Photo credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports

The average attendance from the opening weekend of the 2017 MLS season was 25,156, which represented a 3.8% decline compared to the 2016 MLS opening weekend average of 26,152.

The difference can be attributed to Seattle Sounders being on the road this season while they were at home for week 1 in 2016.

Despite the small decline, here’s how week 1 played out. Atlanta sold out Bobby Dodd Stadium with a huge crowd of over 55,000, not unlike what Orlando did in its opening match last year. Good crowds were prevalent around the league except for the usual soft showing in Columbus. A little surprising, however, was that Vancouver Whitecaps didn’t do better. Perhaps it was due to being a Sunday night match.

In 2017, we can expect to see an increase overall due to Atlanta and Minnesota joining the league with above average capacity facilities. Atlanta’s season tickets sales, announced at 30,000, exceeds last season’s final average number. Remember, tickets sold (not people in the seats) is the main component of announced MLS attendances. The only downward push on average will be from Orlando, who finished with an average over 31,000 but have moved into a new building with a capacity of 25,500.

That being said, as I wrote on this site in 2009, it’s the TV revenue that will kick MLS into the big leagues. Ticket sales, food and merchandise sales and corporate sponsorships are all well and good but the big bucks are in TV and that’s a problem as MLS TV ratings are, well, awful. It doesn’t inspire networks to lay out huge money for programming that doesn’t draw large numbers. Hopefully that will improve with the better play on the field, but that will take time. Unlike the NFL, NBA, MLB and the NHL, MLS has stiff competition for ‘soccer eyes’ on TV. They are the best leagues of their sport in the world and US viewers are accustomed to watching the best. So with so much quality soccer available to US viewers, that’s a big hill to climb. And it certainly doesn’t help that the major sports TV outlets, yes ESPN, I’m talking to you, barely give lip service to MLS.

SEE MORE: 10 things we learned from MLS gameweek 1 of the 2017 season

Week 1 Attendances

Team Attendance
Atlanta 55,297
Colorado 16,126
Columbus 15,023
DC United 18,268
Houston 20,758
Los Angeles 23,554
Orlando 25,527
Portland 21,144
Salt Lake 19,519
San Jose 18,000
Vancouver 19,083

MLS Attendance – Equal # of Home Games

  2016 2016 2017 2017 2017 2017 2017
  Attendance Capacity Att Att +/- GP % of Cap Cap
Atlanta NA NA 55,297 NA 1 100.54% 55,000
Orlando 60,147 32,785 25,527 -57.56% 1 100.11% 25,500
LA Galaxy 25,667 25,667 23,554 -8.23% 1 91.77% 25,667
Portland 21,144 21,144 21,144 0.00% 1 100.00% 21,144
Houston 21,594 22,039 20,758 -3.87% 1 94.19% 22,039
Salt Lake 19,282 20,138 19,519 1.23% 1 96.93% 20,138
Vancouver 22,120 22,120 19,083 -13.73% 1 86.27% 22,120
D.C. United 15,334 21,412 18,268 19.13% 1 92.98% 19,647
San Jose 18,000 20,941 18,000 0.00% 1 100.00% 18,000
Colorado 17,474 17,424 16,126 -7.71% 1 89.29% 18,061
Columbus 17,015 19,968 15,023 -11.71% 1 75.24% 19,968

HT Overlapping Run