Take Me Out to the Ballgame – Week 22
The Week 22 numbers look like this…
| 5 year comparison | ||||||||
| Week 22 | 170 GP | YTD | ||||||
| Avg | +/- | GP | Avg | +/- | Avg | +/- | GP | |
| 2006 | 13,932 | 6 | 15,082 | 15,361 | 143 | |||
| 2007 | 16,209 | 16.34% | 6 | 16,311 | 8.15% | 16,005 | 4.19% | 144 |
| 2008 | 15,294 | -5.64% | 9 | 16,350 | 0.24% | 17,036 | 6.45% | 148 |
| 2009 | 16,236 | 6.16% | 6 | 15,903 | -2.73% | 16,559 | -2.80% | 155 |
| 2010 | 19,215 | 18.35% | 8 | 16,628 | 4.56% | 16,628 | 0.41% | 170 |
| YTD – 170 Games | ||||
| Average | Median | %<10K | %>20k | |
| 2006 | 15,082 | 13,036 | 21.18% | 17.06% |
| 2007 | 16,311 | 14,804 | 8.82% | 25.29% |
| 2008 | 16,350 | 15,078 | 11.76% | 24.12% |
| 2009 | 15,903 | 14,629 | 15.88% | 20.00% |
| 2010 | 16,628 | 14,434 | 7.65% | 22.94% |
Here are the attendance comparisons to 2009:
| MLS Attendance – Equal # of Home Games | |||||||
| 2009 | 2010 | ||||||
| Att | Cap % | Att | Att +/- | GP | Cap % | Cap | |
| Seattle | 30,412 | 93.87% | 36,174 | 18.94% | 12 | 101.90% | 35,500 |
| Toronto | 20,220 | 92.00% | 20,688 | 2.31% | 12 | 94.13% | 21,978 |
| Philadelphia | NA | NA | 20,343 | NA | 9 | 89.09% | 18,500 |
| LA Galaxy | 19,379 | 71.78% | 20,298 | 4.74% | 10 | 75.18% | 27,000 |
| N.Y./N.J. Red Bulls | 12,229 | 48.55% | 17,828 | 45.79% | 11 | 70.78% | 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 |
| Columbus Crew | 13,714 | 68.57% | 14,384 | 4.89% | 12 | 71.92% | 20,000 |
| ChivasUSA | 16,107 | 59.65% | 14,093 | -12.50% | 10 | 52.20% | 27,000 |
| Colorado Rapids | 12,711 | 70.28% | 12,993 | 2.22% | 10 | 71.84% | 18,086 |
| NE Revolution | 13,561 | 60.27% | 11,974 | -11.70% | 11 | 53.22% | 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.
Observations
Columbus drew 16,700+ for its match with streaking Dallas. A full house in Toronto. Red Bulls draw 21,800+. The Rapids seem to only draw on July 4, only 11,511 turned out. Over 20,000 at HDC for the Galaxy. The usual packed house in Seattle, 36,000+. Chivas USA continues to struggle at the gate with 12,500 coming out on Sunday night.
Rookie Watch: Jack McInerney scored for the Union. Zach Loyd named Man of the Match for Dallas. Andy Najar showed why he’s going to be a star.
Kai Kamara, on my preseason ‘watch list’(bottom of post) got an assist vs LA. Joel Lindpere had a strong match in RBNY’s victory.
| Week 22 Games | ||
| Columbus | 0 | Columbus Dispatch – Crew XTra |
| FC Dallas | 0 | 3rd Degree – Buzz Carrick |
| Toronto | 0 | TFC Connected |
| Real Salt Lake | 0 | RSL – Behind the Shield |
| New England | 1 | Revolution Soccer |
| Philadelphia | 2 | Philadelphia Union Talk |
| RBNY | 2 | Red Bulls Reader |
| San Jose | 0 | San Jose Center Line Soccer |
| Colorado | 3 | Undercurrent |
| Houston | 0 | Soccer y Fútbol – Jose de Jesus Ortiz |
| Los Angeles | 0 | LA – Official Blog |
| Kansas City | 2 | Kansas City – Hillcrest Road |
| Seattle | 2 | Seattle Times |
| Chicago | 1 | Chicago Fire Confidential |
| Chivas USA | 1 | Chicago Fire Confidential |
| DC United | 0 | DCU – Steve Goff – Soccer Insider |
| GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GFA | GAA | PPG | PTS | GD | |
| Los Angeles | 22 | 13 | 4 | 5 | 32 | 16 | 1.45 | 0.73 | 1.95 | 43 | 16 |
| Columbus | 22 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 31 | 20 | 1.41 | 0.91 | 1.86 | 41 | 11 |
| Real Salt Lake | 22 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 36 | 16 | 1.64 | 0.73 | 1.82 | 40 | 20 |
| Dallas | 21 | 9 | 10 | 2 | 28 | 17 | 1.33 | 0.81 | 1.76 | 37 | 11 |
| NY Red Bull | 22 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 27 | 23 | 1.23 | 1.05 | 1.68 | 37 | 4 |
| Seattle | 22 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 25 | 26 | 1.14 | 1.18 | 1.45 | 32 | -1 |
| Colorado | 21 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 25 | 21 | 1.19 | 1.00 | 1.48 | 31 | 4 |
| San Jose | 20 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 22 | 22 | 1.10 | 1.10 | 1.45 | 29 | 0 |
| Toronto FC | 21 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 22 | 25 | 1.05 | 1.19 | 1.29 | 27 | -3 |
| Kansas City | 21 | 7 | 5 | 9 | 21 | 23 | 1.00 | 1.10 | 1.24 | 26 | -2 |
| Chicago | 19 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 27 | 28 | 1.42 | 1.47 | 1.26 | 24 | -1 |
| Houston | 22 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 27 | 36 | 1.23 | 1.64 | 1.05 | 23 | -9 |
| Chivas USA | 21 | 6 | 4 | 11 | 23 | 26 | 1.10 | 1.24 | 1.05 | 22 | -3 |
| New England | 21 | 6 | 3 | 12 | 21 | 35 | 1.00 | 1.67 | 1.00 | 21 | -14 |
| Philadelphia | 21 | 5 | 5 | 11 | 25 | 37 | 1.19 | 1.76 | 0.95 | 20 | -12 |
| DC United | 22 | 4 | 3 | 15 | 15 | 36 | 0.68 | 1.64 | 0.68 | 15 | -21 |
Streaking
- RSL are unbeaten in their last 21 regular season home games.
- Dallas are unbeaten in their last 12 games.
- Dallas are also unbeaten in their last 10 road games, an MLS record.
- Colorado are unbeaten in their last 6 home games.
- Houston are winless in their last 8 road games. And they’ve been scoreless in their last 4 road games.
- Seattle are unbeaten in their last 6 games.
MLS Throw Ins
- LA is the only club to have earned more than 50% of its points on the road.
- There have been 42 draws compared to 52 in ’09 thru the first 170 matches.
- There have been 106 clean sheets in the first 170 matches, counting scoreless draws as 2.
- Through 162 games: goal scoring is down around 6.0% from 2009, 2.39 vs 2.55.
- 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.
After a good showing for MLS in the first group phase matches, they pulled an oh-for four in the 2nd round.
- 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–>
Group play continues in two weeks. The matches with MLS teams are(home team listed first) …
- Sep 14 — Columbus v Joe Public
- Sep 14 — Saprissa v Seattle
- Sep 15 — Real Salt Lake v Toronto
- Sep 21 — Columbus v Santos Laguna
- Sep 21 — Cruz Azul v Toronto
- Sep 22 — Arabe Unido v Real Salt Lake
- Sep 22 — Monterrey v Seattle
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.
And here are the possibilities for the location and date of the final.
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 |
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10 Responses to Take Me Out to the Ballgame – Week 22
Do we see a law of nature here, teams that are in the playoff hunt tend to draw better? It would appear to b the case. SJ is the only team in the playoffs spot with a down attendance but that is a team that played in a larger stadium at times last year and therefore the numbers are not true as you point out.
Given the end of summer, the end of season vacation, that baseball and football are in play, and the popular EPL is now back on TV with it’s new season one would like the numbers of people coming out to see MLS. New stadiums and a couple more DP’s should make 2011 a banner year for MLS attendance.
The “popular EPL” and increased interest in the teams that are contending don’t go together….at all.
There will always be more interest in a winner, obviously, but virtually every team was in the playoff hunt last year, where was the increased attendance there ?
I think MLS just keeps increasing in popularity, until people realize how exciting a league it is. Hopefully 2011 is a boom year, like you think.
Any of the numbers in Columbus, Dallas, Chivas, and Colorado could be improved with a bit of tongue-in-cheek:
Columbus – move stadium to downtown C-Bus, hold SSS at 15k (exp to 18-20) or move to St. Louis.
Dallas – sign DP, retro-fit playing schedule, marketing increase, or move to Mexico.
Colorado – DP and some marketing money maybe? Or replace with Arsenal.
Chivas – move to San Diego, hold SSS at 15k (exp to 18-20). No laughing on that one.
I suppose it can also be argued that there just aren’t enough dollars in peoples’ pockets to spend on tickets. But given how much cheaper they are than other sports tix, maybe this is a soft argument. Maybe interest wanes in those markets because the suburb location discourages immigrant populations from traveling to games. Maybe the sport seen as an “immigrant sport” by some xenophobes makes for decreased interest in soccer in markets where illegal immigration is a huge factor (moreso than other parts of the country), i.e Columbus, Dallas, and Denver. Chivas? I just think it was a marketing idea gone wrong. MLS doesn’t need Chivas USA. It needs a San Diego club in a small stadium.
Chivas has become the Los Angeles Clippers of the MLS. They are bad, but not terrible, and could do better for themselves with a move to San Diego. Any chance that ever happens? Who knows.
You say that Columbus is a mistake, then you say move a team to San Diego in a SSS ?
Do you really think they will find cheap real estate in San Diego to build on where people would attend ? or are you going to build in the ‘burbs with SD traffic ?
Also, I just don’t agree with the 20k stadium. Is that the end goal ?
20k ? Look where Toronto says they are, 10k waiting list for tickets.
Didn’t work very well there.
You’re right, let’s build a 30,000 seater for the Crew who can’t find 15k to fill their present stadium. Makes sense to me.
You fail either way…..but with the first you have a chance of success.
The common theme between Colorado and Dallas? Both of their stadiums are well out into the suburbs. Meanwhile, Houston’s stadium, which isn’t a fancy or modern SSS, is downtown, and so 7th in the west outdraws 3rd and 5th. The Revs have the worst of both worlds, playing in a football stadium that’s closer to Providence than Boston.
The Revolution are a joke –and I support them– they’re stadium is almost dead in the middle of Providence and Boston, I believe it is two or three miles closer to Providence than Boston. They need to pick a location in either Providence, Boston, or even Hartford and build a stadium there. Gillette is awful for the sport.
Anybody that advocates moving any club with an SSS before a team like DC just does not understand the economics of a professional sport clubs.
15k in a SSS >>> 17k in a rental.