Record breaking year for MLS in 2024

Article posted by Coliseum, October 30^th, 2024

Image: Coliseum GSVA

The 2024 Major League Soccer regular season has been a record-breaking year with more fans consuming MLS than ever before and with the League continuing to experience significant year-over-year growth.

ABC News said that with the conclusion of the regular season, MLS reported a 5% increase in attendance over last year with a league-wide total of 11.45 million. That’s a 14% increase over 2022.

Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men’s professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation which represents the sport’s highest level in the United States.

The league comprises 29 teams – 26 in the United States and 3 in Canada – since the 2023 season. The MLS is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan.

During the 2024 regular season, more fans in the U.S. and Canada attended MLS matches than ever before in the League’s 30-year history, continued to engage with the League and its clubs on social media at record highs, and purchased MLS merchandise in record numbers – helping the League establish new milestones for retail sales.

All of these records have been set while MLS is in the midst of a transformational period that has seen one of the sport’s greatest players, Lionel Messi, choose MLS.

During the season, two matches exceeded 70,000 fans and five matches exceeded 50,000. In an April match at Arrowhead Stadium, there were 72,610 on hand to watch Messi and Inter Miami play Sporting Kansas City.

The average was a league-record 23,234 per match. Ten teams set or exceeded attendance records and there were a record 213 sell-outs.

There’s no doubt the league’s superstar attraction is Messi, the clear front-runner for the league’s MVP award this season.

Chris McGowan, head of the club performance and optimization group at MLS said, “He’s definitely helped put us in front of a global audience, and he’s definitely piqued the interest of sports fans in our country.

“Our clubs have done an unbelievable job of taking advantage of that and understanding that players don’t play forever. We have the best ever playing in our league, so we got to be on our toes to be able to take advantage of it.”

ABC News further stated that McGowan cited other factors as well, including the fan experience at the league’s stadiums, spurred by enthusiastic supporters’ groups.

“People are now seeing just an awesome environment when they go to our games across the league,” McGowan said. “The crowds are energetic. There’s a lot of great things happening in the venue. It’s just a fun time on a Saturday night and people are really taking notice of that.”

MLS also reported that MLS and the league’s marketing arm, Soccer United Marketing, have seen a 13% year-to-date rise in sponsorship revenue, which is the same increase at the individual club level. Eighteen new sponsors have joined MLS this year.

The league is also growing its social media reach, with a 26% jump in followers on TikTok, a 21% increase on YouTube and a 10% increase on Instagram.

Meanwhile, soccer fans continue to purchase MLS merchandise in record numbers. Lionel Messi ranks No. 1 on the list of top-selling MLS jerseys in the league and continues to rank No. 1 globally for adidas in jersey sales of individual players.

Among the league’s 25 top-selling jerseys through MLSstore.com, there are 14 different nationalities, three FIFA World Cup winners and six players aged 25 or younger.

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