Both the Brazilian Série A and Japanese J-League season have ended, and we have therefore put the attendances of their seasons in a few charts. No extensive analyses this time, but just some charts.

The average Brazilian league attendance dropped with 13.6% from 14,989 spectators per match in 2011 to 13,196 in 2012. Broken down by club it looks like this:

Corinthians lead the table, followed by São Paulo and Grêmio. If we compare these numbers with those of last year, we get the following chart:

What strikes are the large swings from last year to this year’s season. One reason for this is that various clubs have moved away from their regular home stadium to a temporary home while construction works are under way. Attendances also seem to be strongly correlated with performance on the pitch, but some movements seem very random.

Flamengo and São Paulo drew the biggest crowds away from home. On average, Brazilian clubs sold 41% of all tickets, but various clubs used more than one stadium so it is hard to get a reliable number here.

Now to Japan. The J-League attendances bounced back from a poor last year to an average of 17,573 spectators per match. They have been higher though in previous years.

It looks like this if split up by club:

Urawa Reds are lonely at the top with an average of 36,634, followed by Albirex Niigata and FC Tokyo. If we compare these numbers with the 2011 season, it looks like this:

The differences are relatively modest, with the most gains for league winner Sanfrecce Hiroshima. Urawa Reds drew the biggest crowds away from home, followed by Kashima Antlers and Gamba Osaka.

On average, J-League clubs filled 59% of seats during the season, but just as in Brazil several clubs changed stadium depending on the opponent.

We earlier already published a more in-depth analysis of attendances on the recently finished 2012 US Major League Soccer season.

(Photo credits: © Bruno Cantini via Club Atlético Mineiro)