@ Irvine: 214 @ Charlotte: ??? @ Pittsburgh: 1,711 @ Wilmington: ??? @ Harrisburg: 2,316 @ Los Dos: 527 @ Colorado Springs: ??? @ Rochester: 5,124 @ OKC: 5,690 @ Tulsa: 4,078 @ SLC: 1,185 @ Sacto: 11,589 @ Bethlehem: 2,560 @ Toronto: ???
http://gazette.com/colorado-springs...for-home-win-over-san-antonio/article/1574716 3209 in Colorado Springs.
I read 1914 as the attendance for Charlotte v Richmond in the YouTube thread for that game, do not hold me to that as an accurate figure though.
The Rochester crowd looked closed to legit (about 5,000). I was at the game. In previous years they may have reported that as 6,500 or so.
I'm gonna tell you what: this shit was a whole lot easier before there were all these damn teams in the league.
Remember when people were going to those games because they had a different brand than the parent club? Good times.
No one says it's everything. It's worth nothing. It's worth tracking. It's fun to talk about. It's not everything. It's still the bulk of most teams' revenues, which is as close an indicator of overall health as we're likely to get. (Not in all cases, obviously, because some teams are not set up to be revenue-generators.) We've spent a whole lot of the last (nearly) 17 years that I've been here with legitimate questions about the long-term viability of a large portion (and, for a while, a majority) of the professional soccer clubs in this country, and attendance was one way we made guesstimates about the chances that a given club could continue to exist. Slowly, those questions are faded, level by level. No one worries about MLS or an MLS club going out of business anymore (with caveats like Chivas USA). Division II hasn't lost a club in a few years (though some are still precarious). Division III has even stabilized. So it's perhaps slightly less of a grab-your-chest-when-you-see-a-low-number situation than it used to be, but it's still a reasonable indicator of most teams' overall chances of long-term survival. But no one, to my knowledge, thinks it's everything.
Oh, wait. Forget what I said before. In context, I see what you're saying. The fact Cincinnati has done great for their first two home games is not the only thing MLS will look at when determining where to play its (more limited now) expansion cards. You're right. It's not. It makes for a delicious tension that the league loves to have because it helps them in the Stadium Game. Any time they appear to have more viable suitors for spots than there are actual spots, it helps MLS. But they're not going to go only by that when they decide which cities get clubs 25-28, you're completely right. In 2000, this place was full of "Why have a league at all if you're not going to let Rochester in?" nonsense because Rochester was outdrawing a couple of underperforming MLS clubs. We all know how that turned out, and why. MLS will expand to the markets and with the owners and stadium plans or solutions that make the most sense for MLS. (And it won't be Garber's decision alone. That bit of shorthand is misleading. The BOG makes those decisions and they have proven to be fairly diligent about it.)
So by my count, as we wrap up April here, I think we're missing the following games: 3/25/2016 Sacramento at Seattle 3/26/2016 Toronto at New York 3/26/2016 FC Cincinnati at Charleston 3/26/2016 Rio Grande Valley at Tulsa 4/01/2016 Richmond at Wilmington 4/02/2016 Harrisburg at Charlotte 4/02/2016 LA at Real Monarchs 4/02/2016 Saint Louis at Orange County 4/03/2016 San Antonio at Seattle 4/09/2016 Toronto at Montreal 4/10/2016 Bethlehem at New York 4/12/2016 Rio Grande Valley at Seattle 4/13/2016 San Antonio at LA 4/15/2016 Arizona United at Real Monarchs 4/16/2016 Charleston at Charlotte 4/16/2016 San Antonio at Orange County 4/17/2016 Rochester at New York 4/17/2016 Colorado Springs at Seattle 4/17/2016 OKC at Vancouver 4/22/2016 Richmond at Charlotte 4/22/2016 New York at Wilmington 4/24/2016 Cincinnati at Toronto 4/26/2016 Seattle at Real Monarchs 4/27/2016 Pittsburgh at Louisville 4/27/2016 Vancouver at Swope Park
Tonight's Attendance: 7,837Thank you San Antonio! #OurClub— San Antonio FC (@SanAntonioFC) May 1, 2016 Tonight's announced attendance: 11,318. #CINvWIL— FC Cincinnati (@fccincinnati) May 1, 2016
Thank you to the 11,569 fans who joined us tonight's match! 33rd consecutive @USL sellout! pic.twitter.com/HSyJRDydxv— Sacramento Republic FC (@SacRepublicFC) May 1, 2016
Haven't seen yet what Arizona announced (I was there, but have no idea). But here's someone else's picture:
So, I'm guessing RGVFC's stadium isn't ready yet? And we're off! #VamosToros #RGVvLA pic.twitter.com/gi2hKiQ81k— Rio Grande Valley FC Toros (@RGVFC) May 1, 2016
Yes, delayed by two months. Playing five home games at UTRGV Soccer and Track & Field Complex which I think is their training complex. Construction behind schedule due to rain and some additional upgrades they have decided to include. http://stadiumdb.com/news/2016/04/texas_rio_grande_valley_stadium_two_months_late
Arizona: 3,374 Games in Colorado Springs and St. Louis ppd by weather, which makes, I believe, three this month.
There are new owners -- who bought the team 45 days before the season -- with different "reporting methods" than the previous ownership. While it actually worked out really well, they had lots of food trucks and few concessions stands for the opener (3 of the 5 were closed). A new one opened yesterday. A lot of great stuff is on the horizon -- kids area, a beer garden, expanded concessions, etc. But with 45 days to sell tickets, sponsorships, take over concessions, etc, it's all going to take time. Heck, the new ticketing system was in place about two weeks before the season. And, frankly, after the way the team was operated previous (let's say cash strapped), it's going to take a little time and some nudging to get people to return. I'm confident they can and will do it, though.
Median of 3,655 for this week (missing three games from earlier) is not even the highest median for this season. Week 3's median was 4,011 (again, missing three games). Last year's highest median for a week was 4,741 in week 24 (last week of August).
Bummer. Was hoping the lack of "a few hundred" attendances would make that higher this week. There needs to be a magical week where all of the highest attended teams have home games...