FIFA will be happy with the figures MLS published, though football still has a long way to go to become the country’s number one sport.
MLS has celebrated record viewership and attendance, boosted by the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Drawing the curtains on the 2026 MLS regular season, the league described it as a “historic year” for football in North America.
According to MLS, the regular season averaged 7.2 million gross live viewers per week, nearly doubling last season with a 93% increase.
The most-watched game was Nashville SC vs. Atlanta United FC, which drew 587,000 viewers on 17 July. It was the most-watched MLS regular-season match on the FOX broadcast network since the 2020 opening weekend.
Despite these record numbers, the league still sits firmly behind the likes of the NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL in terms of viewership. However, a shining light and reason for optimism is that it appears to be scoring with younger audiences.
The league said the average age of its fans is 39.6, which it claims is the youngest among major US men’s professional sports leagues.
These younger viewers were especially engaged following the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which took place in the US, Canada and Mexico. MLS reported that regular-season viewership on FOX and FS1 rose by 45% among men aged 18-34 and 18% among adults aged 18-34 compared with matches before the tournament.
Social media numbers also soared, with MLS and its clubs generating 19.1 billion social media impressions during the regular season, an 18% year-over-year rise. Engagements also climbed by 13% to 838 million.
Across its own social media channels, MLS set new records, with its league-operated @MLS accounts generating 5.9 billion impressions, up 44% year over year, and 225 million engagements, up 47%.
League and club channels also reached a combined 123.5 million followers, adding 14.8 million new followers during the year. MLS recorded a further 5.8 billion video views, up 11% and MLSsoccer.com attracted 65 million page views, a 28% jump.
Supporters showed up in person, with MLS welcoming 11.25 million fans across the 2026 regular season, averaging 22,063 per match. This was the second-highest total attendance in league history, with the three most-attended regular seasons ever recorded coming between 2024 and 2026.
Three of the 10 largest crowds in MLS history also came this season. Colorado Rapids vs. Inter Miami CF attracted 75,824 fans, the second-largest attendance on record, followed by LAFC vs. Inter Miami CF with 75,673 and D.C. United vs. Inter Miami CF with 72,026.
Several clubs also achieved new single-match attendance records, including Chicago Fire FC, Colorado Rapids, D.C. United, Inter Miami CF, LAFC and Toronto FC.
FIFA tells MLS ‘I told you so’
It would probably be sensible to blow the whistle on US football development if MLS didn’t experience some kind of growth this year.
The country held an expanded Club World Cup last summer, hosting some of the most renowned clubs and players from around the world. While attendance at matches fell short, in part because games were played at midday, the tournament undoubtedly caught the nation’s attention.
Not giving US citizens any time to breathe or forget about the beautiful game, the country hosted the expanded 2026 FIFA World Cup this year, in which its US Men’s National team made it to the quarterfinals.
Travelling fans took over cities, organisers opened month-long event hubs and controversies ensured the sport stayed in the news even if it had nothing to do with what happened on the pitch.
FIFA made bold claims in the lead-up to both events, with Gianni Infantino, President of FIFA, saying not only would the tournaments “fundamentally” change the American sports landscape, but football would become the number one sport in the country in three to five years.
However, there is still a long road ahead before it snatches the crown from sports like basketball, baseball, American football and ice hockey.
Take the NBA, for example. During the 2025–26 regular season, the league averaged 1.78 million viewers per national broadcast in the US, with bigger games regularly drawing over 5 million people at once.
MLS didn’t report per-game audiences, bundling everything, which inflates the headline. The league totalled every viewer across 15 weekly games, combined global Apple TV streams with US and Canadian TV, and counted gross views over unique viewers.
