Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...

is the premier

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and sk ...

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

league in the United States and Canada. Competition began in 1996 and attendance has grown rapidly since the early 2000s, making it one of the fastest-growing sports leagues in the world. The average attendance of 21,692 in 2016 was a 57% increase over the 13,756 average in 2000. The total attendance of 7,375,144 in 2016 is more than triple the 2,215,019 total of 2002. Similar to Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League, attendance is based on the number of tickets distributed. As of the 2022 regular season, average attendance is 21,033 per match. The league drew 10 million spectators overall during the season, a new record. MLS's all-time average attendance record was 22,106, set in

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

. A crowd of 73,019 spectators watched the inaugural MLS match for

Charlotte FC Charlotte FC is an American professional soccer club based in Charlotte. The team competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference. The team is owned by David Tepper, who was awarded the expansion franchise ...

on March 5, 2022, setting a new league record for standalone attendance.

Atlanta United FC Atlanta United FC, commonly known as Atlanta United, is an American professional soccer club based in Atlanta that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference. Founded in 2014, Atlanta United began pl ...

has the highest average attendance of any MLS team, at 47,116, and is followed by Charlotte FC and

Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club was established on November 13, 2007, and began ...

2022 season

The following is a list of the average attendance during the 2022 regular season for each of the 28 MLS teams that were active in that season. It also includes the average attendance during the 2019 regular season (the last to be unaffected by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

), the percentage change in attendance from season-to-season, the home venue, the home venue's capacity, and the percent of the home venue's capacity filled by the 2022 season's average attendance. Percentages are adjusted to reflect any home games that were held at venues other than the team's usual stadium. ;Notes Some clubs have attendances over 100% capacity due to limited stadium capacity that is lifted during certain matches, when additional sections are opened. Other clubs use larger venues for certain matches that attract large attendances.

Season averages

Notes: * Green shading indicates record highs; red shading indicates record lows. * The drop in number of games and total attendance from 2000 to 2002, and the corresponding increase in average attendance, is attributable to league contraction, when MLS folded the

Miami Fusion The Miami Fusion was a professional soccer team based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. They played in Major League Soccer (MLS) for four seasons, from 1998 to 2001. Announced in 1997 as one of the league's first two expansion teams, their best seas ...

and Tampa Bay Mutiny. * Several seasons saw increases in total attendance, despite drops in average attendance. One such case was due to expansion of the regular-season schedule; all others were due to league expansion. * The 2020 and 2021 seasons were affected by the

, which restricted many matches to zero spectators.

MLS attendance vs. other North American leagues

The following table compares the Major League Soccer regular-season average attendance against the regular-season average attendance for the other professional sports leagues in North America that have average attendances of at least 10,000 spectators per game.

MLS attendance vs. other soccer leagues worldwide

Historic average attendances

Current active teams

Defunct teams

Notes: * Bold indicates franchise record high for season average attendance.

Individual game highest attendance

Regular season

MLS Cup Playoffs

Doubleheader games highest attendance

MLS ranking among pro sports leagues average attendance by metro area

The table is sorted by MLS attendance average rank, and then by MLS attendance. Only attendances in MLS and the traditional major professional sports leagues of the U.S. and Canada are listed here. Many

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

teams in MLS markets routinely outdraw MLS teams and even some or all other major professional teams. MLS, NFL, CFL, and MLB attendances are for their 2019 seasons. NBA and NHL attendances are for their 2018–19 seasons.

References

{{Major League Soccer

Attendance Attendance is the concept of people, individually or as a group, appearing at a location for a previously scheduled event. Measuring attendance is a significant concern for many organizations, which can use such information to gauge the effectiven ...

Major League Soccer records and statistics