A few years back, when I was living in the land of pasta and pomodori, I posted a comparison of the sizes of the different stadiums in the Serie A and compared them to the proposed size of the RSL stadium. The other day, I was searching around on Al Gore’s invention, trying to find which teams were sent down/promoted in the different European leagues when I the sizes of the stadium in the different leagues caught my eye. So, using the miracle of Wikipedia and Excel, here is a comparison of the stadiums of the MLS compared to the teams which will be playing in Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Netherlands, England and Scotland during the 2008-2009 season. I think it is instructive to see just where the MLS sits in stadium size compared to other European football powerhouses. MLS. The average MLS stadium size is 32763. The largest is Giants Stadium where the Pink Cows play (80242) and the smallest is Buck Stadium where the EarthQuacks play (10300). The median stadium size is 24778. The numbers for the MLS are much larger at this time due to 5 teams (RSL, HOU, NYRB, NER and DCU) who all play in football stadiums. However, the future, the numbers will be lower since four of those teams which play in football stadiums are building their own smaller SSS. Only NER will continue to play in a football stadium since the Kraft family owns NER and the Patriots and stadium at Foxboro. Serie A The average Serie A stadium size is 43786, the largest is AC Milan/Inter Milan’s San Siro (82955), the smallest is AC Siena’s (15373) and the median stadium size is 36964. Ligue 1 The average Ligue 1 stadium size is 27881, the largest is Olympic Marseille’s Stade Velodrome (60031), the smallest is Le Havre’s (16454) and the median stadium size is 21652. Although the Stade de France seats 79959, there is no permanent soccer team that plays there. Bundesliga The average Bundesliga stadium size is 46800, the largest is Borussia Dortmund’s (80708) , the smallest is Energie Cottbus’ (22450) and the median stadium size is 49687. EPL The average EPL stadium size is 39049, the largest is Man U’s Old Trafford (76212), the smallest is Portmouth’s (20688) and the median stadium size is 35772. EFLC (English Football League Championship) The average EFLC stadium size is 24640, the largest is Sheffield Wednesday’s (39814), the smallest is Blackpool’s (9612) and the median stadium size is 25098. EFL1 (English Football League 1) The average EFL1 stadium size is 14591, the largest is Leeds United’s (40242), the smallest is Cheltenham Town’s (7066) and the median stadium size is 11608). SPL The average SPL stadium size is 20559, the largest is Celtic’s (60832), the smallest is Hamilton Academical’s (6000) and the median stadium size is 15815. Eredivisie The average Eredivisie stadium size is 21403, the largest is Ajax Amsterdam’s (51628), the smallest is Heracles Almelo (8498) and the median stadium size is 17044. La Liga The average La Liga stadium size is 37367, the largest is FC Barcelona’s (98772), the smallest is CD Numancia’s (9700) and the median stadium size is 27706. Superliga The average Superliga stadium size is 23938, the largest is SL Benefica’s (65647), the smallest is CD Trofense’s (5000) and the median stadium size is 18908.
Attendance is interesting, also. From Wikipedia, which cites a variety of sources. Code: League Average Attendance Bundesliga 37644 Premier League 35991 La Liga 28838 Ligue 1 21817 J. League 1 19081 Eredivisie 18763 Serie A 18473 Football League Championship 18221 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 17461 Primera División Argentina 17363 [COLOR="Red"]Major League Soccer 16770[/COLOR] A-League 15363 Bundesliga 2 15253 Chinese Super League 15119 Scottish Premier League 14915 Turkish Premier Super League 14058 Russian Premier League 13114 K-League 12227 Iran Pro League 11554 Portuguese Liga 10636 Jupiler League 10533 Norwegian Premier League 10438 Allsvenskan 10258 Other leagues are less than 10K average attendance per game.
Wow! The portuguese league is way down at the bottom and those hated Vikings from Norway beat the Swedish. Is there no justice in the world!
I should have mentioned what I think is interesting. That is, MLS does pretty well, all things considered (such as, being a 'niche sport' and only 11 year old league). And is on par with several high level leagues.
Great thread. Very informative. Being a Bundesliga fan, I'm not surprised them being at the top, but MLS looks great.
This stadium, TEDA Football Stadium located in Tianjin,China would make a great MLS stadium. It has a capacity of 36,390 and is the only stadium in the Chinese Super League that doesn't have a running track around it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TEDA_Football_Stadium
Using Al Gore's invention so I don't increase my carbon footprint any more than I have to, I was able to find this article. Basically, for anyone who is too lazy to read the article, soccer clubs from merry olde Englland, la France and Deutschland are in pretty good shape, but clubs from Italy and Spain have the most financial problems with some of Spains clubs having been taken over by the league (I guess that what "in administration" means). However, if your favorite club is one of the perennial forces in European soccer like Real Madrid or Barca in Spain, you don't have much to worry about at this time.
Two years ago I attended a game at Bayer Leverkusen's Bayarena. The stadium capacity was 30,000. The biggest difference with Rio Tinto was both endzones were developed, whereas Rio Tinto's south endzone is not.
pointless comparison IMO, a better comparison would be of second or third teir stadiums in europe to MLS. thats about the quality of MLS right now (as far as talent) and i would think those stadiums would be more par for the course with MLS. as for stability of teams in europe, i think many of you are fooled by all the cash being thrown around. many EPL teams are in dire straights (look at man city losing over $100 million a year), many are hemorrhaging money. it doesnt help that transfer fees are at an all time high and players are being bought and sold for 10's of millions of pounds. just because a team is throwing around ridiculous amounts of money at players doesnt mean they are financially stable. in fact many of the big clubs are far from it, its just that they have billionaire owners who dont care right now and are willing to try and buy championships.