Major League Soccer Continues To Post Strong Numbers Among Local Fans

After a small dip in attendance last year, attendance for Major League Soccer matches reached nearly 6.2 million during the 2014 season with an average attendance of 19,151 for the 19 clubs.

The chart below shows that the 19-year-old league is still showing steady and strong growth among local fans and with ticket sales. Overall, attendance in MLS was up 2.9% from 2013, and average attendance is up 28.5% since 2003, when the league was struggling with fewer than 15,000 per games and had already seen two clubs fold.

Unfortunately for MLS and its players, the league still hasn't resonated beyond the local fan bases as national television ratings remain suboptimal. While MLS continues to prove they do local very well, it is the national, what Landon Donovan calls "the final frontier" for MLS, where the league needs to improve if they are going to compete with other major leagues both domestically and abroad.