Major League Soccer reports surge in viewership, attendance in 2025 season

Major League Soccer said on Thursday its 30th regular season showed significant growth in viewership and attendance, as well as a surge in digital engagement.

The North American league saw a 29% increase in weekly live viewership year-on-year, with total attendance hitting the second-highest mark in its history.

MLS said matches averaged 3.7 million gross live viewers per week across streaming and linear outlets. For the first time, MLS released combined multi-platform figures spanning Apple TV's MLS Season Pass, FOX Sports, TSN, RDS, Comcast, DirecTV, Amazon Prime Video, TikTok, EA FC Mobile and international partners.

Stadium demand remained strong. MLS reported 11.2 million fans attended regular-season games in 2025, averaging 21,988 per match, and said 19 clubs drew more than 20,000 fans per game.

The league said total attendance has risen 12% since 2022.

Digital and social metrics also rose.

League and club accounts registered a record 13.7 billion impressions in 2025, up 17% from a year earlier, while total followers across platforms climbed 10% to more than 109 million, according to MLS. MLS said it is posting the fastest year-to-date engagement growth among major North American leagues.

Lionel Messi of Inter Miami topped MLS jersey sales for a third straight season, with LAFC's Son Heung-Min second following his August arrival. Rounding out the top five were Hirving "Chucky" Lozano (San Diego FC), Luis Suarez (Inter Miami) and Miguel Almiron (Atlanta United).

MLS said Son's blockbuster signing drove a 16% increase in attendance at LAFC road matches and that in the 72 hours after his move he was the top-selling athlete across the Fanatics network.

The league added that South Korea's Son and German Thomas Muller helped deliver a 182% lift in impressions and 193% lift in engagements across MLS, LAFC and Vancouver Whitecaps channels.

The MLS Cup playoffs began on Wednesday, with the final set to take place on December 6. REUTERS