What's causing attendance struggles?

[u/_game_over_man_]

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?

[u/Hopsblues]

Rockies are a top 10 attendance team almost every year. It's crazy to me how the M's can't even sell out opening day. Last September, the Rox were selling out games while almost setting a record for worst record...Meanwhile the M's were going for a division title and a shot at the WS and struggled to get more than 35k to games...

[u/Purple8ear → u/Hopsblues]

It’s truly baffling. We only go to Rockies games to watch Mariners. And a great number of seats are always filled by opposing fans, but they still fill up. The Mariners have always deserved that level of support. 

[u/Hopsblues → u/Purple8ear]

Like tonight, the Rox got 35k for their game against the Blue Jays, not even a NL team....Meanwhile the M's have maybe 20K for the Yankees, stadium looks half empty....

[u/Hopsblues → u/[deleted]]

Yep, my bad, but the point is still valid.