Photo by Hernan Valencias

After week 17 the numbers look like this…

5 year comparison
WK 15 124 GP YTD
Avg +/- GP Avg +/- Avg +/- GP
 2005  13,835  9  14,547  14,675  116
 2006  16,028  15.85%  7  15,716  8.03%  14,698  0.16%  113
 2007  13,974  -12.82%  4  15,377  -2.15%  15,005  2.08%  111
 2008  23,000  64.59%  5  16,518  7.42%  17,142  14.24%  116
 2009  19,313  -16.03%  6  15,435  -6.56%  15,435  -9.96%  124

Here are the attendance comparisons to 2008’s equal number of home games(124):

MLS Attendance Averages – Equal # of Home Games
2008 2009
Att Cap Att Att +/- GP % of Cap Cap
 Seattle  0  0.00%  29,984  NA  10  93.70%  32,000
 Toronto  20,144  91.66%  20,288  0.71%  10  92.31%  21,978
 LA Galaxy  25,348  93.88%  19,292  -23.89%   9  71.45%  27,000
 ChivasUSA  14,286  52.91%  16,211  13.48%  9  60.04%  27,000
 Real Salt Lake  15,101  71.96%  16,045  6.25%  8  71.15%  19,340
 Houston  16,566  73.63%  15,689  -5.29%   8  69.73%  22,500
 D.C. United  20,817  92.52%  14,811  -28.85%   8  65.83%  22,500
 NE Revolution  17,582  78.14%  13,616  -22.56%   6  60.51%  22,500
 Columbus Crew  12,881  64.40%  13,056  1.36%  8  65.28%  20,000
 Chicago  16,251  81.26%  12,640  -22.22%   7  63.20%  20,000
 Colorado Rapids  14,612  80.79%  12,431  -14.93%   8  68.73%  18,086
 San Jose  16,752  85.56%  11,513  -31.28%   8  47.54%  10,300
 N.Y./N.J. Red Bulls  17,679  70.18%  11,385  -35.60%   8  45.20%  25,189
 KC Wizards  9,596  92.40%  9,789  2.01%  8  94.26%  10,385
 FC Dallas  13,687  66.76%  9,306  -32.01%   9  45.40%  20,500

My disclaimer about the capacity calculations

Observations

All games were on Saturday. First up was a tasty matchup between Seattle and Houston, and not unexpectedly, over 32,000 were on hand. The other early game was an eastern conference tilt between the Wizards and the Revs in Foxboro that was part of a tripleheader. The USMNT were on hand as the last 2 Gold Cup Group B games followed the Revs match. In the one match that was in direct conflict with the USMNT, Chicago played host to the surging Crew and drew their biggest home crowd of the year. Go figure. A sparse crowd in Denver saw the Rapids and FC Dallas in a western conference matchup. Surprisingly, San Jose did not sell out for TFC’s visit. The Chivas USA/LA SuperClasico closed out league play for the weekend before over 23,400.

New England’s year to year attendance took a hit despite banking over 24,000 this weekend. That’s because last year’s 8th home game was part of a doubleheader with Brasil and Venezuela that drew over 54,000. That 54K is why the very healthy 19,300+ average for this week did not beat last year’s week 17 average. It also flipped the Rev’s numbers from 11% up to 22% down compared to ’08.

I suspect RBNY’s numbers will get whacked next week. The Gossipy Galaxy will be in town. It’s expected that Landycakes and Golden Balls will be on the field together for the first time this season. In 2007 this match drew 66,237(Aug 18), in 2008 46,754(Jul 19). Any guesses on Thursday’s attendance?

YTD – 124 Games
Average Median %<10K %>20k
 2005    14,547   12,134  30.08%  16.26%
 2006    15,716   13,036  22.58%  18.55%
 2007    15,377   14,179  10.48%  22.58%
 2008    16,518   15,274  11.29%  25.81%
 2009    15,435   14,479  15.32%  18.55%
Week 17 Games
Seattle 2 Seattle Times
Houston 1 Soccer y Fútbol – Barnard Fallas
 
New England 0 Revolution Soccer
Kansas City 0 Kansas City – Hillcrest Road
 
Chicago 0 Chicago – En Fuego Official Blog
Columbus 0 Columbus Dispatch – Crew XTra
 
Colorado 1 Undercurrent
FC Dallas 0 3rd Degree – Buzz Carrick
 
San Jose 1 Center Line Soccer
Toronto 3 TFC Connected
 
Chivas USA 0 Chivas USA – MLSNet
Los Angeles 1 LA – 100 percent soccer

Gold Cup and MLS

Gold Cup Rosters at CONCACAF
Players, League Games Missed Due to
Gold Cup Group and Quarterfinal Matches
Players Opponent
 11-Jul  16-Jul  18-Jul
 Chicago   Busch, Pause. Segares(CRC)  Columbus  SJ
 Chivas USA   Bornstein*, Kljestan*
Thomas(JAM)**, Harmse(CAN)
 LA  NE
 Colorado   Clark, Perkins, Casey*
Ceus(HAI), Cummings(JAM)**
 FCD  DCU
 Columbus   Rogers, Marshall  Chicago  RSL
 DC United   Quaranta, Jakovic(CAN)  Colorado
 FC Dallas   Cooper  Colorado
 Houston   Ching, Holden, Hainault(CAN)  Seattle  TFC
 Kansas City   Arnaud, Conrad  NE
 Los Angeles   Ricketts(JAM)**  Chivas USA  RBNY
 New England   Heaps, Joseph(GRE)**  KC  Chivas USA
 RBNY   Pacheco(SLV)**
Richards(JAM)**
 LA
 Real Salt Lake   Beckerman, Johnson(CAN)
Alexandre(HAI)
 Columbus
 San Jose   NONE  TFC  Chicago
 Seattle   Evans, Marshall(JAM)**  HOU
 Toronto FC   Cronin, Gerba(CAN)  SJ  HOU

* – Added when CONCACAF allowed the US to add 7 to the roster due to its participation in the Confederations Cup. These players will not travel with the team but are expected to join when the matches are geographically proximate. Bornstein, Kljestan and Casey were with their clubs on July 11.

** – El Salvador, Grenada, Jamaica eliminated. Joseph missed all games due to injury.

If I’ve missed anyone, hopefully our readers will let me know in the comment section.

This list encompasses the MLS matches that coincide with Gold Cup group play which ended on July 12. I will update the list as we go through the knock-out rounds.

Toronto’s new signing Gerba has now scored for Canada in its pre Gold Cup tuneup match, and in 2 Gold Cup matches, but TFC will have to wait as Canada are through to the quarterfinals.

Seattle will also have to wait a little longer for its new signing Gonzalez. Costa Rica has advanced to the Gold Cup quarterfinals.

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End of Week Thoughts

 

  • No way Montero’s first goal completely crossed the line.
  • ESPN, FSC, CONCACAF, SUM, USSF – Beyond clueless.
  • Coming into the weekend, DCU, LA, and RSL had each scored 9 goals in the last 15 minutes.
  • Coming into the weekend, Seattle, RBNY, and San Jose had each scored 1 goal in the last 15 minutes.
  • I nearly gagged when I heard J.P. Dellacamara mention that Chicago’s attendance was down ‘a little’.
  • TFC rookie Sam Cronin got his first cap for the USMNT vs Haiti, as did fellow MLS’ers Jay Heaps and Colin Clark.
  • Blanco looked very ordinary against Columbus.
  • The Galaxy have won 3 games in a row, all by a 1-0 score, beating Houson, New England and Chivas USA.Streaking
  • Chicago is winless in 5.
  • Chivas USA is winless in 3.
  • RBNY is winless in 10.
  • Seven teams have not lost when scoring the first goal.
  • Six teams have not won when allowing the first goal.
  • Three teams, Houston, DCU and Columbus, are undefeated at home.
  • Two teams, RBNY and San Jose, are winless on the road.======

    Just Some Stuff

    Chicago has won more road games than any team in the league. They’re also the only team with just one win at home.

    The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup semifinals are on Tuesday, July 21. The USL-1 Rochester Rhinos meet defending champions D.C. United at the Maryland Soccerplex in Boyds, MD. The other semi features Houston at Seattle at the Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila, WA.