The Week 23 numbers look like this…

  5 year comparison
  Week 23 177 GP YTD
  Avg +/- GP Avg +/- Avg +/- GP
 2006   11,814     10   15,158     15,139     153 
 2007   17,413   47.39%   7   16,522   9.00%   16,019   5.82%   151 
 2008   19,222   10.39%   6   16,472   -0.30%   17,121   6.88%   154 
 2009   16,665   -13.31%   9   15,749   -4.39%   16,737   -2.25%   164 
 2010   14,748   -11.50%   8   16,543   5.04%   16,543   -1.16%   178 
YTD – 178 Games
  Average Median %<10K %>20k
 2006    15,158     13,452    20.22%   16.85% 
 2007    16,522     15,046    8.43%   26.97% 
 2008    16,472     15,188    11.24%   25.28% 
 2009    15,749     14,525    16.29%   19.66% 
 2010    16,543     14,434    7.30%   22.47% 

Here are the attendance comparisons to 2009:

MLS Attendance – Equal # of Home Games
  2009 2010  
  Att Cap % Att Att +/- GP Cap % Cap
 Seattle  30,412   93.87%   36,174   18.94%   12   101.90%   35,500 
 Toronto  20,288   92.31%   20,688   1.97%   12   94.13%   21,978 
 LA Galaxy  19,379   71.78%   20,298   4.74%   10   75.18%   27,000 
 Philadelphia NA NA  20,027  NA  10   89.41%   18,500 
 N.Y./N.J. Red Bulls  12,229   48.55%   17,828   45.79%   11   70.78%   25,189 
 Real Salt Lake  16,091   78.74%   16,952   5.35%   12   87.65%   19,340 
 Houston  15,938   70.84%   16,895   6.01%   12   75.09%   22,500 
 Chicago  13,724   68.62%   16,044   16.90%   10   80.22%   20,000 
 Columbus Crew  13,714   68.57%   14,384   4.89%   12   71.92%   20,000 
 D.C. United  15,542   69.07%   14,271   -8.17%   12   63.43%   22,500 
 ChivasUSA  16,107   59.65%   14,093   -12.50%   10   52.20%   27,000 
 Colorado Rapids  12,771   70.61%   12,749   -0.17%   11   70.49%   18,086 
 NE Revolution  13,221   58.76%   12,070   -8.71%   12   53.64%   22,500 
 FC Dallas  9,229   43.55%   10,811   17.15%   11   51.01%   21,193 
 KC Wizards  10,010   96.39%   10,109   0.99%   11   97.34%   10,385 
 San Jose  11,104   62.65%   9,638   -13.21%   10   93.57%   10,300 

My disclaimer about the capacity calculations

For my calculations, I’ve taken the 3 teams playing in Amercan football stadiums, DCU in RFK, Houston in Robertson and New England in Foxboro and assigned maximum capacities at 22,500. I took the 22,500 number from an approximate average of the soccer specific stadiums in use.

  • Philly’s first two home games were played at Lincoln Financial Field. The announced capacity for the Union was published as 38,000 and will be calculated as such.
  • San Jose’s 4th match in 2009 was at Oakland Alameda Coliseum and drew over 15,800. Their 7th match was also at OAC and they drew over 17,100. Their 11th was part of a doubleheader with Barcelona and drew over 61,500.

    Observations

    Philadelphia drew over 17,000, but still can’t win at home. The Rapids’ run to the playoffs means nothing in Denver. Only 10,300+ showing up as owner Stan Kroenke bought the St. Louis NFL Rams. LA is still a big draw as over 21,000 were at Toyota Park for the Fire match. DC United’s performance is now really showing at the gate as only 12,000 came out for the Crew. A typical Revs crowd of 13,100+ were at Gillette. Dallas, same as Colorado. Despite their fantasic season, only 10,033 came out to PHP. Not the case in Sandy, UT as 19,100 turned out for the Thierry Henry road show. A decent, but sub-par turnout in Houston of just over 15,000.

    Rookie Watch: No rookie scorers this week. Can’t speak to performances as I have company visiting and couldn’t watch any of the matches.

    Week 23 Games
     
    Philadelphia 1 Philadelphia Union Talk
    Kansas City 1 Kansas City – Hillcrest Road
     
    Colorado 3 Undercurrent
    Chivas USA 0 Chicago Fire Confidential
     
    Chicago 1 Chicago Fire Confidential
    Los Angeles 1 LA – Official Blog
     
    DC United 0 DCU – Steve Goff – Soccer Insider
    Columbus 1 Columbus Dispatch – Crew XTra
     
    New England 3 Revolution Soccer
    Seattle 1 Seattle Times
     
    FC Dallas 1 3rd Degree – Buzz Carrick
    Toronto 0 TFC Connected
     
    Real Salt Lake 1 RSL – Behind the Shield
    RBNY 0 Red Bulls Reader
     
    Houston 1 Soccer y Fútbol – Jose de Jesus Ortiz
    San Jose 2 San Jose Center Line Soccer
       GP  W  D  L  GF  GA  GFA  GAA  PPG  PTS  GD
     Los Angeles  23   13   5   5   33   17   1.43   0.74   1.91   44   16 
     Columbus  23   13   5   5   32   20   1.39   0.87   1.91   44   12 
     Real Salt Lake  23   12   7   4   37   16   1.61   0.70   1.87   43   21 
     Dallas  22   10   10   2   29   17   1.32   0.77   1.82   40   12 
     NY Red Bull  23   11   4   8   27   24   1.17   1.04   1.61   37   3 
     Colorado  22   9   7   6   28   21   1.27   0.95   1.55   34   7 
     San Jose  21   9   5   7   24   23   1.14   1.10   1.52   32   1 
     Seattle  23   9   5   9   26   29   1.13   1.26   1.39   32   -3 
     Kansas City  22   7   6   9   22   24   1.00   1.09   1.23   27   -2 
     Toronto FC  22   7   6   9   22   26   1.00   1.18   1.23   27   -4 
     Chicago  20   6   7   7   28   29   1.40   1.45   1.25   25   -1 
     New England  22   7   3   12   24   36   1.09   1.64   1.09   24   -12 
     Houston  23   6   5   12   28   38   1.22   1.65   1.00   23   -10 
     Chivas USA  22   6   4   12   23   29   1.05   1.32   1.00   22   -6 
     Philadelphia  22   5   6   11   26   38   1.18   1.73   0.95   21   -12 
     DC United  23   4   3   16   15   37   0.65   1.61   0.65   15   -22 

    Well, suddenly we have a 4 team race for the Supporters’ Shield. Next weekend Columbus visits LA. Chicago has 3 games in hand over Seattle, who is in the last playoff position, and trails by 7 points. But they’ll also have to leapfrog Kansas City and Toronto.

    Streaking

    • RSL are unbeaten in their last 22 regular season home games.
    • Dallas are unbeaten in their last 13 games.
    • Dallas are also unbeaten in their last 10 road games, an MLS record.
    • Colorado are unbeaten in their last 8 home games.
    • Houston are winless in their last 8 road games. And they’ve been scoreless in their last 4 road games.
    • New England are winless in their last 8 road games.

    MLS Throw Ins

    • LA is the only club to have earned more than 50% of its points on the road.
    • There have been 44 draws compared to 53 in ’09 thru the first 178 matches.
    • There have been 110 clean sheets in the first 178 matches, counting scoreless draws as 2.
    • Through 178 games: goal scoring is down around 6.8% from 2009, 2.38 vs 2.56.
    • RSL has lost only twice in its last 41 home matches. They lost only once in ’08 and ’09, a feat matched by Houston.
    • DC United have yielded 14 goals in the last 15 minutes.
    • Dallas have not given up more than 1 goal since April 22.
    • San Jose has gone from one the worst allowing late goals in ’09 to the 3rd stingiest in ’10(as a percentage of total goals allowed).

    N.A. SuperLiga

    Monarchas Morelia beat the New England Revs to win the 2010 N.A. SuperLiga. Below are the final attendance numbers for the tourney.

    SuperLiga Totals
      Total Game Dates Average
    2007  247,251   15   16,483 
    2008  195,380   15   13,025 
    2009  114,163   12   9,514 
    2010  128,712   13   9,901 
           
    Doubleheaders in meant
      3 fewer separate game dates

    CONCACAF Champions League

    After a good showing for MLS in the first group phase matches, they pulled an oh-for four in the 2nd round.

    • Aug 17 — Toronto 2 Cruz Azul 1
    • Aug 18 — Columbus 1 Municipal 0
    • Aug 18 — Real Salt Lake 2 Arabe Unido 1
    • Aug 19 — Marathón 2 Seattle 1
    • Aug 24 – Arabe Unido 1 Toronto 0
    • Aug 24 – Santos Laguna 1 Columbus 0
    • Aug 25 – Cruz Azul 5 Real Salt Lake 4
    • Aug 25 – Seattle 0 Monterrey 2

    Group play continues in two weeks. The matches with MLS teams are(home team listed first) …

    • Sep 14 — Columbus v Joe Public
    • Sep 14 — Saprissa v Seattle
    • Sep 15 — Real Salt Lake v Toronto
    • Sep 21 — Columbus v Santos Laguna
    • Sep 21 — Cruz Azul v Toronto
    • Sep 22 — Arabe Unido v Real Salt Lake
    • Sep 22 — Monterrey v Seattle
    CONCACAF Champions League Group Phase
     Group A Arabe Unido RSL Cruz Azul Toronto Home
     Arabe Unido(PAN) X 0 0 501 501
     RSL(USA) 10,626 X 0 0 10,626
     Cruz Azul(MEX) 0 6,156 X 0 6,156
     Toronto(CAN) 0 0 16,862 X 16,862
     Away 10,626 6,156 16,862 501  
     Group B Columbus Municipal Santos Laguna Joe Public Home
     Columbus(USA) X 5,745 0 0 5,745
     Municipal(GUA) 0 X 0 2,498 2,498
     Santos Laguna(MEX) 4,700 0 X 0 4,700
     Joe Public(T&T) 900 0 0 X 900
     Away 2,800 5,745 0 2,498  
     Group C Monterrey Saprissa Seattle Marathón Home
     Monterrey(MEX) X 12,042 0 0 12,042
     Saprissa(CRC) 0 X 0 2,899 2,899
     Seattle(USA) 22,513 0 X 0 22,513
     Marathón(HON) 0 0 1,990 X 1,990
     Away 22,513 12,042 1,990 2,899  
     Group D Toluca Olimpia Puerto Rico FAS Home
     Toluca(MEX) X 0 0 0 0
     Olimpia(HON) 0 X 0 0 0
     Puerto Rico(CFU) 0 2,632 X 2,050 2,341
     FAS(SLV) 3,500 0 0 X 3,500
     Away 3,500 2,632 0 2,050  
      No Report on the Toluca/Olimpia match

    Lamar Hunt US Open Cup

    The winner will compete in the 2011-12 CONCACAF Champions League.

    In the semifinals, Columbus defeated DC United and Seattle beat ChivasUSA. Seattle, the defending champion, will host the final at Qwest Field on Tuesday, October 5.

    The Lamar Hunt US Open Cup structure

    Eric, you will be missed.