The Week 28 numbers look like this…

  5 year comparison
  Week 28 Thru Week 28  YTD
   Avg  +/-  GP  Avg  +/-  GP
 2006   19,097     6   15,348     186 
 2007   19,419   1.68%   6   16,636   8.39%   187 
 2008   16,219   -16.48%   7   16,396   -1.44%   188 
 2009   13,381   -17.50%   8   15,656   -4.51%   198 
 2010   15,013   12.20%   8   16,513   5.47%   222 
Thru Week 28
   Average  Median  %<10K  %>20k
 2006   15,348   13,866   19.35%   18.82% 
 2007   16,636   15,059   8.56%   28.34% 
 2008   16,396   15,037   11.17%   25.00% 
 2009   15,656   14,479   16.16%   18.69% 
 2010   16,513   15,050   7.66%   22.07% 

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  20,324   92.47%   20,622   1.47%   14   93.83%   21,978 
 Philadelphia NA NA  19,301  NA  14   90.67%   18,500 
 N.Y./N.J. Red Bulls  11,861   47.09%   18,625   57.03%   14   73.94%   25,189 
 Real Salt Lake  16,211   79.94%   16,870   4.07%   14   87.23%   19,340 
 Houston  16,160   71.82%   16,833   4.16%   14   74.81%   22,500 
 Chicago  14,300   71.50%   15,841   10.77%   13   79.20%   20,000 
 ChivasUSA  15,132   56.05%   14,557   -3.80%   14   53.92%   27,000 
 Columbus Crew  14,279   71.39%   14,330   0.36%   14   71.65%   20,000 
 D.C. United  16,075   71.44%   14,279   -11.17%   14   63.46%   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  12,441   58.70%   10,815   -13.07%   15   51.03%   21,193 
 KC Wizards  10,030   96.58%   10,199   1.69%   14   98.21%   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.
  • FC Dallas’ 14th home match in 2009 was part of a doubleheader(Mexico v Colombia), played at the Cotton Bowl, drawing over 51,000.

    Observations

    Philadelphia drew its biggest crowd of the year at PPL for the Gals visit. The Fire pulled in 15,100+ for a Friday night tilt. A good, but still disappointing 20,800+ in Harrison for a visit by RSL. In Dallas, well, it’s Dallas. Just over 10,100 saw FCD break the single season record for games without a loss. Mmmm, I know the 5th largest city in the country, with no pro soccer team at any level, would welcome a struggling team. A pretty good crowd in DC, considering the season they’re having, 14,800+. Kansas City drew standing room only, 11,500+. Chivas USA had 12,400+ for its meaningless match vs TFC. A terrific count of nearly 16,500 for a Sunday evening match in Houston, showing what a good soccer town it is.

    Rookie Watch: No rookie scorers this week. Of the games I watched, only Tim Ream’s performance for RBNY stood out in my mind. Michael Stephens started out strong for LA but seemed to fade as the match vs Philadelphia wore on. Feel free to express your rookie observations in the comment section.

    Week 28 Games
     
    Philadelphia 0 Philadelphia Union Talk 18,779
    Los Angeles 1 LA – Official Blog
     
    Chicago 2 Chicago Fire Confidential 15,124
    Columbus 0 Columbus Dispatch – Crew XTra
     
    RBNY 0 Red Bulls Reader 20,829
    Real Salt Lake 0 RSL – Behind the Shield
     
    FC Dallas 2 3rd Degree – Buzz Carrick 10,119
    Colorado 2 Undercurrent
     
    DC United 0 DCU – Steve Goff – Soccer Insider 14,822
    San Jose 2 San Jose Center Line Soccer
     
    Kansas City 1 Kansas City – Hillcrest Road 11,522
    Seattle 2 Seattle Times
     
    Chivas USA 3 Chicago Fire Confidential 12,426
    Toronto 0 TFC Connected
     
    Houston 1 Soccer y Fútbol – Jose de Jesus Ortiz 16,479
    New England 2 Revolution Soccer
       GP  W  D  L  GF  GA  GFA  GAA  PPG  PTS  GD
     Los Angeles  28   17   5   6   41   22   1.46   0.79   2.00   56   19 
     Real Salt Lake  28   14   10   4   41   18   1.46   0.64   1.86   52   23 
     Dallas  28   12   14   2   41   24   1.46   0.86   1.79   50   17 
     NY Red Bull  28   14   6   8   35   27   1.25   0.96   1.71   48   8 
     Columbus  28   13   7   8   35   31   1.25   1.11   1.64   46   4 
     Seattle  28   13   6   9   36   32   1.29   1.14   1.61   45   4 
     San Jose  27   12   7   8   30   28   1.11   1.04   1.59   43   2 
     Colorado  28   11   9   8   39   29   1.39   1.04   1.50   42   10 
     Kansas City  27   9   6   12   30   33   1.11   1.22   1.22   33   -3 
     Chicago  27   8   8   11   33   35   1.22   1.30   1.19   32   -2 
     Toronto FC  28   8   7   13   28   37   1.00   1.32   1.11   31   -9 
     New England  28   8   5   15   31   48   1.11   1.71   1.04   29   -17 
     Chivas USA  27   8   4   15   29   36   1.07   1.33   1.04   28   -7 
     Philadelphia  28   7   7   14   32   45   1.14   1.61   1.00   28   -13 
     Houston  28   7   6   15   37   48   1.32   1.71   0.96   27   -11 
     DC United  28   6   3   19   19   44   0.68   1.57   0.75   21   -25 

    Columbus and RBNY were officially eliminated from the Supporters’ Shield chase this week. At the other end of the playoff table, KC is the only team with a mathematical chance of crashing the party. All that needs to happen is for them to win their remaining three matches(@CHI, @NE, SJ) and the Rapids to lose their last two games(@LA, RSL).

    Streaking

    • RSL are unbeaten in their last 24 regular season home games, an MLS record.
    • Dallas are unbeaten in their last 19 games, a single season MLS record.
    • Dallas are also unbeaten in their last 11 road games, an MLS record.

    MLS Throw Ins

    • There have been 55 draws compared to 69 in ’09 thru the first 222 matches.
    • There have been 139 clean sheets in the first 222 matches, counting scoreless draws as 2.
    • Through 222 games: goal scoring is down around 4.3% from 2009, 2.42 vs 2.53.
    • RSL has lost only twice in its last 44 home league matches.
    • Houston lost only one home game in ’08 and in ’09. They’ve lost 6 at home this year.
    • DC United have yielded 17 goals in the last 15 minutes of games.
    • DC United set a MLS record, being shut out 16 times in one season.
    • 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

    Seattle defends the Cup, defeating Columbus and securing a berth in the 2011-12 CONCACAF Champions League.

    The Lamar Hunt US Open Cup structure

    MLS Home/Away Attendance(reader request)

     2010 HOME GAMES ROAD GAMES
    GP  TOTAL   AVG  GP  TOTAL   AVG 
     Chicago Fire  13   205,930   15,841   14   238,229   17,016 
     Chivas USA  14   203,804   14,557   13   188,254   14,481 
     Colorado Rapids  14   182,200   13,014   14   226,049   16,146 
     Columbus Crew  14   200,622   14,330   14   213,477   15,248 
     D.C. United  14   199,907   14,279   14   256,494   18,321 
     FC Dallas  15   162,229   10,815   13   205,027   15,771 
     Houston Dynamo  14   235,655   16,833   14   210,887   15,063 
     Kansas City Wizards  14   142,788   10,199   13   225,391   17,338 
     Los Angeles Galaxy  13   269,559   20,735   15   277,839   18,523 
     New England Revolution  14   176,504   12,607   14   231,058   16,504 
     New York Red Bulls  14   260,750   18,625   14   254,851   18,204 
     Philadelphia Union  14   270,207   19,301   14   209,132   14,938 
     Real Salt Lake  14   236,182   16,870   14   244,681   17,477 
     San Jose Earthquakes  13   124,656   9,589   14   245,032   17,502 
     Seattle  14   506,244   36,160   14   225,870   16,134 
     Toronto FC  14   288,711   20,622   14   213,677   15,263