Over the weekend, a number of professional leagues, events, and developing sports recorded all-time high attendance figures, demonstrating the industry’s rapid domestic and international expansion.
The diverse range of strong attendance figures on the June 7–9 weekend at the gate demonstrated fans’ readiness to venture far beyond well-established leagues like the NFL and NBA when given the chance. Among the crucial indicators are:
At the Red Stars vs. Bay FC game on Saturday at Wrigley Field, an attendance of 35,038 set a new record for the NWSL. The league had topped 100,000 spectators in a single weekend for the first time, with that event contributing to a total weekend attendance of 110,845.
Friday’s Fever-Mystics game at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., had a sellout crowd of 20,333, marking the most WNBA attendance for a game since 2007. Additionally, the league announced on Monday that, with roughly 400,000 spectators in May, it had its best opening-month attendance in 26 years.
34,028 people attended the high-profile match between India and Pakistan on Sunday at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in New York, creating a new record for cricket attendance in the country.
MLB’s two-game London Series between the Mets and Phillies drew 108,956 spectators in total, which was slightly less than the figure for a pair of Cubs-Cardinals games in London the previous year, but still demonstrated a strong level of interest given the league’s efforts to establish itself in the United Kingdom, where baseball is not a major part of the local culture.
“If we could, I’d do it every year,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. It’s been a wonderful experience, and the people of England and this region have done a tremendous job and treated us with class.
Reaching Novel Heights
A lot of these numbers build on macro-level trends that are already starting to take shape, such the rapid expansion of women’s professional sports and the increasing globalization of several American and European leagues. The most notable figure, though, is probably the cricket figure.
In other regions of the world, especially Asia, the sport already has a sizable fan base, which has contributed to many internet consumption records during years with high-profile matches. The India-Pakistan match was played in a temporary stadium constructed for the event and against a backdrop of heightened security owing to potential threats from a pro-ISIS group, although it’s a far less popular sport in the United States.
Despite the fact that the game ended without any incidents involving the public’s safety, Pakistani fans were nonetheless furious because their nation had just suffered an unexpected loss to the host United States squad the week before and now faced its biggest opponent.
It’s incredible. Omar Minaya, special adviser to the Yankees, told The New York Times that the cricket tournament “has a great atmosphere.” “It resembles the Dominican Baseball League or the World Baseball Classic.”
