Busy week in Major League Soccer with a host of mid-week games and a packed weekend, so we will jump right into attendance. The early games started in with DC United, with less than 11k at RFK to watch DC fall 4-0 in another disappointing outing for the Black and Red. The Red Bulls fell just short of 12k in their mid-week effort, while KC managed its usual 18,500 plus.
Now that every professional (men's and women's) team in MLS, the NASL, USL Pro and the NWSL has had at least one home match, we can take a look at the attendance figures for each team in the various leagues through games of May 5. (As always, corrections are welcome.)
THE MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER
G
Total
Average
Seattle Sounders
3
117,471
39,157
Montreal Impact
4
100,512
25,128
Los Angeles Galaxy
5
105,156
21,031
Portland Timbers
5
103,370
20,674
Vancouver Whitecaps
4
77,657
19,414
Sporting KC
5
96,462
19,292
Toronto FC
5
96,439
19,288
Houston Dynamo
5
92,643
18,529
Real Salt Lake
5
90,764
18,153
Philadelphia Union
4
69,375
17,344
New York Red Bulls
4
68,213
17,053
FC Dallas
5
79,683
15,937
DC United
4
58,474
14,619
New England Revolution
3
40,882
13,627
Colorado Rapids
5
66,843
13,369
Columbus Crew
4
52,931
13,233
Chicago Fire
4
48,335
12,084
San Jose Earthquakes
6
62,699
10,450
Chivas USA
5
40,227
8,045
MLS TOTAL
85
1,468,136
17,272
NORTH AMERICAN SOCCER LEAGUE
G
Total
Average
San Antonio Scorpions
2
15,230
7,615
Minnesota Stars FC
3
15,714
5,238
Atlanta Silverbacks
2
10,402
5,201
Fort Lauderdale Strikers
2
9,764
4,882
Carolina RailHawks
2
8,794
4,397
Tampa Bay Rowdies
3
11,219
3,740
FC Edmonton
1
921
921
NASL TOTAL
15
72,044
4,803
USL PRO
G
Total
Average
Orlando City
4
31,660
7,915
Rochester Rhinos
1
5,963
5,963
Pittsburgh Riverhounds
1
4,000
4,000
Charleston Battery
2
7,808
3,904
Wilmington Hammerheads
2
5,955
2,978
Richmond Kickers
4
10,066
2,517
Phoenix FC
5
11,928
2,386
Dayton Dutch Lions
*1
1,436
1,436
Harrisburg City Islanders
2
2,769
1,385
Los Angeles Blues
*4
2,637
659
Charlotte Eagles
4
2,373
593
VSI Tampa FC
4
2,264
566
MLS Reserve Teams
3
10,373
3,458
USL PRO TOTAL
37
99,232
2,682
*=Missing one game
NATIONAL WOMEN'S SOCCER LEAGUE
G
Total
Average
Portland Thorns FC
1
16,479
16,479
FC Kansas City
2
10,848
5,424
Washington Spirit
3
12,682
4,227
Western NY Flash
2
6,192
3,096
Boston Breakers
2
5,747
2,874
Seattle Reign FC
1
2,618
2,618
Sky Blue FC
1
2,611
2,611
Chicago Red Stars
2
4,110
2,055
NWSL TOTAL
14
61,287
4,378
NOTES:
MLS, which drew six million fans for the first time ever in 2012, is on pace to do slightly below that (if every team holds its average for the rest of the season), but at 17,272 and playing to about 83% capacity, its numbers are healthier than ever overall.
Sporting KC once again set an attendance record this year for KC. As a whole, Sporting finished the season 7th in the attendance table, which in percentage terms is probably close to, if not the highest Kansas City has ever finished in the league, averaging 19,404 per game, almost 1,000 over the capacity of Livestrong Sporting Park.
New data from FIFA shows that Major League Soccer past the 6 million fans mark for the first time this season.
Total attendance for MLS games was 6,072,854. The game in the U.S. continues to show strong growth as the MLS broke through the 4 million barrier in 2010 and 5 million in 2011.
With an average attendance of 18,807, MLS ranks seventh in the world by that metric.
Time for some positive news before we get into the playoff discussion (full predictions coming up later today).
Attendance for Major League Soccer reached a new high in 2012. Theleague beat last year's mark by nearly 1,000 per game. In fact, with an average attendance of 18,807, MLS ranks seventh in the world.
Major League Soccer returned with a vengeance this weekend with a series of meaningful games, big crowds and exciting soccer. Before we get to the attendance numbers, the big business story from the weekend was the revelation that the Hunt family is looking to sell the Crew to a local ownership group.
Major League Soccer has hit the 5 million mark for attendance this season with a few weeks to go. MLS has also been averaging around 18,500 per game this season.
MLS's highest season attendance averages were 17,872 in 2011 and 17,406 in its inaugural season of 1996. Obviously the more clubs the league has added, the higher the attendance overall.
Back to a full slate of games in Major League Soccer after a break for international competition. Before we get to the attendance, here are a couple of business items from the weekend. We'll start on television, where the broadcast version of NBC made its debut on Saturday afternoon. The network did a great job with the telecast and everything about the broadcast screamed professionalism.
I hope everyone had wonderful holiday weekend and enjoyable end of Summer. For fans of Major
League Soccer, the post-labor day period means its time for the final push to the playoffs. Fall
is a great time for soccer in the United States and the playoffs are now just weeks away.
In truth the biggest business news over the last few days came from across the sea, with the
transfer window closing across Europe.
Quantifying the entertainment value of a soccer league is, obviously, difficult. You might want to
look at attendance, because people tend to show up to events they find entertaining. You might want
to look at disciplinary statistics, because games with a lot of cards can be pretty entertaining in
a trainwreck sort of way.
Talk about Sunday's refereeing disaster continues across the league. Hackworth says DC game had
plenty of "teachable moments." Valdes named to PST Team of the Week. MLS ranked 8th in the world
for pro soccer attendance. Mexico v USA top primetime broadcast. More news.
While MLS still trails the likes of Mexico and even China on attendance, the league has made
many inroads this season and is well on track to beat last year's record.
The indoor soccer season officially ended Saturday night with the Baltimore Blast's 8-6 win over the Missouri Comets in the second game of the Major Indoor Soccer League finals. It's Baltimore's seventh championship (including one by the original Blast in 1984), second only to San Diego's 10 among top-flight indoor leagues.
Syracuse Silver Knights president Tommy Tanner, who famously said his MISL team would "sell out every game" before it played one, is perplexed about why they haven't actually sold out every game. Or come close, even.
"We're still not where we need to be," said Tanner, who vowed there will be, at least, a third campaign for his bunch.
Here's the first look this season at attendance figures from the Major Indoor Soccer League, now in its second season under the United Soccer Leagues' umbrella.
You'll often find 'one man and his dog' in attendance at mid-season friendly matches... but it looks like the dogs might have actually outnumbered the human spectators at a recent Galatasaray friendly. The canine crowd decided to mount a pitch invasion, with two labradors bounding around the playing surface with glee.
Images: KCKRS, Tumblr. We look forward to seeing more photos from Dirk Kuyt's feature in
Fenerbahce's magazine so that the inevitable speculation about his attendance at Liverpool'sÂ
annual fancy dress Christmas party can begin in earnest.
Sporting KC closed out the regular season last night, and their final home game. As mentioned in the last one, Sporting set a new record for average attendance and overall attendance. For the second time in KC's history the team has averaged over the capacity of their venue, the other time that was done was the was the 2008 season, the team's first year at CAB when they played one game at Arrowhead.
photo courtesy of Jarred Donalson Last night at Livestrong Sporting Park, Sporting set a new attendance record for the stadium, drawing 21,010, 2,543 above the announced capacity of the stadium. The attendance also guarantees that KC will set a new team record again this year in terms of average attendance and total attendance as they've already topped last year's total attendance total with one game left.
It wasn't the highest attended game in Livestrong Sporting Park history as Don Garber mentioned on Twitter on Friday, but it was still another game where KC pulled over the capacity of LSP. Here's the comparison of 15 home games.
1996 - Arrowhead 12,141 Sunday September 7, 1996 vs Columbus 1-5 loss Average - 12,612
1997 - Arrowhead 8,761 Friday September 12, 1997 vs New York 0-0 (2-3) shootout loss Average - 8,830
1998 - Arrowhead 6,755 Saturday September 5, 1998 vs San Jose 5-1 win Average - 7,734
1999 - Arrowhead 9,592 Saturday September 25, 1999 vs Colorado 0-0 (2-3) shootout loss Average - 9,516
2000 - Arrowhead 8,485 Friday August 18, 2000 vs Miami 1-2 loss Average - 9,202
2001 - Arrowhead Season finished Average - 10,954
2002 - Arrowhead Season finished Average - 12,287
2003 - Arrowhead 14,923 Saturday October 18, 2003 vs Dallas 1-0 win Final home game of the season Average - 15,573
2004 - Arrowhead 20,435 Saturday October 16, 2004 vs Los Angeles 1-0 win Final home game of the season.
Another comparison of the home attendance, with the stage out, Sporting still had a sell out crowd
at Livestrong Sporting Park. Here's a look at the rest of the attendance comparisons for the 14th
home game of the season.
1996 - Arrowhead
11,139
Sunday September 1, 1996 vs New York 2-2(3-1) shootout win
Average - 12,646
1997 - Arrowhead
7,619
Thursday August 28, 1997 vs Colorado 1-0 win
Average - 8,835
1998 - Arrowhead
8,621
Saturday August 29, 1998 vs Chicago 2-2 (2-3) shootout loss
Average - 7,804
1999 - Arrowhead
17,832
Saturday September 18, 1999 vs Dallas 1-1(0-3) shootout loss
Average - 9,511
2000 - Arrowhead
10,530
Saturday August 5, 2000 vs Los Angeles 1-5 loss
Average - 9,253
2001 - Arrowhead
Season finished
Average - 10,954
2002 - Arrowhead
19,270
Saturday September 14, 2002 vs Colorado 1-2 loss
Final home game of the 2002 season.
Here's this week's comparison for home games. Through 13 home games, Kansas City has once again
gotten another sellout at Livestrong keeping the 2012 season well ahead of last year's pace for the
most well attended season.
1996 - Arrowhead
7,891
Thursday August 15, 1996 vs San Jose 4-1 win
Average - 12,762
1997 - Arrowhead
9,278
Saturday August 17, 1997 vs New York 3-3(2-0) shootout win
Average - 8,928
1998 - Arrowhead
6,401
Wednesday August 26, 1998 vs DC 1-2 loss.
When FC Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman brought Brek Shea off the field in the 86th minute of
Sunday's 1-1 draw with Seattle Sounders FC, many of those in attendance at FC Dallas Stadium and
watching on TV were a bit perplexed. They wondered why Hyndman would bring off one of his top
attacking players in what was still a 1-1 tie but a match where the final outcome remained very
much in doubt.
Saturday's 7:30 PM match between the aspiring Seattle Sounders and struggling Goats features one
of the hottest teams in MLS and a team that is bewildering. Despite several name brand players on
offense Chivas USA has 9 fewer goals than the next worst in the league. If it wasn't for Dan
Kennedy and the strong defense there would be no chance for the other SoCal team to make the MLS
Cup Playoffs.
The Portland Timbers held a closed practice today at the team's Beaverton training facility, but
like yesterday very little attention was being paid to what was happening on the field. Instead,
everyone in attendance was waiting for team owner Merritt Paulson to arrive and make the formal
announcement that Caleb Porter had been hired on as the Timbers' new coach, which he did as
practice was wrapping up.
The Portland Timbers controlled play for much of last night's 3-1 loss to the San Jose
Earthquakes in reserve league play but were unable to finish their chances despite out-shooting the
'Quakes 21 to 5 The game took place in a crowded Jeld-Wen Field as some beautiful weather and a
GroupOn deal on tickets brought families in droves to the game.
The 2012-13 German Bundesliga season is about to start with Borussia Dortmund aiming for a third
straight title. It's been a fantastic run for Dortmund who are looking to match Bayern Munich's run
of three consecutive league titles from 1998 to 2001.
Overall, the Bundesliga remains one of the most competitive and popular leagues in the world
along with attendance averaging over 45,000 per match last season.
The USWNT will play two home games in the Spring/Summer on the East Coast. Red Bull Arena and Gillette were announced as the venues. There was a some dispute about the selection of a turf venue for the matches, but for the first time in a while, Foxboro will play host a US International.
On to attendance, where the week started with a Wednesday night match featuring New England and Portland.
Before we get to the weekly look at attendance, a couple of quick business notes. The big weekend stories involved movement on the stadium fronts in both Washington and New York 2. Coming a few days after the announcement that the Revs were slowing moving towards a stadium in Revere, the possibility that two more soccer specific stadiums might rise in the Northeast Corridor are great news for the league.
2012 Attendance: It's getting higher but so far still middle of the MLS pack
The 2012 season has the Chicago Fire at a points per game average that is unseen since the Golden Era of 1998-2003. Forty-four points in 26 games is identical to the 2003 season pace when Chicago won its only Supporters' Shield.
With the end of the second official season of the new North American Soccer League, we can (almost) close the book on the Division II and Division III attendance figures for the 2012 campaign. Here are the unofficial numbers as I have them*:
Apparently, the pitch isn't the only place the Revolution have struggled this season.
According the league's latest attendance figures, New England, which currently sits in eighth place in the Eastern Conference, remains dead last at the gate, with a league-low 12,542 average homeattendance this season through Week 28.
Tuesday marks the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York,
Washington, D.C. and Shanskville, Penn. In recognition of playing on 9/11, U.S. Soccer will honor
the occasion by distributing American flags to all those in attendance, and will recognize three
first responders from the New York City Fire Department: Captain Joseph Brosi, Battalion Chief
Wayman Iriarte, and Lieutenant Jason Hickey.
- QPR REPORT on TWITTER! - QPR REPORT MESSAGEBOARD
- QPR in Video
- QPR History: From the 1880s to the 21st Century: Bushman QPR Photo Archives _____________________________________________________________
- QPR Season-by-Season Average Attendance for Past 35 Years
- List of Premiership Club Transfers
- The QPR Squad of 25 of One Year Ago - Some 15 of those 25 have moved on or will be moving on!
By Tony Edwards - San Jose, CA (Aug 30, 2012) US Soccer Players -- In Thursday's column, Tony asks
what the Revolution needs to do after Wednesday's collapse, questions the ethics of consulting with
a coach under contract to another entity, and wonders if Montreal will raise attendance by lowering
ticket prices.
As Lecturas first reported [Ed. Note: hellow - always the rumour starters], Bar the supermodel was
not after Gerard Pique or Cesc Fabregas as people first assumed about her random attendance at
Barcelona matches. While some gossipers still think there's a connection to be made between her and
Pique (some argue they had a fling [.
The final weekend of almost every regular season has its share of drama, and the USL Pro's
season finale was no different as two teams snuck into the playoffs while another saw its
postseason hopes vanish.
The Harrisburg City Islanders and the Wilmington Hammerheads booked the final two spots in the
postseason and the Charlotte Eagles fell out of sixth place and the playoff picture by losing on
Sunday.
MELBOURNE DYNAMO RESERVES 4-0 MACKWORTH ST. FRANCIS RESERVES Friday 17th August 2012
Midlands Regional Alliance Division 2 Melbourne Recreation Ground, Cockshut Lane
Why would I attend a reserve team fixture you may ask? Surely a case of scrapping the bottom of the
barrel football wise?
