The Week 21 numbers look like this…

  5 year comparison
  Week 21 162 GP YTD
  Avg +/- GP Avg +/- Avg +/- GP
 2006   14,771     9   15,093     15,424     137 
 2007   17,381   17.67%   9   16,134   6.90%   15,996   3.71%   138 
 2008   15,625   -10.11%   7   16,409   1.70%   17,149   7.21%   139 
 2009   23,667   51.47%   6   15,819   -3.59%   16,572   -3.37%   149 
 2010   14,347   -39.38%   8   16,500   4.31%   16,500   -0.44%   162 
YTD – 162 Games
  Average Median %<10K %>20k
 2006    15,093     12,979    21.60%   16.67% 
 2007    16,134     14,680    9.26%   24.69% 
 2008    16,409     15,188    11.73%   24.69% 
 2009    15,819     14,525    15.43%   19.75% 
 2010    16,500     14,384    8.02%   21.60% 

Here are the attendance comparisons to 2009:

MLS Attendance – Equal # of Home Games
  2009 2010  
  Att Cap % Att Att +/- GP Cap % Cap
 Seattle  30,204   93.22%   36,155   19.70%   11   101.84%   35,500 
 Toronto  20,220   92.00%   20,655   2.15%   11   93.98%   21,978 
 Philadelphia NA NA  20,343  NA  9   89.09%   18,500 
 LA Galaxy  19,292   71.45%   20,319   5.32%   9   75.26%   27,000 
 N.Y./N.J. Red Bulls  12,487   49.57%   17,425   39.54%   10   69.18%   25,189 
 Houston  15,836   70.38%   17,061   7.74%   11   75.83%   22,500 
 Real Salt Lake  16,213   78.95%   16,755   3.35%   11   86.64%   19,340 
 Chicago  13,027   65.13%   15,486   18.87%   9   77.43%   20,000 
 D.C. United  15,173   67.44%   14,471   -4.63%   11   64.32%   22,500 
 ChivasUSA  16,211   60.04%   14,268   -11.99%   9   52.84%   27,000 
 Columbus Crew  13,660   68.30%   14,173   3.76%   11   70.87%   20,000 
 Colorado Rapids  12,918   71.42%   13,158   1.86%   9   72.75%   18,086 
 NE Revolution  14,188   63.06%   11,814   -16.73%   10   52.51%   22,500 
 FC Dallas  9,407   44.39%   10,889   15.75%   10   51.38%   21,193 
 KC Wizards  10,010   96.39%   10,109   0.99%   11   97.34%   10,385 
 San Jose  11,104   62.65%   9,638   -13.21%   10   93.57%   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.

    Observations

    Chicago had a fair crowd of 14,000+ for its midweek tilt v the Revs. A record crowd in Toronto saw their 17 game home unbeaten streak come to an end. San Jose also set an attendance record(at Buck Shaw) as they beat the Galaxy. What looked like another drab turnout at Crew Stadium was reported at 16,000+. A typical soft showing in Dallas, despite the club’s success. A full house in Kansas City. Can’t wait to see how they draw in their new stadium next year. Almost 19,000 saw a thrilling match in Houston. A little over 12,100 came out in rain soaked DC to see their first win in 2 months.

    Regardless of how well San Jose and the Wizards did at the gate, when you have home games in Columbus, Dallas, San Jose and Kansas City in the same week, it’s a real numbers buster.

    Rookie Watch: Tony Tchani got his first assist in MLS. Need some help from readers for other outstanding rookie performances.

    Joel Lindpere, on my preseason ‘watch list'(bottom of post) had a good game for RBNY v TFC. Kei Kamara scored and had 2 assists for the Wizards, while Ryan Smith got his 8th assist for KC.

    Week 21 Games
     
    Chicago 2 Chicago Fire Confidential
    New England 1 Revolution Soccer
     
    Toronto 1 TFC Connected
    RBNY 4 Red Bulls Reader
     
    San Jose 1 San Jose Center Line Soccer
    Los Angeles 0 LA – Official Blog
     
    Columbus 3 Columbus Dispatch – Crew XTra
    Colorado 1 Undercurrent
     
    FC Dallas 1 3rd Degree – Buzz Carrick
    Chivas USA 0 Chicago Fire Confidential
     
    Kansas City 4 Kansas City – Hillcrest Road
    New England 1 Revolution Soccer
     
    Houston 4 Soccer y Fútbol – Jose de Jesus Ortiz
    Chicago 3 Chicago Fire Confidential
     
    DC United 2 DCU – Steve Goff – Soccer Insider
    Philadelphia 0 Philadelphia Union Talk
       GP  W  D  L  GF  GA  GFA  GAA  PPG  PTS  GD
     Los Angeles  21   13   4   4   32   14   1.52   0.67   2.05   43   18 
     Columbus  21   12   4   5   31   20   1.48   0.95   1.90   40   11 
     Real Salt Lake  21   11   6   4   36   16   1.71   0.76   1.86   39   20 
     Dallas  20   9   9   2   28   17   1.40   0.85   1.80   36   11 
     NY Red Bull  21   10   4   7   25   23   1.19   1.10   1.62   34   2 
     San Jose  19   8   5   6   22   20   1.16   1.05   1.53   29   2 
     Seattle  21   8   5   8   23   25   1.10   1.19   1.38   29   -2 
     Colorado  20   7   7   6   22   21   1.10   1.05   1.40   28   1 
     Toronto FC  20   7   5   8   22   25   1.10   1.25   1.30   26   -3 
     Chicago  18   6   6   6   26   26   1.44   1.44   1.33   24   0 
     Kansas City  20   6   5   9   19   23   0.95   1.15   1.15   23   -4 
     Houston  21   6   5   10   27   33   1.29   1.57   1.10   23   -6 
     New England  20   6   3   11   20   33   1.00   1.65   1.05   21   -13 
     Chivas USA  20   5   4   11   22   26   1.10   1.30   0.95   19   -4 
     Philadelphia  20   4   5   11   23   36   1.15   1.80   0.85   17   -13 
     DC United  21   4   3   14   15   35   0.71   1.67   0.71   15   -20 

    Well, we’re now in the stretch run for the playoffs and the Supporters’ Shield. Dallas could put themselves into the thick of it with a win over Columbus next week. San Jose could solidify its playoff position by winning its game in hand. They next play RBNY. Chicago seems to be in the best position to bump a team out of the playoffs as it has 2(or 3) games in hand over the teams that are ahead of them. They meet Seattle next weekend, with Seattle coming off a midweek Champions League match. Alas, my Philadelphia Union, on the heels of their loss in DC and taking only 3 points from their last 4 home matches will not duplicate expansion Seattle of last year by making the playoffs. By the way, did you notice there were no draws this week.

    Streaking

    • RSL are unbeaten in their last 21 regular season home games.
    • Dallas are unbeaten in their last 11 games.
    • Dallas are also unbeaten in their last 9 road games.
    • Colorado are unbeaten in their last 6 home games.

    MLS Throw Ins

    • LA is the only club to have earned more than 50% of its points on the road.
    • There have been 40 draws compared to 50 in ’09 thru the first 162 matches.
    • There have been 98 clean sheets in the first 162 matches, counting scoreless draws as 2.
    • Through 162 games: goal scoring is down around 5.5% from 2009, 2.43 vs 2.57.
    • RSL has lost only twice in its last 40 home matches. They lost only once in ’08 and ’09, a feat matched by Houston.
    • DC United have yielded 14 goals in the last 15 minutes.
    • Dallas have not given up more than 1 goal since April 22.
    • San Jose has gone from one the worst allowing late goals in ’09 to the stingiest in ’10(as a percentage of total goals allowed).

    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
    Group A
      W D L Pts GD
     Houston  2   1   0   7   2 
     Puebla  2   0   1   6   2 
     Chivas USA  1   1   1   4   0 
     Pachuca  0   0   3   0   -5 
    Group B
      W D L Pts GD
     New England  3   0   0   9   3 
     Monarchas Morelia  1   1   1   4   3 
     Chicago  1   0   2   3   -4 
     UNAM Pumas  0   1   2   1   -2 
    N.A. SuperLiga Semifinals
     New England(1)(5) v Puebla(1)(3)  Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, MA  Wed, Aug 4
     Houston(0) v Morelia(1)  Robertson Stadium, Houston, TX  Thu, Aug 5
    SuperLiga after Semifinals
      Total Game Dates Average
    2007  234,751   14   16,768 
    2008  186,148   14   13,296 
    2009  86,948   11   7,904 
    2010  118,298   12   9,858 
           
    3 Doubleheaders in 2009 – 2 in 2010

    New England will attempt to win its 2nd SuperLiga title on Sept 1 at Gillette Stadium.

    CONCACAF Champions League

    A good showing for MLS as the group phase got underway. The only loss was suffered by Seattle, the only team that was on the road.

    • 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

    Group play continues this week. The matches with MLS teams are(home team listed first) …

    • Aug 24 – Arabe Unido v Toronto
    • Aug 24 – Santos Laguna v Columbus
    • Aug 25 – Cruz Azul v Real Salt Lake
    • Aug 25 – Seattle v Monterrey
    • Aug 19 – Marathón v Seattle–>

    Lamar Hunt US Open Cup

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

    In the semifinals, Columbus will play DC United on Sept 1, 7:30 p.m. ET @ RFK Stadium, Wash, DC and Seattle will play ChivasUSA on Sept 1, 10 p.m. ET @ Starfire Sports Complex, Tukwila, WA.

    The Lamar Hunt US Open Cup structure

    Congestion

    You can decide if fixture congestion has had an effect so far. Of the clubs that participated in multiple non-league competitions, only Seattle and Toronto have not been bounced out yet. LA crashed out of the CCL and US Open Cup. Chicago and Houston lost in the N.A. SuperLiga and the US Open Cup. Chivas USA lost in SuperLiga but are in the US Open Cup semifinals. New England lost in the US Open Cup but are in the N.A. SuperLiga final. Columbus and RSL have the automatic berths in the group phase of the CCL, but RSL lost in the US Open Cup while Columbus are in the semifinals. It’s a matter for discussion as to whether Seattle had tougher go than Toronto vis-a-vis the Canadien Nutrilite Championship vs the US Open Cup being injected into their schedules.
    TFC and Seattle have the longest stretches without a full week between games. Seattle and RSL have no league matches between their first two CCL games. Seattle however will have to remain very sharp as they have a slim lead over playoff contenders, all of whom have games in hand.

    I think we might see Chivas USA and DC United put full efforts into their Open Cup matches. It’s their only shot at silverware and a berth in the next CCL.

    Fixture Congestion for MLS Teams
      TFC SEA CLB RSL NE DCU CHV
     8/24/10 CCL   CCL        
     8/25/10   CCL   CCL      
     8/28/10 MLS MLS MLS MLS MLS    
     8/29/10           MLS MLS
     9/1/10   USOC USOC   SL USOC USOC
     9/4/10 MLS MLS MLS MLS MLS MLS MLS
                   
     Days  12   11   12   11   8   7   7 
     Games 3 4 4 3 3 3 3
     Games/Day  4.0   2.8   3.0   3.7   2.7   2.3   2.3 
    CCL=CONCACAF Champions League
    SL=N.A. SuperLiga – USOC=US Open Cup