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MLS Attendance
Posted on 6/15/11 at 9:09 pm
Posted on 6/15/11 at 9:09 pm
I've been following THIS thread on Bigsoccer since the beginning of the MLS season. It's basically people pouring over MLS attendance stats. The signs are good. The 2011 season has a higher average attendance of any season save the inaugural 96 season. The league is now averaging 17,350, with only 9.4% of games having crowds of less than 10,000 (mostly San Jose), and 28.1% of games having more than 20,000 in attendance. Here are some attendance stats laid out from other major sports for the 2010-2011 sports year.
NHL:
NBA:
If we compare these to the MLS, we have some favorable numbers so far.
If you remove the highest attendance, for Seattle, and the lowest attendance, for San Jose, as for stadium reason they can be considered outliers (perhaps), the average is 16605.375, still a very respectable number that represents a better figure for any year save the 96 season.
An interesting thing to note in the link is the stats after a World Cup year. MLS average attendance actually decreased after our QF run in 2002, while it increased after a poor showing in 2006 and a decent showing in 2010. I'm not sure how to explain that.
So what does this all mean? It shows, in part, that the league has done an excellent job building up grassroots support, but the MLS needs to do a better job in areas with soccer specific stadiums that lag in attendance. San Jose needs to do all it can to get a soccer-specific stadium, as it painfully skews the numbers downward, even though their attendance figures represent 94% of their stadium's capacity.
The league needs more years like this one, where there seems to be a genuine palpable excitement unlike any other the league has seen.
I'm hesitant at this point to say that the MLS has "made" it on the American sports scene, as it is clearly the fifth major sport in terms of television, which is where the real money is made. A small, sustained growth over a long period of time can cement the league on the North American sports landscape.
Some things that could help the sport is the emergence of a true American superstar, someone not necessarily on the level of Messi or Ronaldo, but somehow iconic.
There are more American youth players abroad now than ever, which indicates that our youths have talent, but the number of Americans playing in top leagues has remained fairly static. The sustained effort of MLS youth academies can help finish these players in the States before they attempt to ply their trade elsewhere, which hopefully will improve the quality of the players in the MLS and abroad.
I imagine if the growth continues, and the new Montreal and New York franchises are as successful as other recent expansion teams, then the MLS will have a big edge in bargaining for a better TV contract, which is of absolute paramount importance if the league is to grow even further.
Sorry for the long post.
NHL:
quote:
NHL
19649
19396
18952
18620
18124
18112
17987
17906
17858
17781
17764
17744
17706
17689
17564
17381
17228
17119
16957
16602
16329
16282
16215
15970
15958
15914
15165
15075
14454
14220
17124.03333-Average
NBA:
quote:
20111
19612
19042
18886
18794
18422
18421
18379
18200
18156
17961
17871
17851
17678
17514
17093
16992
16710
16696
16567
16303
16162
16159
16064
15953
15944
15645
15639
15546
15191
17318.73-Average Attendance
If we compare these to the MLS, we have some favorable numbers so far.
quote:
36296
22206
20132
19925
19665
18627
18204
18189
17718
16089
16063
15917
13685
13380
12990
12449
10447
9772
17319.66667-Average
If you remove the highest attendance, for Seattle, and the lowest attendance, for San Jose, as for stadium reason they can be considered outliers (perhaps), the average is 16605.375, still a very respectable number that represents a better figure for any year save the 96 season.
An interesting thing to note in the link is the stats after a World Cup year. MLS average attendance actually decreased after our QF run in 2002, while it increased after a poor showing in 2006 and a decent showing in 2010. I'm not sure how to explain that.
So what does this all mean? It shows, in part, that the league has done an excellent job building up grassroots support, but the MLS needs to do a better job in areas with soccer specific stadiums that lag in attendance. San Jose needs to do all it can to get a soccer-specific stadium, as it painfully skews the numbers downward, even though their attendance figures represent 94% of their stadium's capacity.
The league needs more years like this one, where there seems to be a genuine palpable excitement unlike any other the league has seen.
I'm hesitant at this point to say that the MLS has "made" it on the American sports scene, as it is clearly the fifth major sport in terms of television, which is where the real money is made. A small, sustained growth over a long period of time can cement the league on the North American sports landscape.
Some things that could help the sport is the emergence of a true American superstar, someone not necessarily on the level of Messi or Ronaldo, but somehow iconic.
There are more American youth players abroad now than ever, which indicates that our youths have talent, but the number of Americans playing in top leagues has remained fairly static. The sustained effort of MLS youth academies can help finish these players in the States before they attempt to ply their trade elsewhere, which hopefully will improve the quality of the players in the MLS and abroad.
I imagine if the growth continues, and the new Montreal and New York franchises are as successful as other recent expansion teams, then the MLS will have a big edge in bargaining for a better TV contract, which is of absolute paramount importance if the league is to grow even further.
Sorry for the long post.
This post was edited on 6/15/11 at 9:21 pm
Posted on 6/16/11 at 8:37 am to crazy4lsu
i dont understand why they moved back into san jose
a crappy stadium that doesnt allow the field to be wide enough, small crowds, i doubt they have much pull in the bay area
a crappy stadium that doesnt allow the field to be wide enough, small crowds, i doubt they have much pull in the bay area
Posted on 6/16/11 at 9:01 am to crazy4lsu
expand on this for about 4-5 more 'grafs and try and freelance this @ Sports Illustrated
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