Attendance Averages

[SoFla Metro]

Originally posted by PhilipReed

I just want to say that Boston is as good a proxy for nationwide interest in baseball as Berkeley is a good proxy for national political trends. Well said

[MLS_stats]

Originally posted by Native
just thought that this is an interesting comparison. These are the average attendance records per game in each of the following leagues for this current season (or this past season for leagues that were just completed).

NFL - 65,613
MLB - 26,626
NBA - 16,959
NHL - 16,539
MLS - 16,078
WNBA- 9,075

MLS attendance is right there with the NHL and NBA in terms of average attendance per game.

thoughts?


Add in some smaller leagues and MLS looks a lot better
MLL - 3,716 (in 2002)
AFL - 9,958 (in 2002)
WUSA - 6,969 (in 2002)
WNBA - 9,344 (in 2002)

[kenntomasch]

This is a recording. Click. It is not average attendance. Click. It is revenue in versus revenue out. Click. This is a recording. Click. It is not average attendance. Click. It is revenue in versus revenue out. Click.

[MLS_stats]

Attendance = Revenue In

[Golazo]

Originally posted by PhilipReed
Right. College football. (Incidentally the World Cup final has been played in a college football stadium, but never in an NFL one, unless the Rams or Raiders also used it at some point i'm not aware of.)



But it's also accurate to say that soccer is immensely popular in the US. Just not spectator soccer. The point was that things can change over 40 years, and that statements about the sports heirarchy using the word "never" literally are usually pretty silly.

1) If you want to get one man's well-researched insight into the whole college football v. nfl v. baseball v. basketball v. hockey v. pro soccer in the States thing, get a copy of Andrei Markovits (sp?) "Offside: Soccer and American Exceptionalism"

I am constantly pimping this guy's book because it explains a whole lot about why we are where we are relative to other sports. It is not a light read, however, as he wrote it as a historical and sociological study, not a Tom Clancy thriller.

2) Whoever made the point about free tickets skewing NBA/NHL/NFL/MLB attendence numbers was right on. Every once in a while -- when they are in a particularly sullen mood -- the afternoon sports talk guys here in Atlanta will ask each caller "When is the last time you paid for a ticket to a major sporting event with your own money." The answers ("never", "maybe once last season", "did what?") are illuminating.
Just as MLS and soccer in general are not part of SportsCenter's consciousness, they are not part of the "sports as mass entertainment and culture" culture that those other sports benefit from. What we really could use is a big ol' four month MLB strike sometime in the next couple years. That way, people would find MLS - and maybe the Nats - by default, and some would stick with it.



A boy can dream

[soccerfan]

Originally posted by Native
just thought that this is an interesting comparison. These are the average attendance records per game in each of the following leagues for this current season (or this past season for leagues that were just completed).

NFL - 65,613
MLB - 26,626
NBA - 16,959
NHL - 16,539
MLS - 16,078
WNBA- 9,075

MLS attendance is right there with the NHL and NBA in terms of average attendance per game.

thoughts?


right now MLS averages just above 14 k per game for this season mostly due to smaller stadiums some teams play in. Attendance averages won't go up much higher in the upcoming years especialy as more teams move into 20 k stadia. One thing you might see is ticket prices going up if there is a high demand.

[kenntomasch]

Originally posted by MLS_stats
Attendance = Revenue In

Duh.

But just tracking announced attendance without (a) the corresponding revenue figures and (b) the expense numbers doesn't really help what you're trying to do, which is get a handle on the financial well-being of the league, now does it?

The attendance numbers are not going to be what determines whether this league (or any other) folds or prospers. It's revenue versus expense. How far into the negative that equation can go is for the owners to decide.

[Paul Schmidt]

Mr. Stats,

Golf had low ratings for a long time before the Tiger Woods phenomenon arrived on our TV screens, yet practically all but 3 or 4 tournaments were televised over the air. Ever wonder why?

The issue with the networks was WHICH 2% they were attracting... the people with money, people who could afford to advertise on their networks were evidentally watching golf.

That should signal a loud clue as to why the attendance numbers only exist in context. The 16-to-1 revenue ratio must be understood.

When a significant part of the fan base is attracted to a sport because it is inexpensive, THAT is what causes sponsors to think twice. Only overwhelming numbers in the stands and on TV can override that. Otherwise, the 23K or so the XFL averaged in their year of glory might have meant something.

An alternate source to check is a lesser-known David Halberstam book, "The Breaks of the Game." This highlights the NBA during their late-70s down years.

[kenntomasch]

Originally posted by Paul Schmidt
Otherwise, the 23K or so the XFL averaged in their year of glory might have meant something.


They had set a goal of selling a million tickets (25k for 8 teams) and nearly got there. That wasn't so much their problem as (a) public perception, which was tainted by the grossly overrated hype, the bravado of McMahon, the (should have been expected in that time slot) low ratings, which caused the critics to stomp with both feet on the bandwagon, and the bad football, and (b) the startup costs.

Way too much to overcome. If you're going to start a new league, you don't try professional football. I doubt anyone will try again anytime soon.

[10Metrostars10]

Originally posted by Enforcer
Does anybody have any demographic information on who attends actually attends MLS games?

MLS does :)

[USAsoccer]

Originally posted by Native
just thought that this is an interesting comparison. These are the average attendance records per game in each of the following leagues for this current season (or this past season for leagues that were just completed).

NFL - 65,613
MLB - 26,626
NBA - 16,959
NHL - 16,539
MLS - 16,078
WNBA- 9,075

MLS attendance is right there with the NHL and NBA in terms of average attendance per game.

thoughts?

FYI, WNBA average attendence is - 8,826 for the season just completed...

Lowest aveage EVER for WNBA. Playoff average is even lower as of this writing...