Major League Soccer attendance record moves west

PHOTO | MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER

LAFC and LA Galaxy set a new MLS attendance record of 82,110 July 4 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.

You may have heard the fireworks from LA adjacent on July 4 as a new MLS attendance record was set in the 20th run of the El Traffico derby match between the Galaxy and LAFC.

82,110 fans descended upon the legendary but neutral Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena to eclipse the 74,479 that watched Charlotte FC’s first-ever home game at Bank of America Stadium, the club’s home field. Charlotte bested the next three all-time MLS top attendances, all held by Atlanta United at Mercedes Benz Arena, their home field. The Rose Bowl was the Galaxy’s home for seven seasons before moving to their current home in Carson, California. They averaged just under 21,000 per game during that time.

Tuesday’s attendance mark is a fantastic thing for the game and MLS, but should it be noted that neither LA team, in fact, with both of their stadiums combined, could come close to such a record.  The Galaxy’s home, Dignity Health Sports Park, seats 27,000, while LAFC’s BMO Stadium holds just 22,000. Capacity for the Rose Bowl is 92,000, so the game was not a sellout.

With the Seattle Sounders sharing Lumen Field capacity of (68,740) with the NFL Seahawks, only Atlanta and Charlotte can exceed 70,000 fans in their home stadiums at full capacity. Without opening the top decks, Atlanta can host 42,500, Charlotte 38,000, and Seattle 37,722. Nashville has the largest soccer-specific stadium at 30,000 seats.

On April 13, 1996, the very first MLS match at the Rose Bowl featured the Galaxy in their first-ever match against the New York/New Jersey MetroStars in front of 69,255 fans. At the time, the crowd was the largest ever for a non-World Cup or non-Olympic game in Los Angeles.

Does the new LA MLS record deserve a neutral site asterisk? You tell us on Twitter: @QC_FC

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