The Big Lead

MLS ranks No. 2 behind Premier League in very surprising stat

By Joe Lago

Oct 19, 2024; Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA; Inter Miami CF forward Lionel Messi (10) celebrates scoring during the second half against the New England Revolution at Chase Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
Oct 19, 2024; Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA; Inter Miami CF forward Lionel Messi (10) celebrates scoring during the second half against the New England Revolution at Chase Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
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Major League Soccer has always aspired to be one of the world's top leagues in professional soccer. It has taken steps over the years to gradually raise the level of play with incremental increases in team payrolls and player salaries.

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MLS has already arrived on the global soccer stage in one important category — match attendance.

The league proudly announced Thursday that it ranks second in 2024 total attendance among all global soccer leagues behind only the English Premier League. This season, MLS has drawn more than 12.1 million fans.

The Premier League ranks No. 1 with 14.6 million fans for the 2023-24 season. Europe's other top leagues fall behind MLS, with Germany's Bundesliga third at 12.0 million, Italy's Serie A fourth at 11.6 million and Spain's La Liga fifth at 10.7 million.

LIGA MX, Mexico's top division that competes in the Leagues Cup against MLS, is eighth in attendance with more than 6.9 million fans. The data was sourced from Opta, a sports data provider.

While MLS's 34-game regular-season schedule is four games fewer than Europe's 38-match slates, North America's top flight fields eight more teams with a total of 29 clubs. MLS will add a 30th franchise in 2025 with the debut of San Diego FC.

Trumpeting these attendance numbers won't silence the naysayers who decry MLS's quality of play when comparing it to the Premier League, whose profile has grown in America over the past decade with NBC's prevalent broadcasts. However, the local support in MLS markets can't be denied. Thirty-one matches drew at least 40,000 fans, and 10 games got crowds of at least 50,000 fans.

Also, MLS continued to benefit from the Lionel Messi effect.

Although the 37-year-old global superstar missed 15 of Inter Miami's 34 games due to injury, the World Cup champion and eight-time Ballon d'Or winner remained a main attraction in his second MLS season. In fact, Game 2 of Inter's first-round playoff series against Atlanta United was one of eight MLS matches to draw 60,000 fans.

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