I am watching the recaps of the San Francisco - Sounders match and it occurred to me that CONCACAF should have attendance minimums for these games. I think there were about 50 people in the stands for a 20K stadium or what. Half of the crowd were Seattle supporters. Could have held this match in the parking lot...
Sounds like something the AFC would do for it's Champions League. In the ACL access is granted based on competitiveness, professionalism, marketability, and financial status of a league and its clubs. Domestic league attendance is in there somewhere in the criteria, but the other factors have kept out Syria who can draw 30-40K in Homs and Aleppo during the group stage. Anyway, CONCACAF doesn't have the depth for any kind of criteria.
San Fran's situation was bad logistics. Their home stadium was unfit because Panama's national Sports Institution decided to put up a roof just now (government-owned stadium, not team owned).. right when the local league starts, and right when SF has to play an international game... idiots to the 10th degree. that stadium holds 8,000 and would have been at least 50% full, but since they had to switch to Rommel stadium (which holds 30,000+), which is at least 45 minutes from SF's stadium, to that add in traffic time, most did not make the trip ... also, in my opinion, there wasn't enough publicity regarding the game..
Or, here's a radical idea, why not base the matchups on which teams can win games on the field instead of who has more fans in the stands? Don't the richer, better supported teams already have plenty of advantages without shutting the less well supported teams out of the tournament completely?
From a supporter at that game, he said there was a big storm that day, see http://www.weareecs.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=60&t=13710&p=270296#p270296. In 2009 they had a much larger crowd. What really should be mandated is using the home stadium. I have traveled to Panama and El Salvador now and both times the game was moved to the national stadium and the atmosphere greatly suffered. And the field conditions at the national stadiums were still terrible, I don't think playing at the team's home stadiums would have resulted in any worse play from conditions.
Most of the CONCACAF stadium requirements are pretty minimal, and without them the game really can't take place. Hot water in the locker rooms; lights bright enough that the game is visible on a TV broadcast; power and phone lines for the broadcast trucks. Somewhere for the journalists, and the visiting team's staff, to sit other than in the middle of the home crowd. IIRC, the first year of the competition, before they started cracking down on the stadium rules, there was one game that was almost unwatchable on the broadcast because the stadium lights weren't up to TV standards, so you could barely make out the players.