MLS’ average attendance of 18,828 through Aug. 20 ranks the league eighth among global soccer leagues. The German Bundesliga tops all leagues with 45,726 per game during the ’11-12 season, led by Dortmund with 80,521 per game. La Liga club FC Barcelona leads all major clubs with 84,119 per game. While Sounders FC leads all MLS clubs with 42,610 fans per game, that average would rank around 26th among clubs whose leagues rank in the top 10 in average attendance. MLS Sounders FC would rank as the 12th best draw in the Bundesliga, sixth best in the EPL and fourth in both La Liga and Serie A. The Sounders’ figure would top all clubs in the Chinese Super League, Ligue 1 and the U.K.’s second-tier Championship league (THE DAILY).
| TOP GLOBAL SOCCER LEAGUES IN AVERAGE ATTENDANCE |
| RANK | LEAGUE | NATION(S) | TEAMS | AVG. |
| 1 | Bundesliga* | Germany | 18 | 45,726 |
| 2 | EPL* | U.K. | 20 | 34,601 |
| 3 | La Liga* | Spain | 20 | 30,272 |
| 4 | Liga MX** | Mexico | 18 | 25,288 |
| 5 | Serie A* | Italy | 20 | 23,459 |
| 6 | Eredivisie* | Netherlands | 18 | 19,516 |
| 7 | Chinese Super League*** | China | 16 | 18,928 |
| 8 | MLS*** | U.S./Canada | 19 | 18,828 |
| 9 | Ligue 1* | France | 20 | 18,665 |
| 10 | Football League Championship* | U.K. | 24 | 18,824 |
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NOTES: Attendance figures taken from ESPN.com and Worldfootball.net. * = Figure at end of '11-12 season. ** = Figure at end of '11-12 spring season (Clausura). *** = Through Aug. 20.
