Minnesota United attendances continue to disappoint in MLS

Photo credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

Minnesota United attendances continue to disappoint for an expansion team.

After an inaugural match with 35,043 fans in attendance, their subsequent four home games have all drawn in the 17,000’s. For the 2017 season, after five home games, Minnesota is averaging 21,115 fans per game. But with attendances such as the 17,709 number for the game against Sporting KC this past weekend, the average will continue to decline unless the club can get a boost through the gates.

For this past weekend, despite strong reported attendances in Seattle, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City and other cities, the reported turnouts in Colorado, Columbus and DC brought the average for the week down to approximately 20,500.

After the first 103 matches, the average attendance is virtually equal to 2016.

Here are the reported attendances for MLS gameweek 10:

Franchise	Attendance
Colorado	13,745
Columbus	13,340
DC United	14,993
Houston	19,292
Kansas City	18,965
Los Angeles	24,256
Minnesota	17,709
NYCFC	25,605
Philadelphia	16,297
Salt Lake	18,160
San Jose	18,000
Seattle	41,468
Toronto	25,200

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	28,262	26,475	-6.32%	5
Orlando	37,523	25,527	-31.97%	5
Montreal	23,466	23,705	1.02%	3
LA Galaxy	25,212	22,965	-8.91%	6
NYCFC	24,924	22,183	-11.00%	5
Vancouver	23,350	21,681	-7.15%	4
Portland	21,144	21,144	0.00%	5
Minnesota	NA	21,115	NA	5
Red Bulls	18,828	19,703	4.65%	5
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	20,458	17,916	-12.43%	6
D.C. United	15,173	16,141	6.38%	5
Philadelphia Union	16,956	16,038	-5.42%	5
FC Dallas	13,828	15,906	15.03%	4
Chicago	14,239	15,369	7.94%	4
Colorado	14,053	14,743	4.91%	4
Columbus	15,908	13,552	-14.81%	6
NE Revs	13,758	13,344	-3.01%	4