Hofstra Stadium capacity (per wikipedia): 15,000 Cosmos opening game sellout attendance: 11,929 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_M._Shuart_Stadium http://www.nasl.com/index.php?id=3&newsid=5112 Yeah, the Cosmos are already artificially restricting seating? Somehow I don't think MLS has to worry...
Didn't fill all the "unobstructed" seats anyway. From the article: "near sellout" "felt like a minor league affair" "Maybe it was the team's surprisingly young crowd, which appeared confused on whether to clap or cheer and had plenty of uncomfortable periods of silence throughout the match. Or it could be the quality of play overall, where two of the three goals scored came from multiple defensive mixups and an insistence on long balls made MLS look like Serie A." "It's a telling sign that Pele, the club's most important icon, jetted immediately after postgame, refusing to talk to reporters after the match. He has a habit of being honest." BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAHHHAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA
"While the team pulled out a victory in its first game back, Cosmos fans deserved a better re-launch than Hofstra University's college soccer field." Deserved? These people don't deserve shit.
sorry, but no one who follows mls should have the nerve to question whether an announced sellout is really a sellout. or to split hairs about 'near sellout.' which is not to say that anything wonderful took place at hofstra. but it should be easy enough to let 'those people' be.
Hey, 71 people short of 12k for a D2 soccer match is pretty good. We'll see how we'll they do when we get to, say, game 5. Will they draw league average (4-5k) or can they draw higher, like 6-8k? I have my doubts they can, or will, draw 12k at a consistent level. I'm still a firm believer that if they build that 25k stadium that they'll be tarping over their own seats.
I think one of the reasons people on here scoff at the Cosmos is because so many pro-Cosmos posters on BS are so douchey about MLS. I mean, does anyone on here have anything negative to say about the San Antonio Scorpions?
I agree -- we live in a glass house of tickets distributed, so best not to compare empty seats. Still, that's a far cry from the Cosmos I remember.
the quality of play, if such a term be allowed, was better in this cosmos game than in the early mls games. from the few minutes i watched, i'd say this nasl game passed the minimum quality test. and i've been to plenty of metro/rb games at giants stadium that would make the crowd at hofstra look like multitudes. well, i'm one of the few people who actually had seen the cosmos play at hofstra before saturday night. iirc it was season two (in season one i saw them in the original ys). my little buddy's father was one of the investors. so this actually did remind me of things long gone. it was like having my entire childhood back. pleasant, although kinda weird.
Sorry, I only go back as far as Downing Stadium, and that only on TV from Pele's first games. You're right though, the Cosmos weren't the Cosmos for five or six years. As you know, the Cosmos first season was 1971, while Pele signed in 1975. Attendance nudged over the 10,000 mark in 1975, but didn't jump over the 20,000 mark until 1977. So, by comparison Cosmos 2.0 had a better crowd than Cosmos 1.0 at this point in their development. Still, I'm not sure the new Cosmos have the discipline to slog out a six or seven year project like that though. If, after four years, they're also averaging 3,500 a game like Cosmos 1.0 was, will they still pour money in?
If piss were liquid gold we would all be rich! Or poor because gold wouldn't be worth piss. 11,000 people showed up for what was a D2 retro novelity that was in the t-shirt and hoodie business in most peoples opinions... If they keep playing and putting out a good product the team can succeed... The bigger short term issue to me is still approval of the SSS in Elmont. I've no doubt if its approved the Cosmos have the money to build it.... Based on the first outing filling 25k in LI is achievable.