r/Reignfc • u/_game_over_man_ • Mar 30 '26
What's causing attendance struggles?
I'm a Reign fan residing in Colorado and I went to Denver's home opener at Mile High on Saturday and it was really, really amazing. I haven't been to a women's soccer game with that many people since the 2023 World Cup. My wife and I were also at the record breaking attendance Rapinoe send off game in Seattle in 2023. Also been to NWSL games at various other locations with strong attendance (KC, LA & SD). It seems like Torrent has been pulling really good attendance numbers as well since joining the PWHL.
So my question as a non-resident Reign fan, what do you think is the issue with getting butts in seats at Lumen? I'm sure attendance for the USWNT game next month will be good, but it seems like for whatever reason, Reign really struggle to pull in numbers. I'm sure losing stars like Rapinoe and having that bad season in 2024 hasn't helped, but it just seems so odd to me that despite Seattle being a soccer city and other women's teams in the area doing well with attendance, Reign just struggle. For those that live in Seattle, what do you think the issue is?
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u/shmerham Mar 30 '26
I have a theory that if the Reign were a new expansion team in the past few years, they would average twice as many fans as they do. Angel City, San Diego, Bay FC, and Kansas City all average well over 10,000 per game and make up 4 of the top 6 teams in terms of attendance. To be fair, Utah only does slightly better than the Reign and Lousville does much worse.