Yeah. This was day 2 which had concerts and a "legends" game and I wonder if this attendance is the total for all events of the day. If so, that's a total flop for this event.
It really wasn't. It was promoters and a track reaching for attention. It was never actually going to be a huge event.
Attendance:23,855 at galaxy, in a rare failure to sell out the 4th of July game. They marketed the crap out of this game too.
Miami at Dallas: 19096 Austin at Colorado: 18084 Didn't look like very many people at Orlando City, but it was more than 16 (inb4 "it looked like more on TV" ban).
Week 18 MLS attendances. Toronto (vs. Seattle) 23,594 Vancouver (vs. LAFC) 18,292 New York City (vs. Atlanta) 17,704 Columbus (vs. Philadelphia) 20,469 New England (vs. Cincinnati) 20,193 Kansas City (vs. New York Red Bulls) 19,065 Minnesota (vs. Real Salt Lake) Not Listed* Houston (vs. Charlotte) 19,242 Nashville (vs. Portland) 28,387 San Jose (vs. Chicago) 13,224 Orlando (vs. DC United) 16** Colorado (vs. Austin) 18,084 Dallas (vs. Miami) 19,096 Los Angeles Galaxy (vs. Montreal) 23,855 *Minnesota back to its old tricks of not bothering to report attendance? **My theory on the Orlando anomaly is there was a power outage when the person in charge of entering the attendance figure only got in the first two of five digits! Average (based on 12 games): 20,100
Colorado was 2 people short of the original DSG capacity at 18086, but they've been using a reduced capacity number since some stadium changes in the mid 20-teens.
47,722 in Seattle, and since its against Portland, that's probably the max the Sounders could get for a regular season game these days. Which is still a very high level of course.
15,157 on the lakefront in Chicago this evening. Looking at our playoff chances and win-loss record so far this season, I am going to guess that it might be a bit before get back closer to a 20k crowd again.
And then Atlanta said hold my beer. 67,516 almost certainly the highest soccer attendance in the world today.
It’s got to be a record average for the week. There are a couple games missing for attendance figures but through 11 games the average for the week 29,941. It brings the season average to 20,905. Definitely a fantastic week for MLS
I was kind of surprised by this number. I was there this weekend and it felt like more, but I'm not sure the lower bowl holds.
Midweek games for MLS Week 20 were pretty good. No sub-10,000 figures, although 3 games were close. It's still better than what we would have seen for midweek matches 20 or 25 years ago. Popularity of soccer seems here to stay. Austin (vs. Houston) 20,738 Atlanta (vs. Salt Lake City) 42,509 Chicago (vs. Toronto) 10,450 Cincinnati (vs. Vancouver) 21,078 DC United (vs. Columbus) 10,128 Miami (vs. Philadelphia) 10,027 Minnesota (vs. Kansas City) 19,657 Nashville (vs. (Seattle) 26,927 Colorado (vs. Orlando) 12,538 Dallas (vs. New York City) 13,656 Los Angeles Galaxy (vs. San Jose) 18,453 Total Attendance: 206,161 Average: 18,742
What is up with DC United? Gorgeous new stadium on a metro line, and the team is playing well, and only 10k? I bet everyone who works in the front office at Austin FC is being inundated with offers right now. They have really nailed the marketing/community support side of things.
Here's a good website that tracks attendance in MLS. The midweek games from Tuesday and Wednesday are not included in these figures. https://soccerstadiumdigest.com/2022-mls-attendance/
Not really trying to make anyone feel better about the attendance, but I think it's still noteworthy that MLS is very popular. When I think back to the early days of the league (basically 1996-2003) and how sports writers at most newspapers would disparage the sport of soccer or choose not to cover it at all outside U.S.A.'s participation in the World Cup, I think we've come a long way. Sports talk shows today still don't give soccer very much coverage unless there's a big controversy involving a player, team, or ownership. Fortunately, the internet helps fill the gaps there, and ESPNFC and Futbol Americas are good programs that cover a wide range of topics relating to the beautiful game.
A lot of it has to do with the product on the field. Austin was new to the league in 2021, and fans were excited to see the city's first top-flight pro sports team in action. This year, Austin is a much improved team which keeps fans coming back. DC United? Not so much. The team won a crazy 5-3 contest at Orlando and followed it up by not showing up a few days later at Philadelphia. Had the game with the Union been competitive, Wednesday's attendance against Columbus probably would have been much better. I'm not in tune with the happenings around DC United, but from what I gather from fans here on BS, the front office of the franchise, like the play on the field, could be better. Maybe Wayne Rooney's announcement as the newest head coach in the league will generate some positive vibes that transfer onto the pitch at Audi Stadium. Prior to this season, Cincinnati was drawing well despite being a poor team. This year, FCC is pressing toward its first MLS Cup playoff appearance, and that has fans buzzing. Toronto, for having such a poor record, still gets well over 20k to its home contests.
This is a great site as you can go back over the years... bear in mind that crowd numbers at this point of the season are on par with 2019. Great site https://www.worldfootball.net/attendance/usa-major-league-soccer-2022/1/
I have to admit that it feels really weird to remember when Seattle was head and shoulders above everyone else, so much so that it was hard for me to disparage their arrogance. And now (granted, Charlotte is in Year One), Seattle's #3 and just looks like one of the top four, but nothing that special. That early, anxious first decade or so is starting to fade away into the dim past.
Not how I see it ... they're still right there with CHLT for #2, and this is CHLT's inaugural year. Let that sink in. They're being lauded for their att and SEA, over a decade in is still sitting there despite being "down" ... and they still pull in crowds towering over everyone except ATL (another newer than them club). To me, it seems MORE that there's finally other places nabbing the crowds as opposed to the shine having worn off of SEA. Though, even if that's the case ... having a club avg over 30K and still pull almost 50K for individual matchs as being "over it" is a pretty damn good thing for US domestic soccer