Take Me Out to the Ballgame – Week 9
The Week 9 numbers look like this…
| 5 year comparison | ||||||||
| Week 9 | 71 GP | YTD | ||||||
| Avg | +/- | GP | Avg | +/- | Avg | +/- | GP | |
| 2006 | 20,417 | 5 | 15,546 | 16,402 | 52 | |||
| 2007 | 15,773 | -22.75% | 6 | 15,314 | -1.49% | 15,139 | -7.70% | 59 |
| 2008 | 15,849 | 0.48% | 8 | 15,405 | 0.60% | 17,270 | 14.07% | 63 |
| 2009 | 15,113 | -4.65% | 7 | 14,873 | -3.46% | 15,131 | -12.38% | 68 |
| 2010 | 18,379 | 21.61% | 7 | 16,398 | 10.25% | 16,398 | 8.37% | 71 |
| YTD – 71 Games | ||||
| Average | Median | %<10K | %>20k | |
| 2006 | 15,546 | 14,473 | 18.57% | 15.71% |
| 2007 | 15,314 | 14,351 | 11.27% | 22.54% |
| 2008 | 15,405 | 14,919 | 15.49% | 25.35% |
| 2009 | 14,873 | 14,271 | 16.90% | 16.90% |
| 2010 | 16,398 | 13,667 | 14.08% | 25.35% |
Here are the attendance comparisons to 2009:
| MLS Attendance – Equal # of Home Games | |||||||
| 2009 | 2010 | ||||||
| Att | Cap % | Att | Att +/- | GP | Cap % | Cap | |
| Seattle | 29,468 | 90.95% | 36,113 | 22.55% | 6 | 101.73% | 35,500 |
| Philadelphia | NA | NA | 29,954 | NA | 2 | 78.83% | 18,500 |
| Toronto | 20,282 | 92.28% | 20,144 | -0.68% | 4 | 91.66% | 21,978 |
| LA Galaxy | 19,139 | 70.88% | 19,397 | 1.35% | 5 | 71.84% | 27,000 |
| Houston | 15,641 | 69.51% | 17,207 | 10.02% | 6 | 76.48% | 22,500 |
| N.Y./N.J. Red Bulls | 10,792 | 42.85% | 16,740 | 55.11% | 5 | 66.46% | 25,189 |
| D.C. United | 14,561 | 64.72% | 14,954 | 2.69% | 5 | 66.46% | 22,500 |
| Real Salt Lake | 13,451 | 59.44% | 14,950 | 11.14% | 4 | 77.30% | 19,340 |
| Chicago | 10,901 | 54.51% | 14,937 | 37.03% | 3 | 74.69% | 20,000 |
| ChivasUSA | 14,555 | 53.91% | 14,501 | -0.37% | 5 | 53.71% | 27,000 |
| Columbus Crew | 13,263 | 66.31% | 13,271 | 0.06% | 4 | 66.35% | 20,000 |
| Colorado Rapids | 11,037 | 61.02% | 10,484 | -5.01% | 3 | 57.97% | 18,086 |
| NE Revolution | 11,511 | 51.16% | 10,120 | -12.09% | 5 | 44.98% | 22,500 |
| KC Wizards | 9,431 | 90.81% | 9,840 | 4.33% | 5 | 94.75% | 10,385 |
| FC Dallas | 9,417 | 44.43% | 9,671 | 2.70% | 5 | 45.63% | 21,193 |
| San Jose | 11,273 | 39.06% | 9,514 | -15.60% | 4 | 92.37% | 10,300 |
My disclaimer about the capacity calculations
For my calculations, I’ve taken the 3 teams playing in Amercan football stadiums, DCU in RFK, Houston in Robertson and New England in Foxboro and assigned maximum capacities at 22,500. I took the 22,500 number from an approximate average of the soccer specific stadiums in use.
Observations
The Red Bulls had another disappointing turnout for the Crew’s visit, pulling in under 12,000. I would say the same for Dallas, but since it’s Dallas, anything over 10,000 is a plus. Seattle and Toronto had their usual sellout crowds. And Houston drew a fantastic crowd of over 24,400. ChivasUSA had another average gate, but Kansas City sold out CAB.
Rookie Watch: Tony Tchani scored his first pro goal for RBNY in a losing effort. Irving Garcia was dynamic and Conner Chinn scored in RBNY’s friendly vs Juventus.
| Week 9 Games | ||
| RBNY | 1 | Red Bulls Reader |
| Columbus | 3 | Columbus Dispatch – Crew XTra |
| FC Dallas | 0 | 3rd Degree – Buzz Carrick |
| Los Angeles | 1 | LA – Official Blog |
| Toronto | 1 | TFC Connected |
| New England | 0 | Revolution Soccer |
| Seattle | 0 | Seattle Times |
| San Jose | 1 | San Jose Center Line Soccer |
| Houston | 2 | Soccer y Fútbol – Jose de Jesus Ortiz |
| DC United | 0 | DCU – Steve Goff – Soccer Insider |
| Chivas USA | 1 | Chicago Fire Confidential |
| Real Salt Lake | 2 | RSL – Behind the Shield |
| Kansas City | 0 | Kansas City – Hillcrest Road |
| Columbus | 1 | Columbus Dispatch – Crew XTra |
| GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GFA | GAA | PPG | PTS | GD | |
| Los Angeles | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 1.60 | 0.20 | 2.60 | 26 | 14 |
| Columbus | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 6 | 1.75 | 0.75 | 2.50 | 20 | 8 |
| Real Salt Lake | 9 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 17 | 10 | 1.89 | 1.11 | 1.78 | 16 | 7 |
| San Jose | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 7 | 1.50 | 0.88 | 2.00 | 16 | 5 |
| Houston | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 14 | 10 | 1.40 | 1.00 | 1.60 | 16 | 4 |
| NY Red Bull | 9 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 12 | 1.00 | 1.33 | 1.67 | 15 | -3 |
| Colorado | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 7 | 1.13 | 0.88 | 1.63 | 13 | 2 |
| Toronto FC | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 13 | 1.33 | 1.44 | 1.44 | 13 | -1 |
| Seattle | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 0.90 | 1.30 | 1.20 | 12 | -4 |
| Dallas | 9 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 10 | 10 | 1.11 | 1.11 | 1.22 | 11 | 0 |
| Chivas USA | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 11 | 14 | 1.10 | 1.40 | 1.00 | 10 | -3 |
| Chicago | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 12 | 1.38 | 1.50 | 1.13 | 9 | -1 |
| Kansas City | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 9 | 1.00 | 1.13 | 1.00 | 8 | -1 |
| New England | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 15 | 1.00 | 1.50 | 0.80 | 8 | -5 |
| Philadelphia | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 15 | 1.00 | 2.14 | 0.57 | 4 | -8 |
| DC United | 9 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 18 | 0.44 | 2.00 | 0.33 | 3 | -14 |
Streaking
- FC Dallas’ unbeaten home streak ended at 12.
- TFC has not lost at home in 10 straight.
- TFC is winless in 13 straight road games(4 draws).
- RSL are unbeaten in their last 14 regular season home games.
- Los Angeles have yet to yield a goal on the road(5 games).
- Los Angeles and San Jose have not yielded a goal in 4 games.
MLS Throw Ins
- Two teams remain unbeaten, Columbus and Los Angeles.
- There have been 13 draws compared to 29 in ’09 thru the first 71 matches.
- There have been 46 clean sheets in the first 71 matches, counting scoreless draws as 2
- Through 71 games: goal scoring is slightly down from 2009, 2.44 vs 2.55.
- RSL has lost only twice in its last 33 home matches. They lost only once in ’08 and ’09, a feat matched by Houston.
Going to World Cup Camp
These are the MLS players that are now heading to their respective countries’ pre-World Cup camps. The columns represent the games that will be played by their MLS teams during their absences. The only dead bang sure thing player that will be going to South Africa is Landon Donovan, although I think it would also be safe to say that Roger Espinoza(Honduras) and Andrew Boyens(New Zealand) will make their final squads. Did I forget anyone?
| On Provisional WC Rosters | |||
| Players | Team | 5/29 | 6/25 |
| Buddle, Donovan | LA | 2 | 5 |
| Bornstein, Klejstan | CHV | 2 | 4 |
| Marshall, Rogers | CLB | 3 | 6 |
| Ching | HOU | 2 | 5 |
| Pearce | FCD | 2 | 4 |
| Findley | RSL | 2 | 5 |
| Espinoza | KC | 2 | 5 |
| Boyens | RBNY | 2 | 5 |
| Final Roster submissions – June 1 | |||
| 5/29=last US Friendly before June 1 | |||
| 6/25 – End of WC Group Phase | |||
Getting Friendly
| This Week’s Friendlies | ||||
| Opponents | Venue | Date | Event | ATT |
| Boca Jrs v LA | Home Depot Center, LA, CA | Sun, May 23 | Friendly | 18,268 |
| Juventus v RBNY | Red Bull Arena, Harrison, NJ | Sun, May 23 | Friendly | 18,731 |
| Panathinaikos v Benfica | BMO Field, Toronto | Sun, May 23 | Friendly | 8,000 * |
| Fiorentina v Montreal Impact | Saputo Stadium, Montreal | Sun, May 23 | Friendly | 8,094 |
| Czech v Turkey | Red Bull Arena, Harrison, NJ | Sat, May 22 | Friendly | 16,371 |
| Paris St Germain v Chicago Legia Warsaw v Red Star Belgrade |
Toyota Park, Bridgeview, IL | Sat, May 22 | Chi Sister Cities Cup | 12,234 |
| Paris St Germain v Chicago Legia Warsaw v Red Star Belgrade |
Toyota Park, Bridgeview, IL | Wed, May 19 | Chi Sister Cities Cup | 9,254 |
| Benfica v NE | Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, MA | Wed, May 19 | Friendly | 12,735 |
| total | 103,687 | |||
| average | 12,961 | |||
* – approximate attendance grabbed from Portuguese report. – 6 friendlies scheduled for the upcoming week.
The MLS play-in matches for the Open are down to the final matches that will determine the teams that will join the top 6 league finishers in 2009. Seattle are the defending cup holders, and as such will compete in the 2010-11 CONCACAF Champions League. Two teams will emerge from the group of Colorado, RSL, DCU and RBNY to join the 6 that automatically qualified.
- Colorado Rapids defeated the Kansas City Wizards 2-1.
- Real Salt Lake beat the San Jose Earthquakes on PK’s 5-3 after playing to a 3-3 score.
- New York Red Bulls downed Philadelphia 2-1.
- DC United beat FC Dallas 4-2, the 2nd year in a row that DCU eliminates FCD.
- New York Red Bulls downed New England 3-0.
The structure for the tourney has been finalized. Round 1 begins June 15, Round 2 June 22, Round 3(when the 8 MLS teams join in) June 29.
In case you were wondering, here is the World Cup schedule(June 11-July 11). Note that the latest start time(ET) is 2pm.
0 Responses to Take Me Out to the Ballgame – Week 9
You almost have to have two different numbers, with Seattle and without, as I have shown in previous posts, the numbers are not going up at all outside of Seattle.
While the MLS is doing the smart thing by putting Seattle games early in the season when noone else draws, it is scewing attn. numbers like this big time.
Expect about 40k+ for the exihibition game on Wednesday versus LA drawing 18k on a Sunday.
Bizarre.
I think you should also pull out the RSL numbers. Since they won the Cup last year, their attendance is artificially inflated this year, and will return to normal next year.
Umm, I can only assume you are making fun of my post, as you are talking 4,500 people.
My point is, away the from the Sounders increase of 7k per game, the league is probably worse attendance than last year. It was only up about 300 people/game going into the week, maybe Houston saved the week.
Charles:
yeah, I’ve seen comments like that before, i.e. separating Seattle out. For me, that was interesting last year, but now, it is what it is.
Seattle is a terrific addition to the league, but they are a league member like all the others. They will, at least for the foreseeable future, always greatly outdraw all others, and that’s the way it is.
Double digit increases in Chicago, NJ, Houston and Salt Lake are a big positive, but the struggles in NE, Colorado and Dallas are troubling.
I don’t disagree with you, as Seattle are part of the league too and Vancouver might bring that average up next year, but I think it is easy right now to look at the Red Bulls up 55%, Chicago up big and think this is a better year for MLS overall.
IT IS NOT. Almost all of it is Seattle, a huge outlier in attendance, playing more games than anyone else this year and having their attendance capped too low last year.
Chicago had the Sister Cities Cup this weekend. Which does not compare with any event from last year. I attended the games Saturday night and for them sot part sat through some pretty boring soccer.
It appeared that many of the fire season ticket holders stayed away even though full season ticket holders where given the games. There was a large group of supporters from Belgrade Red Star. It looked like a good number of the group may have travel in for the game. It is hard to tell because of the large Serbian community in Chicago would fit right in with a traveling group from Belgrade. There where quite a few Polish fans their also but those seemed to be mostly from the large Chicago Polish community. There where few PSG supporters and they seemed local in origin.
It’s hard for me to see how the teams are making money on these friendlies when the crowds are so much bigger for league games. I think most fans are now smart enough to know that the cost of the games are such that it may not be worth the trip. However it was a wonder night weather wise.
Yeah. I think you will see a huge drop off in Seattle crowds for friendlies this year. Not just because the two announced names are not as big as last years, but also because I think the main every-day fans are way more interested in league, and otherwise counting, matches.
You will still see a fair number of tourists showing up for the friendlies, but for the STHs, I suspect the really big non-league matches will be USOC and CONCACAF
I think that Seattle sells out the Celtic game ( 67k ). They already announce the tickets sales for Wednesday. They were only 38k so far.
I hope the CCL game is part of the season ticket package, but if not, it will be interesting to see how many tickets sell. They announced the game WILL be at QWest.