Attendance at MLS matches is up 12% compared to data up to the same date in 2023, the league announced on Monday. Nearly 6.5 million fans have attended a total of 279 MLS matches in the first half of the regular season — nearly 700,000 more fans than the same date in 2023.
The year-to-year growth is anchored by upward trends for 25 of the league’s 29 active franchises. Nine teams are currently averaging attendance at 100 percent of their stadium’s capacity. Additionally, five matches have featured an attendance of 60,000 or higher in 2024, the most through this date in league history.
It’s tempting to assume that much of this spike in interest can be primarily attributed to Lionel Messi’s presence in the league. After all, three clubs set new single-game attendance records when they hosted Inter Miami: Sporting Kansas City (72,610 fans), New England Revolution (65,612 fans), Vancouver Whitecaps (51,035 fans).
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However, eight of the 11 teams that won’t host Miami this season are experiencing their own year-to-year growth compared to 2023, further illustrating a broader trend beyond the iconic Argentine’s direct influence. Despite a season that saw Atlanta United dismiss its coach in early June, the club has drawn 60,000 fans twice — and neither came against Miami. Perhaps surprisingly, 2024 marks the first time in CF Montréal’s 13 seasons as an MLS franchise that they’ve managed to sell out its allotment of season tickets.
Nine different clubs have had draws of at least 30,000 spectators in a combined 33 matches: Atlanta, Charlotte FC, Nashville SC, New England, New York City FC (at Citi Field), the San Jose Earthquakes (at Levi’s Stadium), Seattle Sounders FC, Sporting KC and Vancouver. The league also has first-half highmarks for 50,000-fan attendances (six) and 40,000+ single-game attendances (15).
Team-by-team
In total, only four teams are seeing their average attendance dip by at least 5% — though none of that quartet drop to a 6% decline. Those teams are Charlotte FC (-5.8%), the Colorado Rapids (-5.3%), the Portland Timbers (-5.2%) and the Seattle Sounders (-5.2%). A fifth team, FC Cincinnati, has a rounding error’s amount of regression, dropping a mere 0.2% percent from last year’s standard at TQL Stadium.
On the flip side, nine teams have seen attendance spike by at least 10% compared to the same point of 2023. Anchored by the aforementioned club record draw, Vancouver’s average draw has skyrocketed by 82%, from 15,978 to 29,085. Despite a difficult season on the pitch, New England has seen similar growth on the back of hosting Miami, rising 33.1% to an average of 29.429. The other teams rising by over 10% are the Chicago Fire (29.4%), Sporting KC (28.2%), Inter Miami (26.6%), Orlando City (15.6%), the LA Galaxy (13.1%), the New York Red Bulls (12.8%) and CF Montréal (10.5%).
For years, there have been real concerns about how MLS’ legacy clubs — that is, the 10 that debuted before the year 2000 — can keep pace with ambitious newcomers that have joined in recent waves of expansion. With that in mind, it’s notable that only one legacy club (Colorado) has seen decline while another four (Chicago, Kansas City, LA, New York) are on a sharp rise.
(Photo: Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports)
