Monday, October 29, 2012

2012 Final Attendance Update

The MLS once again broke the record for average attendance and total attendance in their best year yet.

The total number of attendees for the 2012 MLS season was 6,072,854. The first time that the league has broken 6 million attendees. To put it in perspective, the MLS broke 4 million in 2010 and 5 million in 2011 for the first times, so the MLS has attendance growth has been continual. Granted the addition of teams has helped this, but overall average attendance has spiked too.

The MLS posted the highest average attendance per game in 2012 with 18,801. This puts them as the 8th highest average attendance for a football league in the world. They are behind the Bundesliga, the Premier League, La Liga, Liga MX, Serie A, Eredivisie and the Chinese Super League. This does put the MLS above leagues such as Ligue 1, the Coca-Cola Championship, and Primera A Division in Argentina. 

After fluctuation around 16,000 attendees per game for a few years (2007-2010), the MLS has started to grow as better talent, better soccer specific stadiums, and better atmospheres have created the MLS to what it is today. The MLS is not done growing, but it will be interesting to see if attendance can hold over the next few years with no new teams joining the league (besides a NY team presumably in 2014 or later). The lower attendance teams are growing though as the lowest team this year (Chivas USA) had an attendance of 13,056. Where as the past few years have had the lowest attended club be in the 9,000-11,000 range. There are a lot of positives to be seen from this year and the MLS is still a young league; there is much more to come in the next few years.

Comment on this if you want all 17 games of your team put up, if you would like a year by year of your team, or anything else. 

I will work on an article with the stats in a graph in 1996 to truly see the MLS progression.

Don't hesitate to ask for some stats or an article. I will try to get written up ASAP around my busy college exam schedule.

Team2012 Average AttendanceCapacityPercent Full2011 Average Attendance% Change from 2011 
Chicago Fire16,40720,00082.03%14,274 +14.94
Chivas USA13,05618,80069.45%14,830 -11.96
Colorado Rapids15,17518,08683.90%14,838 +2.27
Columbus Crew14,39720,14571.47%12,185 +18.15
DC United13,84619,46771.13%15,211 -8.97
FC Dallas14,19920,50069.27%
12,861 
+10.41
Houston Dynamo20,94622,00095.21%17,694 +18.38
Los Angeles Galaxy23,13627,00085.69%23,335 -0.85
Montreal Impact22,77220,341111.95%------
NE Revolution14,00120,00070.01%13,222 +5.90
New York Red Bulls18,28125,00073.13%19,691 -7.16
Philadelphia Union18,05318,50097.58%18,258-1.12
Portland Timbers20,43820,438100.00%18,827 +8.56
Real Salt Lake19,08720,21394.43%17,594 +8.49
San Jose Earthquakes13,29310,525126.30%11,858 +12.10
Seattle Sounders43,10438,500111.96%38,495 +11.97
Sporting Kansas City19,40418,467105.08%17,810 +8.95
Toronto FC18,15521,14085.88%20,267-10.42
Vancouver Whitecaps19,47521,00092.74%20,406 -4.56
Average18,80121,05989.28%17,870+5.21

Missing Attendance

I will be able to publish the final statistics once I am able to acquire the attendance for the FC Dallas vs. Chivas USA game. For some reason I cannot find the announced attendance anywhere from this last Sunday game and am unable to finish my statistics. Please help me out!

Thanks!!

Sunday, October 21, 2012

October 21 Attendance Update

Recorded Sellouts in last home game of the year this week: 
DC United - 19,647
Houston Dynamo - 22,039
NE Revolution -25,534
NY Red Bulls - 25,219
San Jose Earthquakes - 10,744
Seattle Sounders - 38,755
Vancouver Whitecaps - 21,000

Did not record sellouts in the final home game of the year this week:
Chivas USA - 11,499
Toronto FC - 16,151

Statistics are final for the aforementioned teams.

Teams with one home game yet to play:
Chicago Fire
Colorado Rapids
Columbus Crew
FC Dallas
LA Galaxy
Montreal Impact
Philadelphia Union
Portland Timbers
Real Salt Lake
Sporting KC

There is a small chance that the yearly average could still be over 19,000 with a strong showing in the final games. This year will pass last year's record of 17,870 per game by far and will also set another record in total attendance as almost 6,000,000 attendees could be possible. The MLS is growing ladies and gentleman.

Team2012 Average AttendanceCapacityPercent Full2011 Average Attendance% Change from 2011 
Chicago Fire16,18120,00080.91%14,274 +13.36
Chivas USA13,05618,80069.45%14,830 -11.96
Colorado Rapids15,15718,08683.31%14,838 +2.15
Columbus Crew14,31820,14571.07%12,185 +17.50
DC United13,84619,46771.13%15,211 -8.97
FC Dallas14,09920,50068.78%
12,861 
+9.63
Houston Dynamo20,94622,00095.21%17,694 +18.38
Los Angeles Galaxy22,89527,00084.80%23,335 -1.89
Montreal Impact22,94520,341112.80%------
NE Revolution14,00120,00070.01%13,222 +5.90
New York Red Bulls18,28125,00073.13%19,691 -7.16
Philadelphia Union18,02318,50097.42%18,258-1.29
Portland Timbers20,43820,438100.00%18,827 +8.56
Real Salt Lake18,99820,21393.99%17,594 +7.98
San Jose Earthquakes13,29310,525126.30%11,858 +12.10
Seattle Sounders43,10438,500111.96%38,495 +11.97
Sporting Kansas City19,40318,467105.07%17,810 +8.94
Toronto FC18,15521,14085.88%20,267-10.42
Vancouver Whitecaps19,47521,00092.74%20,406 -4.56
Average18,78621,05989.21%17,870+5.13

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

October 10 Attendance Update


Team2012 Average AttendanceCapacityPercent Full2011 Average Attendance% Change from 2011 
Chicago Fire16,18120,00080.91%14,274 +13.36
Chivas USA13,15318,80069.96%14,830 -11.31
Colorado Rapids15,15718,08683.31%14,838 +2.15
Columbus Crew14,31820,14571.07%12,185 +17.50
DC United13,48319,46769.26%15,211 -11.36
FC Dallas14,09920,50068.78%
12,861 
+9.63
Houston Dynamo20,87822,00094.90%17,694 +17.99
Los Angeles Galaxy22,89527,00084.80%23,335 -1.89
Montreal Impact22,94520,341112.80%------
NE Revolution13,28120,00066.40%13,222 +0.44
New York Red Bulls17,84825,00071.39%19,691 -9.36
Philadelphia Union18,02318,50097.42%18,258-1.29
Portland Timbers20,43820,438100.00%18,827 +8.56
Real Salt Lake18,99820,21393.99%17,594 +7.98
San Jose Earthquakes13,45210,525127.81%11,858 +13.44
Seattle Sounders43,71038,500113.53%38,495 +13.55
Sporting Kansas City19,40318,467105.07%17,810 +8.94
Toronto FC18,28021,14086.47%20,267-9.80
Vancouver Whitecaps19,38021,00092.29%20,406 -5.03
Average18,65021,05988.56%17,870+4.37