The Premier League may have long usurped Serie A’s role at the epicentre of the world game, but attendances in calcio‘s top tier are booming for the third consecutive season.

According to the latest figures released by Calcio e Finanza, an average of 30,638 fans have gone through the turnstiles across stadia in the Italian top flight over 238 matches so far this season with an occupancy rate of 91.9 percent.

Both figures are the highest Serie A has recorded since the 1997-98 season, which came when the league was at its untouchable peak.

To put the data into context, the Premier League has an average attendance of just under 41,000, while the Bundesliga and LaLiga sit at 38,900 and 30,300 respectively. The figure drops to 27,300 in Ligue 1, the lowest across Europe’s top five leagues.

Unsurprisingly, it’s the two Milanese clubs who lead the way, with AC Milan averaging a league-high 71,960 and Inter Milan in second place with 70,208 ahead of Roma and Napoli, who average 62,300 and 50,314 spectators per home fixture.

Lazio and Juventus are the only other two clubs with an average attendance north of 40,000 – 42,992 for the Biancocelesti and 40,575 in the Bianconeri‘s case.

This season isn’t an anomaly either. Average attendance figures have climbed steadily, reaching 30,911 per game during last season, which was in itself an uptick from the 30,755 recorded in the previous campaign. This marks a dramatic turnaround from a decade ago when average attendance languished just north of 22,000 per match.

For context, across Europe’s five biggest leagues, only Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich, Manchester United and Real Madrid have a bigger average attendance than Milan and Inter.

An average of 81,365 fans pack the Signal Iduna Park in Dortmund, while the Allianz Arena regularly welcomes 75,000 fans and 73,800 spectators have filtered through Old Trafford’s turnstiles on average so far this season, slightly more than the 73,600 that have packed the Santiago Bernabeu every second week.

If the Milanese rivals dominate the charts in terms of attendances, Cagliari are the table-toppers when it comes to occupancy rate with 97.9 percent.

Juventus and Como follow with a 97.7 and 97.2 percent ratio respectively, ahead of Atalanta with 97.1 percent and Milan with 95 percent.

The occupancy rate figures are, in part, a reflection of stadium capacity, especially for clubs with smaller grounds. In that respect, it is not entirely surprising to see Como and Cagliari, who play in the second and third-smallest grounds in Serie A respectively, in the top three.

These figures are particularly impressive given the significant challenges facing infrastructure across Italian football.

The average age of Serie A stadiums is over 69 years old, with many facilities in a state of disrepair and the Italian government has shown a lack of urgency in supporting clubs with stadium upgrades.

Only a handful of Serie A clubs, such as Juventus, Atalanta, and Udinese, have the advantage of owning their own modern stadiums, while most are forced to rent outdated facilities, hindering their ability to generate revenue and improve the matchday experience.

Roma and Lazio have both put forward plans to build their own stadiums and vacate the Stadio Olimpico, while last month Genoa and Sampdoria agreed to proceed with the renovation of the Stadio Luigi Ferraris after a two-year impasse.

No such progress is on the horizon in Milan, where the two clubs and the city council remain embroiled in a political battle over the fate of the San Siro.

Five years after the initial announcement of plans to build a new, shared stadium and demolish the historic venue, the project remains in limbo.

Initial plans for separate stadiums in different parts of Milan were met with fierce opposition from local residents and preservationists. This led to a shift in focus, with Mayor Giuseppe Sala proposing a renovation of the existing San Siro.

However, the recent designation of the stadium as a national monument has significantly complicated matters, effectively ruling out complete demolition. This series of setbacks has delayed the project considerably, leaving Inter, Milan and their fans uncertain about the future of their home ground.

It is a similar scenario in Florence, where the Artemio Franchi was set to receive a significant portion of Italy’s allocation from the European Union’s post-pandemic recovery fund, amounting to €190bn.

Florence Mayor Dario Nardella initially secured €95m for the stadium’s renovation, before the EU intervened, objecting to the use of public funds for the construction of new stadiums in Venice and Florence.

Facing the potential loss of a significant portion of its recovery fund, the Italian government was forced to withdraw support for these projects, leaving the Franchi’s renovation project severely underfunded, with a €55m shortfall. Fiorentina president Rocco Commisso has publicly stated that he will not contribute any personal funds to the project.

Construction has already begun, but with a significantly reduced capacity, leaving the club and the city to grapple with the uncertain future of the 93-year-old stadium and its funding.

Resolutions in Milan and Florence are needed ahead of Euro 2032, which Italy are set to co-host with Turkey. Rome, Turin and Milan have been appointed as three of the five host cities for the tournament, with Italy needing to nominate two further venues. Florence would be a logical choice, despite the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the Franchi, while projects from Cagliari, Bologna, Parma, Empoli and Lazio are all in the embryonic stages.

Italian stadiums may be full, but their future remains unclear.