The MLS+ 2026 Attendance Thread

Discussion in 'MLS: News & Analysis' started by Paul Berry, Feb 5, 2026.

  1. SetPeace

    SetPeace Member+

    Jun 22, 2004
    SC Illinois
    Club:
    Torquay United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    With the 4 missing figures now provided, the updated numbers are:

    TOTAL ATTENDANCE: 288,166
    AVERAGE: 22,167 (13 Matches)

    To close out the weekend on Sunday:

    Portland at Miami
    Los Angeles FC at Nashville
     
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  2. crookeddy

    crookeddy Member+

    Apr 27, 2004
    San Jose fans have caught onto the fact that they might just have their best team of all time. Nice.
     
  3. jaykoz3

    jaykoz3 Member+

    Dec 25, 2010
    Conshohocken, PA
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
     
  4. AZUL GALAXY

    AZUL GALAXY Member+

    Aug 28, 2009
    Los Angeles
    Club:
    CDSC Cruz Azul
    26,715 @ Miami
    27,948 @ Nashville
     
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  5. SetPeace

    SetPeace Member+

    Jun 22, 2004
    SC Illinois
    Club:
    Torquay United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Matchday 14 Attendances in MLS (May 16-17)

    TOTAL ATTENDANCE: 342,849
    AVERAGE: 22,853 (15 Matches)
     
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  6. AZUL GALAXY

    AZUL GALAXY Member+

    Aug 28, 2009
    Los Angeles
    Club:
    CDSC Cruz Azul
    2026 MLS TOTAL ATTENDANCE

    So far after 203 matches

    TOTAL. = 4,440,635
    Average = 21,875
     
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  7. jaykoz3

    jaykoz3 Member+

    Dec 25, 2010
    Conshohocken, PA
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
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  8. AZUL GALAXY

    AZUL GALAXY Member+

    Aug 28, 2009
    Los Angeles
    Club:
    CDSC Cruz Azul
    22,423 @ STL
    19,838 @ Minnesota
     
  9. SabreKhan

    SabreKhan Member+

    AFC Mobile
    Jun 25, 2007
    United States
    Club:
    Atlanta
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Would not be surprised if the Rapids game is sold out. Stadium looks full. Really good energy in the crowd, too.
     
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  10. AZUL GALAXY

    AZUL GALAXY Member+

    Aug 28, 2009
    Los Angeles
    Club:
    CDSC Cruz Azul
    That’s still the Messi effect symptoms
     
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  11. SabreKhan

    SabreKhan Member+

    AFC Mobile
    Jun 25, 2007
    United States
    Club:
    Atlanta
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I don't see any pink jerseys, so I'm fully supportive of the effect.
     
  12. SetPeace

    SetPeace Member+

    Jun 22, 2004
    SC Illinois
    Club:
    Torquay United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I would think attendances would be good this weekend since MLS won't be back in action until the middle or end of July.
     
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  13. AZUL GALAXY

    AZUL GALAXY Member+

    Aug 28, 2009
    Los Angeles
    Club:
    CDSC Cruz Azul
    You don’t have to see any pink, at list in LA when Messi played people bought 6 games packages or season tickets in order to be in the Messi game or people were exposed to soccer and now they are giving a shot to the beautiful game.
     
  14. SabreKhan

    SabreKhan Member+

    AFC Mobile
    Jun 25, 2007
    United States
    Club:
    Atlanta
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I mean, that's kind of my point. Folks are showing up for the Rapids and aren't wearing some random superstar's jersey who isn't even playing in the game. That's exactly what the owners were hoping would happen when they brought in Beckham, Blanco, Ibrahimovic, and now Messi. If only they would open the purse strings a little more so we could get those guys in their prime. And all at the same time.
     
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  15. AZUL GALAXY

    AZUL GALAXY Member+

    Aug 28, 2009
    Los Angeles
    Club:
    CDSC Cruz Azul
    At the end that is the purpose of the owners to have more local fan support and by that invest more money into their teams, but all those big name players that you mentioned helped it to happen along with the tournaments like 94 World Cup and after the 2026 World Cup probably we will see the effect.
     
  16. JasonMa

    JasonMa Member+

    Mar 20, 2000
    Arvada, CO
    Club:
    Colorado Rapids
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Probably not in this case. The Rapids typically sellout (or close to it) on Memorial Day weekend due to the youth tournament that happens in the fields around the Dick.
     
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  17. Paul Berry

    Paul Berry Member+

    Notts County and NYCFC
    United States
    Apr 18, 2015
    Nr Kingston NY
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    So who is the current Messi, Beckham or Ibra at their peak?

    Blanco is a British rapper.
     
  18. SetPeace

    SetPeace Member+

    Jun 22, 2004
    SC Illinois
    Club:
    Torquay United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    MLS Attendance for Saturday, May 23 (Matchday 15)

    St. Louis (vs. Austin) 22,423
    Minnesota (vs. Salt Lake City) 19,838
    DC United (vs. Montreal) 19,215
    Charlotte (vs. New England) 24,640
    Cincinnati (vs. Orlando) 25,513
    Nashville (vs. New York City) 25,835
    Chicago (vs.Toronto) 26,752
    Kansas City (vs. New York Red Bulls) 17,575
    Colorado (vs. Dallas) Nothing Reliable**
    San Diego (vs. Vancouver) 23,906
    Portland (vs. San Jose) 24,686
    Los Angeles Galaxy (vs. Houston) 23,638

    TOTAL ATTENDANCE: 254,021
    AVERAGE: 23,093 (11 Matches, So Far)

    **I saw 3 conflicting figures for the match in Commerce City, Colorado. According to one AI source, the attendance was more than 27,000. I knew that was a complete fabrication. Second figure was 18,051, which made me suspect, because I thought The Dick had a capacity of 17,500 or thereabouts. If the figure were over 18 grand, that would have been SRO, and you'd think the team would want to point that out. The last number I saw was 15,890 which seemed plausible, but as mentioned by one of the posters above, the crowd at DSG looked really good with few empty seats showing on the side of the field the cameras are usually pointed at. Anyway, I couldn't track down the source to verify the 15,890 figure. So, I'm guessing the actual total lies somewhere between 15,890 and 18k.
     
  19. SetPeace

    SetPeace Member+

    Jun 22, 2004
    SC Illinois
    Club:
    Torquay United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    So...after my lengthy post about suspect attendance figures for the Rapids, Colorado have posted last night's head-count with FC Dallas on MLSsoccer.com!

    Colorado (vs. Dallas) 17,142

    SATURDAY, MAY 23 TOTAL: 271,163
    AVERAGE: 22,597 (12 Matches)

    Coming up later on Sunday:

    Atlanta United at Columbus Crew
    Philadelphia Union at Inter Miami
    Seattle Sounders at Los Angeles FC
     
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  20. JasonMa

    JasonMa Member+

    Mar 20, 2000
    Arvada, CO
    Club:
    Colorado Rapids
    Nat'l Team:
    United States

    Nourse is the Denver Post reporter on the Rapids beat, Burgundy Wave also reported this same number.

    Burgundy Wave also has this article talking about how the capacity of the Dick is somewhat...flexible. So its hard to tell you exactly what a sellout is, though it seems 17,305 is the capacity in its standard configuration right now. A week ago the Summit played there and announced a sellout at under 17K, but they didn't sell any suites for the match, thus the lower number.
    https://burgundywave.com/2026/01/23/colorado-rapids-dicks-sporting-goods-park-dsgp-location/
     
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  21. SetPeace

    SetPeace Member+

    Jun 22, 2004
    SC Illinois
    Club:
    Torquay United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    It was about 5:30 MDT when I posted the attendance figures. I saw a good article from Burgundy Wave about the match, but it had no attendance listed at the time. I also consulted the Denver Post, but when I clicked on the story about the game, it never loaded at all. When numbers aren't available easily, I know they will eventually get posted somewhere...it's just a matter of time, and I check on them whenever I can (or remember to do it!).
     
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  22. SetPeace

    SetPeace Member+

    Jun 22, 2004
    SC Illinois
    Club:
    Torquay United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    The holiday weekend made for difficulty in tracking down the missing attendances for Sunday MLS games. Columbus came through with a figure Sunday evening on the MLS website, but Miami and LAFC haven't posted anything, as of yet. I did see a total for Los Angeles from the oursportscentral.com site, and they are usually a reliable source when they post attendances, but they don't always post a number. So, for now...

    Sunday, May 24

    Columbus (vs. Atlanta) 19,782
    Miami (vs. Philadelphia) Blank
    Los Angeles FC (vs. Seattle) 22,146

    As for AI, some of the figures seen for the Miami-Union match were in the range of Nu Stadium's capacity of 26,700. The worst ones I saw said there were as few as 21,500 and as many as 32,000. Looking at the Wikipedia site for each MLS team is usually an accurate place to gather attendance figures, and nothing has been posted yet for Inter Miami or LAFC.
     
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  23. SetPeace

    SetPeace Member+

    Jun 22, 2004
    SC Illinois
    Club:
    Torquay United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    The Los Angeles FC-Seattle attendance figure is confirmed (22,146).
    Still missing the Sunday Miami-Philadelphia attendance figure. AI is a trainwreck and no help.

    So, for May 23-24
    TOTAL ATTENDANCE: 313,091
    AVERAGE: 22,364 (14 Matches)
     
  24. ArsenalMetro

    ArsenalMetro Member+

    United States
    Aug 5, 2008
    Chicago, IL
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    If you ever see anyone ask why US tickets are so expensive, here’s a good example that answers. For a friendly, the cheapest tickets left on resale are $140. And they sold out two weeks in advance.
     
  25. tomásbernal

    tomásbernal Member+

    Sep 4, 2007
    Club:
    Portland Timbers
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    This is a World Cup warmup match against flipping Germany. That's not representative of most other US matches in a given cycle, friendly or not.
     

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