MLS taking another step forward

This weekend I picked up the latest issue of World Soccer. (Side note - if you are a soccer fan and have not yet read this magazine, do yourself a favor and go pick up an issue; the current one is previewing the start of the European season). On page 22 there is an article featuring the 50 best supported clubs in the world (based on 2008/2009 average attendance). The top 10 look like this:

1) Manchester United (England) - 75,304
2) Real Madrid (Spain) - 74,895
3) Barcelona (Spain) - 73,913
4) Borussia Dortmund (Germany) - 73,802
5) Bayern Munich (Germany) - 69,622
6) Schalke (Germany) - 61,361
7) Arsenal (England) - 60,040
8) Celtic (Scotland) - 57,670
9) AC Milan (Italy) - 57,066
10) Internazionale (Italy) - 55,185

After reading through the list I noted two things - (1) 3 German teams in the top 6 it quite impressive and definitely surprised me. (2) The 50th club was Fiorentina (Italy) with 28,928 fans. As of June 2009 the newest MLS club, Seattle Sounders, has an average attendance of 29,401 fans. If Seattle is able to keep this up they will break into top 50 attended clubs in the world, a major feat considering the well known European and South American teams that did not make this list. Another step forward for the MLS.