I disagree. A 20K average is a significant "hook" for guys in the mainstream sports media to talk about MLS. Huh? Not the excruciatingly butt-ugly soccer, not the appalling, childish decision making of the Sunderland attackers, but the STANDS???? You're weird.
We need to get to 6,137,000 to average 19,000 this year, last year we came 126,513 short. Week #1.....169,179 (6,137,000-169,179=5,967,821/315 =18,945 average to get to 19,000 average). Week #2.....153,333 (5,967,821-153,333=5,814,488/307=18,940 average to get to 19,000 average). Week #3.....167,179 (5,814,488-167,179=5,647,309/298=18,951 average to get to 19,000 average). Week #4....157,484 (5,647,309-157,484=5,489,825/289=18,996 average to get to 19,000 average).
I guarantee you in every MLS city in the league there is a group of people that fancies themselves Irish and probably meets up at an Irish bar before every match because hey they're Irish. From my experience with the groups in 3 different cities that fancies themselves Irish every self respecting person should avoid them at all costs. Nobody is actually Irish. They just like to pretend. Most of the kilt, scarf, whatever Euro thing crowd are posers to the umpteenth degree. They're borderline soccer moms for the most part. Just ignore them.
not sure about DC, but in philly it was like 40 degrees and raining sideways pretty much all day. Ill give that game a pass on the attendance (even though there were more than i thought would be there)
It was raining alot during the SJ game (something that hasn't happened in a really long time) and we still sold out.
Updated prediction table. We are falling further behind our goal, but thats just because the numbers this week are below the season average I predicted, so nothing unexpected. For example I fully expect Columbus and Dallas to beat their 2013 average, probably RSL as well. Regardless, If numbers and predictions below hold exactly, we will miss our target by 73,647, or an average of 268. But there is so much season left that this table is mostly useless. Still: Full leaguePlayedSpeculationFinalAverageTotalAveragetotalAverageTotalChicago1162281622816147212355361714810251764CD Chivas USA275021500415650097500176618112504Colorado2136692733815150872263051714920253643Columbus1175171751716157832525281715885270045DC United2116432328615134902023501713273225636FC Dallas3165404962014157732208221715908270442Houston2202834056615200013000151720034340581Los Angeles1256342563416226203619201722797387554Montréal1272072720716208233331681721199360375New England1131031310316136332181281713602231231Philadelphia2171713434215177532662951717685300637Portland2208144162815208143122101720814353838Red Bull NY2178843576815186932803951718598316163Real Salt Lake2196743934815190512857651719124325113San Jose2105252105015155162327471714929253797Seattle33871711615114447226261081743662742259Sporting KC2194003880015197922968801719746335680Toronto FC1225912259116225003600001722505382591Vancouver2210004200015205003075001720559349500Overall3419035647181289187415416172323187726063353
This isn't the pissing contest thread. Instead of the weather, the more significant item when discussing San Jose's attendance is the capacity of the stadium and at least 5000 season ticket holders.
If that is the game against the Chicago Fire, then it was cold and raining in DC. I know because I was thinking of going to that game but said "F that" when I looked what the weather was gonna be.
We need to get to 6,137,000 to average 19,000 this year, last year we came 126,513 short. Week #1.....169,179 (6,137,000-169,179=5,967,821/315 =18,945 average to get to 19,000 average). Week #2.....153,333 (5,967,821-153,333=5,814,488/307=18,940 average to get to 19,000 average). Week #3.....167,179 (5,814,488-167,179=5,647,309/298=18,951 average to get to 19,000 average). Week #4.....157,484 (5,647,309-157,484=5,489,825/289=18,996 average to get to 19,000 average). Week #5.....158,203 (5,489,825-158,203=5,331,622/280=19,042 average to get to 19,000 average).
I know it's early, but right now 11 out of the 19 teams are below their 2013 averages. I know some will make a comeback later in the season. I hope they do...
Indeed, if teams like chicago keep this pace, we are certainly not going to make it. They are known to pick up during the summer, so it's not as dire as it seems right now. But it's not great.
For Chicago attendance before July sucks, after July it goes to over 17K for the rest of the season, but that will depend on where the team is in relation to making the playoffs.
I guess the only that matters is, do you think the team will end the season at their 2013 average of 14,721? As long as they don't regress, there is not much we can criticize, every market is different.
While that may be true some are possibly artificial. Toronto opened at Roger's Centre last year, and should have better attendance thanks to MB and JD. Seattle had an early Cascadia so we are down a little, but with 5 full stadia matches we should easily surpass last season. Montreal continues to have smaller numbers for the first few matches, frankly I expected this, they could still meet last seasons total. Only DC is really down in bad way. Positives are that Chivas, Columbus, and Chicago are all up on this time last season. This is a marathon, and recent World Cup years suggest we will get a boost.
The only reason I see that Chivas is "up" is because their last game was against LAG. Otherwise they are the same, or worse, than last year. And I guess I don't see them doing any better. First two game last year: 7100, 6800 First two games this year: 8300, 6600 Columbus is a little better, or close to static: First two games last year: 16,000, 10,000 First two games this year: 17,500, 12,000 Even though Toronto didn't open in Rogers Centre they STILL had 22,500 for their first game. DCU is really disappointing. I hope they can find some way to turn it around; First three game last year: 17,000, 11,000, 18,000 First three game this year: 13,800, 9,000, 10,500
Well we should finish between 14K and 15K this year. July and August will let us know if its going to be a normal year (15+K) or a shitty year (below 14K).
So an early difference of 1.7k in Columbus is not a postive? Also with Chivas, yes they did play LAG early, but still the difference was 13.9k vs 14.9 for two matches, so that is a +500 swing, which is better than last season for sure. Plus the one LAG match last year drew 14k so 15k this year is improvement as well, even if that extra 1k was in the form of galaxy fans. I am not that worried about some of the teams that are down. DC is the exception. I am also encouraged by the teams that are up, and who do not traditionally start strong, Chicago and Columbus being those teams.