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Take Me Out to the Ballgame – Week 30

Take Me Out to the Ballgame – Week 30

October 25, 2010 CONCACAF Champions League, Leagues: Major League Soccer, Major League Soccer, MLS, MLS Attendance 9 Comments

The Week 30 numbers look like this…

  5 year comparison
  Final Week YTD  YTD
  Avg +/- GP Avg +/- GP
 2006   20,277  NA  6   15,502  NA  192 
 2007   20,575   1.47%   7   16,767   8.16%   195 
 2008   17,338   -15.73%   7   16,460   -1.83%   210 
 2009   19,916   14.87%   8   16,037   -2.57%   225 
 2010   17,292   -13.17%   9   16,675   3.98%   240 
  2009 season ran 32 weeks
End of Season
   Average  Median  %<10K  %>20k
 2006   15,502   14,175   18.75%   18.75% 
 2007   16,767   14,655   8.21%   29.74% 
 2008   16,460   15,188   10.95%   24.76% 
 2009   16,037   14,686   14.67%   20.44% 
 2010   16,675   15,332   7.50%   22.50% 

Here are the attendance comparisons to 2009:

MLS Attendance – Equal # of Home Games
  2009 2010  
  Att Cap % Att Att +/- GP Cap % Cap
 Seattle  30,897   95.36%   36,173   17.08%   15   101.90%   35,500 
 LA Galaxy  20,416   75.61%   21,437   5.00%   15   79.40%   27,000 
 Toronto  20,344   92.57%   20,453   0.53%   15   93.06%   21,978 
 Philadelphia NA NA  19,252  NA  15   91.24%   18,500 
 N.Y./N.J. Red Bulls  12,491   49.59%   18,441   47.64%   15   73.21%   25,189 
 Houston  17,047   75.77%   17,310   1.54%   15   76.93%   22,500 
 Real Salt Lake  16,375   81.00%   17,095   4.39%   15   88.39%   19,340 
 Chicago  14,689   73.44%   15,814   7.66%   15   79.07%   20,000 
 Columbus Crew  14,447   72.23%   14,642   1.35%   15   73.21%   20,000 
 ChivasUSA  15,092   55.90%   14,575   -3.42%   15   53.98%   27,000 
 D.C. United  16,088   71.50%   14,532   -9.67%   15   64.59%   22,500 
 Colorado Rapids  12,331   68.18%   13,329   8.09%   15   73.70%   18,086 
 NE Revolution  13,732   61.03%   12,987   -5.43%   15   57.72%   22,500 
 FC Dallas  12,441   58.70%   10,815   -13.07%   15   51.03%   21,193 
 KC Wizards  10,053   96.81%   10,287   2.32%   15   99.06%   10,385 
 San Jose  14,114   92.56%   9,659   -31.57%   15   93.78%   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

    A little over 9,600 showed up for the Quakes match that only had seeding implications. They were treated, however to a hat trick by Chris Wondowlowski, setting a single season franchise record of 17 goals. The Red Bulls had 15,800+ for its Thursday match. Disappointing, considering they were playing to clinch the Eastern Division. A terrific turnout in Houston for the season finale. Over 18,000 in DC for Jaime Moreno’s last match for United. An SRO crowd in Kansas City. A good showing in Colorado saw a wild finish. Chivas USA had 14,800 for a meaningless match. Columbus closed out its season with its largest crowd of the year.

    Rookie Watch: Tony Tchani had an assist for RBNY. Eric Alexander has an assist for FC Dallas.

    Joel Lindpere, on my preseason ‘watch list'(bottom of post) scored for RBNY. Geoff Cameron scored for Houston.

    The 16,675 average attendance is the 3rd highest. It says something about David Beckham’s star power that even with Seattle’s fantastic 36,000+ average, 2007, Beckham’s first season, is still the 2nd highest attendance. And it’s even more astounding since he didn’t arrive until late in the season.

    Week 30 Games
     
    San Jose 3 San Jose Center Line Soccer 9,633
    Chivas USA 0 Chivas USA – Official Blog
     
    RBNY 2 Red Bulls Reader 15,866
    New England 0 Revolution Soccer
     
    Houston 2 Soccer y Fútbol – Jose de Jesus Ortiz 23,990
    Seattle 1 Seattle Times
     
    DC United 2 DCU – Steve Goff – Soccer Insider 18,071
    Toronto 3 TFC Connected
     
    Kansas City 4 Kansas City – Hillcrest Road 11,518
    San Jose 1 San Jose Center Line Soccer
     
    Colorado 2 Undercurrent 17,729
    Real Salt Lake 2 RSL – Behind the Shield
     
    Chivas USA 1 Chivas USA – Official Blog 14,825
    Chicago 4 Chicago Fire Confidential
     
    Columbus 3 Columbus Dispatch – Crew XTra 19,006
    Philadelphia 1 Philadelphia Union Talk
     
    Los Angeles 2 LA – Official Blog 24,993
    FC Dallas 1 3rd Degree – Buzz Carrick
       GP  W  D  L  GF  GA  GFA  GAA  PPG  PTS  GD
     Los Angeles  30   18   5   7   44   26   1.47   0.87   1.97   59   18 
     Real Salt Lake  30   15   11   4   45   20   1.50   0.67   1.87   56   25 
     NY Red Bull  30   15   6   9   38   29   1.27   0.97   1.70   51   9 
     Dallas  30   12   14   4   42   28   1.40   0.93   1.67   50   14 
     Columbus  30   14   8   8   40   34   1.33   1.13   1.67   50   6 
     Seattle  30   14   6   10   39   35   1.30   1.17   1.60   48   4 
     Colorado  30   12   10   8   44   32   1.47   1.07   1.53   46   12 
     San Jose  30   13   7   10   34   33   1.13   1.10   1.53   46   1 
     Kansas City  30   11   6   13   36   35   1.20   1.17   1.30   39   1 
     Chicago  30   9   9   12   37   38   1.23   1.27   1.20   36   -1 
     Toronto FC  30   9   8   13   33   41   1.10   1.37   1.17   35   -8 
     Houston  30   9   6   15   40   49   1.33   1.63   1.10   33   -9 
     New England  30   9   5   16   32   50   1.07   1.67   1.07   32   -18 
     Philadelphia  30   8   7   15   35   49   1.17   1.63   1.03   31   -14 
     Chivas USA  30   8   4   18   31   45   1.03   1.50   0.93   28   -14 
     DC United  30   6   4   20   21   47   0.70   1.57   0.73   22   -26 

    Well, the final weekend didn’t hold the interest of past seasons, as for the first time in a while, all playoff teams were decided last week. This week was for seeding and the Supporters’ Shield.

    Colorado finishes above San Jose because of goal differential after they split their two matches. Same for Dallas over Columbus except they drew both games. Overall goal differential determines the standings after head to head.

    KC missed the playoffs by seven points. That’s the largest gap since the league returned to 2 conferences in 2002.

    Down the Stretch(ordered since Sep 1)

    Points per game since
    the All-Star Game Sep 1
      GP PPG GP PPG
     Los Angeles  12   1.583   8   2.000 
     Salt Lake  13   1.923   8   2.000 
     Seattle  12   2.167   8   2.000 
     NY Red Bull  14   1.786   8   1.750 
     San Jose  15   1.533   10   1.700 
     Colorado  14   1.643   9   1.667 
     Dallas  14   1.714   9   1.444 
     Kansas City  14   1.643   9   1.444 
     Houston  13   1.077   8   1.250 
     New England  15   1.200   9   1.222 
     Philadelphia  16   1.063   9   1.222 
     Chicago  16   1.188   11   1.091 
     Toronto  14   0.857   9   0.889 
     DC United  13   0.769   8   0.875 
     Columbus  13   1.231   7   0.857 
     Chivas USA  14   0.929   9   0.667 

    Random Notes

    • 5 teams finished with 50 or more points.
    • 3 teams won at least 15 games. Last time was 2007.
    • RSL and Dallas lost 4 games, the fewest ever in a 30 game season. San Jose lost 4 in a 32 game season in ’05.
    • The season ends with Jamie Moreno as the all time leading goal scorer with 133. Jeff Cunningham has 132.
    • Chris Wondolowski, getting his shot due to injury, wins the Golden Boot for most goals in the 2010 season.
    • Donovan leads the league in assists, despite missing time for the World Cup.

    Streaking

    • RSL are unbeaten in their last 25 regular season home games, an MLS record.
    • RSL are unbeaten in their last 14 MLS games.
    • Dallas are unbeaten in their last 10 league home games.
    • Seattle are unbeaten in their last 7 league home games.

    MLS Throw Ins

    • There were 58 draws in 240 matches compared to 69 in all of ’09(225 matches).
    • There were 147 clean sheets in 2010, counting scoreless draws as 2.
    • Goal scoring was down around 2.6% from 2009, 2.46 vs 2.53.
    • RSL has lost only twice in its last 45 home league matches(3 seasons).
    • Houston lost only one home game in ’08 and in ’09. They lost 6 at home this year.
    • DC United yielded 17 goals in the last 15 minutes of games.
    • DC United set a MLS record, being shut out 17 times in one season.

    CONCACAF Champions League

    RSL and Columbus are thru to the quarterfinals. RSL finish 1st in Group A, Columbus 2nd in Group B. Seattle assured its place in next year’s CCL by winning the US Open Cup. Los Angeles joins Seattle in next year’s tourney as Supporters’ Shield winner.

    • 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 1 Arabe Unido 0
    • Oct 19 — RSL 3 Cruz Azul 1
    • Oct 19 — Seattle 1 Saprissa 2
    • Oct 21 — Joe Public 1 Columbus 4
    CONCACAF Champions League
     A w d l pts gd
     RSL(USA)  4   1   1   13   7 
     Cruz Azul(MEX)  3   1   2   10   6 
     Toronto(CAN)  2   2   2   8   -3 
     Arabe Unido(PAN)  1   0   5   3   -10 
               
     B          
     Santos Laguna(MEX)  4   1   1   13   12 
     Columbus(USA)  4   0   2   12   6 
     Municipal(GUA)  2   2   2   8   -4 
     Joe Public(T&T)  0   1   5   1   -14 
               
     C          
     Monterrey(MEX)  5   1   0   16   7 
     Saprissa(CRC)  3   1   2   10   4 
     Marathon(HON)  2   0   4   6   -6 
     Seattle(USA)  1   0   5   3   -5 
               
     D          
     Olimpia(HON)  4   1   1   13   5 
     Toluca(MEX)  3   1   2   10   10 
     Puerto Rico(CFU)  2   2   2   8   -2 
     FAS(SLV)  0   2   4   2   -13 
    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 20,468 11,579 14,224
     Cruz Azul(MEX) 5,015 6,156 X 5,280 5,484
     Toronto(CAN) 10,385 10,581 16,862 X 12,609
     Away 8,675 5,746 13,435 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 3,600 X 7,000 5,100
     Joe Public(T&T) NR 500 900 X 700
     Away 4,117 3,282 5,871 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 11,434 X 11,768 15,238
     Marathon(HON) 500 1,820 1,990 X 1,437
     Away 8,216 8,432 8,229 8,098
     Group D Toluca Olimpia Puerto Rico FAS Home
     Toluca(MEX) X 7,463 5,165 3,985 5,538
     Olimpia(HON) 4,654 X 5,550 9,200 6,468
     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 3,698 4,738 5,078
      No Report on Columbus at Joe Public

    MLS Playoff Attendance – 2006-2009

    Just a taste to remind you that Take Me Out to the Ballgame will morph into Take Me Out to the Playoffs, as we did last season.

    This year’s playoff matchups in the quarterfinals(home team first) – Will Hesmer, Columbus keeper, suffered an injury, out for playoffs

    • Oct 28 — Colorado v Columbus
    • Oct 30 — Dallas v Salt Lake
    • Oct 30 — San Jose v Red Bulls
    • Oct 31 — Seattle v Los Angeles
    • Nov 4 — Red Bulls v San Jose
    • Nov 6 — Columbus v Colorado
    • Nov 6 — Salt Lake v Dallas
    • Nov 7 — Los Angeles v Seattle
    5 year comparison
    Quarterfinals Totals(both legs)
      Avg +/- Teams
     2005   13,273   NA  CHI, COL, DAL, DCU, LA, NE, RBNY, SJ
     2006   12,736   -4.05%   CHI, COL, CHV, DAL, DCU, HOU, NE, RBNY
     2007   17,041   33.81%   CHI, CHV, DAL, DCU, HOU, KC, NE, RBNY
     2008   14,960   -12.22%   CHI, CHV, CLB, HOU, KC, NE, RBNY, RSL
     2009   20,755   38.74%   CHI, CHV, CLB, HOU, LA, NE, RSL, SEA
    Semifinals Totals
      Avg +/- Teams
     2005   15,454   NA  NE v CHI – COL v LA
     2006   21,330   38.02%   DCU v NE – HOU v COL
     2007   20,645   -3.21%   NE v CHI – HOU v KC
     2008   17,348   -15.97%   CLB v CHI – RSL v RBNY
     2009   23,548   35.74%   LA v HOU – CHI v RSL
    Finals Totals
      Avg +/- Teams Venue
     2005   21,193   NA NE v LA Pizza Hut Park, Frisco, TX
     2006   22,427   5.82%  NE v HOU Pizza Hut Park, Frisco, TX
     2007   39,859   77.73%  NE v HOU RFK Stadium, Wash DC
     2008   27,000   -32.26%  RBNY v CLB Home Depot Center, LA, CA
     2009   46,011   70.41%  RSL v LA Qwest Field, Seattle, WA
    Playoff Totals        
      Avg +/-  
     2005   14,390   NA  
     2006   15,179   5.49%   
     2007   19,771   30.25%   
     2008   16,488   -16.60%   
     2009   23,559   42.88%   

    • About The Author

    peter c

    9 Comments

    1. Charles October 25, 2010

      -I don’t like the non-parity trend. At all.
      RedBulls worst to first is what makes MLS unique…and great….better even. All of you pro/rel guys that would have rather seen Souix City, IA get crushed this year, please admit yourself to a clinic.

      -405 of that extra 638 per game that showed up it Seattle adding capacity.

      -I realize that DC stinks, but Jamie’s last game only draws 18k, they always talk about how DC was the crown jewel. Why do they have no support ?
      Bizzare. I feel for the supporters, but your blame/anger is VERY misdirected, it should be at the fans that are missing out ( maybe not this season ) big time.

      -IF you are not excited about the playoffs, follow the pro/rel guys to the clinic

      Reply
      • Roger October 25, 2010

        It better be a HUGE clinic Mr Charles. It will have to be a clinic that can fit soccer fans and leagues from:

        Albania,Andorra,Armenia,Austria,Azerbaijan,Belarus,Belgium,Bosnia and Herzegovina,Bulgaria,Croatia,Cyprus,Czech Republic,Denmark,England,Estonia,Faroe Islands,Finland,France,Georgia,Germany,Greece,Hungary,Iceland, Republic of Ireland,Israel,Italy,Kazakhstan,Latvia,Liechtenstein,Lithuania,Luxembourg,FYR Macedonia4,Malta,Moldova,Montenegro,Netherlands,Northern ,Ireland,Norway,Poland,Portugal,Romania,Russia,Scotland,Serbia,Slovakia,Slovenia,Spain,Sweden,Switzerland,Turkey,Ukraine,Wales ,Argentina,Brasil,Uruguay,Paraguay,Colombia,Venezuela,Ecuador,Bolivia,Peru,Chile,Mexico,Guatemala,Honduras,El Salvador,Costa Rica,Panama,Japan,India,china,….add all the other african and asian nations . Basically with the exception of US,Canada ,Australia and a few tiny nations that dont have enough teams to practice pro/rel,everybody else practices promotion and relegation.

        it better be a huge clinic Mr charles! It better be HUGE!!

        Reply
        • Charles October 26, 2010

          I feel so alone !

          Maybe someone in DC and NY could comfort me…agree with me….please.

          Reply
    2. LI Matt October 26, 2010

      Some other random notes:

      LA’s 59 points is a record for a 30-game schedule, and the third-best ever.

      Dallas’ 14 draws is a record. The old record of 13 was shared by several teams, including DC last year.

      Reply
    3. Howie October 27, 2010

      It’s worthwhile to note that the attendance for Dallas and (and I believe) San Jose was up in matches actually at their home stadiums. Dallas had a 50,000 doubleheader with the Mexican national team at the Cotton Bowl last year, while San Jose had two matches in Oakland last year that both drew ~17k.

      Reply
    4. Son of a Bias October 27, 2010

      I think it’s unfair that you gave SJ props for what you deemed “a match that only had seed­ing impli­ca­tions” but then you turn around and blast NYRB for having 15k at a mid-week match that had similar implications. Either you have something against NYRB or you phoned this week in. Your observations seemed lazy by this site’s past standards. Be fair or decide that you’re foremost a politician and not a statistician.

      Reply
    5. Peter C October 28, 2010

      Son of a Bias:

      I think there is a significant difference between playing for 5th or 6th in the West and clinching the East Conference title. Home field advantage, at least for the Eastern playoff is a biggie. There is also a player bonus for winning the conference, although most fans don’t know that.
      I certainly have nothing against the Red Bulls. In fact, I grew up in North Jersey and if I were still there, I’d be a season ticket holder. While they had a significant increase in attendance this year, I, for one, expected them to draw a bit better in the new arena and certainly for a ‘clinching’ game.

      Reply
    6. Timbers Fan March 30, 2011

      When are we going to see some take me out to the ballgame action for MLS 2011?

      Reply
      • Charles March 30, 2011

        it moved to a site that doesn’t constantly write articles about how the EPL TV ratings are better…then ignore when the MLS TV viewship doubles.

        http://www.overlappingrun.com/

        Reply

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