TAMPA, Fla. – USL club set a new league record for cumulative weekly attendance over the past seven days, with more than 80,000 fans in attendance during the penultimate week of the 2016 USL regular season.

Led by FC Cincinnati, which set a new USL record for single-game attendance with 24,376 fans at Nippert Stadium on Saturday night, five teams in the league recorded sellouts, with the Richmond Kickers, Saint Louis FC and Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC setting new club records in the process.

In all, 82,752 fans attended a USL game in Week 26, which surpassed the total attendance from Week 8 this regular season of 74,927, an increase of almost 8,000 fans, and more than 17,000 fans more than the highest-attended week of the 2015 USL regular season.

With a cumulative attendance so far this season of 1,443,217, and 16 games remaining in the regular season, the league could break the 1.5 million attendance mark for the first time in its history, as the league continues to rise off the field as well as on.

“We continue to be delighted by the passion and support the fans have shown throughout the season, particularly over this past weekend as the playoff picture comes into focus,” said USL President Jake Edwards. “As a league, we have made a focused effort on raising both attendance, and improving the fan experience throughout the USL this season, and our teams have followed through magnificently to make this the most successful season in USL history.”

Cincinnati’s attendance not only set a USL single-game record, but also sent the club past 250,000 in cumulative attendance for its inaugural USL regular season, and beyond the 300,000 mark in total attendance. The club’s 1-0 win against Orlando City B earned FCC the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference for the 2016 USL Playoffs, and at least one more home game this season.

“We certainly don’t take it for granted to have this type of fan base,” Cincinnati Head Coach John Harkes said after the match. “Overall, it has been a tremendous year so far. We enjoy them. When the fans come out and support us like that, we want to reward them.”

Sacramento Republic FC continued its remarkable run of box office success, as another sellout crowd of 11,569 fans filled Bonney Field for the club’s home finale. Wilson Kneeshaw’s late equalizer against the LA Galaxy II in a 1-1 draw saw the club’s new addition spontaneously react to the supporters’ cheers in another memorable night in California’s capital.

“I saw the fans, saw the Battalion going crazy, so I’d thought I’d just do everything really,” said Kneeshaw. “Just mix everything into one. I’m lucky I didn’t dance, because that could have got ugly really quickly. Maybe next time…I’ll be practicing.”

Saint Louis FC welcomed a club record attendance of 6,004 to World Wide Technology Soccer Park, including a large contingent of visiting Louisville City FC fans for the second clash for the Kings’ Cup on Saturday, while the Richmond Kickers set a regular-season club record with 6,123 fans on hand for their rivalry game with the Charleston Battery at City Stadium.

Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC also continued to raise the bar, with the 4,308 fans in attendance setting a single-game club attendance record. With the Switchbacks now sitting atop the Western Conference with one game to go in the regular season, the path to the playoffs could go through Switchbacks Stadium, and what is becoming a strong home-field advantage.