Group 1 of the Leagues Cup proved successful for MLS and Liga MX. By available attendance numbers for the Group Stage, the call to boycott hasn’t kicked in, even for Orlando City SC.
Some supporters across MLS called for a boycott of the Leagues Cup, including Orlando City SC supporters. But it wasn’t observed in Week 1, the Group Stage. That’s based on attendance figures for half of the first 12 matches.
The boycott came from supporter groups around MLS opposing the league’s reducing participation in the U.S. Open Cup in favor of the Leagues Cup.
MLS Commissioner Don Garber expects the Leagues Cup to capture the imagination of soccer supporters. It looks like this process has started.
Attendance ranged in reports from 50,675 down to 10,958.
Orlando City SC started the tournament with 16,033 for their 4-1 win over C.F. Montreal, over the average of 11,376 for attendance of the six available reports. Last year they averaged 15,159 in the Leagues Cup. So the boycott call from the supporters group Iron Lion Firm and Olympics coverage didn’t have the effect of reducing attendance, at least for this one match.
Last year’s average attendance for the entire tournament was 22,154.
The average was skewed by one record-breaking match, San Jose Earthquakes and Chivas de Guadalajara, seating 50,675. San Jose won in a shootout, but the attendees didn’t know that before arriving. The attendance beat last year’s record of 41,108, set at Atlanta United FC and Cruz Azul.
Commissioner Garber acknowledges reducing U.S. Open Cup participation to eight MLS teams and gathering all other resources for the Leagues Cup is an unpopular decision. He knew that as the league made the decision.
He explained that the U.S. Open Cup, while historic, wasn’t driving value for players, teams, and fans. The largest attendance for an Open Cup final was 31,311 at Seattle in 2010. Total attendance last year averaged 4,456.
With three Sunday games pending at the time of this posting, the first week of Leagues Cup 2024 shows a 1.6% increase over the 2023 Open Cup attendance.
It’s Garber’s vision that this tournament involving MLS and Liga MX will not rest on this increase, but will continue to grow with the league. If the following weeks of the Leagues Cup run like this first one, the growth is here.