English Premiere League teams Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur hit Music City. Soccer fans from around the world took over Nissan Stadium for the International Champions Cup and broke the attendance record for the largest soccer crowd in state history.
The grand total for the record-breaking attendance at Saturday's game came to 56,232 fans.
Manchester City took the win over Tottenham Hotspur with a final score of 3-0.
Before the match, Manchester City hosted a pre-game event at the George Jones Museum in downtown Nashville.
Country music artists and soccer legends welcomed fans. One former Manchester City player, Paul Dickov, said he's had a lot of fun during his visit to Music City.
“Nashville has been amazing,” Dickov said. “We've been to Houston, we've been to L.A., but since we've came to Nashville, the welcome, the friendliness, has been amazing, and it's a great party town as well.”
The match came just three weeks after more than 47,000 fans watched the Gold Cup Opener between the U.S. and Panama at Nissan Stadium.
The Nashville Soccer Club helped promote the event. The club will start playing in Nashville in March of 2018, and officials said they have watched the excitement continue to build for soccer in Nashville.
“We’ve seen through our fan base, it’s a young, multi-cultural, dynamic market,” said Court Jeske, CEO of Nashville Soccer Club. “Fans are educated and ready to jump on board.”
Nashville is currently among 12 cities in the running for a Major League Soccer (MLS) expansion team. Local supporters believed strong turnout at another major soccer match will help the city’s case for a team. MLS has planned to make the decision in December.
“Soccer here is going to be crazy successful,” said Andrea Yoch, Marketing Director for the International Champions Cup. “I am looking forward to seeing what happens in the next few years.”
