Premier League crowd figures are set to pass 15 million in a season for the first time since the competition was formed in 1992.
A forecast final total of 15.03 million people for 2021-22 is up on the 14.62 million who attended games in 2018-19, the last season unaffected by Covid.
The pandemic restricted attendances at the end of 2019-20 and for all of the following season.
Record figures are expected this season despite sanctions affecting Chelsea.
The UK government stopped the club from selling any further tickets for home games in March as part of sanctions imposed on owner Roman Abramovich following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.