NWSL 2024 attendance record reaches 2 million fans

On the final weekend of the NWSL regular season, the league's viewership exceeded 2 million for the first time. It is the third year in a row that the NWSL has had more than one million total visitors. The previous record was 1,424,208 last year.

The league surpassed the 2 million mark with a sellout crowd at Providence Park as the Portland Thorns honored retiring forward Christine Sinclair, who helped lead the club to three NWSL titles, including in the inaugural season the league in 2013.

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In the 2024 season, there were 89 games with more than 10,000 fans, according to the league, surpassing the total of 55 games the previous year. Last year, the NWSL became the first women's soccer league to average more than 10,000 fans per game. The average this season is over 11,000.

The San Diego Wave led the league with 19,575 fans per game for the second straight year, and Angel City and Portland also topped 18,000. Due to poor field conditions at Snapdragon Stadium, the Wave moved their final home game scheduled for Sunday to their opponent Racing Louisville's stadium.

The league's overall attendance was increased by an additional home game for each team compared to the previous year and two new franchises in 2024, Bay FC and Utah Royals. Bay FC averages 13,617 fans per game with one game remaining. Utah averaged 10,455 fans.

In June, the Chicago Red Stars set an NWSL single-game attendance record with 35,038 fans at Wrigley Field to watch the team play Bay FC. Last year, Chicago Cubs co-owner Laurie Ricketts led a group that bought the Red Stars from longtime owner Arnim Whisler for $35.5 million. The previous record was 34,130 by the Seattle Reign for Megan Rapinoe's final home game of the regular season in 2023.

The one-off game at Wrigley boosted the Red Stars' bottom line, but the club still has the lowest revenue in the league and is exploring options for future venues. The Red Stars also had their lowest game attendance of 2,999 fans for a May 1 game at SeatGeek Stadium.

The record attendance comes during a surge in NWSL team values ​​and revenue. The owners of Angel City and San Diego raised $250 million and $120 million in sales this year. According to the information, the 14 NWSL clubs are expected to generate revenue of an estimated $215 million in the 2024 regular season Sportico Estimates. That's 91% more than last year, when 12 teams took the field.

The NWSL playoffs begin Nov. 8 and the NWSL championship is Nov. 23 at Kansas City's CPKC Stadium, which opened in 2024 as the first stadium in the world purpose-built for a professional women's sports team. This year, every Current game in the 11,500-seat hall was sold out.

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