Legacy

Many of Russia’s 12 stadiums look certain to be rarely — if ever — full again after the World Cup.

Just five of the 11 host cities have top-flight football clubs. The Russian Premier League attracts average crowds of 11,500 — among the lowest for major European leagues — and it seems new stadiums may be a temporary attraction that don’t solve fan apathy in the longterm.

Premier League side Rubin Kazan got an initial attendance bump after moving into a 45,000seat World Cup ground in 2014, but crowds have dropped almost 30 percent over the last two seasons to 9,750. One home game against FC Krasnodar in April attracted barely 3,000 fans.

Meanwhile, Mordovia Saransk averaged 2,400 fans at games this season as it was relegated to the third tier, but will inherit a 45,000-seat World Cup ground next year.

Sochi won’t have a professional club at all in 2017-18.

In Kaliningrad and Yekaterinburg, legacy concerns led Russian organizers to slash the capacity of World Cup stadiums from the original 45,000 to 25,000, with 10,000 more temporary seats.

Only the St. Petersburg stadium — home to games at the 2020 European Championship — and Moscow’s two grounds seem likely to be regularly in demand.