Take Me Out to the Ballgame – Week 4
The Week 4 numbers look like this…
| 5 year comparison | ||||||||
| Week 4 | 29 GP | YTD | ||||||
| Avg | +/- | GP | Avg | +/- | Avg | +/- | GP | |
| 2006 | 15,619 | 4 | 17,149 | 18,445 | 22 | |||
| 2007 | 15,336 | -1.81% | 8 | 15,096 | -11.97% | 15,828 | -14.19% | 26 |
| 2008 | 15,896 | 3.66% | 7 | 15,086 | -0.06% | 16,410 | 3.68% | 28 |
| 2009 | 17,258 | 8.57% | 7 | 15,314 | 1.51% | 15,314 | -6.68% | 29 |
| 2010 | 18,022 | 4.43% | 8 | 18,333 | 19.72% | 18,333 | 19.72% | 29 |
| YTD – 29 Games | ||||
| Average | Median | %<10K | %>20k | |
| 2006 | 17,149 | 16,904 | 13.79% | 27.59% |
| 2007 | 15,096 | 14,173 | 13.79% | 17.24% |
| 2008 | 15,086 | 14,919 | 17.24% | 27.59% |
| 2009 | 15,314 | 12,827 | 17.24% | 20.69% |
| 2010 | 18,333 | 18,197 | 10.34% | 34.48% |
Here are the attendance comparisons to 2009:
| MLS Attendance – Equal # of Home Games | |||||||
| 2009 | 2010 | ||||||
| Att | Cap % | Att | Att +/- | GP | Cap % | Cap | |
| Seattle | 29,939 | 92.40% | 36,077 | 20.50% | 3 | 101.63% | 35,500 |
| Philadelphia | NA | NA | 34,870 | NA | 1 | 91.76% | 18,500 |
| Toronto | 20,658 | 93.99% | 21,978 | 6.39% | 1 | 100.00% | 21,978 |
| LA Galaxy | 19,346 | 71.65% | 20,508 | 6.01% | 3 | 75.96% | 27,000 |
| Chicago | 11,633 | 58.17% | 20,276 | 74.30% | 1 | 101.38% | 20,000 |
| Real Salt Lake | 11,806 | 36.33% | 19,970 | 69.15% | 1 | 103.26% | 19,340 |
| D.C. United | 14,245 | 63.31% | 19,536 | 37.14% | 2 | 86.82% | 22,500 |
| N.Y./N.J. Red Bulls | 10,485 | 41.63% | 19,120 | 82.35% | 2 | 75.90% | 25,189 |
| Houston | 16,085 | 71.49% | 16,500 | 2.58% | 3 | 73.33% | 22,500 |
| ChivasUSA | 14,640 | 54.22% | 15,625 | 6.73% | 2 | 57.87% | 27,000 |
| Columbus Crew | 14,686 | 73.43% | 13,536 | -7.83% | 1 | 67.68% | 20,000 |
| NE Revolution | 11,314 | 50.28% | 12,798 | 13.12% | 1 | 56.88% | 22,500 |
| Colorado Rapids | 12,033 | 66.53% | 10,785 | -10.37% | 2 | 59.63% | 18,086 |
| KC Wizards | 8,654 | 83.33% | 10,307 | 19.10% | 2 | 99.24% | 10,385 |
| San Jose | 9,756 | 20.58% | 9,836 | 0.81% | 2 | 95.49% | 10,300 |
| FC Dallas | 11,215 | 52.92% | 9,286 | -17.20% | 2 | 43.82% | 21,193 |
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
A new team on new turf. TFC’s home opener on it’s new grass field drew the expected sellout. Saturday started with the now usual sellout at Qwest Field. The Houston crowd was a bit disappointing, with just under 15,000. DC United had a good turnout, over 18,400, but will they stop coming if they don’t turn around their woeful start soon. A hugely underwhelming gate at Red Bull Arena. Just 13,667 for the first place Red Bulls. San Jose didn’t quite sellout this weekend. Maybe they’ll fill the joint after their recent upturn in performance. I would have expected more at the Home Depot Center for the replay of the 2009 MLS Cup. Just over 20,300. And finally, a horrible turnout in Colorado as less than 10,000 came out to witness the Rapid’s victory.
I’m still feeling pretty smart about the players on my preseason ‘watch list’(bottom of post). Joel Lindpere assisted on a Juan Pablo Angel goal and Geoff Cameron scored for Houston.
| Week 4 Games | ||
| Toronto | 2 | TFC Connected |
| Philadelphia | 1 | Philadelphia Union Soccer |
| Seattle | 1 | Seattle Times |
| Kansas City | 0 | Kansas City – Hillcrest Road |
| Houston | 3 | Soccer y Fútbol – Jose de Jesus Ortiz |
| Chivas USA | 0 | Chicago Fire Confidential |
| RBNY | 2 | Red Bulls Reader |
| FC Dallas | 1 | 3rd Degree – Buzz Carrick |
| DC United | 0 | DCU – Steve Goff – Soccer Insider |
| Chicago | 2 | Chicago Fire Confidential |
| San Jose | 2 | San Jose Center Line Soccer |
| New England | 0 | Revolution Soccer |
| Los Angeles | 2 | LA – Official Blog |
| Real Salt Lake | 1 | RSL – Behind the Shield |
| Colorado | 3 | Undercurrent |
| Toronto | 1 | TFC Connected |
Streaking
- FC Dallas have not lost at home in its last 10(7 wins).
- Colorado has not lost at home in 7 straight.
- TFC has not lost at home in 7 straight.
- TFC has lost 11 straight road games.
- RSL are unbeaten in their last 11 regular season home games.
MLS Throw Ins
- There have been 17 clean sheets in the first 29 matches
- Through 29 games: goal scoring is down slightly: 2.59 per game vs 2.62 in 2009.
- 36 of the 64 players selected in the 2010 SuperDraft were on MLS rosters on opening day.
- RSL has lost only twice in its last 31 home matches. They lost only once in ’08 and ’09, a feat matched by Houston.
The MLS play-in matches for the Open have begun for the teams that did not finish in the top 6 in 2009. The next match will be played on April 27. All times are ET. Seattle are the defending cup holders, and as such will compete in the 2010-11 CONCACAF Champions League.
- Colorado Rapids defeated the Kansas City Wizards 2-1.
- Real Salt Lake beat the San Jose Earthquakes on PK’s 5-3 after playing to a 3-3 score.
- Philadelphia Union at New York Red Bulls, Tuesday, April 27, 8 p.m. at Red Bull Arena (Harrison, N.J.)
- FC Dallas at DC United, Wednesday, April 28, 7:30 p.m. at RFK Stadium (Washington D.C.)
- New England Revolution at Philadelphia or New York on Wednesday, May 12
14 Responses to Take Me Out to the Ballgame – Week 4
You forgot Portland had 15,418 last night… Oh, that’s right… We’re not in MLS yet. LMFAO!!!
Obviously no one likes Portland, but…
Man, that is a nice figure. 15k for Portland in minor league soccer and NY in first place in the east in the major leagues can’t draw that.
Bizarre.
There is no other way to describe soccer support in this country.
Bizarre.
I just hope they build a big enough stadium and aren’t stuck in Torontofollyland year 1.
I was at that game. I just recently moved to Portland and got season tickets to join the TA.
Man… coming from the Galaxy, I thought that LARS and the ACB were decent SGs but theya re nothing compared to the Timbers Army. That is one batshit crazy SG and I loved every single minute of that home opener.
Good attendance numbers, everything is lining up for an awesome 2011.
I’m not sure why you would expect more for a rematch of MLS Cup. Defending champs in MLS have never been a greater draw. Rematches of the previous season’s MLS Cup have also never had an attendance bump.
LA wouldn’t have sold out MLS Cup with them in it.
The trend is great. Week 4 and everything on the whole points up. NY is a place where you expected a bigger crowd. The Red Bulls are in need of a big name to fill seats. Come July that could happen.
TFC could have more people in the seats if they wish and their waiting list is a about 17,000 for tickets, if what I hear is correct. Seattle is in the same situation with seats in the stadium not being sold on purpose.
Just a thought but with tickets that could be sold in places like Toronto and NY, and some very small stadiums in San Jose and KC, what would the attendance be if those places where fully opened. So one can submit for discussion that MLS is keeping attendance down!
Chicago has it’s second home game coming up. The early ticket sales are strong but a record crowd is not likely. A win over DC helped and given the poor performance by Chicago’s MLB teams the Fire may become the home of Chicago’s only winner this summer. I think a large crowd will be on hand for the Fire game next Saturday if the weather is right. MLS fans are good weather fans.
Maybe that is why the Northwest as huge attendance, not like we are going to wait for good weather.
I don’t know if Seattle can sell that many more tickets, definitely not the Toronto 17k waiting list.
I was a huge proponent of opening up more seats last year, because it was obvious. Not as obvious this year. That being said, I am laid up and had no trouble finding someone wanting the ticket.
When I went out last night the bar was showing the Sounders 3rd ( out of 4 ) REPLAYS of the game.
Man I love Take Me Out To the Ballgame.
If you are a little frustrated in the bizarre world of US soccer support….like me……
Look at the difference this year in the median YTD for 29 games.
It would be easy in this to think that Philly with a large crowd, Seattle with the outlier is affecting the stats, but all the bottom four pathetic or small stadium crowds have had two home games and the median is still the highest in five years. Nice to see.
The thing that gets me about the Dallas, Columbus, and to some extent Colorado numbers is that those cities have pretty ok teams. Dallas is a team on the up, Columbus are probably the best in the East, and Colorado’s not bad. It reflects extraordinarily poorly on the front office that these teams can’t draw better than that; particularly given that the weather this year has so far been much better than last year’s at this point in the season.
Chris,
what is the one thing that C-bus, Dallas and Colorado have in common? If you said ownership that has no interest in promoting their clubs. Hunts and Kronke spend little to nothing promoting the game or their own freaking clubs. I live in Ohio and the only place you can find gear for or media about the Crew is on their web site. I don’t know why MLS doesn’t address this issue with these owners.
Get ready to come crashing back to earth this week. With the slate of home games on the schedule, the numbers will fall way down.
Sam:
Not exactly the words I would use, but you are correct that the numbers will come down. Way down? Don’t know about that.
I’d be ecstatic if the final number is 17K, achieved only in the league’s inaugural year. The next highest was 16,770 in 2007, year of the ‘Becks’.
The current numbers reflect 3 home games in Seattle and Houston, two of the stronger teams. Also the Philly game at the Linc that drew over 35K.
There will be only one more game at the Linc before the Union begin play at PPL Park.
And only one game so far in poorly attended New England.
Just wish I lived near an MLS city so I could attend regularly, which is what I hope our readers do.
I say way down because its only week 5 (1 week in five can move numbers significantly). But you are absolutely right, at the end of the year, one bad week won’t kill attendance.
Side note: WHY does Dallas have the game of the week???? Its embarrassing enough to see Dallas’ attendance numbers, let alone having to see the actual attendance on national television (3,000, maybe?).
Dude a big WTF to Columbus and below on that attendance list. I’ll give a pass to KC and SJ due to smaller venues but Colorado/Dallas/Columbus have no excuse.
Either get some owners with marketing savvy for those towns, or get me a couple of large helicopters so I can airlift one of those stadiums and teams to South Florida. The Fusion may have been an 11K per game draw, but at least it was a market with potential and historical support for the game(NASL Strikers). It’s been nearly a decade since the Fusion were disbanded and South Florida fans still have to watch other teams with sugar daddy owners get new stadiums yet continue to do no better, or worse, than we did at the gates. Frustrating to say the least.
I will say kudos to Portland. That’s how you do it. From one supporters group to another, well done. The Miami Ultras can only dream to one day match the level of success the Timbers Army has achieved.