According to today's DC Examiner, they have sold 14,000 and expect a crowd of 30-35,000 for the game.
that a high figure I don't think chelsea has a strong following here in dc. i'm thinking about 25,000-20,000.
well, last year's AC Milan vs Barcha exhibition game brought around 45000 at RFK? and they were A.5 squad... I thought Chealsea(EPL champion) vs DC should bring more here ... and Chealsea even bring their A squad this time... Isn't Chealse maybe 3rd most well-known club in US? after Manchester U. and R. Madrid?
For that game mostly Euro snobs/fans if u want to call them went to see that game. Why would they want to see dc united? Most of my euro friends i talk to don't want to see this match why b/c chelsea is facing an MLS squad.
That's OK, they'd just fill up their time after the match giving excuses of why their team lost to an MLS side.
no way. i'm sure liverpool and arsenal have larger followings than chelsea here. and i'd imagine that if you include all clubs america, chivas would have huge followings.
well, more people around me who don't care much about MLS attending this year's Chealsea vs DC than last years AC Milan vs Barcha for some reason... I thought maybe because it's a rare chace to see Chealsea's A squad in person for people(especially Eurosnobs) here..., and Chealsea's A squad has more appeal than AC Milan + Barcha's A.5 squad...
I think we should try and intimidate Chelsea by sending them a hygrometer. Picture a parade of wilting Blues by minute 15! (Gotta hold on to something...)
A lot of the Man Utd Bandwagon has switch allegiances (to Arsenal and now to Chelsea) but they still have a large following. I'd say Arsenal are more visible than Liverpool fans because of the recent history, but I imagine there are more 'Pool supporters out there. Chelsea had little visible support before Abrahamovich but last year a lot of "fans" came out of their Arsenal & Man Utd jerseys to join up with the Blues. Mexican clubs and Central American clubs probably have more support than any European team...
Now we're delving in the whole Steve Guppy acquisition. While the Chelsea game was in the works, Kevin Payne shrewdly went out and got an Englishman to guage how one would wilt in the heat and humidity. When Steve went down in APRIL, United went ahead with plans to bring Chelsea in. They'll also be afraid of the large ball of fire in the sky that we call a sun. Also, Guppy's ability to translate English to American can't be underestimated. All the while, we'll have players communicating in Spanish, and a particlular Ghanian dialect.
i hope dema does an eric cantona impression, w/ some eurosnob in the stands, that'll make it a perfect nite, with a huge crowd and a dc win only 35k? the walk up'll be huge, they only had 20k projected for the ac-barca game, i got in my seat and the lower bowl was already packed, and that was when ronaldinho was doing interviews pitchside, i'm expecting 50k at least, its 70-75k for a soccer game at fed ex, depending on how many seats are removed from the sidelines, and how many upper deck seats are cleared for use
well, according to my math..., around 40000 is maybe a fair expectation... What's the average attendance for DC game? = around 15000? Last year's AC Milan vs Barcha attendacne? = around 45000? many of the DC fans probably attended the Milan vs Barcha game... so, number of Eurosnobs/general soccer fans who don't care much about MLS = 45000-15000 = around 30000 out of the 30000, let's say aroud 20000 will show up(10000 reduced due to Chealse's opponent is a MLS team rather than anotherr high profile European club). More DC fans will attend the game than regular MLS season game... = around 20000 thus 20000 + 20000 = 40000 what do you think?
What are the field dimensions at FedEx? In the past I've heard about problems hosting soccer games b/c the field isn't wide enough. Is that ture or not?
the field was narrow when the place was built, and it's even narrower now that a couple rows of seats have been added close to the field. I heard somewhere that those seats were being removed in the corners to accomodate the original-sized pitch (which was used in WWC '99) but I don't know if there was any real truth behind what I heard.
Also, I think that being broadcast on ESPN2 will hurt attendance for this one. A lot of those europosers who are on the fence about whether or not to go out and see the mighty blues play an obviously inferior side ( ) will likely just decide to sit at home and watch it, I think.
I know a ton of people who really want to go to this game that wouldn't be bothered to go to a DC match that wasn't free. That being said, there would be a ton more interest if Untied was playing Manchester United, Real Madrid, or Arsenal. That's not a knock on Chelsea, but let's face it, you pretty much have to be a soccer fan of some level in America to have even heard of them. Pretty much all sports fans in general have heard of Madrid (or at least Beckham) and Manchester as well as Arsenal. My guess? Close to 40k. I think Arsenal, ManU, or the real Real (not Salt Lake) would get more that 60k on the same evening. If it were on a weekend, add 20,000 to either total.
You've got to be kidding right? The premiership champions are in DC and people won't go and see them because they're playing an MLS team? DCU can actually play, are these people nuts? What are these Eurosnobs anyway? are they Americans or European immigrants?
I think Eurosnobs = general soccer fans in US who don't give a $hit about MLS and only care about Big leagues and clubs in Europe regardless of their nationality or ethnicity.
I met the quintessential Eurosnob at meet the team day. He was an American was wearing a Madrid shirt and he had a magazine with Adu on the cover that he wanted to get signed. He explained that he didn't need any more autographed jerseys because he already got the ones that mattered, Beckham and Ronaldo. (For half a second I fooled myself into thinking he was about to say something like Moreno and Olsen ) I asked him if he'd gone to the DC game on Friday, and he didn't. He said he'd go to the Chelsea game though because he's "a huge fan of the EPL." Said he was actually a ManU fan, and actually hated Chelski, but couldn't bring himself to root against the team from the mighty EPL. He said he was only there for Adu's autograph since he's the player on the team "worth the most" and that he wanted to get it before Adu went to Europe. I told him that once Freddy leaves for Europe he's as good as dead to me and the guy was puzzled. I made it clearer and said that once he's no longer playing for DC United I don't really care what happens to him. C***sucker still didn't get it. Europosing, gloryhunting SCUM. His dad should've pulled out.