I can't seem to find anything about this anywhere else, but MLSnet.com reports 12,282 people. In all seriousness, how many people does Spartan Stadium hold? I swear it looked like more than that on TV; the place was close to packed.
Spartan holds around 28K - Used to be 34K. Sure looked like more than 12K to me. Crowd size must have been paid #. There must have been a lot of giveaways. Here's a related question: Why wasn't this match held in the afternoon so it could be shown in Prime Time in Britain? I would have guessed that USSF could have garnered some broadcast rights fees... Still, Wales was so horrible, its just as well the chaps across the pond missed this one.
Because it was a US holiday and we would've all been grilling, hanging out with our families, etc. and the domestic TV audience (which is all we should care about) would've been smaller than it probably already was a last night's time.
I don't think most people realize that Spartan has a upper deck on one side. http://www.worldstadiums.com/stadiu...ited_states/california/san_jose_spartan.shtml
There were a couple of shots that showed how empty the stadium was. Don't forget that the second tier on the camera side of Spartan holds a lot of people. That tier was completely empty from certain camera angles as was the upper tier in at least one, if not both of the sections behind the goal. This chart may help visualize the empty sections. http://www.ticketmaster.com/seatingchart/229531/4437 Andy
Def. around 12k there. The great thing about Spartan is that 15k will look (and sound) like a sell out. And this was a pretty quiet crowd. End of season 'Quakes games are much more lively.
I agree it was fairly quiet, except for the supporters sections behind the goals. It looked like they had some mikes set up right behind the goals to capture some sound. I was on the 50 yard line, and it was like a frickin' baseball game. Last time I do that.
They taped it and were showing it 'as live' later in the afternoon to draw a better television crowd in Britain.
If ESPN knew anything about miking soccer crowds (and not the field, it sounds emptier than it already is when we can hear players and gaffers screaming), then they would mike supporters clubs so the chants seem louder. Last Metro game I went to EmpireSC was loud as hell, and when I saw the replay, you couldn't hear a thing that we were chanting.
My comment was predicated upon the fact that some guy said it was super quiet in the stands. On TV it sounded like they were making some noise, a lot more noise than some games I've attended in person with crowds 3 or 4 times the size.
They had mikes on both supporters clubs and from a quick viewing last night, it sounded like they faded from one club to the other as the ball moved down the field.
Sam's Army was being miked? You couldn't tell...this brings me to my other point on a different thread https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=51588
Not sure about the Nats game last night (I was there) but the Quakes unlike most teams in MLS and certainly like the old Quakes organization seem to be HONEST about there attendance figures. That's a big part of the Quakes attendance problems. 10k at Spartan is announced as 10k. 10k in Columbus is announced as 15k, or so it seems.
Spartan looks fuller this year because they changed the seating prices so the cheaper tickets are on the east side - which shows up on television. There were alot of empty seats on the west side of the stadium last night.
I was at the game on the East side (the one without the double deck) and that side was packed solid, the two end sides were also full, the lower West side was mostly full except some of the goal line seats and the upper deck was empty. Sure looked like more that 12 K to me - must mean that the upper deck holds 16 K (no way - more like around 5 K). I have been to Quakes games that had half as many people and they said they had 10 K?? Weather was great - about 80 until sundown and didn't get cold after dark. Donovan was great and probably made a real impression on the EPL and 1st Div Nationwide league players.