Attendance: 18,542 spectators per MLS game in 2013, an increase of 15% since 2009

The average attendance at Major League Soccer matches has increased by 15% in five years, from 16,050 spectators in 2009 to 18,542 in 2013.

Seattle Sounders FC come in first in the North American franchise rankings by attendance, with an average of 44,038 spectators 2013 at CenturyLink Stadium (67,000 seats). Only 18 clubs in the five major European championships have an average attendance higher than that of the Oregon franchise.

MLS achieves average match attendance comparable to the NBA (basketball, 17,348 spectators) and the NHL (hockey, 18,973 spectators). However, in terms of total spectators, MLS is very far from other sports. It brought in 6.3m viewers in 2013, 11.7 times less than MLB (baseball) with its 74 million viewers (see table below).

• The NHL had a lockout in 2012-13…