An abbreviated post due to my being on the road.

After week 20 the numbers look like this…

5 year comparison
WK 20 143 GP YTD
Avg +/- GP Avg +/- Avg +/- GP
 2005  21,232  10  14,849  14,905  134
 2006  17,497  -17.59%  7  15,496  4.36%  15,449  3.65%  128
 2007  23,740  35.68%  7  15,942  2.88%  15,899  2.91%  129
 2008  13,907  -41.42%  4  16,542  3.76%  17,049  7.23%  132
 2009  12,055  -13.32%  6  15,412  -6.83%  15,412  -9.60%  143


Here are the attendance comparisons to 2008’s equal number of home games(143):

MLS Attendance Averages – Equal # of Home Games
2008 2009
Att Cap Att Att +/- GP Cap Cap
 Seattle  0  0.00%  30,204  NA  11  94.39%  32,000
 Toronto  20,173  91.79%  20,278  0.52%  11  92.26%  21,978
 LA Galaxy  25,348  93.88%  19,292  -23.89%   9  71.45%  27,000
 Real Salt Lake  15,412  74.09%  16,353  6.11%  9  73.69%  19,340
 ChivasUSA  14,286  52.91%  16,211  13.48%  9  60.04%  27,000
 Houston  15,701  69.78%  15,538  -1.04%   10  69.06%  22,500
 D.C. United  20,133  89.48%  15,193  -24.53%   9  67.53%  22,500
 Columbus Crew  13,681  68.40%  13,114  -4.14%   10  65.57%  20,000
 NE Revolution  16,494  73.31%  13,088  -20.65%   8  58.17%  22,500
 Chicago  17,092  85.46%  13,027  -23.78%   9  65.13%  20,000
 Colorado Rapids  13,930  77.02%  12,711  -8.75%   10  70.28%  18,086
 N.Y./N.J. Red Bulls  17,385  69.02%  12,702  -26.94%   9  50.43%  25,189
 San Jose  15,396  86.87%  11,104  -27.88%   10  51.80%  10,300
 KC Wizards  9,596  92.40%  10,024  4.46%  9  96.52%  10,385
 FC Dallas  14,420  70.34%  9,407  -34.76%   10  45.89%  20,500

My disclaimer about the capacity calculations

Observations

Week 20 games drew a relatively weak attendance average of 12,055, down from last year’s 13,907 for four games. Colorado and Dallas drew modest numbers of 10,851 and 10,317, although Dallas’ numbers were up over its pathetic season average of around 9,400.

Meanwhile FC Barcelona and the Galaxy sold out the 93,137 seats in the Rose Bowl as the ‘Summer of Soccer’ rolls on, proving that a great club and celebrity will bring fans to soccer matches in the US.

YTD – 143 Games
Average Median %<10K %>20k
 2005    14,849   12,199  30.07%  15.38%
 2006    15,496   13,056  20.98%  18.18%
 2007    15,942   14,351  9.79%  23.08%
 2008    16,542   15,276  11.19%  25.87%
 2009    15,412   14,441  14.69%  18.18%
Week 19 Games
 
Toronto 1 TFC Connected
New England 1 Revolution Soccer
 
Houston 4 Soccer y Fútbol – Barnard Fallas
DC United 3 DCU – Steve Goff – Soccer Insider
 
FC Dallas 6 3rd Degree – Buzz Carrick
Kansas City 0 Kansas City – Hillcrest Road
 
Chicago 1 Chicago – En Fuego Official Blog
Real Salt Lake 0 RSL – Behind the Shield
 
Colorado 0 Colorado – Undercurrent
Columbus 1 Columbus Dispatch – Crew XTra
 
San Jose 4 San Jose Center Line Soccer
Seattle 0 Seattle Times

Just Some Stuff

The finalists for the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup are DC United and Seattle. DCU looks to defend its crown while the Sounders are looking for their first hardware as an MLS club. The final is on September 2 at RFK stadium in DC.