The MLS is known to a lot of soccer fans as a subpar league that is trying hard to go up against its European counterparts such as the English Premier League, La Liga, Ligue 1, Bundesliga, and many other prominent soccer leagues. However, the MLS has just managed to eclipse its 10-million fan attendance record set last season – and they still have 16 games left to play this season.

As the season draws to a close and the playoffs coming in hot, the MLS has announced that they have achieved a new record this season as the team has already broken more than 11 million fans in attendance – which is a massive climb from the 10,900,804 fan attendance record that they have set last season. This just says a lot about the surge of popularity that the MLS has enjoyed so far, and one can say that there is more to expect from the league at this point in time.

With 16 games left in the regular season and the MLS Cup surging later on, it seems that there will be more than 11 million fans in record when the season ends, and that’s just the regular season as the competition comes in hot with the playoff action now bringing in more intense clashes and fiery showdowns that will bring fans to the edge of their seats.

A Surge of Popularity

The MLS is considered to be the premier soccer competition in the United States and has been there since 1996. Celebrating 30 years of impressive soccer action in North America, it is only fitting that the MLS has seen a surge of popularity now more than ever. Initially starting out with 10 teams, it has now expanded to a total of 29 teams, with three of those hailing from Canada.

After initial financial and operational struggles in its early years, the development of soccer-specific stadiums and the implementation of the Designated Player Rule that brought in the likes of international star players such as David Beckham proved to be pivotal. The latter rule was also applied to Lionel Messi – opening the league to the arrival of more iconic stars from all over the world.

The MLS was already the eighth-highest-attended professional soccer league all over the world by 2018 and averaged over 21,000 fan attendance in 2022. By this year, however, the league is currently averaging 23,240 fans per game. That is a massive jump to the number of fans who are seeing the intense action of games that has proven to be quite a story of resurgence in the league.

Big Games of the Season

The biggest crowds of the season came from the Inter Miami-Sporting Kansas City showdown at the Arrowhead Stadium last April 13, which was Lionel Messi’s big game as it saw a total of 72,610 fans present. The Fourth of July clash between the LAFC and LA Galaxy in celebration of El Trafico was also quite a promising battle that boasted a fan attendance of 70,076.

Lastly, one of the big games to begin the season was the rivalry showdown between Inter Miami and the New England Revolution last April 27th, which brought a total of 65,612 fans at the Gillette Stadium as well.

With the season still not yet over, who knows? Maybe the MLS can cook up some interesting games to wrap up the campaign and deliver some interesting finishes between teams while bringing in more fans with a bang!