And we saw every single one of those fans (including the breakdancing kid more than once) on the Go Live Sportscast... usually when the Wave was attacking...
Eleven teams have now finished their home schedules. Eight of them show drops in average announced attendance from a year ago. Ranked by percentage increase: Chicago 2,510 (+50%) Ontario 3,084 (+23%) Baltimore 6,103 (-2%) St. Louis 5,302 (-13%) Turlock 414 (-18%) Tacoma 2,462 (-19%) Brownsville 328 (-30%) Dallas 2,212 (-39%) Saltillo 214 (-45%) Las Vegas 501 (-66%) (Cedar Rapids obviously did not exist last year. They're the eleventh team that has completed its home schedule.)
Friday, February 26 Brownsville @ Las Vegas - 777 Saltillo @ Turlock - 415 Baltimore @ St. Louis - 6,719 Syracuse @ Harrisburg - 2,575 Ontario @ Tacoma - 3,500
Rumor is that the Wave has a 5,000 pre-sell for tonight (Hartford City FC was the originally scheduled opponent) and if that happens the Wave will be +500 per game this season. However, the Wave had a brutal stretch last season when they played half of the scheduled home games in a 14 game stretch through the Christmas/New Year holiday. This season they've played their schedule well distributed over four months, with many after New Years Day (which has always been the unofficial start of the attendance season for the Wave). The last two Sundays without the competition from the NFL, they've averaged about 2,700 against reported "rivals" Kansas City and Chicago. The Wave's attendance number may look better, but they have to rely on more than the twice daily Twitter and Facebook posts to drive more attendance.
My bad - the 3,023 I was looking at was their total from last year. I had them at 1,008 for last year, not 804. (885, 1015 and 1123 for the three games.) And now that they've revamped their schedule on the website (nice job, jagovs), we'll never know.
As will everyone. Because that doesn't drive attendance. Doesn't cost much, but doesn't pay off, either.
Saturday, February 27 St. Louis @ Milwaukee - 5,671 Saltillo @ Sacramento - 750 Dallas @ Sonora - 5,589 Cedar Rapids @ Harrisburg - 3,211 Baltimore @ Missouri - 5,214
So that January 24 Harrisburg at Waza Flo game that was postponed by weather is just never going to be made up, is it? So Waza Flo will only play 18 games, and Harrisburg will only play 19?
That is what I was wondering too. With Syracuse's win today, they have clinched second place over Waza Fko in the division, so maybe the expense of rescheduling is not worth it. I would think that the players on the Heat would like another shot to get a win on the season, but the ones footing the bill to make the trip may not be so inclined.
Nice crowd in Harrisburg...but an absolutely crushing defeat for the Heat. They were up by a goal against Cedar Rapids with only 30 seconds left in the game. And yet, I just felt something was going to go wrong...and it did. Ultimately the Heat lost in overtime. Brad Kerstetter crashed to the floor in disbelief at the end of the game. I felt horrible for the players. They deserved to win on Sunday. What a cruel ending for the final home game of the year. The crowd came out though...and the fans were really into it. It makes me think that soccer will be back in Harrisburg next year.
Saturday, February 28 Dallas @San Diego- 5,032 Chicago @ Waza Flo - 1,032 Cedar Rapids @ Syracuse - 2,163 Brownsville @ Baja - 740
And, likely, Syracuse's regular-season history. Possibly the Heat's, too. Unless they are going to move to Hershey and play in their AHL building in Ed's league. Hbg avoids the ohfer. This puts them with Ft. Lauderdale and Massachusetts and the Pennsylvania Roar as one-win teams.
Playoff crowds: Wednesday San Diego at Tacoma - 2,036 Friday Baja at Brownsville - 1,168 (Brownsville had not announced a crowd over 783 in the regular season)
would haved loved to see another 700 in paid attendance at both games. Would have made a huge difference for the cuse' orginization. I hope they can get largest crowd of the season for game 2 against Baltimore! Would be nice to see 3000 plus , Ill be there! I think a crowd of 3500 paid would motivate the team to play again next season. They put on a great game , team plays well and sponsorship looked pretty steady compared to last year. Heck if I can travel 2000 miles for the game , I hope 3499 locals can get off their butts and support the organization!
Syracuse has already announced that they will play next season. This article was on their Twitter feed last week. http://thefaircusesportsreport.weebly.com/blog/one-more-season-breaking-news-on-the-silver-knights
Oh, well, if Nicholas Episcopo has the scoop, then nothing could possibly happen between now and October, so there we are!
More playoff crowds: Sunday Milwaukee at Chicago - 3,746 Sunday Brownsville at Baja - 1,760 Sunday Tacoma at San Diego - 2,774
Wow Im glad to see Chicago get a large crowd, the number seems about 700 higher than it looked watching it from home, however still good to see a team like Chicago improving while a team like vegas basically just stopped trying and went downhill. Proves hardwork and a decent team over time can get people through the gates. In San Diego For a sunday game under 4k let alone 3k is a disappointing considering 5k showed up for their last home game!Will be interesting to see what Baltimore and Missouri can draw for their game ones.