An abbreviated post due to my just returning from the road.
After week 21 the numbers look like this…
5 year comparison | ||||||||
WK 21 | 149 GP | YTD | ||||||
Avg | +/- | GP | Avg | +/- | Avg | +/- | GP | |
2005 | 12,985 | 6 | 14,776 | 14,823 | 140 | |||
2006 | 14,771 | 13.76% | 9 | 15,264 | 3.30% | 15,424 | 4.05% | 137 |
2007 | 17,381 | 17.67% | 9 | 15,979 | 4.69% | 15,996 | 3.71% | 138 |
2008 | 15,625 | -10.11% | 7 | 16,557 | 3.62% | 16,977 | 6.14% | 139 |
2009 | 23,667 | 51.47% | 6 | 15,745 | -4.91% | 15,745 | -7.26% | 149 |
Here are the attendance comparisons to 2008’s equal number of home games(149):
MLS Attendance – 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 |
ChivasUSA | 14,286 | 52.91% | 16,211 | 13.48% | 9 | 60.04% | 27,000 |
Real Salt Lake | 15,109 | 73.14% | 16,137 | 6.81% | 10 | 73.66% | 19,340 |
Houston | 16,324 | 72.55% | 15,836 | -2.99% | 11 | 70.38% | 22,500 |
San Jose | 14,917 | 87.50% | 15,692 | 5.20% | 11 | 76.84% | 10,300 |
D.C. United | 20,133 | 89.48% | 15,193 | -24.53% | 9 | 67.53% | 22,500 |
NE Revolution | 16,799 | 74.66% | 14,592 | -13.14% | 9 | 64.85% | 22,500 |
Columbus Crew | 13,681 | 68.40% | 13,114 | -4.14% | 10 | 65.57% | 20,000 |
Chicago | 17,092 | 85.46% | 13,027 | -23.78% | 9 | 65.13% | 20,000 |
Colorado Rapids | 13,628 | 75.35% | 12,771 | -6.29% | 11 | 70.61% | 18,086 |
N.Y./N.J. Red Bulls | 17,385 | 69.02% | 12,702 | -26.94% | 9 | 50.43% | 25,189 |
KC Wizards | 9,596 | 92.40% | 10,024 | 4.46% | 9 | 96.52% | 10,385 |
FC Dallas | 14,072 | 68.64% | 9,229 | -34.42% | 11 | 45.02% | 20,500 |
My disclaimer about the capacity calculations
Observations
Week 21 games drew 23,667 with the help of a strong turnout in Houston, the ‘Beckham’ effect in New England and a doubleheader in San Jose where Barcelona and Chivas de Guadalajara played the backend game after the Quakes/Crew match leading to San Jose’s YTD attendance being on the plus side.
Well, whaddaya know, Columbus is top of the table.
No draws this week.
Meanwhile the ‘Summer of Soccer’ rolls on with Barcelona and Seattle pulling in 66,848, TFC and Real Madrid selling out the 22,089 BMO seats and Real Madrid’s visit to DCU at RFK drawing 72,368 proving that great clubs and celebrity will bring fans to soccer matches in the US.
Beckham Road Game Effect | ||||
Without Beckham in ’09 | ||||
2008 | 2009 | +/- | ||
Colorado | 18,713 | 12,180 | -6,533 | -34.91% |
FC Dallas | 22,331 | 9,595 | -12,736 | -57.03% |
RSL | 25,571 | 16,155 | -9,416 | -36.82% |
SJ(2) | 59,043 | 32,990 | -26,053 | -44.12% |
Total | 125,658 | 70,920 | -54,738 | -43.56% |
Beckham Road Game Effect | ||||
With Beckham | ||||
2008 | 2009 | +/- | ||
RBNY | 46,754 | 23,238 | -23,516 | -50.30% |
KC | 26,113 | 11,906 | -14,207 | -54.41% |
NE | 39,256 | 26,623 | -12,633 | -32.18% |
Total | 112,123 | 61,767 | -50,356 | -44.91% |
While the attendances of Beckham’s road games are down from last year, they’re still above the YTD averages in the cities he’s visited.
YTD – 149 Games | ||||
Average | Median | %<10K | %>20k | |
2005 | 14,776 | 12,252 | 30.00% | 14.67% |
2006 | 15,264 | 13,016 | 22.15% | 17.45% |
2007 | 15,979 | 14,577 | 10.07% | 22.82% |
2008 | 16,557 | 15,257 | 11.41% | 25.50% |
2009 | 15,745 | 14,441 | 14.77% | 18.79% |
Week 21 Games | ||
FC Dallas | 1 | 3rd Degree – Buzz Carrick |
Houston | 0 | Soccer y Fútbol – Barnard Fallas |
New England | 1 | Revolution Soccer |
Los Angeles | 2 | LA – Official Blog |
San Jose | 0 | San Jose Center Line Soccer |
Columbus | 3 | Columbus Dispatch – Crew XTra |
Real Salt Lake | 1 | RSL – Behind the Shield |
Seattle | 0 | Seattle Times |
Colorado | 4 | Undercurrent |
Chivas USA | 0 | Chivas USA – MLSNet |
Houston | 3 | Soccer y Fútbol – Barnard Fallas |
Chicago | 2 | Chicago – En Fuego Official Blog |
Streaking
- Chivas USA has lost 3 straight on the road.
- Columbus is unbeaten in 7.
- FC Dallas has won 4 straight at home.
- Neither DCU nor Seattle have won on the road in 8 matches.
- LA is unbeaten in 6.
- RBNY hasn’t won in 12.
- San Jose and RBNY are winless on the road.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.
Regarding Kartik’s post, MLS: Taking the Good With the Bad, and his statement that “fans have also made MLS a better supported league in its stadiums than two of the top three leagues in the world”, I present this European data from the regular season attendance reports.
League 08-09 Bundesliga 42,521 EPL 35,594 La Liga 27,672 Serie A 24,462 Ligue 1 20,549 MLS* 15,724 SPL 15,537 * 2009 YTD
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