After week 22 the numbers look like this…
5 year comparison | ||||||||
WK 22 | 155 GP | YTD | ||||||
Avg | +/- | GP | Avg | +/- | Avg | +/- | GP | |
2005 | 15,573 | 4 | 14,897 | 14,844 | 144 | |||
2006 | 13,932 | -10.54% | 6 | 15,263 | 2.46% | 15,361 | 3.48% | 143 |
2007 | 16,209 | 16.34% | 6 | 16,022 | 4.97% | 16,005 | 4.19% | 144 |
2008 | 15,294 | -5.64% | 9 | 16,423 | 2.50% | 16,875 | 5.44% | 148 |
2009 | 16,236 | 6.16% | 6 | 15,764 | -4.02% | 15,764 | -6.58% | 155 |
Here are the attendance comparisons to 2008’s equal number of home games(155):
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 | 20,147 | 91.67% | 20,308 | 0.80% | 12 | 92.40% | 21,978 |
LA Galaxy | 25,513 | 94.49% | 19,379 | -24.04% | 10 | 71.78% | 27,000 |
Real Salt Lake | 14,855 | 72.34% | 16,213 | 9.14% | 11 | 74.80% | 19,340 |
ChivasUSA | 14,286 | 52.91% | 16,211 | 13.48% | 9 | 60.04% | 27,000 |
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 | 13,569 | 67.84% | 13,660 | 0.67% | 11 | 68.30% | 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 | 16,759 | 66.53% | 12,487 | -25.49% | 10 | 49.57% | 25,189 |
KC Wizards | 9,619 | 92.62% | 10,019 | 4.16% | 10 | 96.47% | 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 22 games drew a very respectable 16,236, over 6% higher than the corresponding period last year. Columbus’ top crowd of the year were treated to the Crew remaining undefeated at home. RBNY, not unexpectedly, drew under 10,600 as they lost again to visiting Chivas USA. The surprise to me was the 20,162 at the Home Depot Center. With Becks, Donovan and Ljungberg on the pregame menu, I would have expected a near sellout.
This weekend marked the first MLS home game for the Galaxy with Beckham in the squad. Becks proceeded to get red carded in the 17th minute. 5 minutes later Seattle ended their scoring drought of over 330 minutes. Good thing this wasn’t the national TV game with Ljungberg and Donovan on the bench(until the 2nd half) and Becks carded so early.
Last week I posted the Beckham ‘away game’ effect. With one game played at home in 2009, here is the statistically irrelevant ‘home game’ effect table.
Beckham Home Game Effect | |||||||
With | Without(9) | With(1) | |||||
2008 | 2009 | +/- | +/- | ||||
Att | 228,132 | 173,632 | -54,500 | -23.89% | 20,162 | N/A | -20.46% |
Avg | 25,348 | 19,292 | -6,056 | 20,162 | -5,186 |
YTD – 155 Games | ||||
Average | Median | %<10K | %>20k | |
2005 | 14,897 | 12,311 | 30.13% | 16.03% |
2006 | 15,263 | 13,056 | 21.29% | 16.77% |
2007 | 16,022 | 14,640 | 9.68% | 23.23% |
2008 | 16,423 | 15,118 | 11.61% | 25.16% |
2009 | 15,764 | 14,516 | 14.84% | 19.35% |
Week 22 Games | ||
Toronto | 2 | TFC Connected |
DC United | 0 | DCU – Steve Goff – Soccer Insider |
RBNY | 0 | Red Bulls Reader |
Chivas USA | 2 | Chivas USA – MLSNet |
Columbus | 2 | Columbus Dispatch – Crew XTra |
FC Dallas | 0 | 3rd Degree – Buzz Carrick |
Real Salt Lake | 0 | RSL – Behind the Shield |
Houston | 0 | Soccer y Fútbol – Barnard Fallas |
Los Angeles | 0 | LA – Official Blog |
Seattle | 2 | Seattle Times |
Kansas City | 0 | Kansas City – Hillcrest Road |
Chicago | 2 | Chicago – En Fuego Official Blog |
Week 22 Weird Factoid
Every game ended with a clean sheet. One game, RSL/Houston, was a double clean sheet match.
Streaking
- Columbus is unbeaten in 8.
- FC Dallas has won 4 straight at home.
- DCU has not won on the road(9 matches).
- KC has no wins in its last 5.
- RBNY hasn’t won in 13.
- San Jose and RBNY are winless on the road.Just Some Stuff
The CONCACAF Champions League group phase begins this week. DC United, Houston and Columbus will be representing MLS in the regional club championship. RBNY and Toronto FC were eliminated in the preliminaries.
CONCACAF Champions League Aug 18-19 Aug 26 Group Game 1 Group Game 2 DCU and Columbus play Aug 18, 26 Houston plays Aug 19, 26 =====
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.
Just because I liked it… an article about a fan experience at an MLS match.
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