Okay so the numbers for the last week of the season were as follows. Code: DC United 14317 RB New York 25044 Toronto FC 21600 Vancouver 21000 DC United 15965 Chicago 20237 Real Salt Lake 20378 San Jose 10744 Chivas USA 22137 Houston 30018 [B]Total 201440[/B] [B][COLOR="Red"]Average 20144[/COLOR][/B] And on to the playoffs we go.
Now for the glorious numbers. The 306 match season is completed, of the 306 matches, 198 or 64.7% of all matches surpassed 15k which completely shattered the 52.4% pace set last season. And as the numbers will show all sorts of records were set this year. End of Season: Code: EOS Average Median <10k >20k AvgPts MedPts <10kPts >20kPts AAAQ AAAQRnk Date 1996 17410 15093 21.9% 26.3% 11 44 57 20 132 5 9/22 1997 14606 12733 25.0% 16.3% 79 85 67 78 310 13 9/28 1998 14312 11871 26.6% 16.1% 86 100 73 79 338 14 9/27 1999 14282 12973 32.3% 15.1% 87 81 93 85 346 15 10/10 2000 13756 12690 34.4% 12.5% 100 86 100 100 386 16 9/9 2001 14961 13431 26.6% 17.7% 71 73 73 70 286 11 9/9 2002 15821 14108 17.1% 18.6% 50 61 40 65 215 7 9/22 2003 14900 13719 23.3% 18.0% 72 68 61 68 270 10 10/26 2004 15549 13223 24.7% 25.3% 56 77 66 26 225 8 10/17 2005 15112 12619 27.1% 17.7% 67 87 75 70 298 12 10/16 2006 15426 14113 19.3% 18.2% 59 61 48 67 235 9 10/15 2007 16767 15353 8.2% 29.7% 27 40 9 0 75 2 10/21 2008 16460 15188 11.0% 24.8% 34 42 19 28 124 4 10/26 2009 16037 14686 14.7% 20.9% 45 51 32 51 178 6 10/25 2010 16675 15332 7.5% 22.5% 29 40 7 42 117 3 10/16 2011 17869 17639 5.6% 28.1% 0 0 0 9 9 1 10/23
As for the team numbers, room for improvement next year. And we have already had encouraging news out of Columbus. Houston will be in new digs, Portland should have higher capacity next year, Seattle could have higher capacity, new life in New England with Nicol leaving the organization. Code: ----Team---- Current Last Diff Alltime Diff Chicago 14273 15814 -9.7% 15636 -8.7% Chivas USA 14830 14575 1.7% 16053 -7.6% Colorado 14838 13329 11.3% 13907 6.7% Columbus 12185 14642 -16.8% 15465 -21.2% DC United 15196 14532 4.6% 17343 -12.4% FC Dallas 12861 10815 18.9% 12154 5.8% Houston 17694 17310 2.2% 17245 2.6% Kansas City 17810 10287 73.1% 10909 63.3% Los Angeles 23335 21437 8.9% 21973 6.2% New England 13222 12608 4.9% 15787 -16.2% Philadelphia 18258 19252 -5.2% 19252 -5.2% Portland 18827 New 0.0% New 0.0% Real Salt Lake 17594 17095 2.9% 16686 5.4% Red Bull NY 19691 18441 6.8% 16971 16.0% San Jose 11858 9659 22.8% 12902 -8.1% Seattle 38495 36173 6.4% 33535 14.8% Toronto FC 20267 20455 -0.9% 20263 0.0% Vancouver 20412 New 0.0% New 0.0% [B]Overall 17869 16621 7.5% 15502 15.3%[/B]
The final attendance numbers are phenomenal. I am more positive than ever about the future of this league. The next 10 years should show a tremendous amount of growth. Thanks for the wonderful job on the thread this season.
Season ticket sales for next year were up over the same time last year. Dallas released early news that there ticket sales were up last year and they had a good bounce. Now granted they also went to the cup last year, but if Columbus is up early and can continue with whatever they are doing now they could bounce back to traditional Columbus numbers or at least closer to that neighborhood.
Triplet If you are around wanted to let you know that I finished the book. All in all it was a good read. I could not find to much that I did not agree with, just little points that I think the author either embellished or just had wrong. Now that NBC is getting involved in MLS I have to wonder if it will do the same for MLS as it did for the NFL(AFL) in the mid 60's. Did NBC once again overpay to enter a market they want desperately to be in. Will it work out for them the same way the AFL did? Time will tell but if this foray by NBC is half as successful then MLS should be well positioned. If the attendance continues at its current pace we will reach the same point the NFL did 60's very soon, where gate is not enough and TV will drive the next great leaps in league profits. These next few years are crucial.
The 17,639 median is absolutely stunning. At the beginning of the year, I was hoping the league would not just break the median record, but exceed 16,000 -- a goal that I considered reachable but somewhat ambitious. What a great, great year. Best attendance stories of the season: (1) Obviously the strong debuts from the PNW expansion teams, though that was somewhat expected. (2) The incredible turnaround engineered by Sporting KC. Despite some hiccups and controversy surrounding the rebranding and the redesigned crest, OnGoal has consistently impressed with the way they have rebuilt this franchise. I hope that whatever they've done is replicable and can be bottled and shipped to Colombus and New England. (3) Continued strong attendance in Philly and New York. I know that Red Bull attendance is not always as high as some would like or think it should be, but there's something to be said for continuing to keep the numbers high in the second season of the new stadium and star DPs, notwithstanding the midseason on-field struggles. And I have to admit that I thought Philly would see a drop in its second year. I wasn't convinced the market was as strong as the PNW or Canadian markets, but I'm delighted to be proven wrong. (4) FC Dallas' slow but steady climb to respectability. I'll double check this when I get to my home computer, but I think the increase is even more pronounced if you look at the median numbers, because they had something like a 50K Cotton Bowl doubleheader with El Tri last year. Doug Quinn and company seem to be doing a solid job of rebuilding the fanbase. There is still a lot of room for improvement, but they are clearly making headway relative to where they were just two seasons ago. Columbus is the only real disappointment. I guess that notwithstanding the team's relatively decent performances, the dismantling of the '08 Cup winning team, including some long-time fan favorites, had an impact. Or maybe there are other reasons that I'm unaware of. DC and NE have some long-term issues, but their attendance has stayed stable at least. If Buzzard Point (or any other locale) pans out for DC, I expect them to draw very well. NE may require more of a change in ownership attitude. As for Chicago, perhaps the (still somewhat modest) decline is attributable to a confluence of factors having a team that wasn't very good for most of the season, the loss of Blanco, a disproprtionate number of midweek games, whatever. I'm not sweating it too much, unless Fire supporters tell us there is something to really worry about.
Television is absolutely the next frontier, and it seems to drive a lot of thinking in league offices, e.g., increasing the number of playoff games, Garber's amorphous talk of cultivating rivalries, and wanting teams to use the DP rule to bring in recognizable stars. I'm concerned that being a second-tier league internationally will make it harder for MLS to find the same growth in TV viewership that it's pulled off in live attendance. Not that ratings can't or won't go up, but they have to compete against other, better soccer matches on TV that they don't have to compete against in person.
As I posted in the week 32 thread, the Fire announced earlier in the season that actual paid tickets were up 19% over the previous year. I'm not sure if that figure held out over the course of the season, but even if it dropped to 15% during the second half (while we improved under a new coach), ticket sales are up over last year. So sales are up even if reported attendance is down. It's a shame with the timing and all, but so it goes.
That's great news. Hopefully the team's late-season run will keep people coming back next year. Speaking of which, I've been pretty busy the past couple months, so haven't been as plugged in to the details of Chicago's recent success. How instrumental were the Pardo and Grazzini signings?
just to carry this over from wk32 thread, since it is the final numbers: Chicago Fire Total Attendance = 242,657 Average Attendance = 14,274 % Change from 2010 (15,814) = -9.7% % Capacity (20,00) = 71.4% Chivas USA Total Attendance = 252,102 Average Attendance = 14,830 % Change from 2010 (14,575) = +1.8% % Capacity (27,000) = 54.9% Colorado Rapids Total Attendance = 252,248 Average Attendance = 14,838 % Change from 2010 (13,392) = +11.3% % Capacity (18,086) = 82.0% Columbus Crew Total Attendance = 207,147 Average Attendance = 12,185 % Change from 2010 (14,642) = -16.8% % Capacity (20,145) = 60.5% DC United Total Attendance = 258,072 Average Attendance = 15,181 % Change from 2010 (14,532) = +4.5% % Capacity (22,000*) = 69.0% *DCU capacity is set at 22,000 as a "standard" capacity for teams in non-soccer specific stadiums with large capacities, based partially on projected capacities for proposed stadiums in HOU/DC/NE FC Dallas Total Attendance = 218,636 Average Attendance = 12,861 % Change from 2010 (10,815) = +18.9% % Capacity (21,193) = 60.7% Houston Dynamo Total Attendance = 300,796 Average Attendance = 17,694 % Change from 2010 (17,310) = +2.2% % Capacity (22,000*) = 80.4% *HOU capacity is set at 22,000 as a "standard" capacity for teams in non-soccer specific stadiums with large capacities, based partially on projected capacities for proposed stadiums in HOU/DC/NE Los Angeles Galaxy Total Attendance = 396,693 Average Attendance = 23,335 % Change from 2010 (21,437) = +8.6% % Capacity (27,000) = 86.4% New England Revolution Total Attendance = 224,770 Average Attendance = 13,222 % Change from 2010 (12,987) = +1.8% % Capacity (22,000*) = 60.1% *NER capacity is set at 22,000 as a "standard" capacity for teams in non-soccer specific stadiums with large capacities, based partially on projected capacities for proposed stadiums in Houston/DC/NE Philadelphia Union Total Attendance = 310,395 Average Attendance = 18,259 % Change from 2010 (19,254*) = -5.2% % Capacity (18,500) = 98.7% *Philadelphia's 2010 attendance average included two games at the Linc Portland Timbers Total Attendance = 320,051 Average Attendance = 18,827 % Change from 2010 (10,727*) = +75.5% % Capacity (18,827**) = 100.0% *Timber's 2010 attendance average from USSF-D2 **Capacity is averaged from 15 games at 18,627 and 2 at 20,323 Real Salt Lake Total Attendance = 299,099 Average Attendance = 17,594 % Change from 2010 (17,095) = +2.9% % Capacity (20,008) = 87.9% Red Bull New York Total Attendance = 334,740 Average Attendance = 19,691 % Change from 2010 (18,441) = +6.8% % Capacity (25,189) = 78.2% San Jose Earthquakes Total Attendance = 201,587 Average Attendance = 11,858 % Change from 2010 (9,659) = +22.8% % Capacity (12,847*) = 98.6% *SJE's capacity includes one game at Stanford Stadium with a capacity of 50,000 Seattle Sounders FC Total Attendance = 654,385 eek Average Attendance = 38,493 % Change from 2010 (36,173) = +6.4% % Capacity (39,029*) = 98.6% *SSFC's capacity includes two games of full CenturyLink Field capacity of 64,000 Sporting Kansas City Total Attendance = 302,776 Average Attendance = 17,810 % Change from 2010 (10,287*) = +73.1% % Capacity (18,467**) = 96.4% Toronto FC Total Attendance = 344,535 Average Attendance = 20,267 % Change from 2010 (20,453) = -0.9% % Capacity (21,800) = 93.0% Vancouver Whitecaps FC Total Attendance = 347,011 Average Attendance = 20,412 % Change from 2010 (5,149*) = +296.4% % Capacity (21,500) = 94.9% *Whitecaps's 2010 attendance average from USSF-D2 MLS TOTAL Total Attendance = 5,467,880 Average Attendance = 17,869 Median Attendance = 17,639 % Change from 2010 (16,675) = +7.2% # of games <MED-33% (11,765): 56 (18.3%) # of games >MED+33% (23,530): 36 (11.8%)
For some reason I am off on my Chicago attendances this season. I can go through it all one at a time but I am first hoping that someone can post or pm them for me. Thanks in advance.
What's most surprising to me is that MLS has had such a remarkable year in the midst of the worst economy in nearly a century. I don't know how to factor that in to attendances, but it probably should be included in there as a part of why some teams aren't doing better.
Edwardgr, sorry to be a broken record, but thanks again for doing this thread all season; you certainly picked a great year to do it.......and I've appreciated Olegunnar's contribution lately, as well. When I first heard of that promo years ago, I thought it meant every kid got in for a dollar.
Wanted to rank this by average attendance in 2011. And of some interest is the correlation of Attendance Rank to Points-Postion in the final regular season league table. (perhaps an additional column for just "points at home" would be worthwhile.) Code: ----Team---- AvgAttn Rank Points Table Po. Diff Seattle 38495 1 63 2 1 Los Angeles 23335 2 67 1 -1 Vancouver 20412 3 28 18 15 Toronto FC 20267 4 33 16 12 Red Bull NY 19691 5 46 10 5 Portland 18827 6 42 12 6 Philadelphia 18258 7 48 8 1 [B]Overall 17869[/B] Kansas City 17810 8 51 5 -3 Houston 17694 9 49 7 -2 Real Salt Lake 17594 10 53 3 -7 DC United 15196 11 39 13 2 Colorado 14838 12 49 6 -6 Chivas USA 14830 13 36 15 2 Chicago 14273 14 34 11 -3 New England 13222 15 28 17 2 FC Dallas 12861 16 52 4 -12 Columbus 12185 17 47 9 -8 San Jose 11858 18 38 14 -4
I just got an e-mail regarding adding tickets to my season ticket holder account for the Timbers which claims that they are adding 1200 season tickets to the TA section. What this means: There is a minimum of 700 new seats open in the TA section. Assuming they won't close any seats in the rest of the stadium to add these seats to TA (I feel this is a lock), that means a minimum increase in capacity of 700, putting the capacity to at least 19327. Further assuming that they won't decrease the number of single-game seats in the TA (I feel this is a quite safe assumption), that means a minimum increase in capacity of 1200, putting it to at least 19827. Assuming that they are adding tickets to more than just the TA section (whether they are season tickets or not remains to be seen), I'd say the capacity we saw at the two end of season increased capacity games is quite likely to be the capacity next season. It also wouldn't surprise me if the waiting list remained at or near the 5000 we are currently at, since current season ticket holders have priority in getting any open seats.
So, when are we going to see media outlets touting this news? I damned well know if we hit a record low it would be splattered over every media outlet. Does MLS have to issue an official press release before the stories are published?
Here are some all time attendance charts: notes: the range on the charts is always 10,000 spread unless that wasn't possible, so visually they should generally be consistent from team to team. also the blue line is the all-time average for that team. there are no charts for first/second year teams PHI, VAN and POR.