Behind only Arsenal. And a note about this: both are organic. Chelsea are trying to buy players in the hope of boosting their profile, and also their attendance. But from what I have seen, their league attendance is nothing special.
NWSL attendance down 5% from last year’s record mark https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.c...ttendance-down-5-from-last-years-record-mark/
There will be an ebb and flow when not all games are sold out every season. Last year also came off an Olympic Gold metal. Looking at 2023, where the US didn't do well enough at the WC, the attendance was on par. But looking at the Wikipedia page, the attendance last year was almost double the closest, which was the WSL. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natio...worldwide_women's_top-division_soccer_leagues One thing which will be interesting is the KC stadium. It only seats 11,500, but sells out every match. Does anybody know if there are plans to expand the seating?
If they expand the seating I believe they will also increase prices making football less accessible to many people. I believe they should just keep the stadium as it is and be satisfied with the usual sell out.
I'd anticipate overall attendance to go up the next few years. Expansion next year plus Chicago changing stadiums. Then 2027 has the World Cup and then 2028 will have the Olympics. Who knows about further expansion by then
Note about this on Denver, as there were 15k reservations for season tickets, and they are not allowing all seats to be season tickets. From what it seems, attendance will be very high.
I went to a Chelsea match at Stamford Bridge a couple years ago, and my experience of the crowd was: 1. The group behind me spent most of the game trying to figure out which was was Sam Kerr. 2. At one point one of them was confident that Jess Carter was Sam Kerr, but eventually had to concede that Sam Kerr probably wasn't playing defense. 3. A better person would have turned around and told them that Sam Kerr wasn't playing, but it was entertaining.
And the first match will be at old Mile High Stadium (today it's Empower Stadium), where the Broncos play. Good sign on the interest/excitement side.
Attendance for the four quarterfinal games this past weekend: Orlando - Seattle 11,355 (25,500) Washington - Louisville 19,215 (20,000) Kansas City - Gotham 11,500 (11,500) Portland - San Diego 19,309 (25,218) Orlando's barely respectable turn-out, it helped with the visuals. Washington's great turn-out and voice brought me back to the glory days of DC United @ RFK. KC no-shows (or they lingered inside to eat/drink and stay warm), they may have deserted their team. Wow, Providence Park, the best venue in NWSL, (probably always has been!) that was 120' of theater. From the views and the noise I thought for sure it was a sell-out--well they made 19,000 sound like 25,000!
Yeah, Orlando's crowd was quite noticeably larger than normal. Seeing the Washington crowd, at first I thought it was a sellout.
@jasondcsoccer.bsky.social From the Spirit: "In the past, we sold [standing-room tickets] that pushed us past 19,365, but we've since set that as our cap to make sure every fan has the best possible experience." As long as that's the policy, 19,897 (6/4/2024 vs. San Diego) seems locked in as the club record.
Can't wait to hear the 51st minute free dc chants--looks like the real 51st state has a voice! Sorry Puerto Rico (and Canada).
Just read this: @austindavid22.bsky.social Today's announced attendance: 15,714 #ORLvGFC November 16, 2025 at 4:52 PM This was decent-enough for me as it was large enough to generate a good atmosphere for such an important game. This number is also better than what Orlando got in last years home playoff games: 11,496 qrts, 14,524 semis.