Major League Soccer truly stands as the epitome of American men’s domestic soccer. Since its inception in 1992, one can’t deny how far the league has come, boasting over 30 teams, big-name players, and an unmatched atmosphere and fandom. Sure, it still trails behind Europe’s top leagues, but the drive to compete with them has never faded. In fact, this year, MLS took another significant step forward by achieving a record number. However, that success has also caused the league to be bombarded with intense fan skepticism.

For context, on Friday, Major League Soccer released a press statement sharing some fascinating viewership figures. As highlighted by Philadelphia-based journalist José Roberto Nuñez on X, the 30th edition of the regular season recorded “significant fan engagement across various platforms.” Notably, there was a 29% rise in audiences tuning in through both linear and streaming services throughout this entire 2025 season.

This surge in viewership translated into an impressive weekly average of 3.7 million live match viewers. The statement also noted that the league wrapped up the season with its “second-highest total attendance” ever, drawing 11.2 million fans and generating record-breaking ticket revenue. Clearly, these numbers are enough to suggest that the MLS does deserve a pat on the back.

Not to mention the kind of criticism the league has faced over the past few seasons, even as it continues to gain massive global reach. Then again, while this might seem like a personal victory for Major League Soccer, the sad reality is that fans are in no mood to celebrate it. Instead, they’ve bombarded league stakeholders with nothing but intense skepticism on X.

MLS fans are in no mood to buy the million viewership milestone!

To paint the picture, months ago, Togethxr, a media and commerce platform co-founded by Jessica Robertson, Alex Morgan, Sue Bird, Chloe Kim, and Simone Manuel, revealed an interesting study. It said that the NWSL averages roughly 189,000 viewers per match, surpassing the MLS, which records around 120,000 viewers per game. No wonder the most obvious and perhaps the harshest of reactions was: “Literally no one believes this.”

And guess what? While the overall figures of 11.2 million or 3.7 million mentioned in the latest press release from the men’s league might seem to contradict the earlier fact, the reality is that, when viewed individually, the numbers are still quite low for the league. “That is 3.7 million viewers across 15 games a week. so an average of 246K viewers per game, which is about what FOX and FS1 was getting before the Apple deal,” wrote another.

Heck, consider last year’s NWSL and MLS Championship finals. In the men’s side, LA Galaxy edged past the NY Red Bulls 2–1, attracting a little over 427,000 viewers on Fox Sports. In contrast, the women’s clash between Orlando Pride and Washington Spirit drew an impressive 967,000 viewers on CBS; a staggering 126% higher than the men’s final.

Then again, this fan believes a certain change from the Commissioner Don Garber-led league can turn things around: “Numbers, not %. The truth is less people watch the league now, I would love a return to club centric narrators. Friday, and Sunday games of the week. With in stadium analyst. Make it an event.”

Well, it’s not just the unique scheduling. Perhaps the biggest criticism that the league has been facing over the years is the inception of the Apple TV and MLS broadcast deal. The Season Pass, costing $14.99 per month or $29.00 for the full season, and $12.99 per month or $25.00 per season for Apple TV+ subscribers, is considered quite pricey for many fans.

And the fact that the rest of the world has no other option but to resort to it has only made things worse, just like this netizen puts his perspective: “Bragging about an increase of streaming when you’ve made it the only way to watch games seems…disingenuous.”

Another major issue over the past few seasons has been ticket prices, which tend to soar whenever the league’s biggest star, Lionel Messi, is playing. Much of MLS’s record-breaking ticket revenue comes from Inter Miami games, with sales often linked directly to the presence of the iconic No. 10.

Granted, doing so has seen both Inter Miami and MLS bring in results. At least, a report from ESPN says so, where the matches involving Leo Messi and Inter Miami have consistently drawn massive crowds, with one game surpassing 70,000 fans, six others attracting over 60,000, and another six exceeding 50,000 spectators. But this is a practice that doesn’t settle in the eyes of many, and this fan echoes the sentiment quite perfectly: “Messi games likely the biggest push, specially luxury seating.”

As we’ve seen, MLS generating such numbers primarily through Apple streaming isn’t an ideal approach. Nor is the fact that ticket prices are consistently inflated based on the presence of a certain star. The harsh reality is that a closer look at these published figures shows the league hasn’t achieved anything particularly extraordinary. “So basically no improvements in viewership if anything it’s declined or stagnated. Still stupid business decision to put almost every game behind streaming,” wrote another.

Certainly, these reactions highlight just how far MLS still has to go in generating viewership numbers that truly impress and satisfy fans. Regardless, share your thoughts in the comments below.