One of the biggest games of the Portland Timbers season is almost upon us, and comes with even more fanfare than usual. It’s a Cascadia Cup game in Seattle and Clint Dempsey’s first versus the Timbers. The Sounders opened up extra seating and sold out to the tune of 66,800 tickets, which ranks as the second highest attendance in MLS history next to a Galaxy/MetroStars game in the league’s inaugural season. This is a remarkable feat and a real tribute to the vibrancy of the Pacific Northwest soccer scene. But it’s no surprise; last year’s fixture was the previous holder of second place. It’s only a matter of time before number one falls to the Cascadia Cup as well, and while Timbers fans may begrudge the fact it’s happening at their archrivals’ home, it’s good for everyone involved.
MLS’ attendance stats are well-loved and much quoted by league boosters; the league is now in third place in average attendance in professional sports behind the NFL and baseball. The league is still a ways off from the two leaders: The NFL clocks an average attendance of 64,698, Major League Baseball comes in at 30,895, while the MLS is currently at 18,807. The total attendance of the leagues tells a different story as well: The NFL boasts over 17 million, MLB a staggering 74 million, and the MLS 6 million. The NHL and NBA, which trail the MLS in average attendance, both easily surpass it in total attendance at 21 and 17 million respectively. Of course, all these leagues have 30 or more teams involved, while the MLS currently has 19. The potential for growth in soccer is huge, but competition between sports for TV time and stadiums is probably just beginning and will no doubt be fascinating. In the 80s and 90s, the rise of soccer’s popularity- and the supposed parallel decline of baseball- was a familiar saw for a handful of conservative pundits who saw the sport as un-American and effeminate. I imagine there might be a second wave of such sentiment as the seats keep filling up for soccer games.
It’s one thing to compare our teams to their monolithic competition from other sports, but how do our local teams stack up in attendance when compared to international counterparts? Here are a few snack sized average attendance stats:
Timbers- 20,674
Sounders- 41,501
Arsenal- 60,079
Borussia Dortmund- 80,520
Eredivisie (the Dutch league)- 19,538
English Premier League- 35,921
If Seattle were in England, it would have the 6th highest average attendance, 3rd if in Spain, 9th in Germany, and 27th overall in Europe. The Timbers don’t rank particularly high in attendance, but if you could measure passion, they’d be in the mix. Who needs a big stadium when you’ve got heart?
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