Final MLS Attendance Numbers 2009
Major League Soccer’s regular season wrapped up yesterday and here are the final attendance figures:
| Team | G | Total | Avg | Med | Hi | Lo | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seattle | 15 | 463,455 | 30,897 | 32,404 | 33,108 | 28,548 | NA |
| Los Angeles | 15 | 306,240 | 20,416 | 19,718 | 27,000 | 16,649 | -21.5% |
| Toronto | 15 | 305,167 | 20,344 | 20,384 | 20,902 | 19,843 | 1.1% |
| Houston | 15 | 255,712 | 17,047 | 16,854 | 29,470 | 12,619 | 0.6% |
| Salt Lake | 15 | 245,628 | 16,375 | 16,972 | 19,546 | 11,793 | 1.2% |
| DC United | 15 | 241,322 | 16,088 | 15,895 | 24,175 | 8,033 | -18.9% |
| Chivas USA | 15 | 226,375 | 15,092 | 14,523 | 23,409 | 11,334 | -0.1% |
| Chicago | 15 | 220,331 | 14,689 | 14,534 | 20,000 | 10,288 | -13.8% |
| Columbus | 15 | 216,699 | 14,447 | 14,370 | 20,966 | 7,465 | -1.2% |
| San Jose | 15 | 211,717 | 14,114 | 10,049 | 61,572 | 9,022 | 2.9% |
| New England | 15 | 205,977 | 13,732 | 11,314 | 26,623 | 7,286 | -21.9% |
| New York | 15 | 187,359 | 12,491 | 10,762 | 23,238 | 8,042 | -21.6% |
| Dallas | 15 | 186,612 | 12,441 | 8,623 | 51,012 | 5,724 | -4.5% |
| Colorado | 15 | 184,963 | 12,331 | 11,416 | 19,680 | 6,234 | -9.7% |
| Kansas City | 15 | 150,802 | 10,053 | 10,385 | 11,906 | 6,922 | -5.9% |
| MLS TOTAL | 225 | 3,608,359 | 16,037 | 14,686 | 61,572 | 5,724 | -2.6% |
Now, some notes:
- The New York Yankees did outdraw MLS, but not by much (3,719,358 to 3,608,359).
- The only teams showing any average attendance growth over 2008 had very modest gains, with San Jose’s 2.9% growth (thanks in part to the largest crowd of the year in 2009, a doubleheader at Candlestick Park that drew 61,572 to see Barcelona/CD Guadalajara and fewer than that to see San Jose/Columbus) the best of the bunch. No one else had even 2% growth in average announced attendance. However….
- There were big drops in New England, New York, Los Angeles, DC and (to a lesser extent) Chicago. New York is understandable, but LA may have suffered from a few years of terrible teams, high prices and the whole Beckham Fiasco. And everybody suffered from the economic turmoil.
- Those drops by New England, New York and Los Angeles, all 20% or more, were not the worst in league history for teams from one season to the next. Eleven teams, led by Dallas’ 40% drop when they moved from the Cotton Bowl to Dragon Stadium in Southlake, have had worse year-to-year declines.
- Since I know you’re going to ask, the answer is 14,976. That’s the league average without Seattle. Because there were 225 games in the league, Seattle’s total impact was mitigated a bit, but it was just over 1,000 people a game league-wide (about a 7% bump). Because the league still was down about 3% on average, you can see the impact of the economy on the league overall.
- Seattle broke Los Angeles’ 1996 record with a 30,897 average (the record was 28,916). The Sounders’ median (32,404) was also a record and despite having one less home game than the Galaxy had in 1996, they broke the record for total as well (463,455 to 462,650).
- October (17,593) was actually the best month for league average attendance, beating July (17,218).
- In a small sample, weekdays (Monday-Thursday) outdid weekends, 17,566 to 15,855 on average. If you count Fridays in the weekday sample, it’s slightly larger and the difference is a bit less (16,775 on weekdays to 15,915 on weekends).
- New York’s total and average were the worst in team history. Surprised?
- Dallas’ median (8,623) was bad, but wasn’t the worst in MLS history. That still belongs to Miami, whose median was 7,023 in 2000.
- Because of its small capacity, Kansas City had the 14th-worst average in league history, but five Wizards teams have actually had smaller averages. KC did have a median (10,385) that matched its capacity, meaning they sold out a bunch of games. So there’s that.
- Home openers averaged 15,334. Home finales averaged 18,955.
- Games involving (or purported to involve) David Beckham (as the visiting attraction) averaged 22,048, but only goosed the league average by just under 200 people a game overall. Last year, Galaxy road games averaged 28,132.
Tags: attendance, MLS, soccer, stuff only I care about