Atlanta sets MLS All-Star Game attendance record

The 2018 MLS All-Star Game hosted by Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta set a new record for standalone All-Star Game attendance with 72,317 on hand to witness the MLS All-Stars play Juventus FC.

Now, we need to clear up some confusion, since there was an MLS All-Star Game in 1996 that recorded an attendance of more than 78,000.

This 1996 game is indeed the highest attended MLS All-Star Game, but fans who bought tickets that say to enter Giants Stadium were also permitted to stay to watch Brazil vs. FIFA All-Stars—a selection of top talent from 14 countries around the world. (Side note: Brazil won the match 2-1 despite Jurgen Klinsmann bagging the lone goal for the FIFA All-Star team.)

It’s hard to imagine that, in 1996, there would have been 78k+ showing up to see Preki, Tab Ramos and Jason Kreis lighting up the scoreboard. I think we Atlantans can stake the claim that this was the highest-attended MLS All-Star Game.

But we didn’t expect anything less, right? Atlanta United has set MLS attendance records over and over since the opening of Mercedes-Benz Stadium to the point where the club hold the top 5 most attended MLS games.