MLS behind only the Premier League in 2024 fan attendance, with more fans in stadiums than leagues in Spain and Italy

MLS released its attendance data Thursday, revealing successful matchday numbers over the course of the 2024 season. The league's 12.1 million attendees is bettered by only the English Premier League, among all global leagues, and is more than 1 million more than the Spanish top flight.

Individual game numbers were impressive, too. Two matches had more than 70,000 fans, eight surpassed the 60,000 mark, and 31 featured in excess of 40,000.

The data places MLS in a competitive spot among soccer leagues worldwide. The advantage over the Bundesliga - just more than 40,000 - is the slimmest, but the league bettered Serie A, La Liga and Ligue 1 by some distance. MLS nearly doubled Liga MX's mark of 6,972,261.

Fan attendance hasn't been the only encouraging number of the United States' flagship soccer league this season. MLS also shot up Opta's relative league strength index, and is now the 9th most competitive division in the world - up from 31st just two years ago.

The season will come to an end this weekend when New York Red Bulls play LA Galaxy in MLS Cup. Preseason is set to begin in early 2025.