Then again NE and Columbus are not the greatest when it comes to marketing and both especially Columbus do not see like exciting teams on paper. Chicago on the other hand I was kind of disappointed. I hope the 0-0 draw at home did not turn off the Crew fans.
For other threads, but the FO suits and bad fundamental soccer will be bad for business this season if things stay like they have.
please. LAG got a great crowd in a monsoon last week. SJE packed their stadium in a similar monsoon. tonight RSL packed in a record 20K+ crowd on the same day all of the "cold weather" (it is 40 degrees tonight in Salt Lake City) supposedly is to blame for pathetic opening day attendance in Chicago, Columbus and New England. now next week or later in the season these places could easily turn it around. it is just one game of 17. but using weather as an excuse just rings hollow given how many other teams have done very well in just as bad a weather for various opening games this season.
Relatively speaking that's not bad for Dallas. In fact, that beats 11 out of 15 home games last year. Considering the first game was 20k+, Dallas is showing considerable improvement so far.
Its not an excuse... its the reality in some of those places. And most of them weren't 40 degrees. When teams aren't good, MLS fans won't go out in the cold... do you blame them. And I know this isn't the perceived attendance thread, but LA did NOT pack their stadium last week. They announced a sellout. I didn't see any of the SJE game, so perhaps they did pack their stadium. If so, good for them. Not every other stadium is quite so small (and therefore easy to fill). Columbus and NE have been poor attendance-wise in the recent past. The bad weather is just another reason not to come out to the game. Its not a surprise at all.
A. i didn't say it wasn't part of the reason. i said it was a pathetic excuse (as in "a poor excuse is better than none") in the light of other teams, in as bad or worse weather, getting very good crowds. other teams proved that you can attract fans out to the season's home opener in bad weather (you know if your team doesn't suck and you actually have some decent fan support) and the teams that could only muster 10-12K, no matter what the weather, have troubles in growing and sustaining a fanbase and getting them to attend the games that go beyond simply the weather. again, it is only one game out of 17. maybe one or all of the teams will starting a huge winning streak and get great buzz and attendance going (Chicago looks better than many thought) or maybe it is just a one off bad performance (FCD did have a home game just last week and back to back home games can sometimes diminish attendance). but for this week, taken just as the season home opener, some of these teams did very very poorly, weather or no weather, in comparison to how much of the rest of the league did for season home openers. B. the LAG game while announced as a sellout surely did have some no shows but the pace was very crowded even in the monsoon, at least 18-20K. that is impressive given the torrential rain and how much Los Angelinos detest and rarely get that sort of rain.
Did you watch the game or did you just read the box score? My roommate was at the game and said that the stadium was empty. They may have sold out the game, but the number of fans that actually showed up to the game was pretty low.
Sorry, you used the word "blame", I apologize for using the word "excuse". To me, they aren't that different. The teams that did poorly with bad weather are mostly bad teams and places where we often have bad attendance. They are also places where people don't tend to come out to games when the weather is bad. I'm just not surprised or worried by it. It was exactly what I expected. 18 out of 27 is 2/3. It clearly affected the turnout there as it did in NE and CLB and CHI. Places with much smaller season ticket bases are going to have the same type of attrition as LA or worse in bad weather. Add another 50% to any of those places you are so worried about and they are great numbers. I'm not saying all is rosy with MLS attendance, but given the teams that were hosting this week and the bad weather in lots of those places, I'm not too worried about things. Chicago is a little lower than I expect, but not too much. Add these numbers to the great numbers across the board last week and there's room for real optimism. Your point about RSL for example are all the more reason to be optimistic overall.
yes. i watched the game. and there looked like there were lots of fans there (but not full) and there were many other people in the weekly thread and other threads that went to the game and commented on how surprised they were that so many people showed up. 18-20K in a 27K stadium would still show a good number of empty seats but you could tell from tv (and apparently from being there) that the crowd was quite good.
i am not saying i'm worried. i am simply saying that if you were one of those teams that did poorly for their opening game don't come in here and try and make "but the weather was bad" type of excuses. i can't understand why fans of teams simply can't say "wow, that attendance blew today. a lot of the league is kicking attendance butt and we really stunk up the joint in that regard this week". and maybe next week or the next game they do awesome but i am tired of excuses and rationalizations from the same poorly performing attendance teams week after week. now the league is fine and some of the teams are doing great. but some teams, like always (some of the same usual suspects that have been on a steady decline in the past 3-4 seasons) didn't get off to a good start and aren't showing any signs (at this very early stage) of turning around their downward attendance death spiral trend (NER/CLB/etc).
the san jose game last week in the rain was definitely 1/2-empty. you could see it on the cameras all over.
And all I was saying is that its a valid reason... not an excuse. MLS fans in general just don't come out in droves in bad weather. Other posts countering yours about SJE and LAG seem to bear that out. Its worse in some markets than others. Not every city is Seattle or Toronto. I doubt those teams (NER and CLB specifically) are going to come back with a good attendance average at all this year. Chicago seems like it has more potential overall. Also, for the record you DID just use the word "excuses". You can be tired of the excuses all you want, but they'll still be issues whether you want to call them reasons, rationalizations, excuses, or whatever word makes you feel better. Unless those teams start playing better it will continue to be a problem.
I'm pretty sure that a certain USA v. Argentina match within driving distance of New England, C-bus, and Chicago played into the attendence for all three.
When you consider the resources that were likely put into the opening day sellout and the fact that the second game can normally be a tough sell, I think this is a fairly solid number. A prediction of 13k average for the year certainly seems reasonable.
What LA got in california is summer in comparison to 20mph wind and 30degree weather. I bet most chicago fans, which is based mostly on walk-ups said "nope, I'll wait until spring to go see a game". LA would have tons of empty seats in the exact same weather conditions. It will get better in Chicago as it warms up, it always does.
As a Southern Californian who went to that LA game last weekend and MLS Cup in Toronto---which had those conditions you're comparing to (in the upper deck right in the path of the lake breeze, no less), I call bull. I tailgated in LA for 2 hours before the game--so I spent 4 hrs outside in Carson, but I was outside at the stadium in Toronto for about the same amount of time between arriving an hour prior to the game, extratime and watching trophy award. So I think my experiences can be compared. This was no light sprinkle in LA. It was a downpour. My clothes were absolutely soaked, my shoes, socks, pants, jacket, everything in my pockets were absolutely drenched, my match ticket in my pocket almost turned into mush before I even made it through the gates.There was no escaping the downpour (unless under one of the overhangs). And the wind in LA was brutal, I had to give up using the umbrella because it was flailing around in the wind, tailgating tents were flopping around. Another consideration to make in attending a game in these kinds of conditions is whether or not it's a good idea to drive. The freeways were pretty sketchy on that ride home. I was miserable in Toronto--to be sure, but there are measures you can take to mitigate the misery. You can at least bundle up, stand up and move around to keep your legs warm, you can buy a coffee or hot chocolate. The only thing you could do in LA to avoid the conditions was hide under shelter. The ponchos helped a bit, but I would take another November game at BMO Field any day of the week over last Sunday in Carson. I also did Guerra Fria in 2001, I would take those conditions for a Revs-Galaxy game over last Sunday too. I was pleasantly surprised by how many fellow Californians decided to go, I was expecting a 5,000 turnstile count when I got into the stadium.