It was without, but I'm not sure the fans knew going in that was going to be the case. When they were selling tickets they said the USWNT women would be there, but they decided to give them the night off.
I don't think anyone said the WNT players were going to be there, they left for camp on Tuesday. The player closest to being an Olympian in London was on the other side, Shannon Woeller started every game of the qualifying tournament for Canada and was one of the last players cut. Attendance was as good as, if not better than, when the WNT stars were around. Even more impressive considering it was a cold night and had poured for much of the day.
When they were selling season tickets and single game tickets they said the USWNT players would be here for 7-8 home games, including pre-season, Friday's game was the 6th home game....
Was this really the case? Watching the livestream, there appeared to be a decent number of empty seats. Certainly there didn't appear to be the same attendance as previous home matches. I wouldn't doubt that all tickets were sold out given the number of season ticket packages they've probably sold. But for every home match prior, it appeared that every seat was filled.
Attendance was definitely as good as all other games except for the one against UW, we were packed very tight in the grandstands. Perhaps because the game was on a Friday night and school is almost out. I agree though that "sellout" might be a little misleading since many tickets were sold as part of season ticket packages and some fans may be skipping some of these games.
While we're talking about attendance, here are the single game ticket prices for Sounders games: Grandstand: $18.00 General Admission Bleachers & Standing: $16.00 General Admission Group Tickets: $10.00 each - 20 ticket minimum - Bleacher Seating only
The Sounders women defeated the LA Strikers Sunday 4-0. Attendance again was a sell-out 4,500. The Sounders play the Pali Blues on Wednesday.
I'll be at that game Wednesday. It will be interesting to see if 4-5,000 come out when the men's Sounders are also playing that night downtown.
Will any of the National teamers be playing in either of this week's games against Pali or Santa Clarita?
No. They are all in Sweden right now and will continue to be in national team camp until the Olympics are over. I believe this means they'll miss the rest of the season.
It depends on whether they are they using tickets distributed or actual butts in seats when the announce attendance. With all the season tickets they sold, I would not be surprised if the tickets distributed is going to be significantly higher than butts in seats.
Significantly lower according to Kenn. WPSL's highest average is the Breakers at 2,300 and the next highest W-League is the Whitecaps Women at 1,126. Heck, Sounders Women will probably have a higher per game average than most W-League teams will have for their entire season. http://www.kenn.com/the_blog/?p=4747
I assume they use tickets sold. Although I'm no expert on it, I believe that's standard for sports that sell tickets. I know that for the NCAA, if tickets are sold for admission then tickets sold is most commonly used.
From the Sounders' website: "USA stars Hope Solo, Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, and Syndey Leroux will be available for the match tomorrow. Due to just returning from National Team training on Tuesday evening, whether these players will play is uncertain."
Folks, the reason Sounders Women have such a big turnout is because they sold their season tickets with the buy them now before they sellout if you want to take your little girl to see Hope Solo mentality, IMO. Contrary to what people are trying to prove, in my opinion, the Northwest part is no better a women's soccer fan area then the Boston area, Chicago area, LA area, etc. Seattle women are riding the coattails on the popularity of Hope Solo and Alex Morgan. Period. There is nothing new here. If Solo was not here, they would get no where near the turnout they get. There is no "this is the way to build a program" thing here. Sign the most popular players, especially if they are homegrown and people will come, at least for a while. If Solo and Morgan were in Boston, they would get thousands to show up as well. They are there part time to stay in shape for the Olympics. Solo is playing for the Sounders because her home is Seattle, Rapinoe is from Portland and Morgan's boyfriend plays for Sounders men. No genious recruiting here. I've been to almost all Seattle Sounders home games and I enjoy them very much. Great play, great atmosphere. There are some very knowledgable fans. But trust me, most of the fans I sit around are IMO, clueless about the players other then 2 or 3 players they heard of (Solo, Morgan, and maybe Rapinoe). There is no Wow! factor here. They have Solo and a couple of other most popular players and they marketed them well. I'm not trying to diss. I enjoy the games at Starfire very much. But it is what it is.
Gotta start somewhere. The USWNT players get them in the door, hopefully the play and the atmosphere gets them to stay. We'll just call this the W-League version of the Beckham Experiment. That being said.. How did the NY Flash and magicjack do for attendance last season?
Borislow did not do ONE bit of marketing last year. The team was his toy to play with. The MagicJack game I went to, there was about 2,000 fans and that was by word of mouth. Literally. There was not even a sign up at or around FAU that indicated that there was a game there that day. Nothing. Nada. So if you can get people to come see Solo with just word of mouth in South Florida, imagine how many would have shown up if MagicJack had advertised like the Sounders Women have this year.
Solo was also with the Beat and Athletica... The Athletica were third worst in attendance. The good news is the Beat were 1,200 higher in the 2010 season. Still didn't save the league though. Fact is, it takes both a good FO and good players to get people show up. As you said, magicJack had the payers, but a crap FO, so the fans didn't show. Sounders Women prior to this season didn't have the players or the FO. There is no doubt the 4,500 wouldn't be showing up if the USWNT players weren't with the team, but the players don't come without the FO either.
You have a point. Amy Carnell is first class. I've talked to her on several occasions and I like her a lot. She is right for the Sounders Women GM job.
WNY Flash averaged 4881 last year, which included one game over 15,000 and, I believe, the WPS championship game with over 10,000.
And that game? Why? Abbey was comming to town! Home town superstar! Put the top USWNT stars in there and they will come, at least for that game. No matter what city. Look at Philadelphia. They could barely draw 2,000 people with the WPS. But put Abby and Solo and Morgan in there and they fill the stadium. Patriotism has nothing to do with it. It's all about a current fad and getting your little girl an autograph. Most of these clueless soccer dads have no idea what player is what past Solo, Morgan, Abby and MAYBE one or two others. People at this time, Seattle, WNY, whatever, are coming out to see a couple USWNT stars that they saw on TV or that their daughter talked about. Not necessarily for great soccer like you or I or StarCityFan would do. I am going to tonight's game between Sounders Women and Pali Blue. It would be cool to see Charlie Naimo again. But I go to see a great soccer game as well, not just to get my kid an autograph from Hope Solo.