Except for the expansion Seattle Sounders, only 4 teams have improved at the gate this year as average MLS attendance is down 5.5% compared to the same period in 2008.
The Sounders lead all clubs in average attendance with 30,204 fans per game at Qwest Field. Real Salt Lake is seeing gains during their first full season at Rio Tinto Stadium, as average attendance is up 10.1%.
The attendance gap between the co-tenants at The Home Depot Center is getting smaller. Chivas USA is seeing double-digit growth, while the Galaxy are off 24.4%. Teams seeing significant drops at the gate are the Earthquakes, Fire, Red Bulls, DC United and FC Dallas.
| MLS ATTENDANCE THROUGH JULY 28 | |||||||
| HOME TEAM | GP | TOTAL | AVG. | % CAP | PREV | % +/- | GP 08 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seattle | 11 | 332,244 | 30,204 | 102.7 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Toronto | 11 | 223,053 | 20,278 | 101.4 | 20,133 | 0.7 | 9 |
| Los Angeles | 9 | 173,632 | 19,292 | 71.5 | 25,513 | -24.4 | 10 |
| Salt Lake (a) | 9 | 147,179 | 16,353 | 81.7 | 14,855 | 10.1 | 11 |
| Chivas USA | 9 | 145,903 | 16,211 | 60.0 | 14,286 | 13.5 | 9 |
| Houston | 9 | 140,689 | 15,632 | 48.9 | 16,736 | -6.6 | 7 |
| DC United | 9 | 136,739 | 15,193 | 32.5 | 20,133 | -24.5 | 9 |
| New England | 7 | 92,691 | 13,242 | 66.2 | 16,494 | -19.7 | 8 |
| Columbus | 10 | 131,143 | 13,114 | 65.1 | 13,240 | -0.9 | 9 |
| Colorado | 9 | 116,261 | 12,918 | 71.4 | 14,171 | -8.8 | 9 |
| Chicago | 8 | 102,708 | 12,839 | 64.2 | 16,667 | -23.0 | 8 |
| New York | 9 | 114,314 | 12,702 | 47.9 | 17,679 | -28.2 | 8 |
| San Jose (b) | 9 | 101,122 | 11,236 | 41.8 | 15,420 | -27.1 | 7 |
| Kansas City | 9 | 90,215 | 10,024 | 96.5 | 9,596 | 4.5 | 8 |
| Dallas | 9 | 83,756 | 9,306 | 45.4 | 14,420 | -35.5 | 10 |
| MLS TOTALS | 137 | 2,131,649 | 15,559 | 63.8 | 16,467 | -5.5 | 122 |
NOTES
(a) = Salt Lake played games at both Rice-Eccles Stadium and Rio Tinto Stadium in ’08.
(b) = Earthquakes played two games at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum that drew 15,862 and 17,128.
No comments yet.