Attendance all most always reflects season tickets sales whether those tickets were used or not. But, since all teams "cheat" on attendance in the same manner, does it really matter? If comparing attendance, and all teams inflate attendance by the same rough percentage, the comparison remains valid.
You, sir, are clueless. SportBilly has already busted out the statistics on you, so I won't repeat them, but I'll just add that when ill-informed criticism is neither accurate nor constructive, then you are trolling. What do you mean "NO way"? During the game, we were actually having a conversation about the attendance and came to the conclusion that it was probably about 3,000 or just under. You need to tighten up your estimating. And "protocol"? What protocol? This wasn't a visit by a head of state, it was a theme night at a ballpark. They didn't put the Bosnian flag above the U.S. flag on the same flagpole, so what rule do you think was broken? Are you offended by the Canadian anthem at hockey games?
Why is everyone so excited about having 3,000 at the game? That'll never get us into MLS. I actually thought we'd have 5k-6k every game. I thought the signing of Steve Ralston would help and having the local boys on the team would be a huge impact. I automatically assumed that everyone was hungry to see pro soccer in town on a regular basis that we'd have no problem filling Soccer Park every game.
The diehards will always be there but a winning team will eventually bring out the average fan. The crowd was amazing last night...I thought it was a decent showing considering we were supposed to get pounded with rain. This is the best sporting experience in St. Louis right now. They aren't going to win too many games and that will keep attendance down this year. St. Louis is a fickle community when it comes to sports, the majority of people won't support what they believe is "minor" league. We've got one of the best Junior A hockey teams in the United States...going for their 4th consecutive championship and they barely draw and St. Louis is a pretty decent hockey town. If it's not Cardinals, Blues, or Rams, most people just don't care. I know one thing...I'll be at every game supporting AC and I think my 7 year old is hooked after last night. He had an amazing time at the game and came downstairs this morning chanting "Ohhhh AC Saint Louuuuuuis". He also started chanting "Brian...Brian..Brian" this morning as well in reference to the dude that fell last night and was taken off on the stretcher. Tim
Actually, Ryan was the man down. He checked in on facebook last night. He's OK. Couple of stiches and a sore ass was all he said. And, I was pleasantly surprised at the attendance. I know how many season tickets were sold before the season started (may be more now) and I was really worried that the crowd wouldn't be half that big. I consider last night a huge success for all the reasons we've talked about.
alright so basically i put any low attendances on the club (well of course except bad weather scares like last night). People who are in the know are coming, too bad no1 knows. I'm doing my best bringing down new friends each game, but at some point the team needs to do something for itself. anyone have a video of the goal? I was waitin for my girl to pee when it happened!! Bloody hell.
Ahh ok...it sounded like they were chanting Brian over in section 17. Glad to hear he's ok. They carted him off behind the stands and he was giving a thumbs up on the way out. Tim
I'd rather watch AC with 3,000 fans than your Wiz with 10,000 fans any day. And when/if we ever get an MLS squad, we'll crush your attendance average every year. Until then, leave us alone; no one cares what you think.
True, but I'm from Southern Illinois and have supported St. Louis soccer teams forever and will continue to do so. I've also been a Wizards fan since 1996. We didn't have an MLS, so KC was the closest to me. I've been a die-hard fan of the Steamers, Storm, Ambush, Knights (if you remember them), and then the Steamer again. Now you can add Athletica and AC St. Louis....and I catch a Lions game when I can. What I get pissed about is how the organization is ran and the excuses made. You can't keep selling tickets for $5 or doing "Buy 1-get-1 FREE" specials. If you want the public to take you as PROFESSIONAL, then act like it. Don't give away FREE tickets and do some marketing. You can't bank on any help from the media. The thing is, the organization knew going in last year they would eventually have 2 teams to sell for. If it's too much for 6-7 people, then either add more people to the staff or drop of the teams, which I hear is very likely after this season. One question I have is why aren't the local soccer clubs buying hundreds of tickets? The goal should be to get all of the teams to attend at least once each season. They should also tie a G.A. ticket into their annual club registration. Trust me, it works really if you have a good relationship with the local clubs. You can even do the same deal with the Vetta Sports Clubs.
If that were the case then Athletica attendance would be up since their season ticket sales are up from last season but their attendance is down. I'm one of the ones that's going this year that wasn't last year but there's a lot more who seem to have gone last year and are not going this year. Sport Billy, I recall how you said a men's team would help Athletica attendance yet their attendance is down so far and I have real concerns it could trend like that the entire season. What's your take on that?
Redhawk1 could be from East Timor, Togo, or a frickin Martian but he definitely has a point. MLS will no doubt use this against St.Louis getting an MLS team IF this is the kind of attendance that AC St.Louis all season. I recall in 2006 (WOW, was it that long ago?) when Jeff Cooper was all over local TV about his plans to build that huge complex in Collinsville someone with him or someone prominent in the local soccer community said we could average around 15K a game. MLS obviously will closely watch the attendance at minor soccer leagues in assessing whether an MLS team is viable and I'm not even sure if 4K avg. attendance would be enough. Then again I don't know the exact MLS criteria so I can't be sure exactly how they would decide but I'm sure attendance would be a factor. But I don't see how any of you could think if St.Louis had an MLS team right now that the attendance would be near 15K.
look at Toronto's USL numbers. 2006: Toronto in USL avg attendance 1,732 2009: Toronto in MLS avg attendance 20,344.47 Seattle from 1994 - 2008 avg 3,287 in D2 2985 isn't bad, its a really solid number for D2 and I expect attendance to grow over the summer, if marketing is increased.
I think the team club screwed up. They need a doubleheader with a tie-in to get the AC crowd to go to a Athletica game and see that the sport is enjoyable. Also, Athletica has been hampered by a crap schedule. The club should be advertising like crazy for Saturday's game. Two top goalies in the league, etc, etc. We can go over this again as it's been proven time and time again, but Div 2 soccer has no relevance to Div 1 soccer. My concerns with USL all along were that St. Louis has a "major league" attitude. I personally know many people who would get MLS season tickets but won't go to an AC game. It's sad. Seattle USL averaged 3300 before being announced for MLS. Seattle MLS averages 36,000+ Toronto USL averaged 1000-1100. Toronto MLS averages 20,000+ They just have nothing to do with one another. MLS has never questioned our possible attendance. Garber has made it clear. The moment someone super rich backs St. Louis for a team, we will get one. The same can be said for a handful of other cities (NYC, Miami, Atlanta). Problem is, I don't see anyone in St. Louis who would qualifies as super rich and would desire to back a soccer team.
BTW, free tickets are a good move. If I were marketing this team, I would be giving passes for tickets out everywhere. I'd be at grade schools, youth soccer tournaments, Cardinals games, the zoo, you name it. Right now you need to concentrate on exposure not money. People aren't choosing not to come to the games as much as they don't even know what USSF div 2 is or that we have a team.
Sure, the goal is to get an MLS team. Here's the thing, you don't just build an MLS-caliber club from the ground up overnight. This team wasn't even in existence a year ago. Heck, it wasn't even in existence 8 months ago. They've played 5 matches and had 2 home games. You know, this could just be me and my logical thinking, but my guess is that Don Garber probably hasn't given up on St. Louis yet because of "only" 3,000 people in attendance. We know what a soccer hotbed we have in St. Louis. From personal experience, I wish I could be at every game, but I live 2 hours away, and it's an impossibility. So I'm sure there were others, like me, that chose to go to the inaugural home match, but weren't able to make it last night. That doesn't mean the team has no fan support. I have to pick and choose games because I can only make it over so often. Again, I'm sure I'm not the only one who has done this. My point is that for those who are lecturing on how last night's attendence blew are chance to get an MLS team, get a grip. AC St. Louis will continue to grow and build in stature over this season and into the next few. Patience is the key, even for the diehards (I consider myself one, albeit from afar). Once this thing gains some traction, the fans will come, attendance will rise, and MLS will notice. To think this was going to happen in 2 home matches is crazy talk.
Is Baltimore now located in Bosnia? The Blues/NHL play the VISITING team's national anthem IF they are from ANOTHER COUNTRY. 1,000 MAX there last night MAX according to the conversation I was having with my group of friends.
why the hell do you care if they play the Bosnian National Anthem? I actually thought it was a nice nod to a large segment of supporters. It didn't hurt anyone and it made a lot of fans happy. I was there and there was more than 1K. I'm not an expert at crowd estimation, but it looked about half full to me. I was worried that 1K would be the attendance, but was pleasantly surprised by the turnout given the forecast. Yes the team needs to market better, but this will grow given time. Its an expansion club and the soccer will improve and word will get around. Enjoy the ride. I'll be happy to say I remember when this place was half full. And even if it never gets any bigger than it is right now its still a hell of a lot of fun. If you don't want to get into it, its your loss.
Good game last night. The supporters looked like they were having a good time with the explosives, and I would have been over there if I wasn't sitting in the VIP section because a buddy of mine had tickets from his job (free food and drink FTW). There's a good atmosphere building there...much more of a big-time footy crowd and less of a soccer-mom-and-kids crowd that the Athletica have (not bad...just different). Poor officiating throughout...ACSTL got lucky that CPUSA blew a couple of scoring chances created by missed offsides calls in the first half. Good evening overall, and the weather couldn't have been any better.
Well I hope you guys are right on the attendance disparaties between NASL/USL and MLS and St.Louis would get 15K a game if MLS came here but you can't blame people who won't believe it till they see it. As far a rich St.Louisans what about Mr.Enterprise Leasing Jack Taylor? He's worth around $3 billion and he could get an MLS team with the loose change he has lost in his sofas. It's just up to you guys to convince him soccer is worth it!
am I the only one tired of the MLS team talk. Yes, we all wanted MLS, but I feel we did everything we could and were denied. so screw them. Let's enjoy what we have and the advantages it brings. Let this thing grow and have fun with it. If it eventually leads to MLS then awesome. If not, we still have a team of our own and I can live with this level of soccer. Several NASL/USL teams are as good as lower level MLS clubs and it costs a lot less for season tickets. If somebody wants to talk shit about our Division II club, who cares. I know I've had a lot of fun at the first two home games and will continue to have fun.