MLS Attendance Analysis: Season's End

Discussion in 'MLS: News & Analysis' started by edwardgr, Oct 24, 2011.

  1. Yoshou

    Yoshou Fan of the CCL Champ

    May 12, 2009
    Seattle
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Every damn one of them, with the possible exception of Toronto, but even that has been brought into question lately. Even Seattle does tickets distributed vs butts in seats. I've been in a few games where announced attendance is 36k and there are quite a few empty seats.
     
  2. MLSFan123

    MLSFan123 Member+

    Mar 21, 2011
    Boston Area
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I think everyone is likely the correct answer although I don't remember ever scratching my head over a Portland attendance figure.

    Probably the same can be said for 90% of all NBA and NHL teams as well.
     
  3. Yoshou

    Yoshou Fan of the CCL Champ

    May 12, 2009
    Seattle
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I've seen a few Portland games with empty seats, but they do have that beer garden.. That being said, they've always had capacity announced as the attendance, so that would either mean noone that has purchased a ticket has ever missed a Timbers match(virtually impossible) or they are faking the number by either under-reporting or over-reporting.
     
  4. tab5g

    tab5g Member+

    May 17, 2002
    Nice to see the business is growing (and/or at least being given room to grow).

    http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/artic...-no-longer-strugglers-road?module=from_footer

    http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/soundersfcblog/2016783022_hawks_nest_will_be_open_in_12.html

     
  5. Yoshou

    Yoshou Fan of the CCL Champ

    May 12, 2009
    Seattle
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    They've been on sale to season ticket holders since Monday, but today was the first day they've been on sale to the general public. They seem to be going like hotcakes though. The Hawk's Nest starts at row K and they've sold out up to row U. Sections 147 and 149 go up to UU and 146 and 150 go up to Z. No idea how much they are opening up to season tickets, but knowing the Sounders, it is everything.
     
  6. cthomer5000

    cthomer5000 Member+

    Apr 23, 2007
    Raleigh NC
    Club:
    New York Red Bulls
    Is the assumption that there will again be some Seattle games that are opened beyond the capped usual capacity?
     
  7. tab5g

    tab5g Member+

    May 17, 2002
    Are CCL knockout round game(s) included in the 2012 Sounders ticket package?
     
  8. Yoshou

    Yoshou Fan of the CCL Champ

    May 12, 2009
    Seattle
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    The tickets were 17 games + 1 game with the +1 game being about twice the price as a regular game. Granted, the renewals went out prior to us locking up the knockout rounds, but none of the other CCL games have been included up until now.
     
  9. Yoshou

    Yoshou Fan of the CCL Champ

    May 12, 2009
    Seattle
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Depends on who they get for the friendly. Last year they sold a three game package and that was marginally successful. I'm not sure we'll see another 64k game though, but I've been consistently wrong about that sort of thing.
     
  10. Kejsare

    Kejsare Member+

    Portland Timbers
    Mar 10, 2010
    Virginia
    Club:
    Portland Timbers
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Timbers blow past their 14,000 STH cap and add another 750.

    Timbers announce sellout of 2012 season tickets

    Some points:
    • Timbers announced there would be 14,000 STH next season
    • They ended at 14,750 STH
    • Still have 5,000 on the waiting list
    • 5,000 for single game tickets available for each match
    • Not in article: right after current STH were allowed to purchase more STH seats they cut it from 4 to 2. Most likely because so many were holding informal arrangements to bypass the waiting list. At least one comment mentions they've been on the list since May.
    • Good problems in Timberland.
     
  11. OleGunnar20

    OleGunnar20 Member+

    Dec 7, 2009
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    20,323 - 14750 = 5573? so do we assume that the Timbers have about 500-600 tickets wrapped up in corporate/sponsor giveaways/reserved? or maybe those are "suites" seats?
     
  12. RapidRush

    RapidRush Member

    Jul 1, 2009
    Caldwell
    Club:
    Colorado Rapids
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Colorado had one of its best seasons in recent years as far as attendance goes. Still lots of room for improvement.
     
  13. asdf2

    asdf2 Member+

    Oct 11, 2004
    San Francisco
    good for you. I was a bit unimpressed by your stadium location the time I went there. way out in an industrial area. but nice stadium and I hope attendance keeps improving.
     
  14. JCUnited

    JCUnited Member

    Oct 7, 2002
    South Bend, IN
    Club:
    Manchester United FC

    Not sure why this is even a question. Attendance should always be the amount of tickets sold. If you sell 40,000 tickets for a game, but due to a blizzard only 10,000 show up, you still get to keep the money from the other 30,000 you sold.

    For me attendance should always be amount sold, not amount who showed up. Because the amount sold is the revenue that you care about.

    So if FC Dallas sells 18,000 tickets, but only 15,000 show up, I don't see the big deal in reporting the amount sold. If you sold the tickets, you deserve the credit.
     
  15. MLSFan123

    MLSFan123 Member+

    Mar 21, 2011
    Boston Area
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I agree in general when talking about attendance numbers in an isolated manner but disagree 100% once you bring up the topic of revenue.

    When people have a ticket that goes unused, a ton of potential revenue is lost in parking, concessions and merchandise. Gate receipts only make up a certain percentage of revenue that is generated by a stadium during game day.
     
  16. flippin269

    flippin269 Member+

    Aug 3, 2003
    Houston
    Club:
    Houston Dynamo
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Completely disagree. Tickets sold are tickets sold, and that's it. THOSE numbers are what matter in revenue. What happens when people show up because they received a free ticket or didn't buy it directly from the club? Does that mean they weren't there or their attendance doesn't count?

    Attendance = People actually there during the game.
     
  17. Kejsare

    Kejsare Member+

    Portland Timbers
    Mar 10, 2010
    Virginia
    Club:
    Portland Timbers
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I see that you never read the attendance forum.
     
  18. MLSFan123

    MLSFan123 Member+

    Mar 21, 2011
    Boston Area
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Apples and oranges.

    The attendance thread tracks tickets sold/distributed. Revenue is not discussed in that thread for the most part so there is no real reason to be concerned with no shows.

    However if someone brings up revenue, as was done in this thread, then automatically actual butts in the seats comes into play.
     
  19. thomas19064

    thomas19064 Member+

    Apr 29, 2008
    Delco
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Any thoughts yet on how the new schedule will impact attendance? I have to think it would give it a slight boost.... I could easily see us well into 18K for the average next year.
     
  20. Yoshou

    Yoshou Fan of the CCL Champ

    May 12, 2009
    Seattle
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Little to none, imho. There might be an increase, but it will have more to do with Houston's new stadium, Montreal entering the league, and increased capacity in Seattle and Portland than the new schedule. I'm sure the new schedule will be given some credit though.
     
  21. dtid

    dtid Member

    Sep 6, 2010
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    Found something interesting as I was looking to see if the only England team I have any affiliation with (in League Two) did well today.

    I hadn't noticed it before, but ESPN listed the attendance. Nothing spectacular - most were between 3 and 7k. But it got me thinking and I worked my way up.

    It isn't until you get to the Championship before you get anywhere near MLS attendance, and you could say MLS attendance is better. This weekend in the Championship you had a few sub-10k and not many over 20k....

    I'm sure the revenue is different, but just like with surpassing the NHL and NBA in average attendance, it is a barrier that has been crossed. Sorry if this is something that had been previously discussed.
     
  22. dtid

    dtid Member

    Sep 6, 2010
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    Technically you're right - especially if we're talking revenue (overall or per event) - but, considering your attitude, I'm just going to let you keep sleeping even when it does happen. Not my problem if you don't care enough to follow along.
     

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