One of the defining characteristics of Minor Sports Leagues is that they play to smaller crowds of fans. Minor-Leagues.com has compiled a series of posts that provides details of attendance figures.
United Soccer Leagues Pro (USL Pro), now known as United Soccer League is a professional men’s soccer league in the United States and Canada. USL Pro was formed in 2011 (when the USL-1 and USL-2 joined together) and changed its name to USL in 2015. It forms the second tier of soccer in the United States and Canada league pyramid behind Major League Soccer.
Below is the fan attendance for the entire league from 2011 to 2013.
League | Sport | Season | # of Teams | Team Change | Games | Games Change | Total Attendance | TA Change | Average Attendance | AA Change | Source |
USL Pro (AAA) | Association Football | 2011 | 15 (14 USA 1 ATG) | 150.00% | 150 | 163.16% | 332,084 | 244.89% | 2,261 | 33.87% | kenn.com |
USL Pro (AAA) | Association Football | 2012 | 11 (10 USA 1 ATG) | -26.67% | 130 | -13.33% | 345,565 | 4.06% | 2,658 | 17.56% | kenn.com |
USL Pro (AAA) | Association Football | 2013 | 13 USA | 15.38% | 178 | 36.92% | 464,723 | 34.48% | 2,611 | -1.77% | kenn.com |
In January 2013, USL and MLS reached an agreement to integrate USL Pro league competition with the MLS Reserve League. This multi-year deal encouraged MLS and USL Pro team affiliations and player loans. As of March 2017, 22 USL teams are affiliated to MLS teams and every MLS team but Minnesota United FC has a USL affiliation.