According to SoccerAmerica, the MetroStars rank only 5th in average attendance and are only slightly above the league average mark. I don't ever recall them being worse than 2nd in attendance. Are other teams following Nick's lead and fudging their numbers even more? Some reasons can be attributed to the novelty of playing at the Home Depot Center and some fan promotions that KC did earlier in the year. However, it doesn't completely explain the MetroStars drop in attendance in comparison to its' peers. With Dallas coming in to town on Saturday, the Metros could drop to the bottom half of the pack as I'm not sure even the Burn's spouse's would want to be seen in attendance. Why have the Metros slipped in attendance in 2003? MLS: Attendance Average TEAM: home attendance average 1. Los Angeles: 21,625 2. Colorado: 17,079 3. Kansas City: 16,101 4. Columbus: 16,025 5. MetroStars: 15,778 6. D.C. United: 15,332 7. New England: 15,009 8. San Jose: 10,051 9. Chicago: 11,622 10. Dallas: 7,834 League-wide average: 14,641.
I think one factor is the lack of doubleheaders this year. In the past, there have always been at least a couple of doubleheaders that would draw 30 - 40 K, raising the average a bit. I wonder how the average attendance this year compares with past years' averages less the doubleheaders.
Re: Re: Metros are only 5th in attendance? EXACTLY !!!! i don't have the sources to research this, but Metro average was always raised by doubleheaders, this year we had NONE...to be honest i hate silly doubleheaders
doubleheaders are effective, but i just wish they would be matchups that metro fans would be more interested...i was born here, but my parents are colombian...my dad knows plenty of people that go when colombia or a colombian club come, but of course these same people could care less about metro...more importantly, many of us could care even less about the colombian national team and them playing galapagos islands or whoever else MFO decides they want to target to make a quick buck...it's obviously not easy to get quality games to be played on the same day as a metro match, so i guess i'm OK with our number being at 15k (obviously we want it higher), but then you look at conference leading SJ and $hitcago and wonder what their excuse is for barely getting 10k...i guess im just trying to look at the glass being half-full
Isn't interesting that the two hottest teams in mls both Chicago and San jose have one of the lowest attendence in the league, yet LA and Colombus have one of the highest attendence yet their teams continue to suck?
Chicago is also currently out in the sticks and a lot of people have not gone to games this year intending to get to new Soldier Field at the end of this week. We shall see if that happens, but the numbers reportedly look much better for next year already. San Jose? Well, it's a tiny place that nobody likes to go to.
What kind of attendance number on avarage would u think the MetroStars can achieve in a new Harrison stadium?? In my opinion, if they can continue to play well through the next two seasons, an average of 23,000 - 25,000 doesn't seem too off the mark considered that we should keep all the existing fan base and attract many new fans from the new location alone. The idea to build the stadium in its projected location is ideal for a growing organization and a growing league. Harrison, Kearny, and Newark will all be walking distance from the new grounds and all three towns are deeply-rooted in soccer and a hotbed for soccer enthusiasts. With the increased revenue from the several new SSS planned for 2006, MLS will be able to put the surplus(if there is any) back into the teams and perhaps raise the salary cap and aquire some more recognizable foriegn players. It might not be too long before the new MetroPark will have to be permanantly expanded to its 35,000 capacity. Year 2010, imagine attending a Metros regular season match against DC United at MetroPark and watching superstars 23yr old Eddie Gaven and 27yr old Ricardo Clark take on DC's 21yr old sensation Freddy Adu in front of 30,000 screaming fans with a 5000 person strong ESC under the bandshell chanting and singing through out the night... a person can dream cant they?
Off topic, but if Freddy Adu is still in MLS when hes 21, somethings gone horribly awry with his career, or amazingly great with the MLS.
Amazingly great with MLS... thats what the whole dream sequence was all about. Trust me, i dont expect Gaven and Clark to be playing in MLS neither at their current rate of development.
He'll neeeeevvveeer beeeeeee a Metroooooooo or rapid, or burner(?) or galaxian, or firerer or anything else in mls...sadly...
A big reason from a MFO insider is that MFO lost some of their best sales people like Greg Pzarchek, Jeorge Guarda and James Martin. I hear those guys were resposible for big time attendance spikes.
Since LA has always been at the top, or 2nd a couple of times at most, in attendence, it can't all be attributed to the novelty of the HDC.
It all depends on how enjoyable they make the parking experience. The Meadowlands are located at the intersection of 2 major highways, very easy to drive to. The move to Harrison is great for NY soccer fans but could become a driving nightmare for NJ carpools and soccermoms.
Will they update Nick's resume to reflect the drop in attendance? "In 2001, Sakiewicz continued to engineer major growth for the team. The MetroStars earned their second straight MLS Cup playoff berth, more than quintupled its corporate sponsorship revenue over the previous season, and averaged more than 20,000 fans (20,806) for the first time since the team’s inaugural season in 1996. The attendance figure represented an 18.1% increase over 2000, and marked a 41.5% increase over 1999, the season before Sakiewicz came to the organization." http://www.metrostars.com/yourteam/nick_sakiewicz.htm
Uhmmm therees 2 major highways less than 1/4 of a mile from the site. Not to mention that everyone in NJ can get to it with mass trans too.
Originally posted by red&black1 Year 2010, imagine attending a Metros regular season match against DC United at MetroPark and watching superstars 23yr old Eddie Gaven and 27yr old Ricardo Clark take on DC's 21yr old sensation Freddy Adu in front of 30,000 screaming fans with a 5000 person strong ESC under the bandshell chanting and singing through out the night.. You watch and see, Adu is going to be signed by Man Utd. very soon.