The Week 16 numbers look like this…
| 5 year comparison | ||||||||
| Week 16 | 124 GP | YTD | ||||||
| Avg | +/- | GP | Avg | +/- | Avg | +/- | GP | |
| 2006 | 13,158 | 6 | 15,716 | 14,632 | 106 | |||
| 2007 | 12,473 | -5.21% | 4 | 15,377 | -2.15% | 15,043 | 2.81% | 107 |
| 2008 | 14,475 | 16.05% | 5 | 16,518 | 7.42% | 17,245 | 14.63% | 111 |
| 2009 | 16,142 | 11.51% | 6 | 15,435 | -6.56% | 15,562 | -9.76% | 118 |
| 2010 | 13,958 | -13.53% | 7 | 16,481 | 6.78% | 16,481 | 5.91% | 124 |
| YTD – 124 Games | ||||
| Average | Median | %<10K | %>20k | |
| 2006 | 15,716 | 13,036 | 22.58% | 18.55% |
| 2007 | 15,377 | 14,179 | 10.48% | 22.58% |
| 2008 | 16,518 | 15,274 | 11.29% | 25.81% |
| 2009 | 15,435 | 14,479 | 15.32% | 18.55% |
| 2010 | 16,481 | 14,355 | 8.87% | 21.77% |
Here are the attendance comparisons to 2009:
| MLS Attendance – Equal # of Home Games | |||||||
| 2009 | 2010 | ||||||
| Att | Cap % | Att | Att +/- | GP | Cap % | Cap | |
| Seattle | 29,715 | 91.71% | 36,140 | 21.62% | 9 | 101.80% | 35,500 |
| Philadelphia | NA | NA | 22,614 | NA | 5 | 85.99% | 18,500 |
| LA Galaxy | 19,298 | 71.47% | 20,687 | 7.20% | 7 | 76.62% | 27,000 |
| Toronto | 20,198 | 91.90% | 20,588 | 1.93% | 8 | 93.68% | 21,978 |
| Real Salt Lake | 16,045 | 76.46% | 16,277 | 1.45% | 8 | 84.16% | 19,340 |
| N.Y./N.J. Red Bulls | 11,385 | 45.20% | 16,277 | 42.97% | 8 | 64.62% | 25,189 |
| Houston | 15,632 | 69.48% | 16,003 | 2.37% | 9 | 71.12% | 22,500 |
| D.C. United | 15,193 | 67.53% | 14,949 | -1.61% | 9 | 66.44% | 22,500 |
| Chicago | 12,640 | 63.20% | 14,778 | 16.91% | 7 | 73.89% | 20,000 |
| ChivasUSA | 15,625 | 57.87% | 14,451 | -7.52% | 7 | 53.52% | 27,000 |
| Columbus Crew | 13,041 | 65.20% | 14,028 | 7.57% | 9 | 70.14% | 20,000 |
| Colorado Rapids | 13,045 | 72.13% | 13,589 | 4.17% | 7 | 75.14% | 18,086 |
| NE Revolution | 13,088 | 58.17% | 11,797 | -9.87% | 8 | 52.43% | 22,500 |
| FC Dallas | 8,679 | 40.95% | 11,231 | 29.41% | 8 | 52.99% | 21,193 |
| KC Wizards | 9,789 | 94.26% | 10,006 | 2.22% | 8 | 96.35% | 10,385 |
| San Jose | 11,774 | 56.32% | 9,515 | -19.19% | 7 | 92.38% | 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 week began in Columbus on Wednesday with a crowd of just over 11,300. On Thursday, DC United had a middling turnout of 13,700+. On the weekend, Columbus did 3,000 better than their midweek match. Colorado and Dallas had underwhelming crowds in big heat. Philadelphia had a good showing of 17,200+ but I was expecting sellouts for at least the first several home matches at PPL Park. DC United closed out the week with a good showing of over 17,600.
RSL has played 4 weekday(M-F) home games, more than any other team. Interestingly, their 4 weekday matches are averaging 16,944 while their 4 weekend matches are drawing 15,610. They played 6 home weekday matches in ’09 and 5 in ’08.
Rookie Watch: Teal Bunbury scored his first MLS goal for the Wizards. Andy Najar continues to look bright for DC United while Jordan Graye was exposed on defense a few times. Zach Schilawski scored for the Revs in the N.A. SuperLiga.
| Week 16 Games | ||
| Columbus | 0 | Columbus Dispatch – Crew XTra |
| Kansas City | 1 | Kansas City – Hillcrest Road |
| DC United | 0 | DCU – Steve Goff – Soccer Insider |
| Seattle | 1 | Seattle Times |
| Colorado | 1 | Undercurrent |
| Kansas City | 1 | Kansas City – Hillcrest Road |
| Philadelphia | 2 | Philadelphia Union Talk |
| Toronto | 1 | TFC Connected |
| Columbus | 2 | Columbus Dispatch – Crew XTra |
| RBNY | 0 | Red Bulls Reader |
| FC Dallas | 2 | 3rd Degree – Buzz Carrick |
| Real Salt Lake | 0 | RSL – Behind the Shield |
| DC United | 1 | DCU – Steve Goff – Soccer Insider |
| Los Angeles | 2 | LA – Official Blog |
| GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GFA | GAA | PPG | PTS | GD | |
| Los Angeles | 17 | 12 | 3 | 2 | 27 | 8 | 1.59 | 0.47 | 2.29 | 39 | 19 |
| Columbus | 16 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 22 | 13 | 1.38 | 0.81 | 1.94 | 31 | 9 |
| Real Salt Lake | 16 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 28 | 13 | 1.75 | 0.81 | 1.88 | 30 | 15 |
| NY Red Bull | 16 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 18 | 19 | 1.13 | 1.19 | 1.63 | 26 | -1 |
| Dallas | 15 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 19 | 13 | 1.27 | 0.87 | 1.67 | 25 | 6 |
| Colorado | 15 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 17 | 14 | 1.13 | 0.93 | 1.53 | 23 | 3 |
| San Jose | 14 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 18 | 16 | 1.29 | 1.14 | 1.57 | 22 | 2 |
| Toronto FC | 15 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 18 | 17 | 1.20 | 1.13 | 1.47 | 22 | 1 |
| Houston | 16 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 21 | 22 | 1.31 | 1.38 | 1.19 | 19 | -1 |
| Seattle | 17 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 18 | 24 | 1.06 | 1.41 | 1.12 | 19 | -6 |
| Chicago | 14 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 18 | 19 | 1.29 | 1.36 | 1.21 | 17 | -1 |
| Kansas City | 16 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 13 | 20 | 0.81 | 1.25 | 1.00 | 16 | -7 |
| Chivas USA | 15 | 4 | 2 | 9 | 17 | 21 | 1.13 | 1.40 | 0.93 | 14 | -4 |
| Philadelphia | 14 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 18 | 26 | 1.29 | 1.86 | 1.00 | 14 | -8 |
| New England | 15 | 4 | 2 | 9 | 15 | 26 | 1.00 | 1.73 | 0.93 | 14 | -11 |
| DC United | 17 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 12 | 28 | 0.71 | 1.65 | 0.71 | 12 | -16 |
Streaking
- RSL are unbeaten in their last 18 regular season home games.
- Houston are winless in their last 6 games.
- Dallas are unbeaten in their last 6 games.
- Dallas are also unbeaten in their last 6 road games.
- Toronto are unbeaten in their last 15 regular season home games(7 in ’09).
- Los Angeles are unbeaten in their last 10 regular season home games(3 in ’09).
MLS Throw Ins
- There have been 29 draws compared to 43 in ’09 thru the first 124 matches.
- There have been 79 clean sheets in the first 124 matches, counting scoreless draws as 2.
- Through 124 games: goal scoring is down around 5% from 2009, 2.41 vs 2.54.
- RSL has lost only twice in its last 37 home matches. They lost only once in ’08 and ’09, a feat matched by Houston.
N.A. SuperLiga
The participants in the 2010 N.A. SuperLiga and their respective finishes in the last completed season are …
| MLS | FMF | ||
| Houston | 3 | UNAM Pumas | 4 |
| Chicago | 5 | Monarchas Morelia | 7 |
| Chivas USA | 6 | Pachuca | 8 |
| New England | 7 | Puebla | 13 |
| N.A. SuperLiga | ||
| Chicago(1) v Monarchas Morelia(5) | Toyota Park, Bridgeview, IL | Wed, Jul 14 |
| New England(1) v Pumas UNAM(0) | Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, MA | Wed, Jul 14 |
| Houston(2) v Pachuca(1) | Robertson Stadium, Houston, TX | Thu, Jul 15 |
| ChivasUSA(1) v Puebla(2) | Home Depot Center, LA, CA | Thu, Jul 15 |
| Chicago(0) v New England(1) Morelia(2) v Pumas(2) | Toyota Park, Bridgeview, IL | Sat, Jul 17 |
| Houston(1) v Chivas USA(1) Pachuca(1) v Puebla(3) | Robertson Stadium, Houston, TX | Sun, Jul 18 |
| Chicago v Pumas | Toyota Park, Bridgeview, IL | Tue, Jul 20 |
| New England v Morelia | Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, MA | Tue, Jul 20 |
| Houston v Puebla | Robertson Stadium, Houston, TX | Wed, July 21 |
| ChivasUSA v Pachuca | Home Depot Center, LA, CA | Wed, July 21 |
| N.A. SuperLiga | |||||
| Group A | |||||
| W | D | L | Pts | GD | |
| New England | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 |
| Monarchas Morelia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| UNAM Pumas | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | -1 |
| Chicago | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | -5 |
| Group B | |||||
| W | D | L | Pts | GD | |
| Puebla | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 |
| Houston | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| Chivas USA | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | -1 |
| Pachuca | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | -4 |
Congestion Time
The time stretches below start and end with a full week(minimum) between games at the front and back end.
- In a 29 day stretch, Houston and ChivasUSA will play 9 games, between MLS, US Open Cup and SuperLiga.
- In a 24 day stretch, Chicago will play 7 games, between MLS, US Open Cup and SuperLiga.
- In a 24 day stretch, New England will play 6 games, between MLS, US Open Cup and SuperLiga.
In 4th round action, Columbus(MLS) defeated Charleston(USL-2), ChivasUSA(MLS) defeated Houston(MLS) and Seattle(MLS) defeated Los Angeles(MLS).
The winner will compete in the 2011-12 CONCACAF Champions League.
The last 4th round match (ET)
July 21
- 7:30pm Harrisburg City Islanders (USL-2) at D.C. United (MLS) Maryland SoccerPlex – Boyds, MD
In the semifinals, Columbus will play the winner of the DC United/Harrisburg match and Seattle will play ChivasUSA on Sept 1, 10 p.m. ET @ Starfire Sports Complex, Tukwila, WA.
The Lamar Hunt US Open Cup structure
| Summer of Soccer Attendances | ||||
| Opponents | Venue | Date | Event | Att |
| Houston v Chivas USA/Pachuca v Puebla | Robertson Stadium, Houston, TX | Sun, July 18 | SuperLiga | 5,007 |
| Celtic v Seattle | Qwest Field, Seattle, WA | Sun, July 18 | Friendly | 45,631 |
| Club America v San Luis | Cowboys Stadium, Dallas, TX | Sat, July 17 | Friendly | 27,061 |
| Bolton v Charleston | Blackbaud Stadium, Charleston, SC | Sat, July 17 | Friendly | 5,249 |
| Manchester City v Portland Timbers | Merlo Field, Portland, OR(cap 4892) | Sat, July 17 | Friendly | 5,018 |
| Tottenham v SJ | Buck Shaw Stadium, San Jose, CA | Sat, July 17 | Friendly | 10,712 |
| Chicago v NE/Morelia v Pumas | Toyota Park, Bridgeview, IL | Sat, July 17 | SuperLiga | 16,117 |
| Man U v Celtic | Rogers Centre, Toronto, CA | Fri, July 16 | Friendly | 39,139 |
| Houston v Pachuca | Robertson Stadium, Houston, TX | Thu, July 15 | SuperLiga | 10,400 |
| ChivasUSA v Puebla | Home Depot Center, LA, CA | Thu, July 15 | SuperLiga | 12,617 |
| Chicago v Monarchas Morelia | Toyota Park, Bridgeview, IL | Wed, July 14 | SuperLiga | 11,009 |
| NE v Pumas UNAM | Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, MA | Wed, July 14 | SuperLiga | 7,201 |
| Bolton v Charlotte | Transamerica Field, Charlotte, NC | Wed, July 14 | Friendly | 2,383 |
| Portsmouth v Club America | Qualcom Stadium, San Diego CA | Wed, July 14 | Friendly | 9,800 |
| Celtic v Philadelphia | PPL Park, Chester, PA | Wed, July 14 | Friendly | ??? |
| total | 207,344 | |||
| average | 13,822 | |||
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This is a tough one to understand. The weekly numbers appear down from last year and the average per game over last year seem only up by a small amount at this point. However, the crowds especially for the big named friendlies seem great. What am I missing other than I am reading this early in the morning?
I cannot find the attendance figure for the Union-Celtic match at PPL ANYWHERE!
I also cannot find up-to-date attendance projections/tickets sold for “Football At Fenway” match between Celtic and Sporting OR ticket sales for “New York Football Challenge”.
SOS (same old sh–) eplnfl,
A bunch of tools show up in Man U jerseys to watch “their team”
but won’t support soccer in this country.
I respect the Timber’s fans more than most cities, at least their friendlies draw less.
ps. I think the Sounders would draw close to 45k, but they cap it at 36k.
Toronto says they have the same situation, but I am skeptical, I just see sooo many empty seats at those games.
Have to agree Charles.We would like to see a lot of the people who show up for Man U., etc. attend a MLS game on a regular basis. However, Toronto always packs the place and Portland and Seattle. Now New York, Chicago, and LA are different stories.
Forgot to mention, the Charlotte, Charleston and Portland friendlies were played in small venues.
eplnfl: i have been preparing the numbers for the other WC years. I’m not surprised by this week. Big heat in some places.
But I think long time watchers would say …
Columbus, New England and Colorado simply haven’t been strong markets, regardless of the teams’ performances.
Don’t think a ChivasUSA move to San Diego would be the worst thing.
Wonder how many of the good DCU crowd bought their tix pre Beckham injury. Say what you want, but no one has had the influence on attendance that Becks has.
I can tell you that at Toyota Park you did not want to see in the sun! Boy was it hot. The fire game was the first game of the Superliga doubleheader and the fans in the sun where toasted. I moved to a cheaper but shaded seat just to get out of it.
However, I can’t really say I thought attendance was held down in Chicago at least by the heat. A good amount of the stadium was shaded even for the early game.
Have we heard anything on the D.C. stadium? I noticed that attendance is only down 1%. I saw a game there once and thought it was a great place for Soccer? Can RFK ever get a foothold and be turned into the great soccer venue that it can be?
Philadelphia had a good showing of 17,200+ but I was expecting sellouts for at least the first several home matches at PPL Park.
You and me both. I have to say, the Philly numbers have been a bit stunning to me. I don’t get it.
Well, I’ll be at the United game to cheer them on. I will never go to a mickeymouse league game after that, however. The league is shit, no matter how many Mexicans you guys sign. The EPL is where it’s at. I won’t be bothered to follow the usa domestic league. Not in this lifetime.
I will speak on most everyone’s behalf, so we don’t have a million messages.
Thank you for the boycott. You probably don’t live in Seattle and probably wouldn’t sit next to me, but that was a concern of mine, pre-boycott.
What a troll.
What a tool.
Sorry to pipe in here.
I really never understood this whole state of mind. Should people not watch basketball in Spain? Or baseball in Japan? I don’t have the money or time to book weekly flights to Heathrow. Obviously the EPL is a better league. That’s blatantly obvious.
Sorry I don’t want to be a poser and buy a Man U kit. I grew up in New York, not Manchester. I love going to Timbers games, and the play is still entertaining despite being nowhere near the quality of play in several European leagues. I support the team because I live in Portland and love the game of soccer. I mean fuck, grow some balls you pussy.
Dammit, where did the thumbs-up button go.
So you don’t watch your kids sports games? What about college sports? Local AAA-baseball, lower division hockey, basketball, football, etc? Didn’t ever go to your high school sports games growing up? Yes, you ONLY watch the best sports because anything less is trash. ManU’s players are born playing at the highest levels. They don’t develop, learn, or improve anywhere before making the first team. Makes perfect sense to me. By the way, where do you hail from? Just curious about your cultural sporting background.
PS. If ManU campaigned the EPL next season with the B team they brought here would you still support them even though they’d have 0 chance of winning the EPL? Figure, since ManU wouldn’t be the best, you’d probably want to support somebody wearing blue or something.
Maybe more people would attend MLS games if Dempsey, Altidore, Holden, Bradley, Adu, Edu, etc. played in the league instead of being used to raise money to buy 35 year old foreigners.
Oh, and they’re doing it wrong:
1. Half the league in MLS-1, the other half in MLS-2.
2. Play everyone twice in your league. Schedule a super high percentage of games Friday night because that’s the least busy sports date on calender. OWN FRIDAYS!
3. Pro/reg at the end of the spring season (Feb-May. VAN/POR/SEA/SJ are warm enough to host Feb day-games, and LA/HOU/DAL can host day/night games in Feb).
4. Play everyone twice in the fall season (JUN-SEPT if no WC/GC. JUL-OCT if those tournaments are played or US/CAN are in Confed Cup). Pro/reg for next year with MLS-1 1st place team declared “MLS Champions” and awarded Supporter’s Shield.
5. MLS Cup Tournament (games Tue-Fri to avoid football) with all MLS teams in Nov.
6. Stop awarding franchises. Instead adopt open pyramid, after ending single-entity, but restrict revenue sharing to old franchise owners until they’re reimbursed 100% of their investment plus interest for taking the risk on soccer.
7. Pro/reg with NASL/USL regional leagues (like Germany) before 2022 WC. New teams join lowest regional league then win their way up.
8. Ban debt unrelated to infrastructure (this is what ruined Leeds and Portsmouth NOT a lack of a salary-cap or the existence of pro/reg regardless of what Garber and Gutal tell you).
9. The salary-cap only applies to cash the *team* is legally obligated to pay players…
10. DPs don’t count against cap or roster limit.
11. USA/CAN players under contracts they signed before age 23 are DPs. Players under contracts they signed if they represented USA/CAN in at least 20% of senior A level matches the 2 years before signing their contracts are DPs, or 40% in the previous 3 years, or 60% in the previous 4 years.
11a. For foreign players the minimums are 40% previous 2 years, or 60% previous 3 years, or 80% previous 4.
12. ALL players who start 60+% of their pro teams’ senior league/cup matches in the last 2 years are DPs if they play in a league equal to, or better than, MLS-2. 80% if it’s a lower league.
13. Teams may buy/sell/trade DP status. This means LA could take DP status away from, say, Edson Buddle and sell the DP status to SEA while keeing Buddle.
My $0.02
Also, not sure how you are going to have your games on Fridays, but play during the days in the winter ?
Am I supposed to convince my boss my season tickets are more important ? Or is Seattle going to continue to draw 40k in the dark cold nights of Feb Fridays ?
Let me get this straight you want USL teams (promoted) to be signing National team members by 2022. Let me re-read this.
Yup, I got it right.
Sorry dude, I am optimistic about US Soccer, that ain’t happening by 2022.
I like the gist of not signing the Freddie Ljungberg’s of the world, if the Sounders had spent the money ($1.3 million/year ) on Demerit, they would be in the playoffs right now, instead of praying it might happen.