Soccer Attracts Record Number Of U.S. Fans

By editor • Nov 10, 2011

Listen

Listening...

Originally published on November 10, 2011 6:15 am

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

And in a week of tough sports news, fans of one sport have reason to celebrate, which is our last word in business: a big kick for soccer. This season, Major League Soccer games brought in a record number of fans. Sporting News reports average per-game attendance surpassed that of professional basketball - when it was in the season - and pro hockey games, putting soccer right behind baseball and football.

The NBA and NHL have a lot more teams and play a lot more games, so by absolute attendance numbers, soccer still has a long way to go in the U.S. Still, the Soccer League's championship game on the 20th of this month is sold out. More than 25,000 fans will be here in Los Angeles to watch pro soccer's final game of the season. And that's the business news on MORNING EDITION, from NPR News. I'm Renee Montagne.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

And I'm Steve Inskeep. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.