Yes this is where I am. In terms of the market for sure FIFA got it right. But you ended up with a lot more people going for the occasion. A lot more upper middle class (which really means rich) US families who like soccer and their kids play, but they aren't diehards who are going to make the sport the center of their lives. In the group stages it was overcome by die hards who are willing to spend whatever to travel here from other countries. But as the knockouts have gone on I've noticed a drop in the atmospheres, and are even seeing empty seats finally. FIFA probably doesn't care because they are at the top of the pyramid. Just hope that MLS teams don't try and copy this and go after the wealthy casual fans over the die hards.
I know a lot of people that were price out, I was also priced out my plan was to attend at list 3 games and I only went to one were I paid 2400 for 3 tickets 800 each but FIFA set the bar high, before the World Cup paying $ 200 for an MLS games was very expensive for me, but now it doesn’t seem very expensive, would the perception of fans will change to attend more local soccer games in all 3 countries?
But if you do a like for like comparison compare US attendances to 1994 and Mexican attendances to 1986, when tickets cost about $10 and attendances bottomed out at 13,800 for Hungary vs Canada.
I think air travel has been made easier/cheaper comparativelly than in the 80s/90s. Now I think it is easier for traveling fans (with some wealth) to go to the world cup. Before the local fans were the ones needed to fill those seats. However I think the ticket prices are way expensive. I have a very good job, no wife no kids no debts and I still felt the pain to go to 2 games. Going for the third was impossible given the resale market. A lot of people were priced out this time even with full stadiums. Edit: To add, also this is the World Cup. There is nothing bigger in football and it happens every 4 years. I would not pay those prices for a yearly event at all.
But even in Italia 90 there were swathes of empty terraces. But that was at the height of soccer violence and before discount airlines.
Don't need to go back that far there were huge swathes of empty seats in the 2010 World Cup. Part of that was FIFA setting the price way to high for the domestic market, while an international depression kept down the international fans, but still they couldn't fill their stadiums, with $80 face value tickets less than two decades ago. Something has changed. For good or for bad big soccer games have become "must see events" even if for people who don't really follow the sport. It's not just World Cups. I went to the Euro's in '08 and got tickets as part of the UEFA lottery. in 2012 and '16 there were empty seats in a lot of the matches. But in 2024 the UEFA lottery was massively oversubscribed. I got tickets to the Scotland-Swiss game and paid mid 300's all in for the nosebleeds. Apparently that was a bargain according to Scottish fans I talked to. Not sure why everyone decided in lockdown that they were going to go to concerts and sporting events when they got out but that's what's happened.
Also I was making a comparison to suggest that the average attendance just in Canada is more profitable than 1994 average attendance base on the ticket prices.
Looks like a nice crowd at Lumen Field Seattle Stadium Lumen Field for Reign v Thorns. Just under 14,800.
NWSL sells out Citi-Field ahead of future move to Etihad Park: A sold-out crowd flocked to Flushing for the first NWSL match held in New York ⚽The Queens Classic was also the first women's sports event hosted at Citi Field in its 17-year history and drew the largest crowd at a N.Y. women's sports event.Via @nypost |… pic.twitter.com/hb202uPcAI— Sports Business Journal (@SBJ) July 16, 2026
42,175 — that’s the number of fans who showed up to watch Gotham FC beat the Washington Spirit at Citi Field in the inaugural Queens Classic last night. Check out the line to get into the first National Women's Soccer League match played in New York City and the first women's… pic.twitter.com/Qfyehd5LxQ— Spectrum News NY1 (@NY1) July 16, 2026 NWSL derby >>> oldest men's soccer rivalry in the USA.
Thursday (July 16) MLS Attendances Montreal (vs. Toronto) 14,028 St. Louis (vs. Kansas City) 22,423 Seattle (vs. Portland) 35,383 TOTAL ATTENDANCE: 71,834 AVERAGE: 23,945 Coming up Friday, July 17 Nashville vs. Atlanta Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Los Angeles FC
MLS Attendance (Matchday 16...Matchday 16A?) July 16-17, 2026 Montreal (vs. Toronto) 17,707 St. Louis (vs. Kansas City) 22,423 Seattle (vs. Portland) 35,383 Nashville (vs. Atlanta) 30,109 Los Angeles Galaxy (vs. Los Angeles FC) 24,325 TOTAL ATTENDANCE: 129,947 AVERAGE: 25,989 Sorry about the Montreal Miscue...got suckered in by a false AI number that looked real. It showed a reference to the Montreal MLS site as proof of authenticity. Honestly, what good is Artificial Intelligence? If you can't trust it for something as insignificant as attendance at a sporting event, how are we supposed to believe any data or 'service' AI provides the public?
I recommend Claude who is capable of saying "I don't know" instead of making shit up. The others are basically trash.