The playoff numbers look like this…
| 5 year comparison | ||||||
| Conference Semifinals – 1st Leg | ||||||
| Avg | +/- | Home Teams | ||||
| 2005 | 12,147 | NA | Chicago | NY | Colorado | Los Angeles |
| 2006 | 9,533 | -21.52% | Chicago | NY | Colorado | Chivas USA |
| 2007 | 14,245 | 49.42% | Chicago | NY | Dallas | Kansas City |
| 2008 | 10,476 | -26.46% | New England | NY | Salt Lake | Kansas City |
| 2009 | 19,985 | 90.77% | New England | Seattle | Salt Lake | Chivas USA |
Observations
No big surprise that Seattle packed in over 35,000 for their playoff debut. But a bit of a surprise that Salt Lake only drew 11,499 compared to last year’s first leg,14,719. A pathetically small crowd showed up at Gillette Stadium for the Revs/Fire match. The Chivas USA home leg of the HDC Bowl drew a hefty 25,000+.
And just to pre-empt the inevitable comments like ‘well without Seattle’s home game…’, the 3 non-Seattle games averaged 14,711, still a significant increase over the 1st legs in ’08. My comment, get over it. Seattle is a part of the league, and a good part at that. We should only hope that Philadelphia, Vancouver and Portland come close to equally Seattle’s successful entry into MLS.
Fan Revolution Needed in New England
The Revs have played 15 home playoff matches, excluding the 2002 MLS Cup Final. Average attendance: 10,097. Games with under 10,000 in attendance: 8. Now I know the stadium is not readily accessible to many fans, but this is a 4 time MLS Cup finalist.
| Playoff Games – 1st Leg | ||
| Seattle | 0 | Seattle Times |
| Houston | 0 | Soccer y Fútbol – Barnard Fallas |
| Real Salt Lake | 1 | RSL – Behind the Shield |
| Columbus | 0 | Columbus Dispatch – Crew XTra |
| New England | 2 | Revolution Soccer |
| Chicago | 1 | Chicago Fire Confidential |
| Chivas USA | 2 | Chivas USA – MLSNet |
| Los Angeles | 2 | LA – Official Blog |
MLS Throw Ins
And …
The US team advances to the round of 16 in the FIFA Men’s U-17 World Cup.
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