Crowd Count: MLS tops 22,000 mark for first time

• by Paul Kennedy  @pkedit, Oct 23, 2017

MLS again broke its season attendance record, topping 22,000 a game for the first time with an average of 22,106 fans a game and 8 million in total attendance for the first time with a total of 8,267,534 for 374 games.

MLS averaged a record 21,692 fans a game in 2016. The 2017 increase is attributable to the record support for Atlanta United, which averaged  48,200 fans a game.

The 19 returning teams that played in the same stadium in 2017 -- Orlando City moved into its new, smaller stadium -- averaged 20,661 fans, down 2.4 percent from 2016.

Of those 19 teams, 12 had decreases, six had increases. Portland sold out every game like it has for every game since it joined the league in 2011.

Chicago led all teams with an increase of 11 percent; New York City FC, which was forced to move out of Yankee Stadium for two games, the LA Galaxy and Columbus Crew SC had decreases of more than 10 percent.

A record 11 teams averaged more than 20,000 a game in 2017.

2017 MLS Attendance:
AVG. TEAM
48,200 Atlanta United (first year)
43,666 Seattle (+2%)
27,647 Toronto FC (+4%)
25,028 *Orlando City (-20%)
22,246 LA Galaxy (-12%)
22,177 **New York City FC (-18%)
21,416 Vancouver (-4%)
21,175 NY Red Bulls (+3%)
21,144 Portland (no change)
20,538 Minnesota United (first year)
20,046 Montreal (-3%)
19,875 San Jose (-0.3%)
19,537 Sporting KC (-0.3%)
19,367 New England (-4%)
18,781 Real Salt Lake (-5%)
17,904 D.C. United (+5%)
17,500 Houston (-8%)
17,383 Chicago (+11%)
16,812 Philadelphia (-4%)
15,439 Columbus (-10%)
15,322 Colorado (-6%)
15,122 FC Dallas (+7%)
LEAGUE: 22,106
*Moved from Camping World Stadium (capacity: 65,500) to Orlando City Stadium (25,500).
**Played games in East Hartford, Connecticut, and Flushing Meadows–Corona, Queens.