Süper Lig: 2.1M fans attend stadiums at season half

ANKARA-Anadolu Agency

A total of 2.1 million fans watched 153 Turkish Süper Lig matches in the stadiums during the first half of 2019-2020 season, said, Passolig, the league's branded pass card dealer on Jan. 3.

Süper Lig's average attendance was around 13,700 in the first half of this season while the title contenders from Istanbul, Fenerbahçe topped the average attendance table with 38,901 spectators.

Fenerbahçe have been playing their home matches at the Ülker Stadium, which has 50,530 seating capacity.

Located in the Asian part of the city, the Ülker Stadium -- one of the first modern football venues in Turkey -- has been expanded by the club in the 2000s.

The Week 6 match between arch-rivals Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe at the Türk Telekom Stadium holds the highest attendance record with 51,062 fans.

The Türk Telekom Stadium -- the home of Galatasaray since Jan. 2011 -- can host 52,650 spectators.

According to Passolig, 4.2 million people watched matches at the Turkish stadiums in the 2018-2019 season.

The Turkish Super Lig averaged nearly 14,000 fans last season, better the 2017-2018 average of 13,000.

Football fans in Turkey have to apply for their Passolig cards to watch games in venues, after which they are required to load deposits to their cards depending on the games they would like to watch.