MLS Teams Popularity
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I've had to completely rewrite this article since Lionel Messi came to the MLS to play for Inter Miami.
David Beckham's Florida franchise has gone from a lowly 17th placed spot to 1st in the popularity rankings since the G.O.A.T joined the Miami outfit. Such is the 'Messi effect' that they now have more online fans than the LA Galaxy and New York City FC combined. Will all this pass when Messi inevitably retires in a few seasons ... it's likely, but for now, it's been proven that star power is king in the MLS.
So, now onto the rest of the article, what else makes the MLS tick? Well, clubs ranked from 2nd to 5th (the L.A Galaxy, New York City FC, New York Red Bulls and Los Angeles FC) are all from the two major urban areas in the U.S.A., so it isn't greatly surprising that their Soccer franchises are also the best supported.
As well as the population size of the team's home city, the success of a franchise also has a relatively strong influence on their popularity. The 2nd most popular team (The L.A. Galaxy) are also the most successful team with 5 MLS Cups to their name. Recent MLS Cup winners Atlanta FC (2018) and the Seattle Sounders (2019) are both in the top half of the popularity table, albeit, they have fairly big populations as well.
The least popular teams are all recent expansion teams; Nashville SC (2020), Austin FC (2021) and Charlotte FC (2022). It will likely take a few seasons for them to really get a foothold in their local markets and increase their popularity ranking, failing that signing a superstar seems to work!
| # | Soccer Team | Facebook Fans | MLS Cups |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Inter Miami | 5,100,000 | 0 |
| 2 | L.A Galaxy | 2,600,000 | 5 |
| 3 | New York City FC | 2,200,000 | 1 |
| 4 | New York Red Bulls | 965,000 | 0 |
| 5 | Los Angeles FC | 798,000 | 1 |
| 6 | Seattle Sounders | 748,000 | 2 |
| 7 | Orlando City SC | 597,000 | 0 |
| 8 | Atlanta United | 456,000 | 1 |
| 9 | FC Dallas | 407,000 | 0 |
| 10 | CF Montreal | 391,000 | 0 |
| 11 | Toronto FC | 383,000 | 1 |
| 12 | Chicago Fire | 370,000 | 1 |
| 13 | Sporting Kansas City | 345,000 | 2 |
| 14 | DC United | 338,000 | 4 |
| 15 | Houston Dynamo | 337,000 | 2 |
| 16 | Portland Timbers | 308,000 | 1 |
| 17 | Vancouver Whitecaps | 278,000 | 0 |
| 18 | Minnesota United | 269,000 | 0 |
| 19 | Columbus Crew | 251,000 | 2 |
| 20 | Real Salt Lake | 249,000 | 1 |
| 21 | Philadelphia Union | 236,000 | 0 |
| 22 | San Jose Earthquakes | 234,000 | 2 |
| 23 | Colorado Rapids | 227,000 | 1 |
| 24 | St. Louis City | 217,000 | 0 |
| 25 | New England Revolution | 211,000 | 0 |
| 26 | FC Cincinnati | 147,000 | 0 |
| 27 | Nashville SC | 108,000 | 0 |
| 28 | Austin FC | 92,000 | 0 |
| 29 | Charlotte FC | 75,000 | 0 |