MLS sets league-wide record for attendance in a regular season
The 2024 Major League Soccer season has been a success for the league as the regular season winds down in October. The MLS Cup Playoffs are still on the horizon, and one or two games are remaining for most of the teams in the league. However, even though the figure will rise, MLS has already set a record for attendance in the regular season. This past weekend, Major League Soccer surpassed 11 million total spectators in the regular season for the first time in its history.
It is now the third year in a row MLS has beaten its attendance record for the regular season. In the 2023 season, MLS was just short of 11 million. Last year, 10,900,804 fans came out to MLS games in the 493-game regular season. With the same number of games for 2024, it is a sizeable step for MLS to surpass 11 million viewers in the stadium. Additionally, there are still 16 games remaining, culminating on Decision Day on Saturday, Oct. 19.
Bumping the total attendance above 11 million this season may be hard to qualify in the grand scheme. The average attendance across MLS this season is 23,240. For comparison, this is over 1,000 more spectators at each match compared to the 2023 campaign, which was 23,111 on average across the league.
MLS attributed this record-setting attendance to the arrivals of international stars and MLS clubs providing strong ticket packages. The latter is dependent on the clubs, but, on several occasions, MLS used larger stadiums to welcome massive audiences. For example, the LA Galaxy played LAFC at the Rose Bowl in front of over 70,000 viewers. Likewise, Sporting Kansas City hosted Inter Miami at the NFL’s Arrowhead Stadium for over 72,000 attendees.
Lionel Messi plays key role in MLS regular season attendance record
That game at Arrowhead Stadium speaks volumes about how effective players like Lionel Messi have been this season. Not only has Inter Miami’s average attendance grown with the Argentine in the fold. Other MLS teams have expanded their stadiums to accommodate the audiences that Messi brings in. For example, the Chicago Fire, New England Revolution, Charlotte FC and Sporting Kansas City all had their biggest audiences of the season when Inter Miami came to town.
Despite Lionel Messi picking up an injury, Inter Miami games still drew strong audiences at home and on the road. Having Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba on the field is clearly enough to draw a strong level of interest from fans across the United States. In this season, MLS also acquired players like Marco Reus and Olivier Giroud, both of whom have strong global audiences.
Attendances in the MLS Cup Playoffs should also be strong. The two teams from Los Angeles are both in the playoffs. Also, Inter Miami won the Supporters’ Shield as the club with the best record in MLS. They figure to be a contender in the playoffs with their former Barcelona stars in full swing in the fall.
PHOTOS: IMAGO.