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