1) Looked like more on TV 2) This was just because of a double header with a NASCAR race I am sure, not all of these people were there to see an MLS match Sorry, couldn't help myself
My Vote is for the Best Season Ever! What will be huge is a number of DPs in all the other markets. I think we should use the monies from expansion bids on salaries of players. That will take our profile up with every player around the world. Then we will see the best players coming our way. The best players we can produce will stay. I hope KC, Colorado, and Columbus can build some momentum. I think DPs will help them. With Chivas USA, I am hoping that a good run in the playoffs will put them on the map in LA. Or move them, I don't know. They are a good team. Maybe they could be in San Diego? I don't know. Thank you for these stats all year!
I agree with you on the Thursday night game. It is part of my ritual now. What I would really like to see is for them to do one East Coast game early and one West Coast game late. Set the times in stone so you know and can plan. It sucks when I am ready to sit and watch a game at 8:30 only to find out its LAG playing at 10:30pm. I would like to see MNF do the same thing, which they did do once this season.
This would require changing the TV contract that MLS has with ESPN. I wouldn't think they would alter the contract unless they had a sudden dramatic jump in viewership numbers. MLS is probably a tad bit uncomfortable with moving more dates to midweek games especially as we increase the number of international competitions that teams can compete in. Although featuring 4 sqauds that aren't playing in international competitions wouldn't be a bad idea for a thursday double-header night if you had to do it. I just don't see the long-term benefit for MLS voluntarily playing more mid-week dates.
As American football is my second favorite sport to watch, I thought it was a great idea to have two games on Monday nights (i.e., appeasing both coasts' fans). Alas, it was just a one-off.
============================================ Maybe the 'second' game can be MLS vs. International team or heck, why not a USOC game? -- Anyway, next year, we have a balanced east/west again, double hitter would be nice.. 1st game- 7pm eastern team home 10pm pt 2nd game- 9pm et 7pm western team home - Soccer, without pregames or post games fit in 2 hr slot ok, so 2 games is 'only' 4 hours- there are times ONE baseball or football game goes that long. They could try as experiment..
I don't think it will work nearly as well as it did this season. For this season, the league announced the signing, then made people wait half a year for his arrival. Then he arrived, did slightly more than nothing on the field, and now he's got about half a year off from regularly scheduled MLS games. That's a long time to expect the interest of people who are not otherwise interested in soccer to last.
Not a single one? I brought a group of 20 to the Beckham game. Only 7 of us had ever attended a soccer game before. Of the remaining 13, I'd say only half were even remotely interested in soccer. The rest came because they liked sports and they liked events. I wouldn't be shocked if there weren't a few more of that type throughout the stadium. It's probably right to say that most people really were soccer fans. But there were definitely all kinds of people who hadn't ever been to a game live-- and even a few complete newbs.
I have a new question: After seeing the attendence for last nights REV-Fire game (10,317) i'm beginning to wonder what a comparision of season vs. post-season would look like. With some of the big attendence teams out of the running, are the averages for playoffs lower than during the season? I think it's sad that more DC United fans will show up to watch a team they don't even care about, than NE fans even show up for their own team. I'm more curious about data than comments about what this all means.
The ONLY excuse they have is that it was 30 degrees outside last night. I just don't see how they could only draw that. For the USL Semi's Portland drew over 11K and Puerto Rico over 12K. It's pretty damn sad that an MLS club can't outdraw 2 of the 4 clubs playing in the same spot in the USL playoff system, ESPECIALLY since both of the USL sides that drew so well LOST.
okay i did some quick math myself... instead of being lazy and asking everyone else to do it: total att. so far: 146,648 average: 16,294 average for NE: 10,216.5 (not counting away game)
The historical trend is that there are very low attendances in the playoffs. In recent years, this has improved somewhat. There's a thread on playoff attendance here: https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=612698 You'll see that the means are generally a lot lower than regular season attendance.
There are several reasons for this: 1) Short time frame to sell tickets. 2) The big issue for me is that the playoffs were NOT part of the Revs' season tix package, which IMHO, was a huge mistake. Sure the Revs had a number of other "special events" (Gold Cup, Women's match in April, etc.) but from a business point of view it's insane that ALL MLS clubs don't include the MAXIMUM number of dates (including playoffs) in the season ticket package. And if there are unused tickets, they roll over as a credit for the next season.
I disagree. If you buy season tickets, you're a fan. The chances are you'll come back for a playoff game even if it's not part of the package. The team already has your contact info and is going to find you come the end of the season. I think the team should be able to rely on season ticket holders to step it up while they spend most of their time attracting people not normally involved on a regular basis.
==================================================== There are exceptions to low attenances, like Houston this year.... But this is yet another reason for -------Single table and regular season , PLUS a true league cup played throughout the season in place of the horrid MLS cup.. Like the other poster said, these games need to be set in advance, and included in the season ticket... and for that matter USOC cup dates all need to be set in stone... You would be able to market all 3 from OCT/NOV end of year, right up to the beginnig of the season next March/April.. = Regular season games generally on Saturday, plus one game of the week midweek. On 'CUP Week', the cups go on Saturday and the regular season game goes to mid week.. Cutting the 3 weeks of the current MLS cup could also possibly allow us to fit in the FIFA dates.. - The LEAGUE CUP final replaces MLS cup and is still set in stone, that way the league can still get sponsors in to party etc.. The USOC Cup final should then be the following week and the USSF should host it in similar fashion.. Basically the 2 soccer 'Super Bowls' within the week- should be easier to get media interest.
I think you are right. I have always thought that attendance during the MLS playoffs, especially mid-week games, gives us a pretty good sense of a team's "core" fanbase -- the true believers after you strip away the comped tickets and the groups sales and the Beckham packs. The temps and mid-week kickoff might may have knocked the Revs down a bit, but they also only drew 10,116 on Saturday against RBNY.
Sad, but true. When it comes to the particular brand of "fame" that you reference, Henry, Ronaldinho and Zidane don't "benefit" from being married to a former "Spice Girl". The average American hasn't been given the opportunity to see independent films entitled Dribble it Like Ronaldinho, Strike It Like Henry or Head-Butt It Like Zidane p). In short, the majority of top-flight international soccer superstars would fail to resonate with the mass of humanity that comprises mainstream America. So, we must hope that a "celeb" like David Beckham lures mainstream America to MLS stadia during his tenure with the circuit. Further, we must hope that while the individuals who comprise mainstream America are in attendance to see what the fuss about "Beckham the celebrity" is all about, they come to appreciate "Beckham the athlete" and, by extension, learn to recognize and enjoy the charms inherent to the sport in which he competes. In that way, the core audience for the sport of soccer can be grown in this country. Will it happen? Only time will tell. It's certainly going to take more than a single season - particularly, one in which the "celeb" player in question showed up midway through his club's schedule and lost considerable playing time to injury.
See, I think this misses the point. Sure there's only one Beckham, but signing any of the players you listed here would still draw plenty of attention that would differ from the attention Becks draws but that would be everybit the same draw. You mention Ronaldinho, and no, he doesn't have the same charismatic media presence as Beckham, but millions of fans in the US do know who he is. You've got guys like Chad Johnson, Kobe Bryant, Greg Oden all singing his praises. I guarantee you this, if MLS signed Ronaldinho, his impact off the field would rival Beckham's.
Yeah, I actually agree with you. While Tony Kornheiser, my boy, has no idea about soccer. And he represents the old school American Sports Writer who once covered baseball, hockey, Football, and Basketball by the 70s, and 80s. So, they don't get it, and need Beckham to play in front of 90,000 people to understand that it somewhat matters. But, like the American Sports stars you mentioned, these young guys, and young people across the country get football. It makes sense to them, and a guy like Ronaldhino is his prime playing in the USA would be a huge as Beckham in filling stadiums, and leading the story, is MLS a rival to Europe at last? That's the next story gang. For the longest time, will Beckham save soccer? He didn't. He lit the gasoline on fire, and now we have the explosion across the country. Seattle, Philly, San Jose, Toronto, JPA, Blanco, Drew Carey, Joe Roth, The NY METs, theAtlanta Falcons, The Oakland A's, the big money, big power, big names, coming here, because MLS is arriving before our eyes. Don't blink people!