U.S. stadium records
Posted on April 11, 2012 12:28 am
I think the list below is accurate. I hope it is. I’ve been maintaining and updating it constantly for almost 15 years. This is a list of stadium records for soccer in the United States. It includes every American stadium whose record soccer crowd is 25,000 or more, 76 of them, although maybe I’ve missed a few. I’d appreciate whatever additions or corrections anybody has. A few of these games were actually half of a doubleheader, but for space reasons, I’ve listed them by the game that seemed to have been the one that drew the largest share of the crowd. About a quarter of these are stadiums that have since been torn down. In fact, American records for soccer crowds set in 1905, 1926, 1976, 1977 and 1984 were in stadiums that no longer exist. Some of these are stadiums named for sponsors that keep changing every few years. I’ve listed them under the name they had at the time the record was set.
101,799…..Rose Bowl, Pasadena, Calif., France-Brazil, Olympic Games, 8/11/84
92,650…..Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, Chivas-Barcelona, friendly, 8/6/06
86,117…..Sanford Stadium, Athens, Ga., Nigeria-Argentina, Olympic Games, 7/31/96
84,177…..Stanford Stadium, Palo Alto, Calif., Brazil-United States, World Cup, 7/4/94
83,810…..Legion Field, Birmingham, Ala., United States-Argentina, Olympic Games, 7/20/96
82,252…..Cowboys Stadium, Arlington, Texas, Mexico-Haiti, CONCACAF Gold Cup, 7/19/09
81,807…..FedEx Field, Landover, Md., Manchester United-Barcelona, friendly, 7/30/11
79,792…..Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, N.J., US-Denmark, Women’s World Cup, 6/19/99
78,936…..New Meadowlands Stadium, East Rutherford, N.J., US-Argentina, friendly, 3/26/11
77,217…..Silverdome, Pontiac, Mich., Brazil-Sweden, World Cup, 6/28/94
71,203…..M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore, Chelsea-AC Milan, friendly, 7/24/09
70,728…..Reliant Stadium, Houston, Manchester Utd-MLS All-Stars, MLS All-Star Game, 7/28/10
70,080…..Sun Life Stadium, Miami, Chivas-Barcelona, friendly, 8/3/11
68,498…..Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, Mexico-Argentina, friendly, 6/4/08
68,396…..Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Manchester Utd-Barcelona, friendly, 8/3/03
67,584…..Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Mass., Brazil-Mexico, friendly, 9/12/07
67,052…..CenturyLink Field, Seattle, Seattle Sounders-Manchester United, friendly, 7/20/11
65,080…..Soldier Field, Chicago, United States-Nigeria, Women’s World Cup, 6/24/99
63,998…..Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Germany-South Korea, World Cup, 6/27/94
63,227…..Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, N.C., Mexico-Iceland, friendly, 3/24/10
62,462…..University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Ariz., US-Mexico, friendly, 2/7/07
62,387…..Citrus Bowl, Orlando, Fla., Belgium-Holland, World Cup, 6/25/94
62,000…..New Soldier Field, Chicago, Mexico-Costa Rica, CONCACAF Gold Cup, 6/12/11
61,572…..Candlestick Park, San Francisco, Barcelona-Chivas, friendly, 8/8/09
61,213…..Invesco Field, Denver, Colorado Rapids-Chicago Fire, MLS, 7/4/02
60,500…..Mile High Stadium, Denver, Colorado Rapids-D.C. United, MLS, 7/4/01
58,128…..Kingdome, Seattle, Seattle Sounders-NY Cosmos, NASL preseason, 4/9/76
58,012…..RFK Stadium, Washington, United States-Portugal, Olympic Games, 7/24/96
57,724…..Orange Bowl, Miami, Colombia-AC Milan, friendly, 5/29/94
57,407…..Foxboro Stadium, Foxborough, Mass., US-Mexico, World Cup qualifier, 4/20/97
56,389…..Tampa Stadium, Tampa, Fla., Tampa Bay Rowdies-California Surf, NASL, 7/4/80
53,600…..Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Club America-AC Milan, friendly, 7/22/09
52,345…..Anaheim Stadium, Anaheim, Calif., US-El Salvador, CONCACAF Gold Cup, 1/16/96
52,342…..Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Mo., Manchester Utd-KC Wizards, friendly, 7/25/10
49,572…..Metropolitan Stadium, Bloomington, Minn., Minnesota Kicks-SJ Earthquakes, NASL, 8/25/76
48,110…..Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, Calif., Mexico-Paraguay, friendly, 3/26/11
46,000…..Polo Grounds, New York, Hakoah Vienna-New York Stars, friendly, 5/1/26
45,511…..Rice-Eccles Stadium, Salt Lake City, Real Salt Lake-Real Madrid, friendly, 8/12/06
44,579…..Yale Bowl, New Haven, Conn., United States-Brazil, U.S. Cup, 6/6/93
44,261…..Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia, US-Sheffield Wednesday, friendly, 8/2/91
43,352…..Franklin Field, Philadelphia, United States-Dnepr Dnepropetrovsk, friendly, 8/25/89
43,117…..Yankee Stadium, New York, Hapoel Tel Aviv-N.Y. All-Stars, friendly, 5/4/47
41,028…..New Stanford Stadium, Palo Alto, Calif., SJ Earthquakes-NY Red Bulls, MLS, 7/2/11
39,656…..Citi Field, New York, Ecuador-Greece, friendly, 6/7/11
39,623…..Comiskey Stadium, Chicago, Chicago Sting-San Diego Sockers, NASL, 9/21/81
38,858…..Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas, Mexico-Bolivia, friendly, 3/19/03
38,710…..Pacific Bell Park, San Francisco, Chivas-Club America, friendly, 3/12/03
38,534…..Safeco Field, Seattle, United States-Honduras, friendly, 3/2/02
36,451…..Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas, Mexico-Dominica, World Cup qualifier, 6/19/04
36,218…..Rentschler Field, East Hartford, Conn., US-Czech Republic, friendly, 5/25/10
36,126…..Rutgers Stadium, Piscataway, N.J., United States-Colombia, U.S. Cup, 6/25/95
35,548…..Civic Stadium, Portland, Ore., New York Cosmos-Seattle Sounders, NASL, 8/28/77
35,501…..Wrigley Field, Chicago, Chicago Sting-NY Cosmos, NASL, 6/28/81
35,211…..Cardinal Stadium, Louisville, Ky., United States-Brazil women, friendly, 10/10/99
34,965…..Astrodome, Houston, Los Angeles Wolves-Houston Stars, USA, 5/27/67
33,000…..Robertson Stadium, Houston, Club America-Cruz Azul, friendly, 2/23/05
32,605…..Busch Stadium, St. Louis, St. Louis Stars-New York Cosmos, NASL, 6/23/77
32,466…..Bank One Ballpark, Phoenix, Mexico-Hungary, friendly, 12/14/05
32,162…..Fenway Park, Boston, Celtic-Sporting Lisbon, friendly, 7/21/10
31,728…..Spartan Stadium, San Jose, Calif., SJ Clash-LA Galaxy, MLS, 5/12/96
31,550…..Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio, Columbus Crew-MetroStars, MLS, 9/15/96
31,547…..Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Fla., United States-Ecuador, friendly, 3/25/07
31,112…..Shea Stadium, New York, Colombia-Honduras, friendly, 11/1/96
30,822…..Skelly Stadium, Tulsa, Okla., Tulsa Roughnecks-NY Cosmos, NASL, 4/26/80
30,281…..Home Depot Center, Carson, Calif., LA Galaxy-Houston Dynamo, MLS, 11/20/11
30,000…..Shibe Park, Philadelphia, U.S. Olympic Team-Israel, friendly, 10/17/48
30,000…..Ebbets Field, Brooklyn, N.Y., ASL All-Stars-Hapoel Tel Aviv, friendly, 5/12/57
29,745…..Cleveland Browns Stadium, Cleveland, United States-Venezuela, friendly, 5/26/06
29,240…..Navy-Marine Corps Stadium, Annapolis, Md., France-Qatar, Olympics, 7/29/84
29,059…..LP Field, Nashville, Tenn., United States-Paraguay, friendly, 3/29/11
28,209…..Ford Field, Detroit, United States-Canada, CONCACAF Gold Cup, 6/7/11
27,832…..Harvard Stadium, Cambridge, Mass., France-Norway, Olympic Games, 7/31/84
26,760…..Red Bull Arena, Harrison, N.J., MLS All-Stars-Manchester Utd, MLS All-Star Game, 7/27/11
26,713…..Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, Atlanta, Atlanta Chiefs-Santos, friendly, 8/28/68
25,670…..Downing Stadium, New York, Santos-Benfica, friendly, 8/21/66
25,137…..Heinz Field, Pittsburgh, AS Roma-Chelsea, friendly, 7/29/05
Can someone explain 60000 people for a dcu vs colorado game in July?
July 4th … fireworks show.
A match in the Olympics outdrew the 1994 World Cup final?
Both were sellouts. Stadium capacity was less in 1994 than it had been in 1984.
45,511…..Rice-Eccles Stadium, Salt Lake City, Real Salt Lake-Real Madrid, friendly, 6/6/93
I believe the date on this is incorrect. Otherwise, that is a great list.
Corrected. Thank you. I should have noticed that I had looked at the wrong line as I was posting this, since RSL didn’t exist in 1993.
Speaking of Rice-Eccles, I was surprised to see that the U.S. / Costa Rica qualifier from 2005 was not the record holder. “Only” drew 40,586.
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Happy to say I was in attendance for 4 games on this list… Wrigley, Comiskey, Silverdome and Ford Field. Great list, Roger, thank you.
It’s just shy of 25K, but you have to give a shout out to the Cold War game in Columbus in 2001 where the US beat Mexico 2-0 before 24,329 and the 24,685 that came for the remach in 2005. Since then, the capacity of the stadium has been reduced.
I was at eight games on that list. Oddly, my dad, who has been to probably less than 20 games ever was at 2 of them that I wasn’t, because I convinced him to go (USA/Mexico at Foxboro Stadium and ManUtd/KC Wizards at Arrowhead).
Great list Roger! I’ve got a couple of additions for your consideration:
Sparta Prague beat a group of Chicago All-Stars (1-0)in front of 30,000 at Soldier Field on October, 3, 1926.
and
Tel Aviv Maccabees beat a group of Illinois All Stars (1-0) in front of 25,000 at Old Comiskey on October 26, 1936.
Sorry I misunderstood the premise. The 1926 match was the largest crowd gathered for a soccer match in Chicago and that record stood for several years. They were expecting 40K for another friendly in the 20s but a torrential downpour ruined attendance.
The 1936 match was the largest soccer crowd at Old Comiskey until I believe the Chicago Sting played their in 1981.
Silverdome – 1994-06-28 Brazil 1–1 Sweden Group B 77,217
Corrected. Thank you. I can’t plead typo on this one. This was a flat-out factual error on my part.
29,240…..Navy-Marine Corps Stadium, Annapolis, Md., France-Qatar, Olympic Games, 7/29/94
What Olympic Games were these? 1984 perhaps?
Atlanta.
Corrected. Thank you. It was the 1984 Olympics. I plead typing error.
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Cosmos-FT Lauderdal 77,691 – 1977
Revolution-LA Galaxy – 61K + – 2002 MLS Cup Final in Foxboro. Seems like a lot of games not on this list..
Looks like that Brazil game in Gillette topped it.
I can’t believe that the Gold Cup Final in 1998 didn’t draw as many as the Barcelona friendly – and I was at both games – but thereyago. Because CUSA-New England was the undercard of that game, for a while CUSA was trying to claim they had the highest single game attendance in MLS history.
And the Giants Stadium record is owned by a bunch of chicks. Take that, Cosmos.
RevsFanDad, This is a list of stadium records, not a list of largest crowds. Both the Cosmos crowd in 1977 and the Revs crowd in 2002 were stadium records at one time, but as Dan Loney points out, they later were broken.
I have a separate list of soccer crowds in the United States of 60,000 or more, and both of the crowds that you cite are on it, but it’s too big to use here, 145 crowds.
Roger, how about a list of record crowds by year?
Chris, I have year-by-year list, but there are a lot of gaps in it. Maybe if I can fill in some of those I will post it some time.
Give my hometown (Athens, Ga.) an MLS team!
The Cosmos drew over 60,000 a few times in the late 70′s. I remember one was against the Fort Lauderdale Strikers.
Not a stadium record (at least, not any more).
61,308 – Soldier Field, Chicago ManU vs Chicago Fire – 7/23/2011
http://www.manutd.com/en/Tour-2011/Tour-2011-News/2011/Jul/chicago-fire-v-manchester-united-report.aspx
58,121 – Soldier Field, Chicago – ManU vs. Bayern Munich – 7/24/2004
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2004/jul/26/newsstory.sport6
Also not stadium records: 65,080…..Soldier Field, Chicago, United States-Nigeria, Women’s World Cup, 6/24/99
I’m not sure that’s the record, either. There was a Mexico/Argentina friendly a decade ago (before the renovations) that, I vaguely recall, had 68k
64,433 in 1999, which would have been the stadium record until that WWC game which was just 2 weeks later.
Great list. Hard to believe that we never had any bigger games at Yankee or Shea stadium. I guess since the original Meadowlands opened, all the big NY area games have been played there.
“32,162…..Fenway Park, Boston, Celtic-Sporting Lisbon, friendly, 7/21/10″
I wonder if Liverpool-Roma will take this one down.
Correct me if Im wrong (and I might be) but i distinctly remember a US/Mexico friendly in 1994 before the WC that was played at the Rose Bowl. I THOUGHT there were 90,000 people there(?) I just remember it looked extremely full. And I remember Alexi Lalas saying that he was glad the game was over so they could get back to America. He was referring to the 90% pro-Mexico crowd at the game.
If there were 90,000 people there, it’s not the stadium record.
There were 91,123 at that game on June 4, 1994, but that was still well short of the stadium record.
Roger, thank you. Sorry people struggle with the term “stadium record.”
I can’t believe that with all the games I’ve been to, I wasn’t at a single game on this list. Must try harder.
I’ve just added one stadium to the list. That’s Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta, with a crowd of 26,713 for an Atlanta Chiefs-Santos game on Aug. 28, 1968. Presumeably most of those were there to see Pele.
Maybe this is the error pointed out by Anonymous in his posts an hour or so ago, but the link he posted doesn’t work on my computer.
Just a question about St. Louis if anyone knows. Where were the internationals played in the 1950s and 60s? The games that Glasgow, Everton, Man City, Man United, Sochaux, Saarbruecken, etc. played against the various all-star teams from the CYC and the Khoury/Kutis teams? Were these at Franklin Field or the old Sportsman’s Park? Were there any significant crowds for these international tours in St. Louis?
According to Dave Lange’s book “Soccer Made in St. Louis,” by the 1950s and ’60s, nearly all games in St. Louis against touring foreign teams were being played at Public Schools Stadium. It had a capacity of about 12,000, I believe. Before World War II, both big games and regular local league games were played largely at Sportsman’s Park, with some at Walsh Stadium, but the high rental cost of a big-league baseball stadium caused soccer to abandon Sportsman’s Park in the late 1940s. Sportsman’s Park was much larger than Public Schools Stadium, but if there were any soccer crowds there that approached the 25,000 mark, I’m not aware of them.
Super, thanks Roger! Now there’s another book to get. On the topic of St. Louis games, has anyone explored the links between Anheuser Busch and the game there? Apparently, they supported the local leagues quite a bit?
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