Battle for LA: Galaxy poor attendance (BigSoccer Blog Post)

The Battle for Los Angeles (Galaxy Poor Attendance)

I usually gloss over the Home screen of BigSoccer but this article caught my fancy, he has a lot of good points. Ideas? Agree/Disagree?

tl;dr but it was a Sunday afternoon game. We are never at 100% on anything but a Saturday night.

Already responded in the game day thread, but there’s nothing concerning about Saturday’s attendance it was well within the norm for a a Sunday afternoon game. The Home Opener, sadly, doesn’t seem to have much sway over the casual LA fan.

Doesn't make sense to me. I am as much a fan on Sunday as I am any other day of the week. Who's changing from Soccer lover to Soccer hater over night at midnight Saturday? I know there are other things going on on Sundays. So what? There are probably more things going on Saturday nights.

What's your take on "we only come out on Saturday night?" Is that something you are reconciled to. Is it something you are proud of? Is it just one of life's many irrationalities?

And remember that 60,000 (I think) crowd that came out to welcome LAG at the Rose Bowl on a SUNDAY in 1996. Again, I could be wrong, but I think that first year virtually every home game LAG had was a Sunday afternoon.

No maybe there is "nothing to see here." But that sounds to me like whistling past the grave yard and I am concerned.

I think its a combination of Sunday afternoon and no Beckham or Donovan. Beckham was a significant draw, and I'll bet there's a fall off in attendance this year as a result of his leaving.

Church.

I blame Benny for leaving his post.

I think it was mostly the loss of Beckham. I don't know why anybody is surprised by the decrease in attendance. He was a big draw. For anyone that was there, how many screaming girls did you hear? It's not like we have have to tarp any of our sections.... (That is a big F you to Chivas fans who think that our empty seats were more of a concern than the 5 people that attended their game).

good point, most LA fans i've seen are mexicans and they tend to like church

Angels and Dodgers both don't draw as well on Sunday afternoon games compared to Friday and Saturday night games that are sold out or close to, and that's even before it starts to get really hot.

Still a bit disappointing, knew it wouldn't sell out but was hoping for maybe 24K.

it's still unacceptable I think. LA is a MASSIVE metro area, no excuse not to sell out a tiny stadium like Victoria Street (ehhh, see what i did there! )

Shhhhhh....

No offense mate, but how many games have you attended down here? You're certainly entitle to you opinion, but you've got lots of pre-conceived notions about the stadium location, crowd demographics, the stadium not bing good enough and sports culture in LA that just don't correlate with the reality of LA/OC.

I thought that's why Sigi reminded everybody that the HDC is the CATHEDRAL of American Soccer.

You took an ethnicity survey from Seattle? Come on.

As I said before our fans have to make a small adjustment. Instead of inviting their non-fan friends by saying "lets go see Beckham", they now have to say "lets go see the Galaxy". It's a slightly harder sell unfortunately.

I've been to quite a ton of games. I'm from LA, and I have no idea how you can say that my thoughts and ideas are wrong when you have no clue yourself. None of us have a real idea unless you work for a statistics dept in LA and LAG and thats something they have never put out.

I took an ethnicity survey from the HDC and the Rose Bowl. Don't assume that just b/c I live in Seattle now it doesn't mean I spent the vast majority of my life in LA

I will say this: I come from out of area (my drive usually varies between 2.5 hours and 4 depending on the game time and traffic) and I am MUCH more likely to go to a Saturday game than to a Sunday game, just because I don't like spending the end of my weekend driving. I have no idea if that's a factor for other people who have a drive, but Sunday is family day, and not everyone's family wants to spend it at a game.

Also, and this is now purely anecdotal, but I don't see ANY cross-over from Chivas to Galaxy fans. People just naturally seem to go one side or another, and as we have clearly seen here in the states, there are tons of people who just choose a team outside the league or from their home league to root for. I don't think Chivas fans are going to say "oh, Chivas folded, guess I'm a Galaxy fan." What they're going to do is say "I guess I am watching more Guadelajara games this year on TV." Again, that is just my subject feeling based on people I've talked to.

As far as overall attendance is concerned, give it a few weeks and see if it is actually significantly down from last year. A touch too soon to see if there's a real problem or not.

My point with Chivas ( i dont know if ur referring to me or the article) is if Chivas never existed then yes i think plenty of those fans would've been Galaxy. Now if Chivas were to fold you can't say none would be Galaxy fans, i'm sure some would, but to say all will is untrue and ur right.

As ur second statement, I agree. I didn't write the article but thought he brought up some good points for discussion.

I didn’t say they were wrong, they just come across as the flights of fancy of someone who doesn’t live in LA/OC or regularly attend games.

Well I did, so they are not flights of fancy

It will be interesting to watch our attendance. Losing Beckham, like it or not, is something that has an impact. A real impact.

I know we have new upper management that came on board about 10-11 months ago who's primary mission was to sell out more games and to greatly expand the season ticket base. So that is their challenge.

I haven't noticed a whole lot being done differently then the old regime did. I did note they started selling very cheap season tickets. In fact I changed out the two I had to 4 in the upper deck and it worked out to roughly the same total cost.

My guess is that the loss of Beckham will be greater then the gains from their new efforts. Hate to say it but it is true. And Beckham was very unique. Only Blanco has had anywhere near the gate impact that Beckham has had in this league. If the Galaxy signs Lampard for June 30, will that lead to dramatically increased sales? I don't know.

If the Galaxy end up with attendance that is flat or down just 5% from last year, that would be a huge accomplishment.

Since you admit none of us know, than why are you making assertions about the ethnicity. And remember your initial statement was about soccer fans here, not just those that can be seen at the HDC or the Rose Bowl. And even the survey you claim to have taken, by which I think you mean your observation, are flawed. Can you really claim that on sight, in a crowd, you can tell a Guatemalan from a salvadorian from a Mexican from a Colombian??? Stop stereotyping.

I will say that I have seen more billboards and other signage on busses and so forth than in the past. I think that they are working this end of it harder. And getting programs like Backstage Galaxy is also a new and refreshing effort.

I think you are right about the Beckham effect though. Fewer screeching teens yelling "I love you Beckham" at the last game. Maybe that's not all bad.