How many games are in a Premier League Season? And Comparison with Other Leagues

At the very top of English football is the Premier League. The English Premier League is often seen as the most competitive football league globally. Any team can beat any other on a given day. Also, there is no real winter break. The schedule often gets very crowded. This makes it an incredibly demanding league to play in.

Here, 20 teams compete for the title of English champion. This league is renowned and often regarded as the best in the world. It boasts famous clubs, featuring some of the largest stadiums, and is home to many world-class players and coaches competing against each other.

It’s unarguably the most-watched league globally, seen by 920 million homes in 189 different countries.

“How many games are in a Premier League season?” That’s the main question we’ll answer in this article. We’ll also compare England’s top league with others around the world, working out which country has the toughest schedule. We’ll explore France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, and the United States. For each league, we’ll explain its system, plus how many games each team plays.

How Many Games are in a Premier League Season?

The Premier League adopted its current 20-team structure after the 1994/95 season. Back then, the league adjusted by relegating four teams while promoting only two.

With this setup, each Premier League team plays every other team twice—once at their home ground, once away. This means every team must complete 38 league matches each season, with 19 games at home and 19 away. This packed schedule runs from August to May, allowing players a summer break before the next campaign.

The 38 league games are just part of a busy calendar. Premier League teams also compete in domestic cup competitions, like the highly regarded FA Cup and the Carabao Cup (also known as the League Cup). Many teams also compete in top European competitions, such as the prestigious UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Europa League, or the UEFA Europa Conference League. Plus, players often travel for international breaks to represent their countries in friendlies or qualifiers.

When all 20 teams each play 38 matches, it adds up to a total of 380 games in a full Premier League season. At the end of the season, the three teams at the bottom of the league table move down. They go to the Championship, which is England’s second football league. Three new clubs join the Premier League. These are the teams that finished first, second, and the winner of the special playoff games in the Championship between the third to the sixth positions of the second division.

How Many Games are in a La Liga Season?

Spain’s top football division, La Liga, is home to European giants like Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Atlético Madrid.

Like the Premier League, the Spanish top flight has 20 teams. Each team plays every opponent twice: once at home, once away. This means each team plays 38 games in a season. A team can earn a maximum of 114 points (38 wins x 3 points). This setup has been in place since 1997.

In total, 380 games are played in La Liga from August to May. Clubs also compete in Spain’s two main domestic cups: the Copa del Rey and the Supercopa de España. Teams like Real Madrid or Atlético Madrid usually also play in European tournaments such as the UEFA Champions League and even the new type of FIFA Club World Cup 2025.

How Many Games are in a Serie A Season?

Italy stands as a historic football nation, boasting impressive tournament performances for decades. They hold four World Cup victories, along with two European Championship titles. This country has given football influential ideas like catenaccio, trequartista, and regista. Italy also features a very popular domestic league with huge clubs such as Juventus, Internazionale, Milan, plus Napoli.

The Italian top division is called Serie A and is structured just like La Liga or the Premier League, where twenty teams compete and three teams face relegation to the second tier, which is Serie B. This means each team plays 38 games in a regular season.

How Many Games are in a Bundesliga Season?

English football fans seem more interested in the Bundesliga since Harry Kane joined Bayern Munich. Since his transfer from Spurs last summer, Kane has been outstanding. He scored 18 goals, made 5 assists in his first 12 Bundesliga games. Some say Bayern has big financial advantages. They have been very strong in Germany lately. Still, the Bundesliga is competitive. Each season brings exciting stories, like the rise of underdog teams such as Union Berlin.

Germany’s top league has fewer clubs than most other major leagues. It has 18 teams each season, not 20. This means fewer games each year. Every team plays 34 matches in a regular season. This adds up to 306 league games overall.

Relegation and promotion between the Bundesliga and its second division (2. Bundesliga) also work differently. At season’s end, a dramatic play-off match happens. The team finishing third from the bottom in the top division plays the team finishing third in the second division. It’s a two-game, winner-take-all contest. This can mean the 16th-placed Bundesliga team loses its top-flight spot to a strong team from the league below. Other leagues, like Scotland’s, use similar systems.

How Many Games are in a Ligue 1 Season?

France’s top football league, Ligue 1, showcases world-class players like Mason Greenwood, Vitinha, Ousmane Dembélé, and Jonathan David. It sometimes faces criticism from outside France. PSG’s recent dominance has led some to call it less competitive. Other clubs, such as Lille or Monaco (helped by a young Kylian Mbappé), have broken PSG’s winning streak in the last decade.

In total, 18 teams compete each season. This is the same number of clubs as Germany’s Bundesliga. So, the total number of league games is also 306. Each team plays 34 matches in a regular campaign.

Another similarity with Germany involves relegation. At season’s end, the team finishing 16th in the league faces a crucial play-off. They play against the third-placed club from the league below. This promotion/relegation battle creates much drama each year.

At the top of the table, the French league’s quality can be seen as slightly different from leagues like the Premier League or La Liga. This means only the top two teams each year qualify directly for the Champions League group stages. The third-placed team must play a Champions League qualifier match.

How Many Games are in a Saudi Pro League Season?

The Saudi Pro League (SPL) is Saudi Arabia’s top professional football league. It ranks as Asia’s premier football league.

The league has 18 clubs. Each team plays every other club twice over a season (August to May): once at their home stadium, once away. This means every team plays 34 games in total. The league totals 306 games across the season.

A system of promotion and relegation exists between the Saudi Pro League and the Saudi First Division League. The three lowest-placed teams are relegated. The top two teams from the First Division are promoted directly. A play-off system decides the third-promoted team. This involves clubs ranked third to sixth in the First Division.

Cristiano Ronaldo was the first five-star player to sign with the Saudi Pro League. The BBC even called his move the start of a “revolution” in Asian football. When Neymar later joined Al-Hilal, he too credited Ronaldo for the league’s quick transformation.

Other prominent players who joined the league include Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kanté, Roberto Firmino, Sergej Milinković-Savić, Sadio Mané, Riyad Mahrez, and Jordan Henderson.

How Many Games are in a Brasileiro Série A Season?

The Brasileiro Série A is Brazil’s top professional football league. It features 20 clubs and uses a promotion/relegation system with Série B. In 2021, it was named the strongest national league in South America, also the strongest in the world.

Each of the 20 clubs plays every other club twice—once at home, once away. This leads to a total of 38 games for each team per season (March to December).

The four lowest-placed teams are relegated to Série B. The top four teams from Série B are promoted to the Brasileirão.

The top six clubs qualify for the Copa Libertadores (South America’s top club competition). The top four enter the group stage directly; fifth or sixth place enter the second round. More teams may qualify based on the Copa do Brasil, the Copa Sudamericana, or the Copa Libertadores winners. Clubs from seventh to twelfth place typically qualify for the Copa Sudamericana.

How Many Games are in an MLS Season?

Major League Soccer (MLS) has grown greatly, especially with Lionel Messi’s arrival. Inter Miami games now often surpass NFL ticket demand.

Unlike most global leagues, MLS uses a fixed membership system; no relegation or promotion occurs. Teams remain in the MLS once admitted.

Due to North America’s size, MLS is divided into Eastern and Western Conferences. The league season has two parts: a regular season followed by a postseason knockout tournament.

In the regular season, each team plays 34 games. Clubs play every team in their respective conference twice (home and away). They also play six to seven matches against teams from the opposing conference. Minor differences exist in intra-conference games due to uneven conference sizes.

This system is unique. No other country structures its football league quite like the USA or Canada. However, the sport’s rising popularity in North America suggests the format is effective.

Some Random Facts About the Premier League

The Premier League season runs from August until May. Each team plays every other team twice. One game is played at their home stadium, the other away. Teams earn three points for a win, one point for a draw, and no points for a loss. The team with the highest points wins the Premier League title.

When clubs end up with the same number of points, the Premier League uses specific rules to rank them. First, the goal difference is checked. If still tied, the team with more goals scored ranks higher. After that, points from their head-to-head matches are compared. If needed, the team with more away goals in those direct games gets the higher spot.

Since the League started in 1992, seven different clubs have lifted the trophy: Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, Blackburn Rovers, Leicester City, and Liverpool. Manchester United currently has the lead with 13 titles across 31 seasons so far.

Manchester City holds the record for the largest winning margin. In the 2017/18 season when they finished 19 points clear of Manchester United, who were in second place. The tightest title race was in 2011/12. A goal by Sergio Aguero, scored in added time on the final day, gave Manchester City the title by just +8 goal difference. This was one of the most exciting finishes in Premier League history.

Arsene Wenger led Arsenal to make history as the only side to go through an entire Premier League season without a single defeat. This amazing feat occurred in the 2003/04 season, where they secured the title 11 points ahead of Chelsea.

Fifty-one clubs have now played in the Premier League. Luton Town was the newest team, joining in the 2023/24 season.

Six clubs have been in the Premier League every season since it started. These “ever-present” teams are Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester United, and Tottenham Hotspur.

The top four teams in the Premier League standings get to play in the next season’s UEFA Champions League group stages.

A fifth-place finish in the Premier League usually means a spot in the UEFA Europa League. However, other teams can also qualify for the Europa League. This happens if the winners of the FA Cup or League Cup have already qualified for Europe through their league position.

Teams that finish sixth, or even lower, depending on who wins the cup competitions, will play in the UEFA Conference League.