Overall attendance in Major League Soccer fell slightly in 2025, dropping to 21,988 per game according to figures compiled by Sports Business Journal. That’s down 5% from the record high of 23,234 set in 2024, and the lowest average since 2022.
But average attendance at New York City FC games grew slightly in 2025 to 21,853* per game, up from 21,764 in 2024. That’s the highest number for the club since 2018, when games averaged 23,211 fans.
NYCFC were one of just seven clubs to see attendance rise in the second full year of the league’s Lionel Messi Era, bucking a trend that has the numbers shrinking even at Inter Miami CF, where the average crowd fell 2.7% to 20,410 per game.
Here are five observations about the 2025 MLS attendance figures, and where New York City fit in the league.
* Note that the average New York City attendance of 21,917 from Sports Business Journal above is slightly different from the 21,853 figure we use in the tables below. Hudson River Blue calculated 21,853 to be the season average based on the official attendance figures released after every game. You can see those numbers detailed below.
Because of that discrepancy, the Sports Business Journal has NYCFC attendance climbing 0.9%, while here at HRB we put it at 0.4%.
1) Just 7 clubs saw attendance rise
Only seven MLS clubs saw their attendance climb in 2025: San Jose Earthquakes (12.1%), Chicago Fire (9.9%), Houston Dynamo (3.8%), Colorado Rapids (1.3%), Red Bull New York (1.2%), NYCFC (0.9%), and Seattle Sounders (0.8%). Another two saw attendance remain unchanged – Austin FC and St. Louis City FC – while expansion side San Diego FC played their first season in the league.
The remaining 20 clubs experienced a decline in attendance. As expected, the numbers at FC Dallas fell 42.3% as large sections of Toyota Stadium were closed while the venue started a three-year renovation, drastically limiting capacity. But others on the list are more surprising: Supporters’ Shield-winning Philadelphia Union were down 2.7% despite the club’s strong relationship with their fanbase, a high-flying FC Cincinnati slid 2.3%, and MLS Cup runners-up Vancouver Whitecaps tumbled 16.5% even as they played attractive football that grabbed the attention of the nation.
MLS | 2026 Attendance by Club
Att
Change
Figures courtesy of Sports Business Journal2) The waning of Messimania?
Is a sophomore slump for Messimania to blame for the league-wide decline? When Charlotte FC hosted Inter Miami in 2024, 47,218 fans were in the stands. In 2025, attendance fell to 35,607, a decline of 11,611. Even Inter Miami’s attendance at Chase Stadium fell 2.7%, declining slightly from an average of 20,979 in 2024 to 20,410 in 2025.
New York City’s home matchup against Miami at Citi Field was the best-attended game of the year, with an announced gate of 40,845 — that was the largest crowd to watch NYCFC play in Queens, and the fourth-largest crowd in team history. But that’s down from the 44,378 who packed into the stands at Yankee Stadium in 2024 for the second-largest crowd in club history — it trails only the 48,047 who came to the first-ever Hudson River Derby held in The Bronx on June 28, 2015.
New York City FC | Attendance by Year
Average
Total
Change
3) The Hudson River Derby is now a reliable draw
Speaking of the Hudson River Derby, that game has reliably become one of the biggest draws of the season. Since joining the league in 20215, New York City played 18 home games that had a crowd of 30,000 or more; nine of those were against Red Bull New York. To look at that another way, out of the 14 Hudson River Derbies hosted by NYCFC, nine saw 30,000-plus crowds.
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