Photo credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

Major League Soccer has set a 5-year attendance record for their playoff games and Conference semi-finals and finals, increasing attendances by 19% compared to last season from the wildcard games through to the Conference Finals.

The top flight US/Canadian league benefitted from well-supported teams such as Montreal Impact, Toronto FC and Seattle Sounders being featured in the latter stages of the MLS playoffs and Conference games.

In total, for the 2016 MLS wildcard games through last night’s Conference games, MLS averaged 27,276 fans per game. Last season, it was 22,909. The 27,276 number this season broke the 5-year record of 23,390 from 2014.

With their 40,000+ attendance numbers, the Seattle Sounders have been an outlier since its entrance into the league. Although this season the showing of 60,000+ for Montreal in their home match of the Eastern Conference finals was quite impressive.

Of course, the numbers do mean a lot to the franchises that are showing strong playoff numbers as it adds revenue via ticket sales, food, merchandise and increased exposure.

For the 2016 MLS regular season, the average attendance was 21,690, which is an 0.66% increase compared to last season.

The 21,690 number is the third year in a row that Major League Soccer has broken its own attendance record. And it means that the league now has a greater average attendance than Argentina’s Primera Division, France’s Ligue Un and the Netherlands’ Eredivisie.

Here are the MLS attendance numbers:

PLAYOFF TOTALS (NOT INCL. MLS CUP)

Year Average Plus-Minus
2012 21,774  
2013 21,911 0.63%
2014 23,390 6.75%
2015 22,909 -2.06%
2016 27,276 19.06%

 

WILD CARD GAMES

Year Average Plus-Minus Home Teams      
2012 12,813   Chicago   LA  
2013 21,340 66.55% Houston   Seattle  
2014 12,899 -39.56% Dallas   RBNY  
2015 22,576 75.03% DC United Seattle Montreal Portland
2016 22,202 -1.66% DC United Seattle LA Toronto

 

QUARTERFINALS (CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS – BOTH LEGS)

Year Average Plus-Minus Teams
2012 20,690   DCU, HOU, LA, RBNY, RSL, SEA, SJ, SKC
2013 22,789 10.15% HOU, LA, NE, RBNY, PTL, RSL, SEA, SKC
2014 21,275 -6.64% DCU, LA, NE, RBNY, FCD, RSL, SEA, CLB
2015 23,412 10.04% CLB, FCD, DCU, MON, PTL, RBNY, SEA, VAN
2016 23,767 1.52% COL, FCD, LA, MON, NYCFC, RBNY, SEA, TFC

 

SEMIFINALS (CONFERENCE FINALS)

Year Average Plus-Minus Teams
2012 28,423   LA v SEA – DCU v HOU
2013 20,441 -28.08% PTL v RSL – SKC v HOU
2014 32,864 60.77% LA v SEA – RBNY v NE
2015 22,237 -32.34% PTL v DAL – RBNY v CLB
2016 39,368 77.04% SEA v COL – TFC v MTL