Charlotte FC is “ending the sale” of PSLs as part of a “continuing series of changes to reverse declining attendance and sagging season ticket sales,” according to Erik Spanberg of the CHARLOTTE BUSINESS JOURNAL. Credits toward future season tickets “will be offered to the club’s 15,000 current seat license owners,” a move made after parent company Tepper Sports & Entertainment “conducted a series of fan focus groups last month.” The team also “plans an average season ticket price reduction of 6%” for next season. That average includes “price cuts blended with some seats that will cost the same amount and some that will increase.” Charlotte FC “remains healthy, ensconced in the top five in attendance and boasting a strong sponsor roster led by Ally Financial Inc.” But the club “has suffered from continuing backlash over charging some of the league’s highest average ticket prices and for requiring one-time seat license fees for all season tickets.” PSLs are “widely accepted in the NFL and other sports leagues,” but “remain anathema to soccer fans and clubs.” No other MLS team had required seat licenses for season ticket buyers before Charlotte FC introduced them in 2021 -- and “no one has followed Charlotte FC in the years since.” And while Charlotte FC “overcame those initial setbacks to become a top draw in MLS,” fans “remained frustrated and dropped off in subsequent seasons.” Home attendance “slipped 16%” between 2023 and 2025, to 30,664 per game. Season ticket sales “fell by 15% to 25%” (CHARLOTTE BUSINESS JOURNAL, 7/14).
BIG TICKET PLAYER: Charlotte-based WSOC-TV’s DaShawn Brown noted that Charlotte FC has signed French Ligue 1 club RC Lens F Allan Saint-Maximin to a “three-year contract set to run through the 2028-29 season,” where the 29-year-old will join the club as a Designated Player. Saint-Maximin said, “I really want to create a legacy here. That’s why I didn’t stay or make the decision to go with another club, because this club afforded me the opportunity to become a legend. That’s exactly what I want” (WSOCTV.com, 7/13). AXIOS’ Ashley Mahoney noted it is still “TBD” when fans will see Saint-Maximin make his debut for the club, as he is still “waiting on his visa” (AXIOS, 7/13). The CHARLOTTE POST’s Herbert L. White wrote signing with Charlotte FC “checks off a personal goal” for Saint-Maximin -- playing in the U.S. Maximin acknowledged that “another selling point ... is Charlotte FC’s supporters,” who are among MLS’s attendance leaders (CHARLOTTE POST, 7/13).
