Take Me Out to the Ballgame – Week 27
The Week 27 numbers look like this…
| 5 year comparison | ||||||
| Week 27 | Thru Week 27 | YTD | ||||
| Avg | +/- | GP | Avg | +/- | GP | |
| 2006 | 18,083 | 6 | 15,116 | 180 | ||
| 2007 | 18,241 | 0.87% | 7 | 16,593 | 9.77% | 181 |
| 2008 | 15,291 | -16.17% | 7 | 16,946 | 2.13% | 181 |
| 2009 | 16,844 | 10.15% | 7 | 15,748 | -7.07% | 190 |
| 2010 | 17,636 | 4.70% | 10 | 16,569 | 5.22% | 214 |
| YTD | ||||
| Average | Median | %<10K | %>20k | |
| 2006 | 15,223 | 13,585 | 20.00% | 17.22% |
| 2007 | 16,544 | 15,033 | 8.29% | 27.07% |
| 2008 | 16,403 | 15,038 | 11.05% | 24.86% |
| 2009 | 15,752 | 14,525 | 15.26% | 18.95% |
| 2010 | 16,569 | 15,050 | 7.94% | 22.43% |
Here are the attendance comparisons to 2009:
| MLS Attendance – Equal # of Home Games | |||||||
| 2009 | 2010 | ||||||
| Att | Cap % | Att | Att +/- | GP | Cap % | Cap | |
| Seattle | 30,739 | 94.87% | 36,160 | 17.64% | 14 | 101.86% | 35,500 |
| LA Galaxy | 19,812 | 73.38% | 20,735 | 4.66% | 13 | 76.80% | 27,000 |
| Toronto | 20,308 | 92.40% | 20,622 | 1.55% | 14 | 93.83% | 21,978 |
| Philadelphia | NA | NA | 19,341 | NA | 13 | 89.96% | 18,500 |
| N.Y./N.J. Red Bulls | 11,929 | 47.36% | 18,455 | 54.71% | 13 | 73.27% | 25,189 |
| Real Salt Lake | 16,211 | 79.94% | 16,870 | 4.07% | 14 | 87.23% | 19,340 |
| Houston | 16,107 | 71.59% | 16,860 | 4.67% | 13 | 74.93% | 22,500 |
| Chicago | 14,113 | 70.56% | 15,901 | 12.67% | 12 | 79.50% | 20,000 |
| ChivasUSA | 15,349 | 56.85% | 14,721 | -4.09% | 13 | 54.52% | 27,000 |
| Columbus Crew | 14,279 | 71.39% | 14,330 | 0.36% | 14 | 71.65% | 20,000 |
| D.C. United | 15,452 | 68.67% | 14,237 | -7.86% | 13 | 63.28% | 22,500 |
| Colorado Rapids | 12,031 | 66.52% | 13,014 | 8.18% | 14 | 71.96% | 18,086 |
| NE Revolution | 13,422 | 59.65% | 12,607 | -6.07% | 14 | 56.03% | 22,500 |
| FC Dallas | 12,241 | 57.76% | 10,865 | -11.24% | 14 | 51.27% | 21,193 |
| KC Wizards | 10,022 | 96.50% | 10,097 | 0.76% | 13 | 97.23% | 10,385 |
| San Jose | 14,782 | 92.33% | 9,589 | -35.13% | 13 | 93.10% | 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
Colorado had a mostly invisible 10,100+ for its midweek game. San Jose drew over 9,800+ midweek. Seattle had its usual 36,000+. The Union pulled in 16,100+. That’s OK, but I was expecting Philadelphia to have close to sellouts in its new home. Columbus had 10,800+ show up in the rain. A surprising 18,100+ were at Gillette for the Revs. Does this mean that RSL is a draw? Almost 24,800 saw the Red Bulls take over first place in the East. Streaking Dallas can’t draw no matter how well they do, as only 10,615 were at PHP. No comments about the Texas/Oklahoma football game please. Colorado had 15,400+ come out, it’s 4th largest gate. Chivas USA easily had it largest crowd, over 24,200 for the Galaxy match.
With his next goal, Jeff Cunningham will become MLS’s all time leading goal scorer, surpassing Jaime Moreno.
Rookie Watch: Jack McInerney scored for the Union. Steve Kinney broke Chicago’s 400 minutes scoreless string with his first MLS goal. Andy Najar assisted on DC United’s game winner vs Colorado.
| Week 27 Games | ||
| Colorado | 4 | Undercurrent |
| Philadelphia | 1 | Philadelphia Union Talk |
| San Jose | 0 | San Jose Center Line Soccer |
| Chicago | 3 | Chicago Fire Confidential |
| Seattle | 3 | Seattle Times |
| Toronto | 2 | TFC Connected |
| Philadelphia | 1 | Philadelphia Union Talk |
| Houston | 1 | Soccer y Fútbol – Jose de Jesus Ortiz |
| Columbus | 0 | Columbus Dispatch – Crew XTra |
| San Jose | 0 | San Jose Center Line Soccer |
| New England | 1 | Revolution Soccer |
| Real Salt Lake | 2 | RSL – Behind the Shield |
| RBNY | 1 | Red Bulls Reader |
| Kansas City | 0 | Kansas City – Hillcrest Road |
| FC Dallas | 3 | 3rd Degree – Buzz Carrick |
| Chicago | 0 | Chicago Fire Confidential |
| Colorado | 0 | Undercurrent |
| DC United | 1 | DCU – Steve Goff – Soccer Insider |
| Chivas USA | 1 | Chicago Fire Confidential |
| Los Angeles | 2 | LA – Official Blog |
| GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GFA | GAA | PPG | PTS | GD | |
| Los Angeles | 27 | 16 | 5 | 6 | 40 | 22 | 1.48 | 0.81 | 1.96 | 53 | 18 |
| Real Salt Lake | 27 | 14 | 9 | 4 | 41 | 18 | 1.52 | 0.67 | 1.89 | 51 | 23 |
| Dallas | 27 | 12 | 13 | 2 | 39 | 22 | 1.44 | 0.81 | 1.81 | 49 | 17 |
| NY Red Bull | 27 | 14 | 5 | 8 | 35 | 27 | 1.30 | 1.00 | 1.74 | 47 | 8 |
| Columbus | 27 | 13 | 7 | 7 | 35 | 29 | 1.30 | 1.07 | 1.70 | 46 | 6 |
| Seattle | 27 | 12 | 6 | 9 | 34 | 31 | 1.26 | 1.15 | 1.56 | 42 | 3 |
| Colorado | 27 | 11 | 8 | 8 | 37 | 27 | 1.37 | 1.00 | 1.52 | 41 | 10 |
| San Jose | 26 | 11 | 7 | 8 | 28 | 28 | 1.08 | 1.08 | 1.54 | 40 | 0 |
| Kansas City | 26 | 9 | 6 | 11 | 29 | 31 | 1.12 | 1.19 | 1.27 | 33 | -2 |
| Toronto FC | 27 | 8 | 7 | 12 | 28 | 34 | 1.04 | 1.26 | 1.15 | 31 | -6 |
| Chicago | 26 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 31 | 35 | 1.19 | 1.35 | 1.12 | 29 | -4 |
| Philadelphia | 27 | 7 | 7 | 13 | 32 | 44 | 1.19 | 1.63 | 1.04 | 28 | -12 |
| Houston | 27 | 7 | 6 | 14 | 36 | 46 | 1.33 | 1.70 | 1.00 | 27 | -10 |
| New England | 27 | 7 | 5 | 15 | 29 | 47 | 1.07 | 1.74 | 0.96 | 26 | -18 |
| Chivas USA | 26 | 7 | 4 | 15 | 26 | 36 | 1.00 | 1.38 | 0.96 | 25 | -10 |
| DC United | 27 | 6 | 3 | 18 | 19 | 42 | 0.70 | 1.56 | 0.78 | 21 | -23 |
Columbus faded from the Supporters’ Shield race by winning just once in its last 6 league matches(scoreless in their last 3 home games). Seattle has overcome its slow start and lost only once in 12 league matches. Toronto, which started the season undefeated in its first 10 home games, has lost 3 and drawn 1 in its last 4 at BMO. Colorado had a chance to clinch its first playoff spot since ’06, but lost to league bottom dwellers DC United at home. While they appear safe to make the playoffs, it must be causing some anxiety as they missed the ’08 playoffs by 1 point and draw on closing day and by tiebreaker in ’09 with a loss on closing day. Kansas City has shown they are not quite ready for prime time, losing to the Red Bulls and Dallas in their last two, and squandering their games in hand over the teams they are chasing for a playoff spot.
Streaking
- RSL are unbeaten in their last 24 regular season home games, an MLS record.
- Dallas are unbeaten in their last 18 games, a single season MLS record.
- Dallas are also unbeaten in their last 11 road games, an MLS record.
- New England are winless in their last 11 road games.
MLS Throw Ins
- There have been 53 draws compared to 66 in ’09 thru the first 214 matches.
- There have been 133 clean sheets in the first 214 matches, counting scoreless draws as 2.
- Through 214 games: goal scoring is down around 3.2% from 2009, 2.43 vs 2.50.
- RSL has lost only twice in its last 44 home league matches. They lost only once in ’08 and ’09, a feat matched by Houston.
- DC United have yielded 17 goals in the last 15 minutes of games.
- The Philadelphia Union are the best in not allowing late goals(as a percentage of total goals allowed). Interestingly, the are also the best at scoring late goals.
RSL are thru to the quarterfinals. Columbus controls its own destiny and a win at Joe Public will send them thru. Toronto and Seattle are eliminated. Seattle or Columbus could assure its place in next year’s CCL with a win in the US Open Cup final this week.
- 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 v Arabe Unido
- Oct 19 — RSL v Cruz Azul
- Oct 19 — Seattle v Saprissa
- Oct 21 — Joe Public v Columbus
| CONCACAF Champions League | |||||
| A | w | d | l | pts | gd |
| Cruz Azul(MEX) | 3 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 8 |
| RSL(USA) | 3 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 5 |
| Toronto(CAN) | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | -4 |
| Arabe Unido(PAN) | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 | -9 |
| B | |||||
| Santos Laguna(MEX) | 3 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 7 |
| Columbus(USA) | 3 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 3 |
| Municipal(GUA) | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 1 |
| Joe Public(T&T) | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | -11 |
| C | |||||
| Monterrey(MEX) | 4 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 6 |
| Saprissa(CRC) | 2 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 3 |
| Marathon(HON) | 2 | 0 | 3 | 6 | -5 |
| Seattle(USA) | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 | -4 |
| D | |||||
| Olimpia(HON) | 3 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 2 |
| Puerto Rico(CFU) | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 1 |
| Toluca(MEX) | 2 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 5 |
| FAS(SLV) | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | -8 |
| 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 | NP | 11,579 | 11,103 | |
| Cruz Azul(MEX) | 5,015 | 6,156 | X | 5,280 | 5,484 | |
| Toronto(CAN) | NP | 10,581 | 16,862 | X | 13,722 | |
| Away | 7,821 | 5,746 | 9,919 | 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 | NP | X | 7,000 | 5,850 | |
| Joe Public(T&T) | 900 | 500 | NP | X | 700 | |
| Away | 3,045 | 3,123 | 8,356 | 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 | NP | X | 11,768 | 17,141 | |
| Marathon(HON) | NP | 1,820 | 1,990 | X | 1,905 | |
| Away | 12,074 | 6,931 | 8,229 | 8,098 | ||
| Group D | Toluca | Olimpia | Puerto Rico | FAS | Home | |
| Toluca(MEX) | X | NA | 5,165 | NP | 5,165 | |
| Olimpia(HON) | 4,654 | X | NP | 9,200 | 6,927 | |
| 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 | 1,816 | 4,333 | 5,625 | ||
| No Report on the Toluca/Olimpia match | ||||||
The winner will compete in the 2011-12 CONCACAF Champions League.
In the semifinals, Columbus defeated DC United and Seattle beat ChivasUSA. Seattle, the defending champion, will host the final at Qwest Field on Tuesday, October 5.
The Lamar Hunt US Open Cup structure
18 Responses to Take Me Out to the Ballgame – Week 27
Don’t know who rated this article as a 1-star, but I certainly enjoy these week recaps.
FACT:
If you don’t like Take Me Out to the Ballgame, you are a moron.
I would expect 30k+ for the US Open Cup tomorrow, judging by what was left after I bought my tickets last week and assuming a 5k or so walk up ( that crushes the old mark for US Open Cup final )
I wouldn’t say that KC losing to Dallas disqualifies from pime time…the very best they could get is a tie. Dallas doesn’t lose !
Seattle, the hottest team in MLS, is messing up their post season hopes by moving up in the ladder to move over from the East to the superior conference.
Right now in the West you have LA-Seattle and SLC-Dallas.
I don’t care if you think MLS having playoffs are the dumbest thing since the Flo-Bee, if you are not excited about a couple of weeks of those matchups, you need your head examined.
“Can’t Lose” Dallas versus the Champs
Landon versus the hottest team in MLS………btw whatever happened to those guys that thought Everton could win the EPL ? Are there any of them out there still ?
They can’t still want Landon to waste his time over there.
You keep mentioning Seattle as the hottest team in MLS. What conditions are you using to make this claim? Based on popularity? Must be because in all other areas they aren’t the “hottest.”
LA has the most points.
FCD has the longest unbeaten streak.
RSL has the longest home unbeaten streak.
Most points since the WC break.
Umm no I think that record belongs to FCD as well.
Since week 12, right after the WC break ended here’s the breakdown:
FCD: 34 points
Seattle: 29 points
FCD hasn’t lost a single game since the WC break.
Sorry, I did not realize FCD had had more games than seattle to skew that stastic. As Peter points out below look at normalize it to PPG and you see Seattle has done the best since the break. Not saying FCD has not had a nice streak too. They have. But there is something to be said for wins over ties!
Most MLS announcers have been calling SSFC the hottest team for a while now too based on the season since the WC.
But if it makes you feel better how about we say they are co hottest teams?
They haven’t had more games. I’m counting the games from week 12 to week 27. Both have played 16 games in the time span.
FCD has won 9 games, tied 7 games, and lost 0 games.
Seattle has won 9 games, tied 3 games, and lost 4 games.
It’s plainly obvious that FCD has had a better post-WC than Seattle has. I’m not even an FCD fan either, but I do get tired of all the Seattle self-stroking.
Here’s my source by the way:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_MLS_season
Scroll down to the Results table. It’s all there, plain as day.
Since dumping the chump ( Ljungberg )
They are 8 wins, 3 ties and 1 loss.
Maybe Dallas is hotter since the WC.
Either way, the west looks rediculous for the playoffs right now.
Add Seattle to the 3 teams you bring up…..ouch.
I love these posts too. One thing I would like to see (or even run myself if you were so kind to pass along the data you collected), is average attendence for away games for all teams. In otherwords look at which teams are pulling in the bigger crowds.
First, for those of you who are expressing your support for ‘Take Me Out to the Ballgame’, my sincere thanks.
Most pts per game since the All Star Game(July 28)
Seattle, Dallas, RSL, RBNY
Lysander: I do have the away attendance for all teams. Will post the full list next week, but for now, it’s LA, DC United, and RBNY, all over 18K.
Note that Seattle’s last home game is vs Chivas USA
I am looking forward to it!
I assume you are pointing out that the last home game is against chivas because they will have a very low average since they have not played Seattle yet?
You are correct. Chivas USA currently has the lowest away attendance.
Peter,
Geoff wants you to please stop feeding me, a “Seattle Stroking” blogger !
Speaking of which, I can see my seat from our floor. Where tonight ONE of the hottest team in MLS will play ONE of the best teams over the last three years !!! Winner takes all.
they did not play their last 16 games over the same period. But if that is the range you want to look at then you are correct. Good job!
I keep getting this week’s average attendance as 17,636.
Is there something I’m missing here?
Brickthrower:
You are absolutely correct. Thanks.
Seattle = Hottest team in MLS.
Arlo White ( announcer ) has been saying for a while now, but they should the stats on the broadcast of the KC-Sea game. Since July 4th they are the best team. That was before Dallas tied and Seattle won again this weekend. Seattle had 4 wins on July 4th, so even if you don’t think they are the hottEST team, admit they are winning a lot of games. Dont forget 2 or 3 US Open Cup wins against MLS teams too !
That of course was a loss, so it is skewed a little…but is also roughly when they benched Ljungberg.