MLS and NWSL reportedly see attendance dip amid crowded summer schedule featuring Club World Cup and Gold Cup

Both MLS and the NWSL have reportedly seen their attendance dip this in 2025 amid a busy summer of soccer across the United States.

Both leagues set attendance records in 2024, but neither is on pace to match last season's figures, per Sports Business Journal. According to the report, MLS has seen a 5.9 percent decrease in attendance while the NWSL has seen a four percent decrease. Numbers are up in the USL Championship and USL League One, though, as they've seen 5.2 percent and 17.3 percent rises, respectively.

Even with the decline, MLS is still averaging 21,838 fans, which is about even with the league's 2023 numbers. The numbers are slightly skewed, though, by FC Dallas' stadium renovation, which has limited attendance, as well as Inter Miami playing fewer league matches in total and fewer games in NFL-sized venues.

Even if the league's numbers hold, it would likely still leave MLS right among the top 10 best-attended leagues in the world, as they were last year. The NWSL, meanwhile, may have been impacted by the Gold Cup, which was played in eight of the league's 14 markets.

The dip comes amid a busy summer of soccer, one in which the U.S. hosted both the Gold Cup and the Club World Cup. The latter, which played an expanded tournament for the first time, reportedly sold nearly 2.5 million tickets for 63 matches and featured some of the world's biggest clubs.

In the end, Chelsea took down Paris Saint-Germain in the finale. The Gold Cup, meanwhile, reportedly sold 538,999 tickets for 22 sessions across 12 different markets.  In total, 21 of MLS's 30 clubs played in markets that played host to matches in either the Club World Cup or Gold Cup this summer.

The Club World Cup was often the subject of debate centered around burnout, both for players on a physical level and for fans on a financial level. With the World Cup coming to the U.S. next summer, there has never been more high-level soccer in the U.S., with many fans forced to pick and choose which events to attend as ticket prices continue to be the subject of debate as well.

MLS commissioner Don Garber reflected on the attendance dip during the league's All-Star Game.

“I’m confident that we will finish [the season] with another increase in our attendance,” Garber said. “And, by the way, when you’re constantly growing, it’s hard to continue to increase, but that’s our goal.

“By the end of Leagues Cup, there’ll be close to four million fans that will attend professional or national team soccer matches [in the U.S. and Canada] this summer, which is really an astounding number."

American soccer's domestic seasons continue as MLS clubs play in the Leagues Cup this weekend, while the NWSL returned to its regular season slate after an international break.