I just posted on my blog about this. I'm trying to find out what the record soccer crowd is for each state. Here's the best I've got so far: Code: Georgia 86,117 Olympics 8/3/1996 NIG-ARG Alabama 83,810 Olympics 7/20/1996 ARG-USA New Jersey 79,005 World Cup 7/31/2003 MNU-JUV Michigan 77,217 World Cup 6/28/1994 BRA-SWE Washington 66,830 Friendly 8/9/2006 DCU-RMD Illinois 65,080 W.World Cup 6/24/1999 USA-NIG/BRA-ITA Pennslyvania 68,396 Friendly 8/3/2003 MNU-BAR Florida 62,387 World Cup 6/25/1994 BEL-NET Massachusetts 61,316 MLS Cup 10/20/2002 LAG-NER Colorado 61,202 MLS 7/4/2002 COL-CHI D.C. 54,642 W.World Cup 7/1/1999 USA-GER/BRA-NIG Connecticut 44,579 US Cup 6/6/1993 BRA-USA Utah 40,589 WC Qualifying 6/4/2005 USA-CR/FCD-RSL Missouri 37,391 WC Qualifying 4/25/2001 USA-CR Oregon 35,528 Soccer Bowl 8/28/1977 NY-SEA Kentucky 35,211 W.Friendly 10/10/1999 USA-BRA Ohio 31,550 MLS 9/15/1996 CLB-NY Tennessee 26,141 Friendly 5/23/2006 MOR-USA Maryland 21,278 W.Friendly 8/13/2000 USA-BRA New Mexico 17,805 W.Friendly 5/9/2004 USA-MEX Minnesota 15,615 W.Friendly 7/3/2001 USA-CAN Arizona 15,386 Friendly 1/15/1994 USA-NOR Louisiana 15,074 W.Friendly 7/13/2003 USA-BRA Hawaii 14,578 Friendly 2/28/2005 DCU-LAG Wisconsin 12,572 Friendly 7/28/1990 EGR-USA New York 12,428 US Open Cup 10/12/1996 ROC-COL North Carolina 11,361 Friendly 9/15/1990 USA-TRI Indiana 9,520 Olympic QF 5/25/1988 USA-ELS Virginia 9,147 W.Friendly 9/20/1998 USA-BRA Nevada 8,163 CCC 1/10/1999 ALJ-CHI/NEX-DCU Iowa 6,612 PDL 6/4/2004 DMM-WIS South Carolina 6,456 US Open Cup 8/4/1999 CHR-DCU Kansas 2,162 US Open Cup 8/24/2004 KCW-SJE Vermont 1,436 W.College 8/28/2005 NH-WM ??? Alaska Arkansas Delaware Idaho Maine Mississippi Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire North Dakota Oklahoma Rhode Island South Dakota West Virginia Wyoming Please help out if you can. New York is a hard one because Giants Stadium is in New Jersey. Did the Cosmos ever play in New York? Also, the NASL numbers would fill in some of the gaps (for the likes of Hawaii, Oklahoma, etc). International friendlies are also hard to keep track of. I'd also like to take a look at some college numbers as well. For Nevada, the 1999 Champions Cup semifinal is the best, but I don't have the attendance for the final. If you have anything better, please post it (let's not even bother with anything under 1,000).
Well, I know Indianapolis had 9,776 for the 1997 US Open Cup final at the IUPUI Track & Field Stadium, but that's not the record. The record would be the final of the 1987 Pan Am Games, but I don't know the exact figure. It was waaay larger than the current capacity of Kuntz Stadium, though, because they brought in temp seating (the stadium was built for the Pan Am Games). The 79,005 Man U/Juve game wasn't a World Cup game, it was Championsworld Tour. And that should be the New Jersey record. Yes, the Cosmos played in New York proper, at Randall's Island and at Yankee Stadium, but I doubt they have the New York City record, much less the New York State record. And I doubt the New York State record is in Rochester, but if it was, it would be bigger than what you have there. Team Hawaii's biggest crowd in 1977 was 12,877 for their home opener against the Cosmos. They never hit 5 digits again.
Of course, I just wanted to have something to start with. Interesting that an MLS friendly is probably the highest for Hawaii instead of the NASL. For the smaller states, it would probably have to be high school championships or college. That's gonna be hard to find out.
Okay. This is fun and interesting. I believe a foreign team's tour that played a game in Yankee Stadium in, maybe, the 50s or early 60s might have the state of NY record at 46k+ or something like that. Steve Holroyd would probably know. The DC record is 58,012 USA vs. Portugal, July 24, 1996 (Olympics). Here are the records for each MLS stadium as I have them, in case that helps or if you want to keep that list, too: Chicago ...Toyota Park: 21,210 MLS All-Star Game 8/5/06 ...Soldier Field: 65,080 USA vs. Nigeria, 6/24/99 (Women's World Cup) ...Cardinal Stadium: 15,919 Fire vs. Kansas City 8/14/02 Columbus ...Columbus Crew Stadium: 24,741 Crew vs. New England 5/15/99 ...Ohio Stadium: 31,550 Crew vs. MetroStars 9/15/96 Washington, DC ...RFK Stadium: 58,012 USA vs. Portugal, 7/24/96 (Olympics) Kansas City ...Arrowhead Stadium: 37,319 USA vs. Costa Rica, 4/25/01 (World Cup Qualifier) New Jersey ...Giants Stadium: 79,005 Manchester United vs. Juventus, 7/31/03 Foxboro, MA ...Gillette Stadium: 61,316 New England Revolution vs. Los Angeles Galaxy, 10/20/02 (MLS Cup) ...Foxboro Stadium: 57,407 Revolution vs. Tampa Bay, 4/20/97 (doubleheader with USA/Mexico) Los Angeles ...Home Depot Center: 27,000 on several occasions ...Rose Bowl: 101,799, 1984 Olympic final Denver ...Invesco Field: 61,202 Rapids vs. Chicago Fire, 7/4/02 ...Mile High Stadium: 60,500 Rapids vs. DC United, 7/4/01 Dallas ...Pizza Hut Park: 21,193 New England vs. Los Angeles, 11/13/05 (MLS Cup) ...Cotton Bowl: 63,998 for three World Cup matches in 1994 ...Dragon Stadium: 9,098 Burn vs. Los Angeles, 4/12/03 Houston ...Robertson Stadium: 25,462 Dynamo vs. Colorado Rapids, 4/2/06 ...Reliant Stadium: 70,550 Houston/Los Angeles and Barcelona/America, 8/9/06 Salt Lake City ...Rice-Eccles Stadium: 40,589 USA vs. Costa Rica and Real Salt Lake vs. Dallas, 6/4/05 San Jose ...Spartan Stadium: 31,728 Clash vs. Los Angeles Galaxy, 5/12/96 Ft.Lauderdale ...Lockhart Stadium: 20,450 Fusion vs. DC United 3/15/98 ...Orange Bowl: You got me there.
Ok, I had never even heard of the Pan-American Games until now. Well, I sort of recognized the name, but I knew nothing about it. According to this page, the final drew around 14,000 fans.
You don't have California anywhere on the list. The 1984 Olympic Gold Medal match, France vs. Brazil at the Rose Bowl, is the highest attendance in the nation's history: 101,799. Edit: Sorry, I see you have it on your blog.
You might want to check Dave Litterer's "Year in American Soccer articles" for old-time New York attendance figures. For example, here is listed a friendly between Celtic and the New York Giants of the ASL in 1931 that drew 30,000 at the Polo Grounds. Dig through those articles and you might find something bigger.
Updated: Code: California 101,179 Olympics 8/11/1984 FRA-BRA Georgia 86,117 Olympics 8/3/1996 NIG-ARG Alabama 83,810 Olympics 7/20/1996 ARG-USA New Jersey 79,005 Friendly 7/31/2003 MNU-JUV Michigan 77,217 World Cup 6/28/1994 BRA-SWE Texas 70,550 Friendly 8/9/2006 HOU-LA/CLA-BAR Washington 66,830 Friendly 8/9/2006 DCU-RMD Illinois 65,080 W.World Cup 6/24/1999 USA-NIG/BRA-ITA Pennslyvania 68,396 Friendly 8/3/2003 MNU-BAR Florida 62,387 World Cup 6/25/1994 BEL-NET Massachusetts 61,316 MLS Cup 10/20/2002 LAG-NER Colorado 61,202 MLS 7/4/2002 COL-CHI D.C. 58,012 Olympics 7/24/1996 USA-POR Connecticut 44,579 US Cup 6/6/1993 BRA-USA Utah 40,589 WC Qualifying 6/4/2005 USA-CR/FCD-RSL Missouri 37,391 WC Qualifying 4/25/2001 USA-CR Oregon 35,528 Soccer Bowl 8/28/1977 NY-SEA Kentucky 35,211 W.Friendly 10/10/1999 USA-BRA Ohio 31,550 MLS 9/15/1996 CLB-NY Tennessee 26,141 Friendly 5/23/2006 MOR-USA Maryland 21,278 W.Friendly 8/13/2000 USA-BRA Virginia 19,312 WC Qualifying 11/10/1996 USA-TRI New Mexico 17,805 W.Friendly 5/9/2004 USA-MEX Minnesota 15,615 W.Friendly 7/3/2001 USA-CAN Arizona 15,386 Friendly 1/15/1994 USA-NOR Louisiana 15,074 W.Friendly 7/13/2003 USA-BRA Hawaii 14,578 Friendly 2/28/2005 DCU-LAG Indiana 14,000 P.A. Games 8/21/1987 BRA-CHI Wisconsin 12,572 Friendly 7/28/1990 EGR-USA New York 12,428 US Open Cup 10/12/1996 ROC-COL North Carolina 11,361 Friendly 9/15/1990 USA-TRI Nevada 8,163 CCC 1/10/1999 ALJ-CHI/NEX-DCU Iowa 6,612 PDL 6/4/2004 DMM-WIS South Carolina 6,456 US Open Cup 8/4/1999 CHR-DCU Kansas 2,162 US Open Cup 8/24/2004 KCW-SJE Vermont 1,436 W.College 8/28/2005 NH-WM ??? Alaska Arkansas Delaware Idaho Maine Mississippi Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire North Dakota Oklahoma Rhode Island South Dakota West Virginia Wyoming
Minnesota: 42,065 for 1976 Kicks finale http://www.sover.net/~spectrum/year/1976.html New York: 46,000 - "Vienna Hakoah friendly at the Polo grounds in New York in 1926" http://www.sover.net/~spectrum/year/1978.html
Vermont: 2,750 - 2005 PDL Eastern Conference Championship http://www.vermontvoltage.com/01_team.html New Hampshire: 2,076 - USL2 http://uslsoccer.com/stats/2006/117236.html
Maryland: 7/1/1999 WWC quarters USA-GER/BRA-NIG JKC Stadium (FedEx Field), 54,462 No idea if this is a record: South Carolina: 12/2/2005 NCAA men's playoffs Creighton @ Clemson, 6,680
Didn't realize Fed-Ex Field was in Maryland. Good job. Are the NCAA tournament numbers easy to find? South Dakota: 1,811 - PDL http://pdl.uslsoccer.com/stats/2006/121926.html
All-time highs for college soccer can be found within this huge book: http://www.ncaa.org/library/records/soccer/soccer_records_book/2005/2005_soccer_records.pdf These are only changes I find in there: Virginia -- 1995 NCAA men's final, Wisconsin vs. Portland, Richmond, 21,319 North Carolina -- 1999 NCAA men's final, Indiana vs. Santa Clara, Charlotte, 15,439
A match betwen Hapoel ("of Palestine") and a local select XI at Yankee Stadium in 1947 sold 61,000 tickets, but only 43,177 showed up due to rain...by today's attendance counting methods, that might be the record for New York. First leg of the 1918 Open Cup final drew a reported 13,000 in Pawtucket, RI. Attendance for the CONCACAF Champions Cup final in Vegas was 9,763.
Kansas: 9,688 - Wichita/Dallas, MISL, 12/27/88 There's a Dallas Sidekicks site that has a few attendance figures for their games.
Idaho: 1,059 - women's college soccer http://www.uiathletics.com/pages/sport.asp?Action=DrawBoxscore&SportID=&NewsID=3024&PageID=21
Ah damn. Already had Hawaii. Thought I would get to contribute something. If they would just have a Japan/USA friendly here they could sell out the place.
Ok, my other home Oklahoma. Here is what I have found... "[At Skelly Stadium] The largest crowd for soccer occurred on April 26 when the Roughnecks met the New York Cosmos before 30,831 fans." http://tulsahurricane.cstv.com/trads/tuls-skelly-stadium.html Scroll down to 1980 to see where I lifted the quote from.
Good find. http://www.northeastconference.org/Sports/msoc/2004/confstat/msm2.htm WV: 1,200 http://41055.teamsonline.info/league/Event.aspx?WebID=41055&league=teamsonline&EventID=52305 MS: 6,200
So, there's only 9 states I haven't found a crowd of over 1,000 for yet: Alaska Arkansas Delaware Maine Montana Nebraska North Dakota Rhode Island Wyoming