That's 2,415 brave souls for nearly 100 degree weather, sitting in the sun! My perspetive is that the weather has played a large role in the attendance figures thus far around the league. It seems if there weren't torrential downpours (actual or expected), then the weather was hotter than you-know-what. Granted there are other factors at play here, but I think this is part of it.
This is one brave soul who is still recovering from saturday and had to skip work today though it might be due in part to blowing that vuvuzela all game
I have been thinking of rounding up average temperatures for these games. Most of the stadiums offer no sun protection at all. At Freedom games, the side with fewer seats is relatively cool; the side with more seats is an aluminum roasting pan. The beer garden only holds so many people. It has to be a factor, no doubt.
You know, I have a really hard time understanding why the WPS teams are not doing better on attendance. For the Gold Pride, I put together a group of 50 people to go to one game and a group of almost 30 to another (a mixture of kids and their parents). They all had a great time and were appreciative of the great soccer. More than half of those people have now attended another Gold Pride game on their own (despite the fact that the crowd of 50 attended the afternoon game against the Sky Blue that (1) was excessively hot, and (2) the Gold Pride lost). It is really frustrating to see the Gold Pride doing so well, while the attendance numbers continue to be depressed.
3,339 in Atlanta which is the highest non-All-Star figure for a midweek match all season. Ticket prices were slashed which was a big help at the gate and the fans got a great match as well.
The Beat also gave free extra tickets to season ticket holders tonight. We were able to bring several friends. They all enjoyed themselves and a couple of them are planning on buying tickets for future games.
I don't know how spot on it is, but I thought it might contribute. http://www.kenn.com/the_blog/?p=3438
It looks like they're padding MLS numbers with tickets sold as opposed to actual butts in the seats but the again they could be doing that with other leagues. WPS attendance is barely under a thousand below NASL for what it's worth!
The Magical Mystery Number of the Week from Philly was 2,053. That's the second lowest number in WPS history and the lowest number this season.
All leagues, NFL, NBA, EPL, La Liga, etc... use the tickets distributed model. It's an industry standard. No one reports actual butts in the seats, not even WPS.
Actually, The NY Giants do, because the entire stadium is sold out. might as well have said 80,242 at every game http://history.giants.com/page/Giants+Stadium+Stats I Know Philly WPS does not inflate it numbers because it has ticket packages that are good for multiple games, otherwize it could inflate the number
Just because the Giants are reporting 80,242 doesn't mean that 80,242 people are in the stadium As for Philly WPS, what does having multiple game packages have to do with inflating numbers?
SBFC had a rather good number this weekend (3rd highest of the season). Too bad they looked dire. You know what is really dire? Philly's attendance -- taking several days to post the 2053 makes it look even worse. What is going on in the ticket sales office over there? SBFC & Boston are the only two teams w/ a higher median than last season. Boston & Washington have midweek games this week.
The point is that they have never used that number for attendance, yet that is the total ticket sales of every Giants game for years. PHILLY WPS How do you account for selling a few hundred tickets that can be used at any game ? apply them all to one game or average them out ? PLus from talking to staff, they do count each who come through the gate, otherwise there number would be a a little higher if they estimated, and would be announced at the game
Philly is concerned about about it, but it is not crippling the team in that Stadium. I think they are looking at it as getting a dedicated fanbase then growing the numbers. They are very realistic about where there attendance is at.
Our midweek game this week is the one that was added after the fall of Athletica...Wed night at 7pm. I'd expect season ticket holders and not much more... What I'm surprised and disappointed in is the lack of advertising this match as the one and only appearance of Hope Solo to Boston this summer.... Maybe I missed them...idk
Your sales team/attendance number is blowing away the rest of the league. I'd cut them a little slack on this late addition to the home game schedule Boston is doing a bunch of things "right" and I'd like to think that other teams would be picking their brains to try and see what methods & approaches would work in their markets. If other teams aren't trying to copy many of the Boston methods, they prolly should be. Team Medians: BOS 4651 CRS 3954.5 WAS 3830.5 SBFC 3418 STL 3203.5 ATL 3228 FCGP 3077.5 Philly 2585
They probably average them out. Also it's common for teams to count every person who comes through the gate as teams do want to know the actual attendance. But those numbers are usually lower than any reported number (ie: the distributed number) which is why they're almost never reported to the public. Now it's possible Philly reports that number, but I highly doubt it.
We've talked about this a lot at the Independence thread, but this team really needs to play in a place that more fans find convenient. West Chester and the western suburbs are not enough, on their own, to sustain a major league team, and many folks from South Jersey and Bucks -- folks who should be part of the team's core market -- aren't even considering the trip. Also, in a Philly summer, lots of folks will be coming up from the shore for a game. But not to go all the way to WCU. Perhaps some Friday night fixtures at a good location might be attractive for a family on its way to the shore. You need to think, survey your audience, have a plan. I honestly find it hard to believe that the powers that be banked on 2600 as a typical crowd. The best long-term solution is to partner with a university like, say, Temple or Rutgers-Camden, to build a 5K-seat soccer stadium. The Creighton stadium the WNT recently played at would be a good model. In the short run, you've got to get your product onto Main Street, not a side street. Also, the delayed reporting of attendance figures needs to stop. "N/A" fools no one and it just makes things seem even worse when the actual number comes out.
I am sure the location does prevent some people that might otherwise think about coming to a game or two from actually coming to a game. But, as I've said elsewhere, WPS front office folks absolutely must sell their @sses off. No business of any sort but especially a sports business should expect people to just fork over their hard earned cash. WPS front office folks have to earn each ticket purchase. They must call people back & make those cold calls & generally focus on selling. Find out what works and cast out what doesn't work. Boston's front office is doing something right beyond playing at Harvard -- what is it and how can the other teams copy it. If the other teams aren't trying to copy it, why the hell not? Pro sports is a business. And many businesses are unable to afford locate their offices on Main St. Doesn't mean they throw up their hands and say "no one will ever come to my restaurant/store/studio. No. They make sure their product is beyond solid (and only half the product for sports business is the on field team). For example, they make their customer relations second to none so people tell their friends about the good business (like say making sure to call potential ticket buyers back).
Have we mentioned lately that we are just coming out of one of the worst recessions in history--a recovery that hasn't reached the pockets of a lot of the demographic that might consider going to see a women's professional game? Not only are the teams selling their asses off (go CRS ticket reps, you rock!) they are doing it during a time when people are really making hard choices about how they are going to spend their money. Granted most of the most hard core fans are going to allocate their ticket money first, but almost everyone else has a lot less discretionary money. Good analysis kool-aid about the customer relations aspect of WPS. As an example, I may not always be super happy about the results or the way my team plays but I have never felt the experience of being there wasn't worth it. Additionally, everytime I have had a need to call my ticket rep for anything (or anyone in the front office for that matter), I have always felt like an MVP. The ticket reps go through the stands at every game, talking to individual fans and making a point of interacting with the fans. You feel like you belong there--and this coming from a member of a demographic that often feels excluded (especially at WNT games--although that experience is getting a little better too). The problem with this business model is finding the individuals that possess these qualities (selling/customer relations) because they could earn a ton more money working somewhere else. They also have to have a passion for the game. It's quite a unique skill set!
Good points, suncraver03, about the economic climate, ticket sales, etc. In the good news column, Boston got 6k to their last home game at Harvard & the home crowd got to see a good show. Perhaps that'll help them with any future sales. FCGP increased their attendance almost 1k from their last Saturday home game. In the bad news column, Philly is still in their pattern of not reporting attendance until days later. Dare we hope for 3k? I'm given to understand from posts in the Philly forum that last week's 3k for Philly was w/ free tickets being given to Sons of Ben folks.
There weren't more than maybe 50 SOB's at the last game, so it wouldn't have caused that much of a spike in attendance. They finally got some decent weather--it's either been beastly hot or threatening rain at almost all of the games, so they've struggled with walk-up. Last night it rained again, though the rain stopped just in time for the game. I'd guess 2500 or so, even with the nasty weather forecast. Another group from Sons of Ben was there, and five or six of the Union players came to the game and were very gracious, signing for the fans. Califf's kids are adorable. I thought the team had orchestrated the appearance, but it turns out the Union guys wanted to come, so that was pretty cool. If more Union fans find out about the Independence, that could really help their box office.