Reminder that MLS brass doesn't actually like supporters. They merely tolerate them, and any support they show towards them is largely superficial. The reason for that is MLS doesn't like things they can't exercise total control over. What actual supporters are, and the kind of "supporters" the league sees as ideal, don't really jive. The kind of "supporters" the MLS brass wants are blind consumers that are "rah rah" all the time, even when the team sucks or club is shitty to them. In essence they want a free marketing department that never asks questions and doesn't cause problems. That doesn't mesh particularity well with any supporters group that exercises some level on independence (which is most of them).
The kind of supporters MLS wants are fancy law firms that have four prime tickets that they renew every year on a corporate account no matter the the price, without even really thinking about it. Or a luxury box, even better. The big four reality is total insulation from both labor and their fans. Just massive guaranteed annual profits no matter what, often largely subsidized with taxpayer dollars. That's the SUM dream. I'm dubious it will work for soccer, for a variety of reasons, and good lord we should hope it doesn't, and fight like hell against it.
I was referring to the context of the "rowdy" fans in the stadium that liven up the atmosphere. You're right though that MLS as a whole is placing a lot more focus on premium seating and corporate suites these days. That's been pretty obvious over the past 5 or so years.
That is true of every sports team and league in the world, though. The tension between business and culture exists in all such enterprises.
Totally true, but there is a very different equilibrium between those forces in, say, Argentinian soccer versus the NFL.
Yeah, but who wants to be a prawn sandwich eater? I went to a game at QPR just after getting off a plane. I was tired and jet-lagged, so I chilled in the first row of the upper deck on the sideline toward one end. Then this guy comes over and starts screaming at the top of his lungs at the 2-300 Notts County supporters below us behind the goal. "You fockin' baaastards! Cumon, Oi'll foight yez aww! Cumon, let's 'ave a go if ya fink yuh 'ard enuf, fockin No-in-amshire scum!" After a couple of minutes of this an old man behind me yells at him, "Guan, Wotch tha goime, yuh daaaaft baaaastard!" The next weekend I went to Leeds and met Boomhauer with a Yorkshire accent.... It reminded me of how much I love the real England.
When I went to QPR last year the away fans had been moved to the upper level, including me (went as part of the travelling Blackburn support).
I think this is relevant as it makes Atlanta United attendances even more impressive while also confirming that some of United's reported attendances were optimistic (though no more so than many other MLS teams). Defaults top $32 million as some Falcons fans struggle with PSLs Thursday, January 23, 2020 @ 7:39 PM By Tim Tucker - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Falcons fans have defaulted on more than $32 million worth of personal seat licenses in Mercedes-Benz Stadium, including $7 million in defaults during the 2019 fiscal year, according to the most recent available data. The figures show that buyers have walked away from thousands of seats, likely for reasons ranging from disappointing team performance to personal circumstances, and may help explain some of the much-noticed empty seats at Falcons games this past season.... ...In 2018, the actual attendance figures showed that on average the Falcons drew almost 9,000 fewer fans per game than announced, and Atlanta United drew almost 6,000 fewer fans per game than announced. At one game that year, the Falcons announced 72,084 while actually drawing 56,470; at one game, Atlanta United announced 41,012 while drawing 32,347.
Couple of @LAGalaxy updates: Since news of the impending signing of @CH14_ broke 2 weeks ago, the team has sold more than 750 new season-ticket packages to go with a record 85% renewal rate for current season-ticket holders. They have also sold 2,500 single-game tickets. (1/2)— Kevin Baxter 🇺🇦🏳️🌈 (@kbaxter11) January 27, 2020 Kind of interesting. We have never really had that large of a season ticket holder base. We draw pretty good crowds but rely heavily on group sales and the like.
I don't have a problem with teams reporting tickets sold as "attendance". Sure it's kind of a fudge but ISTM it's well within allowable flummery. I do however strongly object to the "tickets distributed" method. For years MLS reported out utterly ludicrous attendance figures because the team was papering the town. Another form of that was conversion, whereby they'd hand over a block of seats to a local soccer organization - crummy seats they were never going to sell - and let them sell them for whatever and keep the money. That way they weren't literally handing them out and, probably, took a charitable write off. Actual turnstile count - "drop count" is the term Don Garber used when he was badmouthing the Crew* , the first time in 22 years that MLS admitted there even WAS a difference between butts in seats and "attendance" - is a rock solid metric but expecting these guys to be brutally honest and then turn around on Monday and give potential sponsors a bunch of happy talk about how well they're doing is asking a whole lot. Honesty only goes so far. * At the new Crew Stadium groundbreaking, when Don took the podium and much of the crowd stood and turned their backs to him, he said he understands that there are some lingering issues between him and Columbus fans, and he hoped one day that we could all sit down, have a beer together and talk it over. All I can say is he must like wearing beer.
That is massive, we are talking about announcing more than 25% than actual attendance. The sky is not falling and MLS is not doomed, and it's very easy to understand why they bumb their numbers (attrack sponsors, create scarcity, etc). But if we are seriously going to analyze attendance across the league, this is something that can't be ignored.
That was an extreme example. The average is 13%. If that applied across the league the average number of butts in seats would be 18,851. Stefan Szymanski claimed the difference between announced attendances and butts in seats in MLS was as high as 30%, based on a single source.
Don't miss top matches of the season & save on single match ticket prices ⚽️MORE ➡️ https://t.co/ZFAxRQb8Sj— Seattle Sounders FC (@SoundersFC) January 28, 2020 Are partial packs a new thing for the Sounders? I feel like I remember that they originally only did full season ticket packages.
When will they start selling individual games? Flying out for the Crew game week 2 and would prefer to get decent seats.
You can sign up for an alert on their website. https://www.soundersfc.com/tickets/single-match-tickets
USA - Costa Rica @carson, CA 9172, I believe this is the lowest attendance ever for the USMNT in Carson.
Yeah, I suppose any match since the end of the Klinsman era is a candidate. Interest has fallen off the roof.
In 1990, the USMNT played CRC on February 2 in Miami, supposedly when nobody in the US cared about soccer. Attendance was 25,392.
January Camp Attendance in Carson 2004 10,461 2006 16,366 2007 10,048 2008 14,878 2009 9,918 2010 18,626 2011 18,580 2014 27,000 2015 20,271 2016 8,803 2018 11,161 2020 9,172 Thus, 2020 was the second lowest attended January camp in Carson, and the lowest was in 2016.
Non January camp games in Carson vs CRC 2011 15,798 vs Guatemala 2007 21,334 (Gold Cup) vs Trinidad 2007 27,000 (Gold Cup) vs Barbados 2008 11,476 (WCQ)