Average attendances down for 15 MLS clubs this 2018 season

Soccer fans in the US typically follow European soccer alongside MLS and international tournaments, which means having new sites for betting to bet on soccer is a great asset to have if you’re unable to attend most games. And with average attendances going down this year, there is some cause for concern.

After six gameweeks played in the 2018 season, attendances are down for 66% of the MLS clubs who have played home games this season.

The only MLS clubs who haven’t seen a drop in attendance compared to last season are Atlanta United (up 10%), LA Galaxy (up 23%), Vancouver (up 26%), NYCFC (up 4%), Sporting KC (up 1%) and San Jose (who have seen no increase or decrease).

The MLS franchises who have seen the biggest drop in attendances compared to last season are:

1) DC United — down 71% (due to playing in a temporary stadium),
2) Columbus — down 25% (due to fans protesting that owner is trying to move the club to Austin),
3) Montreal — down 24%
4) Minnesota — down 21%
5) Chicago — down 13%
6) FC Dallas — down 11%
7) Seattle — down 7%
8) New York Red Bulls — down 6%
9) Real Salt Lake — down 6%
10) Orlando — down 6%
11) Colorado — down 6%
12) Philadelphia — down 4%
13) Houston — down 2%
14) New England — down 0.5%
15) Toronto — down 0.1%

LAFC and Portland Timbers have yet to play a home game this season.

In gameweek 6, Atlanta, LA Galaxy and Orlando had impressive attendances. But there were poor turnouts everywhere else. Real Salt Lake has had less than 17,000 two home matches in a row, the first time that has happened since July, 2011. The mitigating factor to both was poor weather, including cold, snow and rain. As a consequence, the numbers for the first 53 matches this season are down 1.75% to 2017 as you can see in the table below.