MLS clubs are averaging 23,246 fans per match so far this season, marking an increase of 7% from the same point last season. In total, more than 6.5 million people have come through the turnstiles so far this season, marking an increase of about 725,000, or 13%, from the same point in the 2023 season. Twenty of the league’s 29 teams have seen year-over-year increases, compared to five whose attendance is flat and four who have seen single-digit declines.

The presence of Inter Miami F Lionel Messi, who had yet to join the league at this point last season, has been a key driver of increased attendance. Three teams -- Sporting KC, the Revolution and the Whitecaps -- set new single-match attendance records this year for games against Inter Miami. (Sporting KC moved its Inter Miami match to a larger venue, Arrowhead Stadium, to accommodate increased ticket demand). Inter Miami itself has also seen its average attendance increase by 27% from the same point last season. 

In addition to the Messi Effect, MLS EVP Camilo Durana attributed increased attendance to last year’s launch of a club performance group aimed at helping teams improve business fundamentals, with a particular emphasis on ticket sales. The league hired former Ilitch Sports + Entertainment President & CEO Chris McGowan to lead that unit as EVP & Chief Club Performance Officer. 

“They do a tremendous amount of work with clubs on best practices,” Durana said. “A lot of clubs are looking at the actual product -- standing sections, premium options. A lot of investment is being made in shifting those to reflect the demands of specific markets.” 

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The Univ. of Texas is set to unveil a new-look version of the Longhorn Network today that will rebrand the school’s in-house television venture as a free streaming platform.

The idea of this version of Longhorn Network, which will launch officially on July 1, percolated amid the process of Texas shifting from the Big 12 to the SEC. LHN was a novel concept at inception in 2011, but the SEC’s television deal with ESPN entailed it be phased out amid the conference change since SEC Network will broadcast the live games while LHN will house original content, live coaches shows and other historic footage and content. Fans will also be able to follow along play-by-play radio audio and live football statcast, among other fixtures.

Endeavor Streaming, which has been used as a back-end technology for streaming efforts by European soccer giants, presented a baseline operating platform in which a new-look LHN could run. Learfield Studios, meanwhile, will help staff the venture with four full-time employees that will work in conjunction with Texas’ in-house creative team to develop branded content for Longhorn fans. Learfield will also handle advertising and sponsorship sales.

“About 40% of people get their content through streaming,” said Texas AD Chris Del Conte. “Having that available and having shoulder programming around all of our games, the ability to show coaches shows, replays, everything that’s within the new, exciting move to the SEC, putting that on a streaming platform was just something we really felt passionate about.”

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The Charlotte City Council today is set to discuss the plan to spend $650M in public money renovating Bank of America Stadium , but "for the first time publicly, Charlotte officials say in the terms that the city would agree to begin negotiating for a new stadium by 2037 ." The new stadium "would be located in Charlotte and potentially be ready for the 2046 season," according to terms set to be voted on today. If the Charlotte City Council approves renovations, the city and Tepper Sports & Entertainment "will negotiate the use of hospitality funds for the purposes of studies and analysis regarding a new stadium" as part of the talks set to start in 2037. That’s two years before the earliest the Panthers could leave under the $650M renovation deal ( CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 6/22 ).

The Marlins are underwriting the cost for in-market fans to receive two free months of the Bally Sports+ streaming package that carries their games.  

What’s typically a $19.99-per-month subscription will be temporarily waived to South Florida residents who opt-in at Marlins.com/BallySports by providing their name, email and zip code.  

Viewers can choose this option through the end of July. Their two-month window starts the day they opt in, so those who do so initially would have to pay for the remainder of the season if they so choose, while those who opt in at the end of July would get the last two months of the season for free. 

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As Fox’s Summer of Soccer continues, the company announced Sunday it will be the home of the UEFA Women’s Euros next summer. Fox announcers Carli Lloyd , Ari Hingst and Rob Stone revealed the news during halftime of the USMNT and Bolivia’s Copa America game on Sunday night. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The Women’s Euros will take place in Switzerland from July 2-27, 2025. ESPN had the rights to the 2022 Women’s Euros . The tournament, held every four years, features the top national teams in Europe.

Fox is in the middle of 30 straight days of soccer coverage, between the Men’s Euros and Copa America.

A "handful of climate protesters" ran onto the 18th green yesterday just before Scottie Scheffler and Tom Kim could attempt putts that would help decide the outcome of the tournament. Just after 4pm ET, a man "ran into the greenside bunker, carrying something that emitted yellow powder spray." Others "ran onto the green, carrying smoke/powder bombs of different colors -- red, yellow and white." The protesters "were booed" by the many thousands of fans greenside, and minutes later, "security and more than a dozen police officers cleared the green and led protestors off in handcuffs" ( CT INSIDER, 6/23 ). Four of the protesters were wearing shirts that read: "No golf on a dead planet" ( HARTFORD COURANT, 6/23 ).

The ensuing mess "led to a delay" as PGA Tour and course officials "worked to get the green in proper shape." The crowd "cheered the officers and the maintenance staff, serenading both crews with chants of, 'USA! USA! USA!'" After Kim made birdie to force a sudden-death playoff, officials "cut a new pin position, away from the area where spray paint remained and where the individuals had trampled on" ( GOLF DIGEST, 6/23 ).

In this week's SBJ , we explore what happened to the blockbuster sports movie. After an era of theatrical sports movies that were Oscar contenders, such as The Blind Side, Million Dollar Baby and Moneyball, the genre has now been on the decline for more than a decade, and it’s a trend that began well before the rise of streaming or the pandemic began putting the squeeze on theaters. SBJ’s Chris Smith explores and suggests a Formula 1-themed movie set to star Brad Pitt with a June 2025 release could alter the trend. 

Also this week: 

• In his 50th year, the San Diego Chicken is in “semi-retirement,” but still has plenty to cluck about.

• The six major players in venue F&B are in a frenzied scramble, with companies taking major accounts of others in the last 12 months.

• SBJ Executive Editor Abe Madkour details what stands out in “Rainmaker,” a new book by former IMG agent Hughes Norton, who represented Greg Norman and Tiger Woods.

The CHICAGO SUN-TIMES goes with the header, " Northwestern says Derrick Gragg was reassigned, but why is its statement not taken at face value? " When Northwestern AD Derrick Gragg took on a new position as VP for Athletic Strategy, the university released a statement "basically saying it was a joint agreement between school and AD." That "immediately was challenged in the media as bull," as outlets reported Gragg was being "pushed out" and "tactfully shifted aside." Gragg and the university, when asked, "publicly deny" that was the case, but "it has been believed and framed by us -- the media -- differently." Could two things both be true at the same time? Maybe. But maybe "we don’t trust the words the university tries to sell us" because "they have not exactly been transparent about anything, but have been especially cagey in the last year or so."

Also :

• How a trying year at Iowa State prepared Mizzou AD Laird Veatch for college sports' unpredictability.

"50 years ago Vin Scully announced he got 'a standing ovation in the Deep South' for breaking a longtime record."

"Who is Hank Aaron ?"