NASL, the second tier of U.S. soccer, saw teams average 3,810 fans per game this season, up 1.1% from last year and the first gain since '09. The league saw the gains despite the loss of the Montreal Impact to MLS. The Impact averaged 11,507 fans in the NASL last season. The expansion San Antonio Scorpions led all NASL clubs this season with 9,178 fans per game. The Atlanta Silverbacks and Minnesota Stars also both saw big gains at the gate. Listed below is an attendance trend for the second tier of U.S. soccer -- now known as NASL, but previously the USSF Second Division and USL. Also listed is team-by-team attendance for '12, with comparisons to last year (THE DAILY).
|
ATTENDANCE TREND FOR SECOND TIER OF U.S. SOCCER
|
|
YEAR
|
AVG
|
YEAR
|
AVG
|
|
'12
|
3,810
|
'04
|
3,879
|
|
'11
|
3,770
|
'03
|
3,337
|
|
'10
|
4,459
|
'02
|
3,037
|
|
'09
|
4,680
|
'01
|
2,954
|
|
'08
|
4,076
|
'00
|
2,664
|
|
'07
|
4,774
|
'99
|
2,374
|
|
'06
|
4,666
|
'98
|
2,531
|
|
'05
|
4,527
|
'97
|
2,542
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
NASL REGULAR-SEASON ATTENDANCE
|
| TEAM |
GMS
|
TOTAL
|
AVG.
|
PREV.
|
% +/-
|
| San Antonio Scorpions* |
14
|
128,488
|
9,178
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
| Atlanta Silverbacks |
14
|
63,064
|
4,505
|
2,866
|
57.2%
|
| Carolina RailHawks |
14
|
54,363
|
3,883
|
3,353
|
15.8%
|
| Ft. Lauderdale Strikers |
14
|
50,610
|
3,615
|
3,769
|
-4.1%
|
| Tampa Bay Rowdies |
14
|
43,620
|
3,116
|
3,010
|
3.5%
|
| Minnesota Stars |
14
|
39,148
|
2,796
|
1,676
|
66.8%
|
| Puerto Rico Islanders** |
14
|
26,101
|
1,864
|
2,161
|
-13.7%
|
| Edmonton FC |
14
|
21,354
|
1,525
|
1,817
|
-16.1%
|
| NASL TOTALS |
112
|
426,748
|
3,810
|
3,770
|
1.1%
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
NOTES: Attendance from '11 season includes Montreal Impact, which became an MLS club this season. * = Expansion team. ** = Puerto Rico played first 10 home games at capacity-limited facility while main facility was being renovated. Team played just one game at newly-renovated facility.
