gate fell 22.3%, "arguably due to the sale of Gonzalo Higuain to Juventus," while crowd figures at Roma's Stadio Olimpico dropped 17.8%. A "new record low was set by Crotone," which welcomed just 510 fans to its game against Palermo. The "biggest crowd came in the Milan derby," which was seen by 77,882 fans at the San Siro, followed by Inter vs. Juventus (76,484) and AC Milan vs. Juventus (75,829) (ESPN.com, 12/28).