Latest figures by Passolig, the seasonal pass provider for the Süper Lig, reveals a slight increase in the number of fans and an unprecedented interest from Japanese fans. Figures show an average of 14,205 people attending each game this season, compared to 12,821 last season.
About 1,000 Japanese nationals also bought passes according to Passolig officials. This interest is linked to Galatasaray and Beşiktaş' new Japanese transfers. Galatasaray signed Yuto Nagatomo earlier in the season while Shinji Kagawa joined its rival Beşiktaş in the January transfer window. Other foreign Passolig buyers include German, Dutch and Cypriot nationals. British nationals were interested Fenerbahçe passes the most, the figures indicate. One highlight of the Passolig statistics is the increasing interest from fans under 18, who now number around 400,000. The number of fans over the age of 80, meanwhile, nears 3,000. Since the start of the season, nearly 500,000 new users signed up with Passolig and the highest increase was among fans of Galatasaray, Fenerbahçe and Beşiktaş.
More passes naturally mean more income for clubs and statistics show match day revenues of clubs increased and reached an average of TL 22 million per match for each of the 18 top-tier clubs. Galatasaray earned the most, reaping a revenue of TL 128.5 million from the passes.