The July the Fourth El Tráfico is tipped to take the MLS single game attendance record, but which game was the previous holder?
The MLS fixture between LA Galaxy and LAFC is expected to be a sell-out and should break the league’s all-time attendance record.
The Independence Day derby will be held at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California to ensure that a bumper crowd can be accommodated. LA Galaxy, the home side for Tuesday’s fixture, have revealed that more than 80,000 tickets have been sold for the Matchday 23 showdown.
The game will be the 20th El Tráfico match in the history of the fixture.
What is the MLS single game attendance record?
Before the Galaxy vs LAFC fixture, the biggest MLS attendance was recorded when Charlotte FC hosted LA Galaxy in March 2022, with a total of 74,479 spectators.
The game was held at the Bank of America Stadium, which the team shares with NFL side the Carolina Panthers. The capacity for the stadium’s MLS fixtures is typically limited to 38,000 but it is expandable to more than 74,000, typically for NFL games.
The other four spots in the top five MLS attendances were hosted in Atlanta United‘s Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The stadium is also home to an NFL team, the Atlanta Falcons.
Here’s the top five MLS attendances:
1. Charlotte FC vs LA Galaxy - 2022 - 74,479
2. Atlanta United vs Portland Timbers - MLS Cup final, 2018 - 73,019
3. Atlanta United vs LA Galaxy - 2019 - 72,548
4. Atlanta United vs Seattle Sounders - 2018 - 72,243
5. Atlanta United vs DC United - 2018 - 72,035
The history of the Rose Bowl
The iconic Rose Bowl stadium in Pasadena first opened its doors as an outdoor athletics venue in 1922. It has hosted the Super Bowl five times and became the venue of the annual Rose Bowl Game, a college football competition. The stadium’s record attendance remains the 106,869 from the 1973 Rose Bowl.
It has been used as a venue for countless different sports but more recently has become an iconic soccer venue. It hosted the finals of the 1994 World Cup and the Women’s World Cup in 1999.
In 1996 the Rose Bowl was the venue of LA Galaxy’s first MLS fixture; a 2-1 win over New York/New Jersey MetroStars. But despite it being the site of LA Galaxy’s game in the league they are yet to play their city rivals at Rose Bowl.
The prospect of beating the neighbours in front of the biggest crowd in MLS history is a tantalising prospect for Galaxy head coach and sporting director Greg Vanney.
“When you have 80,000 people and the energy in that type of stadium is around you,” Vanney explained, “It comes with the sense of something much bigger than maybe just a normal match day.”
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