I think this year will be the most successful in term of attendances. It's just a pity the size of the current stadiums is probably now the main restrictor. james McClean will be an attraction and what looks like being a closer run thing for the title that will keep fans interested and and wanting to attend. Ironically a lot of fans complained about Dalymount only allowing 450 away fans into the Mono stand and when they get the opportunity to show their strength they want to boycott it.
To balance against those is the fact we've swapped Cork with Dundalk, with the former usually being better supported. And the Bohs Aviva opener this year will have a much smaller crowd than the one last year did.Originally Posted by Shinkicker
But then having both Galway and Derry playing at GAA grounds should also increase crowds for both - if only for the novelty factor.
So swings and roundabouts all over the league when it comes to attendances. Hopefully we'll have a proper title challenge at the top, and a tight relegation battle at the bottom, to keep crowds good throughout.
I see there is 18k sold for Sundays game. What is the breakpoint for Bohs to cover costs? I remember hearing it was around this figure.
It was almost 300k during pandemic to rent, so its probbably closeer to 350-400k by now so I think thats 18-20k just in ticket sales, that number drops with sponsorship and other matchday income obviouly. Its not going to the earner it was last year but unless maybe Bohs still count what the exposure is worth. 18k is good and its advance sales, they could get 5k in walk ups on the day?!
If they come close to breaking even its a massive win for Bohs. I would say there'll be close to 500 people there at their first Bohs game. That's is a lot of potential membership, ticket and jersey over time.
Definitely. I'd even say that if they lose a small amount from the game itself, it'd still be worth it. There'll be a lot of people in the crowd who are there out of curiousioty and have nio LOI allegiances currenlty. A lot of non-nationals etc. All of whom could be converted to Bohs being 'their team' form the event. It's definitely worth trying.
It's also helpful for Bohs in planning what they do when they can't play at Dalymount during the rebuild. These events help them work out which games the Aviva might be an option for.
It's entirely feasible that by the time the 'new' Dalymount opens, its capacity may already be too small for Bohs. That's not to say it would be filled at every game. But you don't want a stadium that is always full - as that leaves you no room for growth. It's entirely feasible that they could be regularly selling out bigger games a few years after opening - which would mean the venue has become a limitation on them. The current process has taken so long, its capacity is unambitious, and the design mitigates against easy extension (or at least designs I saw did), that they could easily be back at square one again within a decade. Population growth alone here is such that we can expect a steady increase in LOI attendnaces across the board in the coming decade.
Definitely. I'd even say that if they lose a small amount from the game itself, it'd still be worth it. There'll be a lot of people in the crowd who are there out of curiousity and have no LOI allegiances currently. A lot of non-nationals etc. All of whom could be converted to Bohs being 'their team' form the event. It's definitely worth trying.
It's also helpful for Bohs in planning what they do when they can't play at Dalymount during the rebuild. These events help them work out which games the Aviva might be an option for.
It's entirely feasible that by the time the 'new' Dalymount opens, its capacity may already be too small for Bohs. That's not to say it would be filled at every game. But you don't want a stadium that is always full - as that leaves you no room for growth. It's entirely feasible that they could be regularly selling out bigger games a few years after opening - which would mean the venue has become a limitation on them. The current process has taken so long, its capacity is unambitious, and the design mitigates against easy extension (or at least designs I saw did), that they could easily be back at square one again within a decade. Population growth alone here is such that we can expect a steady increase in LOI attendnaces across the board in the coming decade.
I've said all along that the new Dalymount will be too small. Regarding the Aviva game,let's say they sell 20,000 tickets , 3000 neutrals and 3000 Pats fans. Then Bohs will have given an additional 11k-12k Bohs fans the opportunity to see a high profile game they normally wouldn't have access to.
You're inflating the Bohs crowd and deflating the Pats one with those figures of 14k Bohs fans and 3k Pats fans. According to Dan McDonnell on Twitter Bohs have sold double the tickets Pats have as of yesterday, with 17k sold in total. The Pats figure is around 5k sold so based on McDonnell’s update that’s 10k Bohs and around 2k neutral.
Would mean there being a 2:1 ratio of Bohs fans to Pats fans compared to a roughly 10:1 ratio if the game was in Dalymount which is a positive note for Pats I suppose
Paaatrick's Agletic
I would hate to disagree with Dan but Bohs have definitely sold more than double Pat’s. Bohs fans have been buying tickets in the neutral sections adjacent to the Bohs end, which is larger than the Pat’s end. I would expect it to be a bigger ratio than 2:1 come match day.
Pats fans as they seem
I didn't have any actual figures and i used the term "let's say" I used the 3 k number for pats fans as they seem to be actively boycotting the game . My point was, Bohs are giving fans who normally cant go to Dalymount the opportunity to se a high profile game and the new Dalymount will be too small.
Just saw on X 12,000 Bohs, 6,000 Pats and Kenny asking Pats fans to attend, throw in 3,000 neutrals 21,000 would be ok.
Is it a case of Pats fans actively boycotting the game? Or is it not more a case of the club not having a particularly big fanbase to tap into full-stop, for anything outside of cup finals?
What did they get for their European game(s) in Tallaght - fewer than 7,000? And Europe's a much bigger draw than this.
I suspect Pats now have the smallest fanbase of the main 4 Dublin teams.
On Sundays match, this whole Pats fans boycotting thing seems massively blown out of proportion to me, amplified by Dan McDonnell on LOI Central tbh. A few mouths on Twitter are saying they are and good luck to them, but the reason Pats crowd isn’t matching the 2021 & 2023 uptake is because the cup final bandwagon that shows up for those games hasn’t seemed to buy into this league fixture given the justified negativity around the season ahead. 99% of the regular heads that go every week will be there and the ticket sales from Pats are currently higher than what can fit in a sold out Richmond already.
I agree that the new Dalymount will be too small for Bohs bigger games and doesn’t leave much scope for future expansion unless maybe years down the line (decades knowing Ireland) it becomes possible to build upper tiers to the bigger stand(s), here’s hoping anyways
Last edited by 2 Year Contract; 05/02/2026 at 1:25 PM.
Paaatrick's Agletic
7,821 for a 3rd round conference league game last season, compared to Shels 5,675 vs Hacken and 4,503 in a must win game against Drita, (both in the league phase), would directly go against your thinking. The sell out vs Palace in a dead rubber game is an obvious outlier given the PL barstool bandwagon it attracted
Paaatrick's Agletic
Good clarification. I apologise, and will elevate Pats to the status of the third-best supported of Dublin's 4 main clubs
7,821 for a late-stage European game of genuine consequenece would seem to undermine the idea of much of a Pats' boycott of the Aviva game. There's nothing to be won on Sunday, so it's just not as big a game. Their ticket sales are therefore probably about right for where the Pats fanbase is at if we're honest?
Listened to Dan McDonnell on the Aviva piece. Like obviously some of the stuff he said would be pretty inflamatory here I would imagine but in the round I think his perspective is mine as well that opposition to the Aviva games is short sighted
The bit in bold is pretty much saying the same thing as I said below. The general fanbase that goes every/most weeks is what you’ll see on Sunday, plus a very low percentage of the blow in genre of Pats fan that will go to the cup finals to see them win a trophy, rather than heading to most league games or out to Tallaght on a midweek night to see a midtable Pats team get hockeyed by a Turkish giant, with the prize of winning being a spot in the same round they reached the previous year.Good clarification. I apologise, and will elevate Pats to the status of the third-best supported of Dublin's 4 main clubs
7,821 for a late-stage European game of genuine consequenece would seem to undermine the idea of much of a Pats' boycott of the Aviva game. There's nothing to be won on Sunday, so it's just not as big a game. Their ticket sales are therefore probably about right for where the Pats fanbase is at if we're honest?
The challenge for Pats (and other LOI clubs that reach finals) is converting as many of those cup final bandwagon fans into regular league match goers. The increase in Pats crowds and regular home end sell outs since those 2 recent cup finals shows they’re doing well at it when you keep in mind the to the 1200 odd average crowds after the 2014 cup win. More work to be done though of course
Paaatrick's Agletic
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