How many people do you think actually play FM and why do so many not make it through their first season?

SI recently released this recap

It says there's 9.49m players but only 17.1m seasons completed.

Obviously alot of us are completing more than one season so i'd assume there's a significant number of people playing but failing to complete even one season.

The trophies won is also a real give away. The stats show an average of 3.67 trophies per season which is obviously completely unrealistic.

I'm guessing the real answer is, alot of people are starting as a big team, winning the charity shield or super cup and then never completing a season, which is massively skewing the numbers.

So are these stats better interpreted as 10 million people played but 8~ million odd people didn't like it enough to complete a single season?

What do you think that says about FM?

a really interesting question

for me, i enjoy keeping the graphics and data as upto date as possible

Graphics arent a problem as save game compatible, however data files need a new start-so for anybody that enjoys updates, transfers, lower leagues etc, a new start is needed

If data files could somehow become save game compatible, then i suspect the dial may move

Exactly the same for me, like realism too much.
For example if I start a game then in real life a big transfer or manager sacking happens thats not in my game if frustrates the hell out of me.
Had to buy the in game editor now to help with this….haha
This time of year is the worst for me personally, find it so hard to get into a game because of this issue.

I play it rather slowly - instead of pressing spacebar every 10 seconds, I often go through some managers' history or a club's past league positions. It means my saves can be rather long and in the meantime I get distracted by other things, say I want to play some other game. That could explain why my FM saves are short (my longest one is maybe 3 seasons, maybe 2.5), but doesn't explain why my fifa careers have a similar length. Perhaps it's just my personality to play for a short while and then stop forever.

Also - so far, at least - some of my saves have ended with some database updates and waiting for new files to drop (like right now I'm waiting for the updated leagues and transfers for the new season). I want my saves to be as realistic as possible so continuing a save with Mbappe at Barcelona or Tchouameni at Arsenal is like bleach on my eyes (though I guess I can't do much about stupid transfers - seems like SI can't do anything about it either, judging by the ‘improvements’ made in fm24 lol).