Attendances in Major League Soccer always have to be taken with a grain of salt. While teams such as Seattle Sounders and Orlando City generate impressive numbers that can’t be denied, there are always some teams that report home attendances that are considerably more than what we can see in the stadiums and on television.
Having said that, last weekend’s reported match attendances averaged over 20,400 with Chicago (12,073), Colorado (10,772), Dallas (13,174) and New England (11,849) reporting relatively underwhelming numbers.
While last season’s average attendances increased 12.8%, we certainly can’t expect anything close to the same increase this year, with the same teams in place. There is a jump in capacity in Vancouver from 21,000 to 22,120, but otherwise all things being equal, a 5% increase would be a positive outcome.
On the attendances so far this season, the bright spots are:
• Vancouver (+15% in average attendance over last year),
• DC United (+13%), and
• New England Revolution (+12%).
Meanwhile, the disappointments so far are:
• New York City FC (-14%),
• FC Dallas (-12%), and
• Philadelphia (-5%).
Here’s the latest attendance data for MLS:
2015 | 2016 | ||||||
Att | Cap | Att | Att +/- | GP | % of Cap | Cap | |
Orlando | 42,135 | 46,174 | 40,101 | -4.8% | 3 | 97.53% | 41,116 |
Seattle | 39,606 | 38,500 | 39,747 | 0.36% | 3 | 99.37% | 40,000 |
Montreal | 25,245 | 27,340 | 27,545 | 9.11% | 1 | 91.82% | 30,000 |
NYCFC | 30,474 | 35,514 | 26,112 | -14.31% | 3 | 87.04% | 30,000 |
LA Galaxy | 23,044 | 27,000 | 25,667 | 11.38% | 2 | 95.06% | 27,000 |
Vancouver | 20,646 | 21,000 | 23,759 | 15.08% | 3 | 107.41% | 22,120 |
Houston | 22,379 | 22,039 | 21,598 | -3.49% | 2 | 98.00% | 22,039 |
Portland | 21,144 | 20,674 | 21,144 | 0.00% | 2 | 100.00% | 21,144 |
Sporting KC | 20,059 | 18,467 | 20,199 | 0.70% | 3 | 109.38% | 18,467 |
Salt Lake | 20,281 | 20,138 | 19,282 | -4.93% | 1 | 95.75% | 20,138 |
Red Bulls | 18,721 | 25,189 | 18,235 | -2.60% | 2 | 72.39% | 25,189 |
San Jose | 18,000 | 18,000 | 18,000 | 0.00% | 3 | 100.00% | 18,000 |
Philadelphia | 18,022 | 18,500 | 17,027 | -5.52% | 1 | 92.04% | 18,500 |
Columbus | 15,826 | 20,145 | 17,015 | 7.51% | 1 | 85.21% | 19,968 |
D.C. United | 13,006 | 19,647 | 14,768 | 13.55% | 2 | 75.16% | 19,647 |
Chicago | 14,121 | 20,000 | 14,149 | 0.19% | 3 | 70.74% | 20,000 |
Colorado | 14,571 | 17,424 | 14,123 | -3.07% | 2 | 81.05% | 17,424 |
NE Revs | 12,429 | 22,500 | 13,976 | 12.45% | 2 | 62.11% | 22,500 |
FC Dallas | 15,906 | 20,500 | 13,975 | -12.14% | 3 | 68.17% | 20,500 |
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