After week 24 the numbers look like this…

5 year comparison
WK 24 172 GP YTD
Avg +/- GP Avg +/- Avg +/- GP
 2005  16,101  5  14,930  14,897  156
 2006  14,880  -7.58%  6  15,109  1.20%  15,129  1.56%  159
 2007  17,987  20.88%  8  16,425  8.71%  16,118  6.54%  159
 2008  16,016  -10.95%  7  16,384  -0.25%  16,925  5.00%  161
 2009  16,148  0.82%  8  15,841  -3.31%  15,829  -6.48%  172
YTD – 172 Games
Average Median %<10K %>20k
 2005    14,930   12,368  28.90%  16.76%
 2006    15,109   13,084  20.93%  16.86%
 2007    16,425   14,900  8.72%  26.16%
 2008    16,384   15,078  11.63%  24.42%
 2009    15,841   14,573  15.70%  19.77%

Here are the attendance comparisons to 2008’s equal number of home games(172):

MLS Attendance – Equal # of Home Games
2008 2009
Att Cap Att Att +/- GP Cap Cap
 Seattle  0  0.00%  30,587  NA  13  94.40%  32,400
 Toronto  20,147  91.67%  20,308  0.80%  12  92.40%  21,978
 LA Galaxy  25,648  94.99%  20,072  -21.74%   11  74.34%  27,000
 ChivasUSA  15,557  57.62%  16,107  3.53%  10  59.65%  27,000
 Real Salt Lake  14,889  72.85%  16,091  8.08%  12  74.91%  19,340
 Houston  16,155  71.80%  15,938  -1.35%   12  70.84%  22,500
 D.C. United  19,993  88.86%  15,887  -20.53%   10  70.61%  22,500
 San Jose  14,917  90.48%  15,137  1.48%  12  77.31%  10,300
 Chicago  17,257  86.29%  14,113  -18.22%   12  70.56%  20,000
 Columbus Crew  13,569  67.84%  13,660  0.67%  11  68.30%  20,000
 NE Revolution  18,673  82.99%  13,561  -27.38%   11  60.27%  22,500
 Colorado Rapids  13,677  75.62%  12,614  -7.77%   12  69.75%  18,086
 N.Y./N.J. Red Bulls  15,986  63.46%  12,070  -24.49%   12  47.92%  25,189
 KC Wizards  11,118  107.06%  10,010  -9.97%   11  96.39%  10,385
 FC Dallas  14,072  68.64%  9,229  -34.42%   11  45.02%  20,500

My disclaimer about the capacity calculations

Observations

Week 24 games drew 16,148, despite poor crowds at New England, Colorado and the Meadowlands(rain). RSL kept its playoff hopes alive against Chivas USA in front of over 14,700 in their midweek clash. Seattle had its usual full house for fellow MLS 2.0 club Toronto. Rain from Hurricane Danny kept the gate under 8,000 in New England. KC had a near sellout for its match with RSL. Over 16,300 at Toyota Park were disappointed by the continued poor play of their club at home. LA had its first sellout of the season(they had 7 at this point last year). Under 11,000 turned out for the Rapids’ matchup with league leaders Houston. And it was a little worse at the Meadowlands for a replay of the 2008 MLS Cup Final(Ok keep your laughing under control).

The only thing that could have been better for MLS publicity would have been an earlier start time for the SuperClasico at the HDC. Natural rivals vying for a guaranteed spot in the playoffs(I don’t see Houston being overtaken), a sellout atmoshere, and Beckham scores the game winner late in the game.

In 2009, RBNY has been the poster boy for disaster on the field. Off the field, FC Dallas holds that honor. The only club averaging less than 10,000 per game, FCD has played 10 different opponents at home. It comes as no surprise that for 8 of them it’s been the lowest road attendance of the season. As a sidebar, 7 of the 15 teams are drawing more on the road than at home. Last year, 8 of the 14 teams had higher attendances on the road than at home.

 2009  Home Avg  Away Avg Home minus Away
 Chicago  14,113  17,377  Away  (3265)
 Chivas USA  16,107  14,502  Home  1604
 Colorado  12,614  16,216  Away  (3602)
 Columbus  13,660  18,813  Away  (5153)
 D.C. United  15,887  15,096  Home  791
 FC Dallas  9,229  14,252  Away  (5023)
 Houston  15,938  14,120  Home  1817
 Kansas City  10,010  16,824  Away  (6814)
 Los Angeles  20,072  19,078  Home  995
 New England  13,561  16,193  Away  (2633)
 RBNY  12,070  17,076  Away  (5006)
 Real Salt Lake  16,091  14,214  Home  1877
 San Jose  15,137  13,893  Home  1244
 Seattle  30,587  14,541  Home  16046
 Toronto FC  20,308  15,007  Home  5301
Week 24 Games
 
Real Salt Lake 4 RSL – Behind the Shield
Chivas USA 0 Chivas USA – MLSNet
 
Seattle 0 Seattle Times
Toronto 0 TFC Connected
 
New England 2 Revolution Soccer
San Jose 1 San Jose Center Line Soccer
 
Chicago 0 Chicago Fire Confidential
DC United 1 DCU – Steve Goff – Soccer Insider
 
Kansas City 0 Kansas City – Hillcrest Road
Real Salt Lake 1 RSL – Behind the Shield
 
Los Angeles 1 LA – Official Blog
Chivas USA 0 Chivas USA – MLSNet
 
Colorado 1 Undercurrent
Houston 0 Soccer y Fútbol – Barnard Fallas
 
RBNY 1 Red Bulls Reader
Columbus 0 Columbus Dispatch – Crew XTra

Did you notice that 5 of the 8 games ended 1-0?

So How Are They Doing?

Points after 172 Games
Pts GP  PPG GD
 Houston  40  25  1.60  9
 Columbus  39  23  1.70  9
 Chicago  38  24  1.58  5
 Los Angeles  38  24  1.58  5
 Seattle  34  24  1.42  6
 Colorado  33  22  1.50  8
 Real Salt Lake  33  24  1.38  8
 New England  33  21  1.57  0
 Chivas USA  33  22  1.50  -1
 DC United  32  23  1.39  1
 Toronto FC  31  23  1.35  -3
 Dallas  23  22  1.05  -4
 Kansas City  21  21  1.00  -9
 San Jose  20  22  0.91  -13
 NY Red Bull  16  24  0.67  -21

Games in hand will be critical. RSL and Seattle might be the most vulnerable to being overtaken for playoff positions. DCU, unbeaten at home, will play 5 of its last 7 at RFK. Columbus is poised to overtake Houston for the Supporters’ Shield with its 2 games in hand.

Streaking

  • LA is unbeaten in 6 road games.
  • Columbus(11 games) and DC United(10 games) are unbeaten at home.
  • FC Dallas has won 4 straight at home.
  • FC Dallas has lost 4 straight on the road.
  • KC has no wins in its last 7(5 losses).
  • RBNY has won 2 in a row!
  • RBNY is winless on the road.
  • Colorado is winless on the road in its last 4.Just Some Stuff

    The CONCACAF Champions League group phase began last week. DC United, Houston and Columbus are representing MLS in the regional club championship. RBNY and Toronto FC were eliminated in the preliminaries.

    After 2 group play matches in the CONCACAF Champions League Houston has 4 points, Columbus has 3 points, while DC United sit last in Group B with 0 points.

    CONCACAF Champions League
    Sep 15-16 Sep 22-24
    Group Game 3 Group Game 4
    Houston plays Sep 15, 22
    Columbus plays Sep 16, 23
    DCU plays Sep 16, 24

    =====

    The finalists for the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup are DC United and Seattle. DCU looks to defend its crown while the Sounders are looking for their first hardware as an MLS club. The final is on September 2 at RFK stadium in DC.

    =====

    Congratualtions!

    Richmond wins USL-2 Title

    =====

    They COULD HAVE Gotten it Right

    Well, what can you say? First the good: MLS scheduled only 3 games this coming weekend, which is a FIFA International calendar period. That surely minimized any potential conflict for many possible USMNT’ers who might be called into service for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers. In fact, for US players, only Conor Casey, on September 5th, stands to miss a match if he’s selected. Not the solution many fans want, which would be no MLS matches during FIFA International periods, but a lot better than having a full slate of games on the schedule. Now the WTF!: The USMNT game v El Salvador is at 8pm ET, the three MLS matches start at 7:30, 8:00 and 10:00 ET. Are you kidding me? Wait, it gets better. On Wednesday, Sep 9, the US travels to Trinidad and Tobago and will play at 7pm ET. MLS has ONE midweek match scheduled, on you guessed it, Wed the 9th. Not only that, it begins at 8:00pm ET. There are no words.