USWNT average attendance declines 22% in 2018

With average attendances for US Men’s National Team games down 17% in 2018, it’s even worse news for the US Women’s National Team (USWNT) as their attendances dropped 22% in a horrible year for the US Soccer Federation.

On the field, the USWNT had a remarkable year, posting a record of 18-0-2 and qualifying for the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France where they are drawn with Thailand, Chile, and Sweden in the Group Stage. While the last several years have seen several fantastic crowds for the women’s national team, particularly in 2015 when they not only had the hype before the Women’s World Cup but also the Victory Tour after winning it, 2018 saw a dramatic attendance decline for the women.

It should be noted as journalist Jonathan Tannenwald pointed out that “U.S. Soccer did not run ticket sales for the women’s World Cup qualifying tournament. Concacaf did, and they are notorious for not marketing the event locally in cities where they put games.”

Here are the attendance figures for the USWNT in 2018:

1/21/18 – Friendly – USA vs. Denmark – SDCCU Stadium – 17,526
3/1/18 – She Believes Cup – USA vs. Germany – Mapfre Stadium – 14,591
3/4/18 – She Believes Cup – USA vs. France – Red Bull Arena – 25,706
3/7/18 – She Believes Cup – USA vs. England – Orlando City Stadium – 12,351
4/5/18 – Friendly – USA vs. Mexico – TIAA Bank Field – 14,360
4/8/18 – Friendly – USA vs. Mexico – BBVA Compass Stadium – 15,349
6/7/18 – Friendly – USA vs. China – Rio Tinto Stadium – 13,230
6/12/18 – Friendly – USA vs. China – First Energy Stadium – 12,335
7/26/18 – Tournament of Nations – USA vs. Japan – Children’s Mercy Park – 18,467
7/29/18 – Tournament of Nations – USA vs. Australia – Pratt & Whitney Stadium – 21,570
8/2/18 – Tournament of Nations – USA vs. Brazil – Toyota Park – 18,309
8/31/18 – Friendly – USA vs. Chile – StubHub Center – 23,544
9/4/18 – Friendly – USA vs. Chile – Avaya Stadium – 14,340
10/4/18 – Women’s World Cup qualifier – USA vs. Mexico – WakeMed Soccer Park – 5,404
10/7/18 – WWCQ – USA vs. Panama – WakeMed Soccer Park – 7,532
10/10/18 – WWCQ – USA vs. Trinidad & Tobago – WakeMed Soccer Park – 3,996
10/14/18 – WWCQ – USA vs. Jamaica – Toyota Stadium – 7,555
10/17/18 – WWCQ – USA vs. Canada – Toyota Stadium – 6,986

• Total Attendance: 253,151
• Average Attendance: 14,064

The 14,064 per game average is a drop of 22% from 2017 when they averaged 18,150 per game (and it’s a 49% drop from the 27,766 in 2015). It was also the lowest average attendance since 2014 when they averaged 10,791 per game. It’s quite baffling that every single Women’s World Cup Qualifying game drew under 10,000 fans. That’s five games of under 10,000 this year compared to just four games of under 10,000 in the last three years combined.

It’s worth noting that this was a pre-Women’s World Cup year and it did well compared to other such years: 14,064 in 2018, 10,791 in 2014, 5,784 in 2010, and 5,578 in 2006. And while again attendance is down, there are plenty of reason to expect it to jump tremendously next year with the Women’s World Cup getting fans excited.

US Soccer has already released the schedule for the WNT all the way through the start of the Women’s World Cup and the home venues are: Philadelphia, Nashville, Tampa, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco, St. Louis, and New York. Expectations are that every soccer-specific stadium will sell out and every larger stadium will have at least 20,000 people inside. If that holds true, 2019 could be a very good year in the stadiums for the USWNT.