Earlier this week, Major League Soccer announced that a new attendance record was set this season with one regular season game left to play. More than 11 million fans have attended games this year, pushing the total over the previous record of 10,900,804, which was set in 2023. According to MLS, the average attendance this year is 23,240 fans per game.
Closer to home, attendance at New York City FC games returned to pre-pandemic levels. In fact, the 21,764 per game average in 2024 is the highest since 2018, surpassing the 21,107 per game average in 2019, when the team enjoyed their best regular season record in club history and finished first in the Eastern Conference.
The total attendance for 2024 is 369,996, which is the fifth-highest in club history. It's just shy of 2017's total of 379,455.
Sunday's 3-1 win over Nashville SC at Red Bull Arena was New York City's 17th and final home game of the 2024 regular season, which makes this an opportune time to look back at this year and see how it measures up to previous seasons — and why the climb in attendance isn't solely because of Lionel Messi.
New York City FC | Attendance by Year
| Year | Avg | Total | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 21,764 | 369,996 | 9.7% |
| 2023 | 19,842 | 337,306 | 15.5% |
| 2022 | 17,179 | 292,039 | 80.1% |
| 2021 | 9,541 | 152,659 | -54.4% |
| 2019 | 21,107 | 358,820 | -9.1% |
| 2018 | 23,211 | 394,583 | 4.0% |
| 2017 | 22,321 | 379,455 | -17.9% |
| 2016 | 27,196 | 462,336 | -6.3% |
| 2015 | 29,021 | 493,358 |
New York City FC | Sorted Attendance
| Year | Avg | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 2015 | 29,021 | 493,358 |
| 2. | 2016 | 27,196 | 462,336 |
| 3. | 2018 | 23,211 | 394,583 |
| 4. | 2017 | 22,321 | 379,455 |
| 5. | 2024 | 21,764 | 369,996 |
| 6. | 2019 | 21,107 | 358,820 |
| 7. | 2023 | 19,842 | 337,306 |
| 8. | 2022 | 17,179 | 292,039 |
| 9. | 2021 | 9,541 | 152,659 |
Note: We explain our methodology in the addendum at the end of this post.
