Celtic FC Fixtures Impacting Glasgow’s Local Economy

In partnership with

The Celtic Star

·3 février 2026

Celtic FC Fixtures Impacting Glasgow’s Local Economy

On matchdays in Glasgow, the city slips into a different rhythm. Trains are busier than usual, cafés unlock their doors a little earlier, and over in the East End there’s a low, familiar buzz in the streets. Most of it traces back to the fixture calendar of Celtic FC…

Images of Celtic Park on Saturday 10 January 2026. Celtic 4 Dundee Utd 0. Photo The Celtic Star

The football, of course, draws eyes from far beyond Scotland. But there’s another story running alongside it, quieter and easier to miss. It shows up in tills ringing, shifts being filled, hotel rooms being booked. Celtic’s fixtures don’t just pack out a stadium. Week after week, they feed a steady current of economic activity that moves through Glasgow almost as reliably as the matches themselves.

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The scale of Celtic’s economic footprint

Celtic’s influence on the local economy is not abstract or symbolic. A club-commissioned study estimated that Celtic and its supporters generated around £165 million of economic impact for Scotland in the 2016/17 season, with a significant share concentrated in Glasgow. This is not unusual in football terms, but the consistency matters. Regular fixtures create predictable demand, which businesses value just as much as raw scale.

Images of Celtic Park on Saturday 10 January 2026. Celtic 4 Dundee Utd 0. Photo The Celtic Star

Broader research by the Fraser of Allander Institute reinforces this picture. Scottish football as a whole now contributes roughly £820 million in gross value added per season and supports about 14,000 full-time equivalent jobs. Clubs like Celtic act as anchor institutions within this system. The weekly cycle of fixtures functions almost like a metronome for parts of the city economy, steady and dependable. It is no surprise that matchdays also draw attention from media platforms, broadcasters, and even live betting markets, which track fixture intensity and audience engagement as indicators of wider interest, though this activity sits alongside, rather than drives, the local economic effects.

Matchday spending and the Glasgow effect

The most visible impact of Celtic fixtures appears on matchdays themselves. Research into Glasgow sports tourism suggests that football-related visits, largely driven by Celtic and theRangers, add around £45.68 million annually to the city’s GDP. This spending is dispersed across transport, food and drink, accommodation, and retail, often benefiting small and medium-sized businesses.

Celtic interim manager Martin O’Neill arrives prior to the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Dundee United at Celtic Park on January 10, 2026. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Older BBC analysis of Old Firm (now Glasgow Derby) fixtures highlighted how both local supporters and visiting fans collectively spent tens of millions of pounds each year in connection with these matches. Even routine league fixtures matter. A midweek game can mean extra taxi shifts, a packed pub quiz night postponed for football, or a restaurant squeezing in extra covers. These are small adjustments, but repeated dozens of times each season, they add up.

Young Celtic fans are seen during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Falkirk at Celtic Park on February 01, 2026. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

High impact fixtures and football tourism

Not all fixtures carry the same weight. Old Firm derbies and European nights at Celtic Park tend to act as economic accelerators rather than just busy days. Tourism studies consistently show that football tourists spend more per head than non-football visitors, and they’re also more likely to stretch a trip beyond the match itself, folding in nightlife, restaurants, and other city attractions.

Images of Celtic Park on Saturday 10 January 2026. Celtic 4 Dundee Utd 0. Photo The Celtic Star

Those high-profile games matter for timing as well as scale. Like many cities, Glasgow sees its tourism peak in the summer months. Big fixtures outside that window don’t replace seasonal tourism, but they do help smooth the edges, filling hotel rooms and keeping venues busy when demand might otherwise dip. European fixtures in autumn or winter bring visitors at quieter times, helping hotels and airlines maintain steadier occupancy. It raises an interesting question.

Employment regeneration and longer-term effects

Beyond immediate spending, Celtic fixtures support employment across hospitality, security, transport, and event management. Fraser of Allander modelling shows that professional football’s combined direct and indirect activity underpins thousands of jobs, many of them based in Glasgow.

Images of Celtic Park on Saturday 10 January 2026. Celtic 4 Dundee Utd 0. Photo The Celtic Star

The East End around Celtic Park offers a longer view. Over decades, stadium investment, recurring fixtures, and associated public spending have supported improvements in transport links and local amenities. Matchdays provide ongoing demand that helps justify these assets, ensuring they remain active rather than symbolic.

In conclusion

Images of Celtic Park on Saturday 10 January 2026. Celtic 4 Dundee Utd 0. Photo The Celtic Star

Celtic FC’s fixtures demonstrate how sport can function as urban infrastructure. Each match acts like a small economic engine, modest on its own but powerful in aggregate. There are limits, of course. Football cannot solve every economic challenge, and benefits are unevenly distributed. Yet the evidence suggests that Celtic’s fixture list does far more than decide league positions. It helps keep parts of Glasgow economically active, socially connected, and rhythmically alive, one matchday at a time.