MLS 2026 Season Viewership and Social Media Engagement Increase

Major League Soccer (MLS) announced that the weekly live match viewership in the 2026 season increased by 93 percent to reach an estimated weekly average of 7.2 million, while the league broke a record with 838 million social media engagements.

Major League Soccer reported that the weekly gross viewership of live matches across digital streaming and television platforms reached an estimated 7.2 million in 2026. This data, covering Apple TV, television broadcast partners in the US and Canada, and international platforms, represents a 93 percent increase compared to the previous season. The Nashville SC match against Atlanta United on July 17 was watched by 587,000 people on FOX, becoming the channel's most-watched MLS regular season match since the 2020 season opening weekend.

Fan interest in stadiums also remained high, with more than 11.2 million people attending regular season matches from the stands. The average attendance per match was recorded as 22,063, with six clubs breaking single-match attendance records. Additionally, three of the 10 matches with the highest attendance among single-fixture matches in league history were played in 2026.

The league stated that there was also an increase in the young audience demographic following the World Cup break. Compared to before the tournament, regular season matches on FOX and FS1 increased by 45 percent among males aged 18-34 and by 18 percent among all adults in the same age group. MLS Commissioner Don Garber expressed optimism that the 2026 World Cup would increase interest in soccer in the country, noting that the average age of fans is 39.6, the lowest average among major men's professional sports leagues in the US.

In the social media sphere, the league and its clubs generated a total of 19.1 billion impressions in the 2026 regular season, achieving an 18 percent increase compared to 2025. Engagement numbers reached a record 838 million with a 13 percent increase. While the league's own social media channels achieved 5.9 billion impressions with a 44 percent increase and 225 million engagements with a 47 percent increase, total followers rose to 123.5 million with 14.8 million net new followers gained since the beginning of the year.