Crowd Count: League records set in Atlanta and Cincinnati

• by Paul Kennedy  @pkedit, Sep 16, 2017

Atlanta United broke the MLS record for the largest crowd for a stand-alone game as 70,425 fans watched it tie Orlando City, 3-3, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

The previous MLS record of 69,225 fans for a stand-alone game was set by the LA Galaxy for its first ever game in 1996. (Other MLS games have drawn larger crowds, though they were played with international matches that headlined the doubleheaders.)

The U.S. pro soccer attendance record for a stand-alone game is 77,691 for the 1977 NASL playoff game between the New York Cosmos and Ft. Lauderdale Strikers. The Cosmos drew crowds of more than 70,000 for eight league games (four regular-season and four playoffs).

FC Cincinnati broke its own USL record with 30,417 fans for its 4-2 victory over the New York Red Bulls II at Nippert Stadium.

FCC broke its previous league record of 30,187 for a 2016 playoff game against Charleston and the league regular-season record of 25,308 set in August for a match against Orlando City B.

The crowd of 30,417 was Cincinnati's fourth of more than 30,000 in 2017.  It drew crowds of 32,287, 30,187 and 30,160 for Open Cup matches against MLS teams.

MLS this week:
ATT. MATCH (SCORE)
70,425 Atlanta United-Orlando City (3-3)
42,511 Atlanta United-New England (7-0)
20,801 Montreal-Minn. United (2-3)
20,592 Vancouver-Columbus (2-2)
20,534 NY Red Bulls-Philadelphia (0-0)
19,667 Real Salt Lake-Portland (2-1)
19,659 LA Galaxy-Toronto FC (0-4)
19,089 Sporting KC-New England (3-1)
18,000 San Jose-Houston (1-0)
17,368 Vancouver-Minn. United (3-0)
15,643 Chicago-D.C. United (3-1)
15,124 FC Dallas-Seattle (0-0)
14,336 Colorado-New York City (1-1)

USL this week:
ATT. MATCH (SCORE)
30,417 FC Cincinnati-NY Red Bulls II (4-2)
11,569 Sac Republic FC-LA Galaxy II (2-1)
8,303 Louisville City-Bethlehem (2-2)
6,169 Rio Grande Valley FC-Reno 1868 (1-0)
6,008 Phoenix-Real Monarchs (2-0)
4,456 Saint Louis FC-Orlando City B (2-0)
4,351 OKC Energy FC-Tulsa (2-0)
2,775 Harrisburg-Toronto FC II (2-1)
2,341 Pittsburgh-Rochester (1-1)
2,228 Charleston-Richmond (1-0)
1,857 Orange County SC-San Antonio FC (0-0)
1,830 Charlotte-Ottawa (1-1)
1,820 Harrisburg-FC Cincinnati (1-1)
1,244 Vancouver-Orange County SC (1-2)
1,114 Swope Park Rangers-San Antonio FC (5-2)
n/a Sounders FC 2-Colorado Springs (1-1)

NASL this week:
ATT. MATCH (SCORE)
7,798 Indy Eleven-North Carolina FC (1-0)
5,027 North Carolina FC-Puerto Rico FC (0-0)
4,229 New York Cosmos-Jacksonville (3-3)
3,027 FC Edmonton-Indy Eleven (2-0)
Miami FC vs. SF Deltas (postponed)