MLS Matchday 8 Attendances, April 17-18 Vancouver (vs. Kansas City) 21,777 Toronto (vs. Austin) 16,550 Montreal (vs. New York Red Bulls) 12,568 Colorado (vs. Miami) 75,824 New England (vs. Columbus) 16,257 New York City (vs. Charlotte) 20,997 Philadelphia (vs. DC United) Not Reported Orlando (vs. Houston) 19,243 Atlanta (vs. Nashville) 36,895 Cincinnati (vs. Chicago) 25,513 Minnesota (vs. Portland) 19,617 Dallas (vs. Los Angeles Galaxy) 11,004 Real Salt Lake (vs. San Diego) 20,852 Seattle (vs. St. Louis) 30,596 TOTAL ATTENDANCE: 306,841 AVERAGE: 23,603 (13 Matches, So Far) Today: Los Angeles FC vs. San Jose
So even if this event was pushed by the league it was a success, I enjoyed it, and I hope that the Colorado owner and some others MLS owners are push for more investment to keep the league upward
I understand you were fully in on this but I don't see how you can draw that conclusion less than 24 hours after it. If the Rapids return to the Dick and their attendance doesn't significantly change and their results don't significantly change and the Dick itself isn't significantly improved then what success came from this event?
The Rapids getting second highest attendance in MLS history sure seems like a success. Anything could happen as a result. The additional revenue could be used to sign a DP. A 6 year-old kid who's never seen a soccer game could decide to be, and eventually succeed in being, the next Messi. Hundreds of casual soccer fans could start following the Rapids or Miami. Who knows what might happen?
If numbers for Rapids games on Apple TV jump in the local area wouldn't be a bad thing. I would imagine plenty of folks might have Apple TV and don't watch so if they get new eyes tuning in because of this one game. Maybe the extra revenue will go towards winterizing the stadium.
Attendance from April 19: Los Angeles FC (vs. San Jose) 22,114 WEEKEND TOTAL: 328,955 AVERAGE: 23,497 (14 Matches) Still missing Philadelphia vs. DC United.
If you do a comparison, last year the Chicago Fire reported that they made more money from the Inter Miami game than from the rest of the season and this game is equivalent or better, if you don’t want to see that as a Success you are blind.
As a Rapids fan, I would only consider the 75k Miami game a success if the club sees a noticeable uptick in season tickets, and the revenue boost from the game itself is used to upgrade the team facilities/stadium. Otherwise its just a hollow cash grab where KSE pockets the money and laughs while continuing to operate the team like a minor league ultimate frisbee outfit. The owners making money means absolutely nothing to me unless its trickling down to improve the organization's operation and the fan experience.
You guys point out only the negative, tell that to the Sacramento, Las Vegas etc fans that want an MLS team even if is run like the Rapids ( better than what they have right now) if the owner keeps afloat the Rapids for another 30 years that will be a success.
I think we are past "staying alive is a success". A fanbase can demand a title run at least once in a while with MLS parity rules. This isn't EPL where "saying up" can be a success condition.
I think Rapids fans will probably be more frustrated after the Miami match. Imagine if they could attract that sort of interest (obviously not attendance) every week. They have a cheap ass, 20 year-old stadium and their all time biggest signing was an aging Tim Howard. They need and deserve a bit of a reboot, with help from the guy who spent $6 billion on a stadium in L.A. Sacramento's stadium will cost 3.5x what The Dick cost (in today's) money and it looks like Vegas will get a stadium with or without MLS.
It's not 2002 anymore. Just having a team and being grateful for it really isn't good enough in the modern US soccer landscape for a media market this size. Especially when you have other local teams in Colorado (Switchbacks and Summit) seemingly doing a much better job at visibility and providing a better product for fans. The Rapids have consistently been one of the worst run, if not *the* worst run, club in league for well over a decade. 75,824 showed up for a one-off game, and I would say around 55% to 60% of them were cheering for the Rapids based on what I saw in the stadium. For the sake of this exercise lets just say it was only 50%. Thats 37,912 fans, which is more than double what Dick's holds. Also keep in mind the club typically only manages 1 or 2 true sellouts a season and the average attendance is in the 15k range, which in most years is dead last in MLS. That proves what a lot of people have known in Colorado for a long time, which is the Rapids have a pretty massive disconnect in how they reach fans. If even a fraction of the people that showed up for the Miami game come to (real) home games regularly, they'd sell out all the time. This is why the actual objective success/failure of this match can only be judged based what happens in the long-term aftermath. KSE pocketing money from a one-off payday doesn't do it for me (or most others locally). Colorado needs an owner that actually wants to operate a professional soccer team, not an owner that wants to operate a soccer-like product thats used to grift money and real estate. I hope Stan is in the ground long before we have to endure 30 additional years of his type of ownership.
I agree with the above posters on long-time Colorado fans' frustrations with the condition of DSG Park. It may not have been state-of-the-art when it opened, but the fans were excited as hell on a blustery, cold March day when DC United (I think it was DCU) came to Commerce City to inaugurate the new digs. Stan Kroenke is a real estate developer, first and foremost. Owning a sports team is a side project for him. Given how often he shows up to support the clubs he owns a stake in, I wouldn't even say sports ownership is a hobby with him. He's one of those people who have more net worth than the combined salary of fans at a sold-out DSG Park. Now, it was great to see such a turnout in Denver when Miami came to town, but that's a one-off. I would hope that the casual fans who came out to support the Rapids were impressed with how Colorado fought back to make a game of it. Colorado should make the playoffs this season without much issue. I don't know if they're good enough to crack the Top 4 in the West, but Matt Wells is a sparkplug on the sidelines, which isn't something you frequently say about MLS head coaches.
And this is the fundamental thing you're not getting every time you question me about this. Putting 75K attendees' money in Kroenke's pocket is not itself an success. If none of that money goes to improving the club and retaining those fans then we gained nothing out of this game other than ridiculous spectacle. Just a note that we spent more than twice what we've spent on any other player on signing Aaronson last year. (And I'd argue that Howard was more than an "aging" signing that first season. He just never recovered from the injury he got on Nats duty at the end of that year, a downfall we didn't expect for at least another season or two. But that first season he was arguably goalkeeper of the year)
If this is not a success I don’t know what is it, When was the last time that Colorado Rapids was in fifth place on average attendance, if at the end of the season does not finish in the last 5 it will be a success
Why do you think average attendance matters? It only matters in some mythical average attendance race that this thread cares about and nobody else. Now, attendance matters in that its tied to revenue, but as has been explained to you, Colorado fans don't believe that any extra revenue will be reinvested into the team.
Colorado vs Miami at Mile High as a one off event was a success. Whether it was successful at having a lasting impact for the Rapids remains to be seen.
Well looking at the Rapids, it seems like they are going with young players much like Vancouver did before they signed Müller. Getting Minoungou from Seattle for 2 million in GAM is a steal for me. Gives the team speed and depth that it they go into the summer starting to gel, I think they'll be a contender for the next few years.