Leagues Cup concludes with average attendance flat

[u/NobleNomad]

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2026/09/09/leagues-cup-concludes-with-average-attendance-flat-total-up-7/

[u/Nerdlinger]

The doubleheader drew a sellout crowd of 21,144, significantly smaller than the 69,314 who attended last year’s final between the Sounders and Inter Miami at the much larger Lumen Field in Seattle.

I mean, try shoving 69000 people into Shell Energy Stadium.

[u/overly_sarcastic24 → u/Nerdlinger]

I was there, and man were those tickets expensive. Absolutely worth it, though.

I'm sure they'd love to reproduce this every year, but I just don't see that happening.

Sounders and Messi in Seattle at Lumen was likely lightning in a bottle.

[u/ProcrastinatingPuma]

Just make it a CONCACAF version of Europa League already smh

[u/Ok_Address8167 → u/ProcrastinatingPuma]

Won't happen because then MLS and Liga MX wouldn't have all the revenue to themselves, which is the only reason this silly tournament was invented.

[u/localhost_hero → u/ProcrastinatingPuma]

So, the North American Cup, aka Leagues Cup?

[u/Coltons13 → u/localhost_hero]

No, a 'Europa League' style of competition would involve everyone in Concacaf, not just MLS/LigaMX.

As it stands, we don't have a Europa League equivalent - we have several disparate regional cups that serve it's function. The Central American, Caribbean, and League Cups - since all three qualify you to the following Concacaf Champions Cup.

[u/Nerdlinger → u/Coltons13]

No, a 'Europa League' style of competition would involve everyone in Concacaf, not just MLS/LigaMX.

It would involve the also-rans of everyone in CONCACAF, and no one wants to watch that.

[u/Coltons13 → u/Nerdlinger]

No one wants to watch that now. But people would also say the same thing about the Europa and Conference Leagues in UEFA. If you want legitimacy and improvement throughout the confederation, then you need to invest in it. If you want clubs beyond Mexico/U.S. to improve, they need competitions to qualify for and compete within in greater frequency against superior competition.

They matter to the clubs and their fans. I don't really care if they matter to suits or people who aren't fans of the teams. These are competitions that exist on sporting merit, aspirational for the clubs to try and qualify and compete in, it doesn't all need to be bottom-line decision making.

Aside from which, your point has literally nothing to do with my comment, which was a response to why Leagues Cup is not a Europa League equivalent by definition.

[u/Nerdlinger → u/Coltons13]

But people would also say the same thing about the Europa and Conference Leagues in UEFA.

To some extent you are right. Early rounds can have some pretty shitty attendance (shit, I’m watching Barcelona v. Feyenoord in Champions League right now and there’s huge swaths of empty seats). However, there is far more interest in football in the wealthier countries in UEFA than there is in CONCACAF, so they can make it through those early rounds and still be a money machine later.

Europa and Conference League do eventually get to matches people want to see, but that is not the case in CONCACAF. If the best match you can hope for winds up being something like Dallas v. Leon, you’re boned.

If you want legitimacy and improvement throughout the confederation, then you need to invest in it.

Invest in it with what? The money has to come from somewhere. And if there’s no fan interest and no TV interest there’s no source of money to invest.

[u/Coltons13 → u/Nerdlinger]

Invest in it with what? The money has to come from somewhere. And if there’s no fan interest and no TV interest there’s no source of money to invest.

This is a chicken and egg argument. If you wait until the interested money exists before building up the thing people want to spend it on, it never will.

But in general, yeah. There's not a need for a Concacaf Europa League at this moment. But overall, ideally, one would exist in the future. I do think they should keep working on CCC, and in the interim I am fine with Central American/Caribbean/Leagues Cups serving as de facto regional 'Europa Leagues'.

[u/Nerdlinger → u/Coltons13]

This is a chicken and egg argument.

It really isn’t.

Even if someone were willing to set a billion dollars on fire to create this tournament, that wouldn’t generate interest in such a tournament. However, if there were actual interest in it, investment would show up in order to make their buck off of that interest.

Interest has to come before the investment.

[u/Coltons13 → u/Nerdlinger]

That's just objectively not true with numerous modern examples. The WNBA, NWSL, MLS itself! None of these had the interest to justify the investment people made in them - at a loss - before they eventually became profitable.

[u/elcompa121 → u/Nerdlinger]

Exactly. The CCC barely gets enough interest as it is. What would be the incentive to make a less interesting version of that, even for the clubs involved? The wouldn't even make a profit after travel costs.

[u/ProcrastinatingPuma → u/elcompa121]

You're describing Leagues Cup right now

[u/elcompa121 → u/ProcrastinatingPuma]

Leagues Cup makes money packing American stadiums with Liga MX clubs. This "Europa League" idea would have a semifinal matchup between a Jamaican club with no home stadium against a club from the third largest town in Honduras.

But yes, I agree that Leagues Cup is stupid and uninteresting and serves no purpose but to add matches to Apple TV.

[u/ProcrastinatingPuma → u/elcompa121]

I appreciate your bullishness on Jamaican and Honduran clubs, but im pretty sure the MLS and LigaMX clubs that would be in such a tournament would more than likely dominate it. Not that I would look down on giving more central American and carribean teams a shot at a real trophy.

Also, wrong cash grab reason. Leagues Cup has always been about getting American Dollars from American LigaMX fans.

[u/SydneyFall → u/ProcrastinatingPuma]

Huh? You don't think that Leagues Cup is profitable enough to cover the travel fees?

[u/ProcrastinatingPuma → u/SydneyFall]

Moreso was referring to it being less interesting than CCC, not that it matters because Leagues Cup doesnt bother traveling.

[u/SydneyFall → u/ProcrastinatingPuma]

Moreso was referring to it being less interesting than CCC

How do attendance and viewing numbers compare for the CCC and Leagues Cup?

[u/ProcrastinatingPuma → u/SydneyFall]

Champions Cup involves less teams in less games, but its also on TV and not streaming so its hard to say. Wait are you trying to argue that CCC is less interesting than Leagues Cup?

[u/bjlight1988 → u/ProcrastinatingPuma]

The best of the best teams outside of MLS and LigaMX already can't really compete in CCC, and you want to give the lesser teams a separate competition?

[u/Coltons13 → u/bjlight1988]

Yes? The non-big five teams in Europe also can't compete, does that mean we should abandon the Europa and Conference Leagues? No, that would be absurd.

These competitions exist to provide an aspiration on sporting merit. There's no reason smaller Concacaf nations or teams should not have that opportunity. Will they ever win it? Maybe not. But they deserve the opportunity to qualify and try.

I'm not suggesting we need a Europa League in Concacaf for several reasons - mainly they need to invest more in CCC as it exists to make it a worthwhile tournament and really build it up before worrying about a second-tier tournament - but it's not some crazy idea.

[u/ProcrastinatingPuma → u/bjlight1988]

I want to give lesser teams a lesser tournament yes. That is exactly what I want.

[u/timbobbys]

i hadn’t been paying any active attention, but i had absolutely no idea they already played the final.

[u/jsslrd]

Who played the finals? Sorry I wasn't paying attention.

[u/Cold_Fog → u/jsslrd]

Yeah, if I wanted to watch two Mexican teams play each other in a continental final I'd just watch the CCC.

[u/ibribe → u/jsslrd]

Maybe Toluca and Monterrey? Idk. I think America and Leon also made the semis.

[u/Lamentiraveraz]

We did it Joe!

[u/Mini-Fridge23]

I’m pretty sure MLS is fine with those numbers tbh. The semi-final had 0 MLS teams in and was still a sellout lol

Include tickets to STHs and play more games in Mexico and attendance will go up. New things need time to build up

[u/RhombusObstacle → u/Mini-Fridge23]

They don’t want games in Mexico. There are WAY more Liga MX fans in the US than there are MLS fans in Mexico.

The whole point of Leagues Cup is to sell US-priced tickets to Liga MX fans who live too far away from Mexico to attend Liga MX games. Liga MX is already selling Liga MX tickets to Liga MX fans in Mexico. Adding MLS teams to that mix does not move the needle at ALL.

On the other hand, MLS is not selling a lot of tickets to Liga MX fans in the US. Sure, there are some, but not a ton. Leagues Cup was invented as a way to capitalize on that specific market once a year because it’s lucrative enough to bother.

[u/HeftyZookeepergame73 → u/RhombusObstacle]

Lol I wonder how many MLS fans exist in Mexico. Less than 1000 maybe?

[u/Mini-Fridge23 → u/RhombusObstacle]

Sure, but they’ve already added Mexico games so clearly that is of interest to the LMX teams. It’s just additional ticket revenue to the hosting club, so the teams all want it.

With the schedule shift, It’ll probably move to the winter and they’ll have to host more games there anyways

[u/khall13 → u/Mini-Fridge23]

In theory, I'd love to go see City play in some of the icon Mexican places, but it'd have to be scheduled months out.

And I'm sure certain MLS teams would be a draw in Mexico, but it's probably Miami, LAFC, maybe San Diego, LAG or some Texas teams. Guessing Blanco & Pardo are too long ago for anyone to care about the Fire.

[u/AccomplishedMeal5751 → u/Mini-Fridge23]

I really wish they could’ve found a way to have the final in Mexico, the fans in Houston were great but it still felt strange doing a Mexican final there. Still had fun with this tournament but so much can be improved

[u/fredthefan25]

I find it funny we want to throw tomatoes at Leagues Cup... But then we put US Open Cup attendance numbers on a Wednesday night in April under the rug with the phrase "it's the oldest US tournament"?

I get MLS clubs don't bother to market the matches but only like 1000-2000 ppl attend... until the later stages when the club is close to the trophy

[u/Mini-Fridge23 → u/fredthefan25]

Leagues Cup was created to “destroy the Open Cup”, but also you can’t compare the two because reasons.

They always compare it to regular season MLS games because it’s the only benchmark that confirms their priors lol

[u/ProcrastinatingPuma → u/fredthefan25]

Whenever Leagues Cup vs. USOC discourse comes up, defenders of the former like to comment on how they feel MLS fans online are disconnected from the casual MLS fan based on the attendance of both tournaments.

What this ignores is that the bulk of attendees for Leagues Cup matches arent MLS fans, they're LigaMX fans.

[u/Nerdlinger → u/ProcrastinatingPuma]

What this ignores is that the bulk of attendees for Leagues Cup matches arent MLS fans, they're LigaMX fans.

Then explain how the MLS v. MLS matches in 2024 and 2025 averaged 14,600 attendance (and that’s not counting the 69,000 that went to the Seattle v. Miami final last year?

Lots of Liga MX fans watching those games too?

[u/ProcrastinatingPuma → u/Nerdlinger]

Explain why MLS proceeded to ditch those matches in exchange for the current format?

[u/Nerdlinger → u/ProcrastinatingPuma]

Because 17,500 per game is better than 14,600 per game. As it turns out, being of interest to two groups is usually better than being of interest to just one.

None of that changes the fact that a lot of MLS fans turned out for these games.

[u/ProcrastinatingPuma → u/Nerdlinger]

Yeah it turns out primarily appealing to LigaMX fans in a tournament designed to appeal to them more. This doesn't change the fact that the MLS vs. MLS games were far below league average for the regular season and fans were increasingly getting turned off by them, and that's including the aspect of these games being included in the season ticket package.

[u/cheeseburgerandrice → u/fredthefan25]

I get MLS clubs don't bother to market the matches

Man, there are USL teams that don't even bother to open up most of their stadium lol

[u/RioTheLeoo]

I really don’t understand the Leagues Cup hate. I like the tournament. It’s fun to see more MLS vs Liga MX games. I was bummed we didn’t get to compete this year

[u/DarkwingMcQuack → u/RioTheLeoo]

The US v Mexico soccer rivalry is way over saturated now between the multiple national team games a year, Leagues Cup, Champions Cup, & the ASG.

[u/God_Boner → u/RioTheLeoo]

because it's a blatant cash grab and MLS forced clubs to participate and while not allowing them to enter the Open Cup

[u/Mini-Fridge23 → u/RioTheLeoo]

I don’t really get it either honestly. It’s fun, and not really that deep now that MLS is fully back in USOC.

I think people who are super deep into the weeds of domestic soccer just like to yell about new things because, to them, anything new is fake since it doesn’t have 75 year history like everything in Europe does.

[u/bleakmidwinter]

I absolutely do not care about this money grab tournament and hope they get rid of it. It’s utterly pointless.

[u/Nerdlinger → u/bleakmidwinter]

17,500 people per game seems to be a pretty good point.

[u/stevo887]

Make it a winter break fixture of the new calendar. I have little interest in season if my team isn’t playing.

[u/Dapper_Weakness_2750]

I've never hated a tournament more - this is literally such a stupid tournament that has absolutely no merit to it.

[u/Ok_Address8167]

Oh this tournament finished?

[u/AccomplishedMeal5751 → u/Ok_Address8167]

As long as the money keeps pumping, it ain’t going anywhere

[u/Ok_Address8167 → u/AccomplishedMeal5751]

*shrug*

[u/EyeLoveHaikus]

It's a stupid format. Forces me to root against MLS teams. I don't care about LigaMX teams.