WATCH: Timbers talk about playing for the Portland fans
For the second consecutive year, Major League Soccer has set new marks for attendance.
Overall, the league average grew more than five percent, coming in at 18,807. This bettered the 2011 mark of 17,844 by nearly 1,000 fans per game.
MLS regular-season attendance in 2012 topped the 6 million mark for the first time ever, with a total of 6,074,729 fans.
Four other clubs averaged more than 20,000 fans per game, another league record. Eight clubs averaged more than 19,000 fans, up from five in 2011.
For the Timbers, with 20 home matches (17 regular season, 3 other competitions), Portland drew 392,937 fans. As a side note, The Timbers Reserves drew 41,001 for their 2012 MLS Reserve League over five home matches at JELD-WEN Field. A club-record 14,121 fans attended the Timbers Reserves match on Aug. 26 against the San Jose Earthquakes Reserves at JELD-WEN Field.
MLS also finished seventh in global average attendance:
Worldwide soccer attendance figures
Rank |
League |
Average |
1 |
Bundesliga (Germany) |
42,387 |
2 |
Premier League (England) |
35,719 |
3 |
La Liga (Spain) |
28,138 |
4 |
Serie A (Italy) |
23,176 |
5 |
Primera División (Argentina) |
22,491 |
6 |
Liga MX (Mexico) |
21,559 |
7 |
Major League Soccer (USA & Canada) |
18,807 |
8 |
Ligue 1 (France) |
18,731 |
9 |
Chinese Super League (China) |
18,702 |
10 |
Eredivisie (Netherlands) |
18,405 |
