The year 2022 was a smash hit for USMNT TV ratings. After all, they qualified for the World Cup and advanced to the round of 16. But his assistance did not benefit in the same way. In fact, the 2022 USMNT attendance was the lowest since 2006.
This is how crowds break down.
Worst attendance since 2006
In 2022, the USMNT totaled 128,295 fans over the course of six games. That averages out to 21,383 fans per game. No average attendance for the USMNT has been this low since 2006 when they totaled 162,876 over the course of eight home games for an average of 20,360.
This excludes the COVID year of 2020, when they averaged 5,836 per game. The United States played a total of four games that year, only two of which were at home: Costa Rica in February and then El Salvador in December (played with capacity restrictions).
Declining attendance is not a new trend
The 2022 average of 21,383 per game is a 15% drop from 2021. That year, over the course of 15 home games, the United States averaged 25,155 fans per game. It was also the seventh consecutive year with an average attendance of less than 30,000. And it’s the 11th year in a row with an average attendance of less than 40,000.
But the low attendance isn’t surprising considering that US Soccer has boasted of playing in smaller stadiums. This artificially increases demand. Thus, he allowed US Soccer to charge exorbitant prices for match tickets.
This was especially true in 2022. All six games played occurred in soccer-specific stadiums with a capacity of less than 27,000 people. And while playing in small stadiums is a surefire way to limit attendance, that number is further reduced when some of those stadiums don’t fill up. Such was the case of the Panama match in Orlando and the Moroccan match in Cincinnati.
How to increase attendance
Now, it’s worth noting that the US typically sees an increase in attendance the year after the World Cup. Attendance in 2007 jumped 59% over the previous year from 20,360 to 32,282. Then, there was a 13% increase from 35,676 in 2010 to 40,314 in 2011. And, in 2015, the average was 38,764, an increase of 13% over the 34,374 in 2014.
However, for that leap to happen in 2023, US Soccer must stop playing in the same venues over and over again. For example, the January game against El Salvador was played at a Lower.com field in Columbus just three months after the last appearance there. The friendly against Morocco at Cincinnati’s TQL Stadium was played in June 2022. That stadium hosted a US-Mexico World Cup qualifier the previous November. To top it off, Q2 Stadium in Austin hosted their third competitive USMNT game in the span of eleven months when they played Grenada in the Nations League.
They’re not off to a great start with that in 2023, as both January camp games will be played in the Los Angeles area: first against Serbia on January 25 at Banc of California Stadium and then against Colombia at Dignity Health. Sports Park. on January 28.
With the World Cup coming to the US in 2026, the best way to increase USMNT attendance and the team’s profile would be for US Soccer to adopt an itinerant mentality and take the team to as many new and different places as possible. possible. There is no better way to increase team attendance than to bring in tons of new fans who have never been able to see you play in person before.
PHOTO: IMAGO / ZUMA Wire
