The Week 27 numbers look like this…

  5 year comparison
  Week 27 Thru Week 27  YTD
   Avg  +/-  GP  Avg  +/-  GP
 2006   18,083     6   15,116     180 
 2007   18,241   0.87%   7   16,593   9.77%   181 
 2008   15,291   -16.17%   7   16,946   2.13%   181 
 2009   16,844   10.15%   7   15,748   -7.07%   190 
 2010   17,636   4.70%   10   16,569   5.22%   214 
YTD
   Average  Median  %<10K  %>20k
 2006   15,223   13,585   20.00%   17.22% 
 2007   16,544   15,033   8.29%   27.07% 
 2008   16,403   15,038   11.05%   24.86% 
 2009   15,752   14,525   15.26%   18.95% 
 2010   16,569   15,050   7.94%   22.43% 

Here are the attendance comparisons to 2009:

MLS Attendance – Equal # of Home Games
  2009 2010  
  Att Cap % Att Att +/- GP Cap % Cap
 Seattle  30,739   94.87%   36,160   17.64%   14   101.86%   35,500 
 LA Galaxy  19,812   73.38%   20,735   4.66%   13   76.80%   27,000 
 Toronto  20,308   92.40%   20,622   1.55%   14   93.83%   21,978 
 Philadelphia NA NA  19,341  NA  13   89.96%   18,500 
 N.Y./N.J. Red Bulls  11,929   47.36%   18,455   54.71%   13   73.27%   25,189 
 Real Salt Lake  16,211   79.94%   16,870   4.07%   14   87.23%   19,340 
 Houston  16,107   71.59%   16,860   4.67%   13   74.93%   22,500 
 Chicago  14,113   70.56%   15,901   12.67%   12   79.50%   20,000 
 ChivasUSA  15,349   56.85%   14,721   -4.09%   13   54.52%   27,000 
 Columbus Crew  14,279   71.39%   14,330   0.36%   14   71.65%   20,000 
 D.C. United  15,452   68.67%   14,237   -7.86%   13   63.28%   22,500 
 Colorado Rapids  12,031   66.52%   13,014   8.18%   14   71.96%   18,086 
 NE Revolution  13,422   59.65%   12,607   -6.07%   14   56.03%   22,500 
 FC Dallas  12,241   57.76%   10,865   -11.24%   14   51.27%   21,193 
 KC Wizards  10,022   96.50%   10,097   0.76%   13   97.23%   10,385 
 San Jose  14,782   92.33%   9,589   -35.13%   13   93.10%   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.

  • Philly’s first two home games were played at Lincoln Financial Field. The announced capacity for the Union was published as 38,000 and will be calculated as such.
  • San Jose’s 4th match in 2009 was at Oakland Alameda Coliseum and drew over 15,800. Their 7th match was also at OAC and they drew over 17,100. Their 11th was part of a doubleheader with Barcelona and drew over 61,500.

    Observations

    Colorado had a mostly invisible 10,100+ for its midweek game. San Jose drew over 9,800+ midweek. Seattle had its usual 36,000+. The Union pulled in 16,100+. That’s OK, but I was expecting Philadelphia to have close to sellouts in its new home. Columbus had 10,800+ show up in the rain. A surprising 18,100+ were at Gillette for the Revs. Does this mean that RSL is a draw? Almost 24,800 saw the Red Bulls take over first place in the East. Streaking Dallas can’t draw no matter how well they do, as only 10,615 were at PHP. No comments about the Texas/Oklahoma football game please. Colorado had 15,400+ come out, it’s 4th largest gate. Chivas USA easily had it largest crowd, over 24,200 for the Galaxy match.

    With his next goal, Jeff Cunningham will become MLS’s all time leading goal scorer, surpassing Jaime Moreno.

    Rookie Watch: Jack McInerney scored for the Union. Steve Kinney broke Chicago’s 400 minutes scoreless string with his first MLS goal. Andy Najar assisted on DC United’s game winner vs Colorado.

    Week 27 Games
     
    Colorado 4 Undercurrent
    Philadelphia 1 Philadelphia Union Talk
     
    San Jose 0 San Jose Center Line Soccer
    Chicago 3 Chicago Fire Confidential
     
    Seattle 3 Seattle Times
    Toronto 2 TFC Connected
     
    Philadelphia 1 Philadelphia Union Talk
    Houston 1 Soccer y Fútbol – Jose de Jesus Ortiz
     
    Columbus 0 Columbus Dispatch – Crew XTra
    San Jose 0 San Jose Center Line Soccer
     
    New England 1 Revolution Soccer
    Real Salt Lake 2 RSL – Behind the Shield
     
    RBNY 1 Red Bulls Reader
    Kansas City 0 Kansas City – Hillcrest Road
     
    FC Dallas 3 3rd Degree – Buzz Carrick
    Chicago 0 Chicago Fire Confidential
     
    Colorado 0 Undercurrent
    DC United 1 DCU – Steve Goff – Soccer Insider
     
    Chivas USA 1 Chicago Fire Confidential
    Los Angeles 2 LA – Official Blog
       GP  W  D  L  GF  GA  GFA  GAA  PPG  PTS  GD
     Los Angeles  27   16   5   6   40   22   1.48   0.81   1.96   53   18 
     Real Salt Lake  27   14   9   4   41   18   1.52   0.67   1.89   51   23 
     Dallas  27   12   13   2   39   22   1.44   0.81   1.81   49   17 
     NY Red Bull  27   14   5   8   35   27   1.30   1.00   1.74   47   8 
     Columbus  27   13   7   7   35   29   1.30   1.07   1.70   46   6 
     Seattle  27   12   6   9   34   31   1.26   1.15   1.56   42   3 
     Colorado  27   11   8   8   37   27   1.37   1.00   1.52   41   10 
     San Jose  26   11   7   8   28   28   1.08   1.08   1.54   40   0 
     Kansas City  26   9   6   11   29   31   1.12   1.19   1.27   33   -2 
     Toronto FC  27   8   7   12   28   34   1.04   1.26   1.15   31   -6 
     Chicago  26   7   8   11   31   35   1.19   1.35   1.12   29   -4 
     Philadelphia  27   7   7   13   32   44   1.19   1.63   1.04   28   -12 
     Houston  27   7   6   14   36   46   1.33   1.70   1.00   27   -10 
     New England  27   7   5   15   29   47   1.07   1.74   0.96   26   -18 
     Chivas USA  26   7   4   15   26   36   1.00   1.38   0.96   25   -10 
     DC United  27   6   3   18   19   42   0.70   1.56   0.78   21   -23 

    Columbus faded from the Supporters’ Shield race by winning just once in its last 6 league matches(scoreless in their last 3 home games). Seattle has overcome its slow start and lost only once in 12 league matches. Toronto, which started the season undefeated in its first 10 home games, has lost 3 and drawn 1 in its last 4 at BMO. Colorado had a chance to clinch its first playoff spot since ’06, but lost to league bottom dwellers DC United at home. While they appear safe to make the playoffs, it must be causing some anxiety as they missed the ’08 playoffs by 1 point and draw on closing day and by tiebreaker in ’09 with a loss on closing day. Kansas City has shown they are not quite ready for prime time, losing to the Red Bulls and Dallas in their last two, and squandering their games in hand over the teams they are chasing for a playoff spot.

    Streaking

    • RSL are unbeaten in their last 24 regular season home games, an MLS record.
    • Dallas are unbeaten in their last 18 games, a single season MLS record.
    • Dallas are also unbeaten in their last 11 road games, an MLS record.
    • New England are winless in their last 11 road games.

    MLS Throw Ins

    • There have been 53 draws compared to 66 in ’09 thru the first 214 matches.
    • There have been 133 clean sheets in the first 214 matches, counting scoreless draws as 2.
    • Through 214 games: goal scoring is down around 3.2% from 2009, 2.43 vs 2.50.
    • RSL has lost only twice in its last 44 home league matches. They lost only once in ’08 and ’09, a feat matched by Houston.
    • DC United have yielded 17 goals in the last 15 minutes of games.
    • The Philadelphia Union are the best in not allowing late goals(as a percentage of total goals allowed). Interestingly, the are also the best at scoring late goals.

    CONCACAF Champions League

    RSL are thru to the quarterfinals. Columbus controls its own destiny and a win at Joe Public will send them thru. Toronto and Seattle are eliminated. Seattle or Columbus could assure its place in next year’s CCL with a win in the US Open Cup final this week.

    • Aug 17 — Toronto 2 Cruz Azul 1
    • Aug 18 — Columbus 1 Municipal 0
    • Aug 18 — Real Salt Lake 2 Arabe Unido 1
    • Aug 19 — Marathón 2 Seattle 1
    • Aug 24 – Arabe Unido 1 Toronto 0
    • Aug 24 – Santos Laguna 1 Columbus 0
    • Aug 25 – Cruz Azul 5 Real Salt Lake 4
    • Aug 25 – Seattle 0 Monterrey 2
    • Aug 19 – Marathón v Seattle–>
    • Sep 14 — Columbus 3 Joe Public 0
    • Sep 14 — Saprissa 2 Seattle 0
    • Sep 15 — Real Salt Lake 4 Toronto 1
    • Sep 21 — Columbus 1 Santos Laguna 0
    • Sep 21 — Cruz Azul 0 Toronto 0
    • Sep 22 — Arabe Unido 2 Real Salt Lake 3
    • Sep 22 — Monterrey 3 Seattle 2
    • Sep 28 — Toronto 1 RSL 1
    • Sep 29 — Municipal 2 Columbus 1
    • Sep 29 — Seattle 2 Marathón 0
    • Oct 19 — Toronto v Arabe Unido
    • Oct 19 — RSL v Cruz Azul
    • Oct 19 — Seattle v Saprissa
    • Oct 21 — Joe Public v Columbus
    CONCACAF Champions League
     A w d l pts gd
     Cruz Azul(MEX)  3   1   1   10   8 
     RSL(USA)  3   1   1   10   5 
     Toronto(CAN)  1   2   2   5   -4 
     Arabe Unido(PAN)  1   0   4   3   -9 
               
     B          
     Santos Laguna(MEX)  3   1   1   10   7 
     Columbus(USA)  3   0   2   9   3 
     Municipal(GUA)  2   2   1   8   1 
     Joe Public(T&T)  0   1   4   1   -11 
               
     C          
     Monterrey(MEX)  4   1   0   13   6 
     Saprissa(CRC)  2   1   2   7   3 
     Marathon(HON)  2   0   3   6   -5 
     Seattle(USA)  1   0   4   3   -4 
               
     D          
     Olimpia(HON)  3   1   1   10   2 
     Puerto Rico(CFU)  2   2   1   8   1 
     Toluca(MEX)  2   1   2   7   5 
     FAS(SLV)  0   2   3   2   -8 
    CONCACAF Champions League Group Phase
     Group A Arabe Unido RSL Cruz Azul Toronto Home
     Arabe Unido(PAN) X 500 2,975 501 1,325
     RSL(USA) 10,626 X NP 11,579 11,103
     Cruz Azul(MEX) 5,015 6,156 X 5,280 5,484
     Toronto(CAN) NP 10,581 16,862 X 13,722
     Away 7,821 5,746 9,919 5,787
     Group B Columbus Municipal Santos Laguna Joe Public Home
     Columbus(USA) X 5,745 6,298 5,445 5,829
     Municipal(GUA) 3,534 X 10,414 2,498 5,482
     Santos Laguna(MEX) 4,700 NP X 7,000 5,850
     Joe Public(T&T) 900 500 NP X 700
     Away 3,045 3,123 8,356 4,981
     Group C Monterrey Saprissa Seattle Marathon Home
     Monterrey(MEX) X 12,042 19,697 9,628 13,789
     Saprissa(CRC) 1,635 X 3,000 2,899 2,511
     Seattle(USA) 22,513 NP X 11,768 17,141
     Marathon(HON) NP 1,820 1,990 X 1,905
     Away 12,074 6,931 8,229 8,098
     Group D Toluca Olimpia Puerto Rico FAS Home
     Toluca(MEX) X NA 5,165 NP 5,165
     Olimpia(HON) 4,654 X NP 9,200 6,927
     Puerto Rico(CFU) 4,122 2,632 X 2,050 2,935
     FAS(SLV) 3,500 1,000 3,500 X 2,667
     Away 4,092 1,816 4,333 5,625
      No Report on the Toluca/Olimpia match

    Lamar Hunt US Open Cup

    The winner will compete in the 2011-12 CONCACAF Champions League.

    In the semifinals, Columbus defeated DC United and Seattle beat ChivasUSA. Seattle, the defending champion, will host the final at Qwest Field on Tuesday, October 5.

    The Lamar Hunt US Open Cup structure