Photo credit: Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY Sports
Reported attendances were less than stellar this past week. Columbus’ midweek match had the lowest reported gate in the league this season (10,318). Colorado, Dallas, DC United and Houston all had relatively poor turnouts. New York Red Bulls’ match against LA had the lowest showing (against the Galaxy) since 2006, the year before Beckham arrived.
On the other hand, Chicago had its biggest number since September of 2015 with 20,153 fans.
After the first 115 matches, the average attendance is down 1.66% compared to 2016.
Here are the reported attendances for MLS gameweek 11:
| Franchise | Attendance |
|---|---|
| Chicago | 20,153 |
| Colorado | 14,567 |
| Columbus | 10,318 |
| Dallas | 14,665 |
| DC United | 14,576 |
| Houston | 16,075 |
| Montreal | 17,508 |
| New England | 21,096 |
| NY Red Bull | 18,376 |
| Orlando | 25,527 |
| Portland | 21,144 |
| Toronto | 27,249 |
Here is the 2017 MLS attendance report through gameweek 10:
| MLS Attendance – Equal # of Home Games | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 2017 | |||
| Att | Att | Att +/- | GP | |
| Atlanta | NA | 49,077 | NA | 3 |
| Seattle | 39,716 | 42,620 | 7.31% | 4 |
| Toronto | 28,010 | 26,604 | -5.02% | 6 |
| Orlando | 36,949 | 25,527 | -30.91% | 6 |
| LA Galaxy | 25,212 | 22,965 | -8.91% | 6 |
| NYCFC | 24,924 | 22,183 | -11.00% | 5 |
| Montreal | 22,800 | 22,156 | -2.83% | 4 |
| Vancouver | 23,350 | 21,681 | -7.15% | 4 |
| Portland | 21,144 | 21,144 | 0.00% | 6 |
| Minnesota | NA | 21,115 | NA | 5 |
| Red Bulls | 18,461 | 19,482 | 5.53% | 6 |
| Sporting KC | 19,839 | 19,052 | -3.97% | 5 |
| Salt Lake | 19,699 | 18,808 | -4.52% | 5 |
| San Jose | 18,000 | 18,000 | 0.00% | 5 |
| Houston | 20,360 | 17,653 | -13.30% | 7 |
| Chicago | 14,014 | 16,326 | 16.50% | 5 |
| Philadelphia Union | 16,956 | 16,038 | -5.42% | 5 |
| D.C. United | 15,061 | 15,881 | 5.44% | 6 |
| FC Dallas | 14,305 | 15,658 | 9.46% | 5 |
| NE Revs | 16,047 | 14,894 | -7.18% | 5 |
| Colorado | 14,170 | 14,708 | 3.80% | 5 |
| Columbus | 15,752 | 13,090 | -16.90% | 7 |
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Come on in future MLS owners, the water is fine! NYCFC is Garber’s legacy and brainchild and look at those sh*itty attendance numbers. Don’t give me the “they play in Yankee Stadium” excuse because it was a league mandate to have a SSS before play but somehow that didn’t apply to NYCFC.
The end is near, MLS!
While mls is still in its infancy you cannot be raising ticket prices. Soccer in the US doesn’t mean enough to people yet to be thinking these prices will be paid by hard core fans. It will take two more generations and more successful local talent to get to the level you’re thinking the ticket prices warrant.