what they are saying though (and i am in the middle here) is that the NASL was awhile ago. Some of the people who went then might not be interested now. And some of the young people in Seattle might not be interested either.
I don't buy that at all. People will attend if they think that its major league. The people who went to NASL games aren't going because the Sounders aren't "major league". Personally I think it's silly not to support a team because the league they play isn't prestigious enough, but thats the way it is. I met a woman at last nights Whitecaps game who brought her family. She hadn't been to a game since the NASL Whitecaps. She didn't stop going because she all of a sudden didn't like soccer, just that what replaced the NASL here wassn't as big of a deal.
When you talk about attendance at Seattle Sounders games, you have to remember that they used to get 10,000 a match in the early-to-mid-90's at the landing strip known as Memorial Stadium. Something happened since then, and it has everything to do with marketing. An MLS team will have a much bigger marketing budget. And honestly, I think the current Sounders are doing a pretty good job since last year when they got a new GM considering how tight their budget is. They put a great team together every year, the cheesy gimmicks are slowly disappearing, and they are listening to their fans. - Paul
It was still more than 90% of the attendances we had at the Tomb formerly known as Memorial I was expecting it to be worse, actually, with the thunderstorms forecast well before the match. Was just thankful we didn't pull a 300 like Richmond did in similar circumstances. VB and Charlotte don't get crowds even in good weather, so I won't even go there.
attendance The reason it was so low is the massive Calgary traveling contingent didn't realise the game wasn't at Memorial.