Hi, there are source on the internet that give out the number of spectators to a football match. For younger games in history, often two values are given. (a) number of sold tickets and (b) a figure of the real spectators to the event rounded often to thousands. Examples can be found here. http://www.rsssf.com/tablesi/ital-intres1990.html I wonder which figure i should consider in my database and tend to use the one of the real spectators in general games, but to go for the official numbers in final tournament matches as i dont want them to differ from the other sources around on the internet. what is your opinion? how spectators should be counted?
Depends on what you're trying to get a handle on. Many of the analyses of the leagues and games in the US here go with the announced number, which is usually "tickets distributed." For MLS and other US-based leagues, we have been tracking numbers for years now mostly because it was an indicator (a rough one) of overall fiscal health (and, to a lesser extent, interest in general). We're never going to get gate revenue numbers for a particular game, and it's difficult (if not impossible, in the case of non-municipal stadiums) to get turnstile counts. If you want to try to get a handle on who many people thought a particular game was compelling enough to leave their house and pay for tickets to it, then the number of people who actually show up is a good indicator of that. (Though you don't know how many paid.) If you want a broad stroke idea of fiscal health, of people who thought enough of the team or the game in question to buy tickets, you can use the announced/distributed number because when a ticket is paid for, it's counted as revenue whether the ticket-buyer shows up to the stadium or not. Revenue is important (especially in leagues like ours, where we had problems for many years with teams and leagues folding). People who show up are important. There's no one solid number, it's a matter of what you're looking to get to.