MLS Attendance Analysis:Week 12

Discussion in 'MLS: News & Analysis' started by edwardgr, May 31, 2012.

  1. WarrenWallace

    WarrenWallace Member

    Mar 12, 1999
    Beer and Cheese
    And subtract out those 60k+ crowds in Montreal. I believe they will play 3 games a year at beginning of season at the Big O (get new turf!) but the novelty factor and other factors will be gone.
     
  2. Spursfan1

    Spursfan1 Member+

    Sep 7, 2010
    Atlanta
    Club:
    Tottenham Hotspur FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    sure but they will have around 19-20k a game.
    also no more 10,500 average from san jose.

    only new england to worry about. dc would benefit too from a 20k stadium.
     
  3. OleGunnar20

    OleGunnar20 Member+

    Dec 7, 2009
    Club:
    Manchester United FC

    i have got to think that $20/person is low. the HSV study for portland from way back when used $4 per person merch and $8 per person concession ... so that would be $12 per person right there not including average ticket price. average ticket prices for teams averaged from $15-32 in that study so i have to assume that 3-4 years later on that has risen to $18-35 per team. obviously more teams towards the lower end than towards the higher end.

    i'd say league wide that the team average ticket price is probably $20-22 (conservatively) and the merc+concession per person is at least $10-15.

    so worst case scenario you are looking at $30 per person revenue ... now if income is revenue-expense than maybe $20 is correct but if income means revenue in this case i think $20 is pretty far off.

    EDIT: i can see that chart is in Euro so maybe you meant 20E but that would still be low. $30 per person would be $24E so that would put MLS above the average and in the same line as Belguim and Scotland but further right on the chart.

    which means to say that MLS seems to be in pretty good shape in comparison to some Tier 2 euro leagues but are still spending a pittance compared to similar leagues. i guess some of the difference can be accounted for by extra TV money in Belguim and Scotland but there can't be THAT much more TV money in those two countries to account for the vast discrepancy in wages. my take away is that compared to similar tier Euro leagues MLS is spending far less than the difference in TV monies (such as they are) would account for.
     
  4. Allez RSL

    Allez RSL Member+

    Jun 20, 2007
    Home
    I went with $20/attendee for 2 reasons: I wanted to be conservative, and I wasn't sure how accurately the 17,500 attendance number tracks paid attendance.

    Also, my merch/concessions spending is always zero, 'cause I'm a total cheapskate and I eat before the game, so I have a hard time assuming $10/person on additional purchases just on principle -- no matter how unrealistic I'm being. ;)
     
  5. triplet1

    triplet1 BigSoccer Supporter

    Jul 25, 2006
    As I recall, Portland was high on concessoins. Concessions are typically net of the cost of the goods, and some of the information to calculate that is in the KC study. As I recall, the last time I tried to calculate this it was something like $4 - 5 per attendee.

    Jasonma had the recent average ticket price numbers for Colorado, but I think your're right that this is low $20s. Add the ticket and concessions together (and parking in some places) and I'd say about $27 - $28 is probably in the ball park.

    But you don't have to get that accurate for the key point IMO -- MLS attendance and match day income is very respectable, and higher then many of the European leagues now. The big difference is the TV revenue, or lack thereof.
     
  6. Fiosfan

    Fiosfan Red Card

    Mar 21, 2010
    Nevada
    Club:
    New York City FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    If you heading to Rapids game , mention Jasonma name at any concessions stands and you will get a free hotdog if you buy 15 hotdogs..:p
     
  7. JasonMa

    JasonMa Member+

    Mar 20, 2000
    Arvada, CO
    Club:
    Colorado Rapids
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    $20.28 but that was just season ticket holders, not total tickets.

    Nah, like Allez I'm a total cheapskate in the stadium and don't buy anything. You could mention my name to the front office but depending on who you;re talking to you might not get the reaction you were hoping for. :D
     
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  8. Totoro

    Totoro Member+

    Dec 3, 2009
    Colorado
    What about sponsorships?
     
  9. In fairness to RBNY, they have had a very tough schedule this year. I believe they havent had a Saturday night game yet and many midweek games. 90% of the teams in the league would have lower attendance then expected in that scenario. DC has also had many midweek games which has hurt also.
     
  10. Yoshou

    Yoshou Fan of the CCL Champ

    May 12, 2009
    Seattle
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I dunno. I wouldn't be surprised if they are able to get 60k to one or two of the Big O games. I'm not sure if this has changed any, but the Montreal posters were saying that they were taking a "If you build it, they will come" approach to marketing the team and that lack of marketing seems to have hurt their season ticket sales. If they actually market the Big O games, perhaps they'd get better attendance than they would for the non-Inaugural/Galaxy games.
     
  11. Allez RSL

    Allez RSL Member+

    Jun 20, 2007
    Home
    Good point. I went and looked up what the Swiss Rambler had for Dutch teams, and found this:
    [​IMG]

    So their sponsorship (commercial) is pretty substantial. I'm not sure how MLS fits with that. I'd guess that the sponsorship money would follow the TV money, though. That is, Once the league gets more national exposure that would come along with a big TV contract, wouldn't companies be willing to pay more for sponsorships?
     
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  12. IceFunk

    IceFunk Member

    Oct 22, 2005
    Beaverton, Oregon
    Timbers U-23's 2:1 Whitecaps U-23

    a: 8,174
     
  13. fuzzx

    fuzzx Member+

    Feb 4, 2012
    Brossard
    Club:
    Montreal Impact
    Nat'l Team:
    Canada

    It really depends on the on field performance from now on, but I'm quite sure that the O games can bring in 50k+, especially for the opener.

    I can see soccer slowly gaining a grip on this city, which should translate to future interest. But other than the opener the thing that will differentiate a 30k game from a 50k is PR or some Beckham-like effect.

    Or not. With only 2 data points its premature to speculate too much.
     
  14. Fiosfan

    Fiosfan Red Card

    Mar 21, 2010
    Nevada
    Club:
    New York City FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    It's a crime to see that beautiful stadium half full in Harrison .lots of cities would die for such a magnifacnt building .
     
  15. MobileSoccerFan

    May 14, 2012
    Club:
    Houston Dynamo
    Does anybody know if they have completely finished the proposed development and metro transit etc.?
     
  16. Fiosfan

    Fiosfan Red Card

    Mar 21, 2010
    Nevada
    Club:
    New York City FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Suppose to be apartment buildings , shopping malls and movie theaters which none has happened as yet. Hope things improve in the future.
     
  17. MobileSoccerFan

    May 14, 2012
    Club:
    Houston Dynamo
    I see. I imagine that would hopefully come to fruition when the local economy picks up (assuming it hasn't yet fully). From what it seems on the GoogleMaps, you get off a rail-line and that's about it.
     
  18. Fiosfan

    Fiosfan Red Card

    Mar 21, 2010
    Nevada
    Club:
    New York City FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    blacksun repped this.
  19. MobileSoccerFan

    May 14, 2012
    Club:
    Houston Dynamo
    I imagine the Red Bulls aren't planning on leaving Harrison anytime soon. I don't see why they don't help out or find creditors or investors to help out the town. While its not a guarantee that it will work, helping out the town should help attendance and aesthetic. I mean they could tie in capital as collateral or something to make it worth the Red Bulls time.
     
  20. IceFunk

    IceFunk Member

    Oct 22, 2005
    Beaverton, Oregon
    PDX reserves 1:2 LA reserves

    a: 6,118
     
  21. ChrisV323

    ChrisV323 Member

    Jan 15, 2011
    Los Angeles
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    12,523 @New England
     
  22. Shopping Cart Man

    Sep 21, 2006
    Jacksonville, FL
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Damn, I thought the rain was gonna knock this number down.
     
  23. Fiosfan

    Fiosfan Red Card

    Mar 21, 2010
    Nevada
    Club:
    New York City FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Pretty low number for a Saturday.
     
  24. MLSFan123

    MLSFan123 Member+

    Mar 21, 2011
    Boston Area
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Yeah this was a decent number considering walk up sales had to be close to 0. It was pouring from the minute people woke up right till game time.
     
  25. lfcli30

    lfcli30 Member

    Jun 21, 2005
    New York
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Apartments have already gone up on the other side of the PATH. The next set is being built right now on the RBA side. It's still pretty desolate in the area around RBA...but apparently the PATH reno work is starting in the next year or so.

    This attendance number in NY is a direct result of the ticketing policies of Chris Heck. Yeah, the schedule sucks with 3 midweek games so far, but he basically gave the finger to longtime ST holders and jacked up the prices big time on fans in the first 7 rows (aka the people who have had seats since before '06 in many cases). He also decided to bring in "member cards" which are thinly disguised yearly PSL's. That did not sit well with many people (myself included). The cheapest ticket in RBA is above any other MLS club in the league too, to top it off (LA excluded).

    Long story short, Heck is trying to turn RBA into an NBA arena and he's failing miserably. I'm happy to see the low attendance number since I want his ass fired.
     
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