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Investigating the Impact of Economic Uncertainties on Attendance of Premier League Soccer in the United Kingdom and Major League Soccer in the United States Ross Peterman Indiana University – Purdue University Fort Wayne Nichaya Suntornpithug Indiana University – Purdue University Fort Wayne This research analyzes correlation of attendance of English Premier League and Major League Soccer to their respective nations’ household disposable incomes from 2002 through 2008. By examining professional soccer atten dance in countries with a vast discrepancy in soccer popularity throughout a period of economic uncertainty, fan behavior is greater understood. INTRODUCTION Soccer is one of the most popular sports with a great spectator base throughout the world (Sagatomo and Greenwell, 2011). In the United States, however, despite the increasing popularity of soccer as a sport to play among youth, the spectator base is still far behind that of other sports such as American football, basketball, and baseball (Carlin, 2010). As a result, Major League Soccer (MLS) is still considered as a second-tier sport league (Collins, 2006). Nevertheless, MLS has been trying to expand their spectator base through various marketing means such as sponsoring many grassroots tournaments nation-wide to spur interest to the league among soccer participants (Warfield, 2004). However, an economic condition that the US is facing may confound professional soccer attendance. The recent phenomenon in the US and many countries has been littered with economic instability. This instability has had affects on local, regional, national, and global levels. The resultant impacts from the econo