Alberto7 Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 Just had a look at this weekend's MLS box scores and I noticed that attendances are really taking a nosedive... New England at Kansas City: 6,787 San Jose at Chivas USA: 8,654 Dallas at Chicago: 8,777 Colorado at Columbus: 11,224 DC at NY/NJ: 15,125 Salt Lake at LA: 23,544 Apart from the LA and NY/NJ games, everything else is pretty pathetic. Does anyone know why MLS is having such a hard time this year? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RS Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 KC is basically a lame duck franchise. Chivas USA underestimated the league and put together a pathetic squad that has only won once in 12 matches. They seem to have a strong core of about 8,000 supporters that will show up every game, so once they figure out how to win games, I think they'll be alright. Chicago and Dallas are both moving into new stadiums within the next year, so hopefully for them that'll have an LA Galaxy type effect and rejuvenate stagnant clubs. Columbus just sucks right now, and their attendances have been matching their onfield performance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amacpher Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 quote:Originally posted by Alberto7 Just had a look at this weekend's MLS box scores and I noticed that attendances are really taking a nosedive... New England at Kansas City: 6,787 San Jose at Chivas USA: 8,654 Dallas at Chicago: 8,777 Colorado at Columbus: 11,224 DC at NY/NJ: 15,125 Salt Lake at LA: 23,544 Apart from the LA and NY/NJ games, everything else is pretty pathetic. Does anyone know why MLS is having such a hard time this year? All it takes is one short visit to the MidWest-USA for anyone to figure-out that football would never succeed over there. What did MLS expect when they decided to have teams out there? BTW, a new stadium won't help in the long run. Look at Columbus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Concacaf Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 where is Kansas City moving to? Houston? Seattle? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SABuffalo786 Posted June 15, 2005 Share Posted June 15, 2005 Attendance is at about 14k. A thousand down from last year. I wouldn't say that it's "plummeting" We're having an off year. Oh well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SABuffalo786 Posted June 15, 2005 Share Posted June 15, 2005 quote:Originally posted by amacpher BTW, a new stadium won't help in the long run. Look at Columbus. Well it doesn't help that Colubmus is f-ing awful and boring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted June 15, 2005 Share Posted June 15, 2005 quote:Originally posted by SABuffalo786 Attendance is at about 14k. A thousand down from last year. I wouldn't say that it's "plummeting" We're having an off year. Oh well. Take out the doubleheaders or look at the median this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elias Posted June 15, 2005 Share Posted June 15, 2005 I think a major part might be that they are actually counting people who show up, as opposed to how many tickets they "sold" (including all the freebies). Besides KC, which as somebody else pointed out is a lame duck, those numbers are really not that bad. It's going to take decades to become big time. The NBA was ready to fold 20 years ago. The NFL never took-off until television (and gambling). NASCAR took decades to become as popular across the country as it is today. Nevermind all other sports (golf, tennis, boxing, etc.) that go up and down in popularity. The NHL has been around for 80 years and with the exception of a handful of local markets, has never tookoff, nor will it. MLS has only been around 10 years. As long as the investors are willing to pump money into it it will be fine. And with all the soccer stadiums being built, I don't think they are going anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
argh1 Posted June 15, 2005 Share Posted June 15, 2005 It seems there are about 14-15,000 hardcore soccer fans average for MLS. To read alot into figures as of mid June I'm not sure I would. 1996-2004 MLS attendance figures can be found here: link to Kenn.com MLS attendances EDIT: Attendances are strange to follow, for example: In 2004 The American League (of Baseball) averaged 29,229, the National League averaged 31,433 and the Jays averaged 23,457. Are we willing write off the Jays as a failure because they are below average. Even in the last two games at home vs St. Louis they had just over 20,000 on Monday but over 37,000 on Tuesday. No I think the MLS is healthy and will come in again at the end of the year in the average range that has been established over ten years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SABuffalo786 Posted June 15, 2005 Share Posted June 15, 2005 quote:Originally posted by Daniel Take out the doubleheaders or look at the median this year. You could say that for pretty much every year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJT Posted June 15, 2005 Share Posted June 15, 2005 quote:Originally posted by argh1 Even in the last two games at home vs St. Louis they had just over 20,000 on Monday but over 37,000 on Tuesday. Because on Tuesday the 500-level tickets were $2. I know of about 10 people who went just because of that. This is the fourth time they've had this promotion this season, but there aren't any more planned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
argh1 Posted June 15, 2005 Share Posted June 15, 2005 quote:Originally posted by DJT Because on Tuesday the 500-level tickets were $2. I know of about 10 people who went just because of that. This is the fourth time they've had this promotion this season, but there aren't any more planned. Hell they should do that more often then to sell $5.00 hotdogs. I go to alot of NBSBL games and they are $5 to get in hotdogs are still unreasonably priced! Atendance is well below 20,000 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJT Posted June 15, 2005 Share Posted June 15, 2005 What I find most significant about MLS attendance statistics is that the averages really drop off once the playoffs start. See this page, on which the key column is the last one. To summarize, only once has average attendance increased (as one would expect) in the playoffs versus the regular season; once it was essentially even, and the other 7 times there was a drop (sometimes a very significant drop, including as much as 25% twice and 31% another time). Actually, I think the numbers could be a bit worse than that because those calculations use the overall league average for the regular season and I think it would be more appropriate to use the average for the playoff teams only. For example, if you do this for 2004 then the drop in the playoffs is 21% instead of 17.9%. We've already discussed a similar phenomenon in the USL. This surely doesn't happen in any other sport in the US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted June 15, 2005 Share Posted June 15, 2005 Yeah, the playoffs don't have advance group sales to bank on and the interest in the hardcore fan is there, but not the numbers. Speaking of, I really don't like the 2-leg/single game playoff format the MLS adopted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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