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

HT Overlapping Run