The Week 8 numbers look like this…

  5 year comparison
  Week 8 64 GP YTD
  Avg +/- GP Avg +/- Avg +/- GP
 2006   15,331     6   15,837     15,974     47 
 2007   13,222   -13.75%   7   15,150   -4.34%   15,067   -5.68%   53 
 2008   16,758   26.74%   7   15,599   2.96%   17,477   15.99%   55 
 2009   17,086   1.96%   9   14,821   -4.98%   15,134   -13.41%   61 
 2010   15,782   -7.63%   8   16,181   9.17%   16,181   6.92%   64 
YTD – 64 Games
  Average Median %<10K %>20k
 2006    15,837     14,752    19.05%   17.46% 
 2007    15,150     14,220    12.50%   20.31% 
 2008    15,599     14,972    14.06%   26.56% 
 2009    14,821     14,138    17.19%   17.19% 
 2010    16,181     13,639    15.63%   23.44% 

Here are the attendance comparisons to 2009:

MLS Attendance – Equal # of Home Games
  2009 2010  
  Att Cap % Att Att +/- GP Cap % Cap
 Seattle  29,536   91.16%   36,145   22.37%   5   101.82%   35,500 
 Philadelphia NA NA  29,954  NA  2   78.83%   18,500 
 Toronto  20,282   92.28%   20,144   -0.68%   3   91.66%   21,978 
 LA Galaxy  19,139   70.88%   19,397   1.35%   5   71.84%   27,000 
 N.Y./N.J. Red Bulls  9,829   39.02%   17,940   82.52%   4   71.22%   25,189 
 Houston  15,561   69.16%   15,754   1.24%   5   70.02%   22,500 
 D.C. United  14,561   64.72%   14,954   2.69%   5   66.46%   22,500 
 Real Salt Lake  13,451   59.44%   14,950   11.14%   4   77.30%   19,340 
 Chicago  10,901   54.51%   14,937   37.03%   3   74.69%   20,000 
 ChivasUSA  14,839   54.96%   14,554   -1.92%   4   53.90%   27,000 
 Columbus Crew  13,263   66.31%   13,271   0.06%   4   66.35%   20,000 
 Colorado Rapids  11,037   61.02%   10,484   -5.01%   3   57.97%   18,086 
 NE Revolution  11,511   51.16%   10,120   -12.09%   5   44.98%   22,500 
 KC Wizards  9,192   88.51%   9,703   5.56%   4   93.44%   10,385 
 San Jose  11,273   39.06%   9,514   -15.60%   4   92.37%   10,300 
 FC Dallas  9,372   44.22%   9,352   -0.22%   4   44.13%   21,193 

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 will be at Lincoln Financial Field. The announced capacity for the Union was published as 38,000 and will be calculated as such.

    Observations

    The week started with Real Salt Lake hosting Houston on Thursday. A fair crowd for midweek of just under 13,000. I say a ‘fair crowd’ only out of lowered expectations. I would think that a visit from one of the top teams would draw closer to 15,500, but that’s just me. Philadelphia had its second home match at Lincoln Financial Field and drew over 25,000. Their next home game is scheduled for the brand new PPL park, so that’s the end of the big numbers for Philly. New England had their biggest turnout this season with just over 13,600. A little over 15,000 saw the Crew maintain their undefeated status. In DC, 13,500+ saw United continue to struggle. A tad less than 18,000 witnessed the first loss at home by RBNY. Kansas City drew a respectable crowd given the horrendous conditions at game time. The Galaxy seem to have settled into the 20,000 range at home this year.

    Rookie Watch: Danny Mwanga scored his first pro goal in dramatic fashion earning the Union a draw in extra time. KC’s Teal Bunbury was instrumental in the Wizard’s game vs Chicago.

    Not bad for the players on my preseason ‘watch list'(bottom of post). Ryan Smith played well and Kei Kamara scored a brace for the Wizards.

    Week 8 Games
     
    Real Salt Lake 3 RSL – Behind the Shield
    Houston 1 Soccer y Fútbol – Jose de Jesus Ortiz
     
    Philadelphia 1 Philadelphia Union Talk
    FC Dallas 1 3rd Degree – Buzz Carrick
     
    New England 0 Revolution Soccer
    San Jose 0 San Jose Center Line Soccer
     
    Columbus 1 Columbus Dispatch – Crew XTra
    Chivas USA 0 Chicago Fire Confidential
     
    DC United 0 DCU – Steve Goff – Soccer Insider
    Colorado 1 Undercurrent
     
    RBNY 0 Red Bulls Reader
    Seattle 1 Seattle Times
     
    Kansas City 2 Kansas City – Hillcrest Road
    Chicago 2 Chicago Fire Confidential
     
    Los Angeles 0 LA – Official Blog
    Toronto 0 TFC Connected
       GP  W  D  L  GF  GA  GFA  GAA  PPG  PTS  GD
     Los Angeles  9   7   2   0   15   2   1.67   0.22   2.56   23   13 
     NY Red Bull  8   5   0   3   8   9   1.00   1.13   1.88   15   -1 
     Columbus  6   4   2   0   10   5   1.67   0.83   2.33   14   5 
     Real Salt Lake  8   4   1   3   15   9   1.88   1.13   1.63   13   6 
     San Jose  7   4   1   2   11   7   1.57   1.00   1.86   13   4 
     Houston  9   4   1   4   12   10   1.33   1.11   1.44   13   2 
     Colorado  8   4   1   3   9   7   1.13   0.88   1.63   13   2 
     Seattle  9   3   3   3   9   12   1.00   1.33   1.33   12   -3 
     Dallas  8   2   5   1   10   9   1.25   1.13   1.38   11   1 
     Chivas USA  9   3   1   5   10   12   1.11   1.33   1.11   10   -2 
     Toronto FC  8   3   1   4   11   13   1.38   1.63   1.25   10   -2 
     Chicago  8   2   3   3   11   12   1.38   1.50   1.13   9   -1 
     Kansas City  7   2   2   3   8   8   1.14   1.14   1.14   8   0 
     New England  9   2   2   5   10   14   1.11   1.56   0.89   8   -4 
     Philadelphia  7   1   1   5   7   15   1.00   2.14   0.57   4   -8 
     DC United  8   1   0   7   4   16   0.50   2.00   0.38   3   -12 

    Streaking

    • FC Dallas have not lost at home in its last 12(8 wins).
    • TFC has not lost at home in 9 straight.
    • TFC is winless in 13 straight road games(4 draws).
    • RSL are unbeaten in their last 14 regular season home games.
    • Los Angeles have yet to yield a goal on the road(4 games).

    MLS Throw Ins

    • Two teams remain unbeaten, Columbus and Los Angeles.
    • There have been 13 draws compared to 24 in ’09 thru the first 64 matches.
    • There have been 41 clean sheets in the first 64 matches, counting scoreless draws as 2
    • Through 64 games: goal scoring is slightly down from 2009, 2.50 vs 2.58.
    • RSL has lost only twice in its last 33 home matches. They lost only once in ’08 and ’09, a feat matched by Houston.
    • Saborío is looking like a pretty good signing for RSL.
    • For the first time this season, TFC didn’t lose on the road and LA didn’t win at home.

    Going to World Cup Camp

    These are the MLS players that are now heading to their respective countries’ pre-World Cup camps. The columns represent the games that will be played by their MLS teams during their absences. The only dead bang sure thing player that will be going to South Africa is Landon Donovan, although I think it would also be safe to say that Roger Espinoza(Honduras) and Andrew Boyens(New Zealand) will make their final squads. Did I forget anyone?

    On Provisional WC Rosters
     Players  Team 5/29 6/25
     Buddle, Donovan  LA 2 5
     Bornstein, Klejstan  CHV 2 4
     Marshall, Rogers  CLB 3 6
     Ching  HOU 2 5
     Pearce  FCD 2 4
     Findley  RSL 2 5
     Espinoza  KC 2 5
     Boyens  RBNY 2 5
    Final Roster submissions – June 1
    5/29=last US Friendly before June 1
    6/25 – End of WC Group Phase

    Getting Friendly

    This Week’s Friendlies
    Opponents Venue Date
     Boca Jrs v LA  Home Depot Center, LA, CA Sun, May 23
     Juventus v RBNY  Red Bull Arena, Harrison, NJ Sun, May 23
     Panathinaikos v Benfica  BMO Field, Toronto Sun, May 23
     Fiorentina v Montreal Impact  Olympic Stadium, Montreal Sun, May 23
     Paris St Germain v Chicago
     Legia Warsaw v Red Star Belgrade    		  Toyota Park, Bridgeview, IL Sat, May 22
     Paris St Germain v Chicago
     Legia Warsaw v Red Star Belgrade    		  Toyota Park, Bridgeview, IL Wed, May 19
     Benfica v NE  Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, MA Wed, May 19

    Lamar Hunt US Open Cup

    The MLS play-in matches for the Open are down to the final matches that will determine the teams that will join the top 6 league finishers in 2009. Seattle are the defending cup holders, and as such will compete in the 2010-11 CONCACAF Champions League. Two teams will emerge from the group of Colorado, RSL, DCU and RBNY to join the 6 that automatically qualified.

    • Colorado Rapids defeated the Kansas City Wizards 2-1.
    • Real Salt Lake beat the San Jose Earthquakes on PK’s 5-3 after playing to a 3-3 score.
    • New York Red Bulls downed Philadelphia 2-1.
    • DC United beat FC Dallas 4-2, the 2nd year in a row that DCU eliminates FCD.
    • New York Red Bulls downed New England 3-0.

    The structure for the tourney has been finalized. Round 1 begins June 15, Round 2 June 22, Round 3(when the 8 MLS teams join in) June 29.

    In case you were wondering, here is the World Cup schedule(June 11-July 11). Note that the latest start time(ET) is 2pm.