Figure 3
The horizontal bar graph compares the average seasonal minutes played by the 50 most-utilized players across all professional leagues worldwide from the 1975/76 season to the 2023/24 season. The x-axis represents the minutes played, ranging from 0 to 5,000 minutes. The y-axis lists the seasons from 1975/76 to 2023/24. Each bar represents a season and its corresponding average minutes played. The bars are colored in blue. The data shows a general trend of players playing around 4,000 to 5,000 minutes per season, with slight variations across different seasons. All values are approximated.Minutes played per season – All Leagues. Note: The figure reports the average seasonal minutes played by the 50 most-utilized players across all professional leagues worldwide. Minutes refer to domestic league matches only. Each observation corresponds to a season between 1975/76 and 2023/24. Source: Authors' elaboration based on Transfermarkt data