Now that every professional (men’s and women’s) team in MLS, the NASL, USL Pro and the NWSL has had at least one home match, we can take a look at the attendance figures for each team in the various leagues through games of May 5. (As always, corrections are welcome.)

THE MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER	G	Total	Average
Seattle Sounders	3	117,471	39,157
Montreal Impact	4	100,512	25,128
Los Angeles Galaxy	5	105,156	21,031
Portland Timbers	5	103,370	20,674
Vancouver Whitecaps	4	77,657	19,414
Sporting KC	5	96,462	19,292
Toronto FC	5	96,439	19,288
Houston Dynamo	5	92,643	18,529
Real Salt Lake	5	90,764	18,153
Philadelphia Union	4	69,375	17,344
New York Red Bulls	4	68,213	17,053
FC Dallas	5	79,683	15,937
DC United	4	58,474	14,619
New England Revolution	3	40,882	13,627
Colorado Rapids	5	66,843	13,369
Columbus Crew	4	52,931	13,233
Chicago Fire	4	48,335	12,084
San Jose Earthquakes	6	62,699	10,450
Chivas USA	5	40,227	8,045
MLS TOTAL	85	1,468,136	17,272
NORTH AMERICAN SOCCER LEAGUE	G	Total	Average
San Antonio Scorpions	2	15,230	7,615
Minnesota Stars FC	3	15,714	5,238
Atlanta Silverbacks	2	10,402	5,201
Fort Lauderdale Strikers	2	9,764	4,882
Carolina RailHawks	2	8,794	4,397
Tampa Bay Rowdies	3	11,219	3,740
FC Edmonton	1	921	921
NASL TOTAL	15	72,044	4,803
USL PRO	G	Total	Average
Orlando City	4	31,660	7,915
Rochester Rhinos	1	5,963	5,963
Pittsburgh Riverhounds	1	4,000	4,000
Charleston Battery	2	7,808	3,904
Wilmington Hammerheads	2	5,955	2,978
Richmond Kickers	4	10,066	2,517
Phoenix FC	5	11,928	2,386
Dayton Dutch Lions	*1	1,436	1,436
Harrisburg City Islanders	2	2,769	1,385
Los Angeles Blues	*4	2,637	659
Charlotte Eagles	4	2,373	593
VSI Tampa FC	4	2,264	566
MLS Reserve Teams	3	10,373	3,458
USL PRO TOTAL	37	99,232	2,682
*=Missing one game
NATIONAL WOMEN’S SOCCER LEAGUE	G	Total	Average
Portland Thorns FC	1	16,479	16,479
FC Kansas City	2	10,848	5,424
Washington Spirit	3	12,682	4,227
Western NY Flash	2	6,192	3,096
Boston Breakers	2	5,747	2,874
Seattle Reign FC	1	2,618	2,618
Sky Blue FC	1	2,611	2,611
Chicago Red Stars	2	4,110	2,055
NWSL TOTAL	14	61,287	4,378

NOTES:

• MLS, which drew six million fans for the first time ever in 2012, is on pace to do slightly below that (if every team holds its average for the rest of the season), but at 17,272 and playing to about 83% capacity, its numbers are healthier than ever overall. There are still trouble spots (Chivas USA, obviously, but to a lesser extent, Colorado, Columbus and Chicago), but the bright spots are very, very bright.
• Starting the MLS season earlier than ever may be something they want to re-think (if it’s mathematically possible, given all the constraints). This year’s March average (17,803) was well off last year’s record 20,783 and below 2011 (19,225) and 2010 (17,992). The season began on March 2 this year, a week earlier than last year and almost two weeks earlier than the year before. I don’t know if there’s a strong correlation (I’d have to delve deeper into it) but those are the numbers. (Incidentally, the April numbers were right about in line with the last few years.)
• Things are looking up in the early going in the Division II North American Soccer League, with strong showings in Minnesota (though not quite as strong as they wanted), the newly-rebranded United FC is 25% ahead of the former Stars’ numbers from a year ago, when they opened at the Metrodome and then moved back outdoors. They’re playing all but one of their Spring Championship matches indoors this time around.
• In fact, every NASL team but Edmonton (where new stands are finally being constructed at Clarke Stadium) and San Antonio is up year-over-year and the league itself is up about 5%. (In the Scorpions’ case, they couldn’t match last year’s numbers no matter what, as their lovely new yard has a much smaller capacity than the high school football stadium the team played in last year.)
• Orlando continues to set the pace in USL Pro (though their MLS chances took a hit late last week). The Lions drew club regular-season records of 9,140 on April 19 and then 9,589 eight days later (and had bad weather kibosh what could have been a couple of other great crowds). While mainstays Charleston, Richmond and Wilmington will be fine, there are troubling signs in Los Angeles (as usual) and Tampa Bay, while Phoenix has lost half its audience (and its club president) in its first month of play.
• Incidentally, the league numbers you will see for USL Pro throughout this season will include the “crossover” games against MLS Reserve League teams. There have been three so far, with Salt Lake drawing a high of 8,263 for their game against Phoenix, Portland getting 1,803 for VSI Tampa Bay and Colorado getting 307 for Harrisburg’s visit. Without the MLS Reserves, the USL Pro average is 2,614 at the moment.
• The latest attempt at women’s pro soccer, the NWSL, is 14 games in and Portland, Washington and Kansas City have drawn healthy (in Portland’s case, super-healthy) crowds. Boston’s off its former league-leading pace, but the big disappointment was Seattle, which drew just 2,618 for its inaugural against Sky Blue FC Saturday night. The Sounders Women (a different club altogether) led the W-League in attendance last year thanks in part to a star-studded roster, but the Reign is finding the going a bit tougher so far. Saturday will be Western New York’s first Saturday home game with Abby Wambach in the lineup, so we’ll see what happens there.
• And, in case you’re wondering, the PDL season began over the weekend, with the Victoria Highlanders drawing 1,804 for their home opener, a 3-0 win over Kitsap. But LA Misioneros reported 100 for their match against Fresno and the awkwardly-named OC Blues Strikers FC (the former Pali Blues) drew 40 for its opener against Ventura County. The W-League season starts this weekend.

Major League Soccer starts its 17th season this weekend, tying it with the original North American Soccer League for longevity among top-flight soccer leagues on these shores in the modern area. So, just for fun, here’s a look at where each of the markets that had one or more NASL or MLS teams over the years rank in terms of average announced attendance. The “NASL Years” actually include 18 seasons, as I’ve included the totals from the precursor rival leagues of 1967, the USA and the NPSL, and those numbers go through 1984. The “MLS Years” would be from 1996-2011.

Market	Team(s)	Yrs	G	Total	Average
Minneapolis	Kicks, Strikers	7	99	2,264,316	22,872
Seattle	Sounders	13	186	4,207,207	22,619
New York	Generals, Skyliners, Cosmos, MetroStars/Red Bulls	33	465	9,064,288	19,493
Vancouver	Royal Canadians, Royals, Whitecaps	14	190	3,224,471	16,971
Salt Lake City	Real	7	109	1,833,671	16,823
Tampa	Rowdies, Mutiny	16	235	3,728,610	15,866
Los Angeles	Toros, Wolves, Aztecs, Surf, Galaxy, Chivas USA	31	562	8,873,337	15,789
Columbus	Crew	16	246	3,749,683	15,243
Tulsa	Roughnecks	7	105	1,519,480	14,471
Washington, DC	Darts, Whips, Diplomats, Team America, DC United	29	417	5,885,098	14,113
Portland	Timbers	9	131	1,710,126	13,054
Boston	Rovers, Beacons, Minutemen, Tea Men, Revolution	24	347	4,525,299	13,041
Denver	Dynamos, Caribous, Rapids	19	282	3,658,091	12,972
Houston	Stars, Hurricane, Dynamo	11	161	2,084,706	12,948
SF Bay Area	Gales, Clippers, Earthquakes, Stompers, Clash/Earthquakes	29	418	5,253,896	12,569
Montreal	Olympiques, Manic	6	78	928,361	11,902
Chicago	Spurs, Mustangs, Sting, Fire	27	391	4,618,078	11,811
Toronto	City, Falcons, Metros, Metros-Croatia, Blizzard, FC	22	297	3,275,751	11,029
Kansas City	Spurs, Wiz/Wizards/Sporting	19	282	2,998,244	10,632
Calgary	Boomers	1	16	168,019	10,501
Detroit	Cougars, Express	5	66	666,910	10,105
Dallas	Tornado, Burn/FC	31	424	4,264,688	10,058
Philadelphia	Atoms, Fury, Union	10	137	1,340,620	9,786
Miami/Ft.L	Toros, Gatos, Strikers, Fusion	16	218	2,083,564	9,558
Edmonton	Drillers	4	63	572,425	9,086
Memphis	Rogues	3	46	400,364	8,704
Jacksonville	Tea Men	2	32	266,675	8,334
San Diego	Jaws, Sockers	9	132	1,099,816	8,332
Las Vegas	Quicksilvers	1	13	92,031	7,079
Rochester	Lancers	11	137	838,696	6,122
St. Louis	Stars	11	131	763,524	5,828
Atlanta	Chiefs, Apollos	10	123	647,494	5,264
Cleveland	Stokers	2	22	108,273	4,922
San Antonio	Thunder	2	23	106,052	4,611
Honolulu	Team Hawaii	1	13	59,056	4,543
Baltimore	Bays, Comets	5	52	219,713	4,225
Hartford	Bicentennials	3	36	132,687	3,686
Pittsburgh	Spartans	1	16	49,959	3,122
COMBINED TOTALS		33	6,701	87,283,279	13,025

It’s interesting that Minneapolis takes the top spot, though it’s all NASL and only seven seasons of that. The accomplishments of the Cosmos at the gate are brought down a bit by their precursors, the Generals and Skyliners, and by the MetroStars/Red Bulls. Seattle gets a boost from the current-day Sounders, but the original Sounders averaged 18,322 in 10 NASL seasons, ranking them fourth in the original league’s standings behind Minneapolis, New York and Tampa (who gets hurt in the combined rankings by the Mutiny). MLS is in 16 of the top 20 markets on this list, missing only Minneapolis, Tampa, Tulsa and Calgary.

I wouldn’t read a lot into this because the two eras are so very different and the leagues went about things in very different manners (if you’re curious, the NASL averaged 10,749 over its lifetime, while MLS’ all-time average is 15,744, almost 50% higher). I just thought it was interesting.

The Major Indoor Soccer League’s regular season ended today and here are the final attendance figures for the league:

Team	G	Total	Avg.	Med	Hi	Lo
Baltimore Blast	12	71,538	5,962	5,800	9,644	2,316
Rochester Lancers	12	68,102	5,675	5,570	7,210	3,997
Missouri Comets	12	49,105	4,092	3,892	8,276	2,853
Milwaukee Wave	12	47,463	3,955	3,336	5,964	3,059
Wichita Wings	12	45,707	3,809	3,865	5,200	2,538
Syracuse Silver Knights	12	35,406	2,951	2,901	3,892	2,317
Norfolk SharX	12	19,157	1,596	1,385	3,422	635
MISL TOTAL	84	336,478	4,006	3,700	9,644	635

The MISL averaged 4,007 fans per game (announced) last season and 4,006 this season. That’s consistency. The Baltimore Blast led their league for the eighth consecutive season, but their average announced crowd was down 14 percent from last year. Milwaukee was also down by 13 percent. Missouri was basically flat and the other four teams were in their first year. Rochester was a success right out of the gate, as the Lancers finished second in the East and second in average attendance. The playoffs begin this week.

With a month to go before the 2011-2012 Major Indoor Soccer League champion is crowned, let’s check in on the latest MISL attendance numbers:

Team	G	Total	Avg.	Med	Hi	Lo
Rochester Lancers	10	56,171	5,617	5,570	7,210	3,997
Baltimore Blast	10	53,769	5,377	5,740	8,078	2,316
Missouri Comets	9	37,608	4,179	3,891	8,276	2,853
Milwaukee Wave	12	47,463	3,955	3,336	5,964	3,059
Wichita Wings	11	39,342	3,577	3,500	5,000	2,000
Syracuse Silver Knights	9	25,713	2,857	2,680	3,670	2,317
Norfolk SharX	9	12,854	1,428	1,146	3,422	635
MISL TOTAL	70	272,920	3,899	3,525	8,276	635

Rochester has maintained its league lead over Baltimore, which is noteworthy because the Blast has led its league in average announced attendance for the last seven years. Each team has two home games left (Baltimore hosts Milwaukee tomorrow night in a game that ought to draw a good crowd), but one of Rochester’s is on a Thursday. While it might be hard for the Lancers to actually lead the league, their debut season has been a successful one at the gate (the best expansion team performance in recent years, actually).

Milwaukee is the only team that has completed its home schedule, and the Wave’s average crowd figure is down 13 percent from last year (from 4,531 to 3,955). The Missouri Comets have also done well, playing to 70 percent of capacity at the Independence Events Center. The other three teams (Wichita, Syracuse and Norfolk) are expansion clubs.

Given the number of home games left and how each team has been drawing, the league still projects to finish just under last year’s average of 4,007, but the additions of Rochester and Wichita and the stability of Missouri are reasons for optimism.

Latest crowd figures from the Major Indoor Soccer League, where Rochester has taken over the lead from Baltimore. The Blast has led its league in average attendance in each of the last seven years.

Team	G	Total	Avg.	Med	Hi	Lo
Rochester Lancers	9	48,961	5,440	5,212	6,997	3,997
Baltimore Blast	10	53,769	5,377	5,740	8,078	2,316
Missouri Comets	8	33,340	4,168	3,640	8,276	2,853
Milwaukee Wave	9	33,591	3,732	3,316	5,416	3,059
Wichita Wings	10	34,903	3,490	3,350	5,000	2,000
Syracuse Silver Knights	8	22,569	2,821	2,637	3,670	2,317
Norfolk SharX	8	11,574	1,447	1,082	3,422	635
MISL TOTAL	62	238,707	3,850	3,461	8,276	635

The league is projecting to finish at slightly under last year’s average of 4,007 per game.

All the leagues are up and running now, so here’s a look at where the crowds are going in the prominent soccer leagues in the US and Canada as of yesterday’s games:

THE MLS	G	Total	Avg.	Median
Seattle Sounders FC	6	217,838	36,306	36,255
Los Angeles Galaxy	5	122,480	24,496	24,998
Vancouver Whitecaps FC	6	119,923	19,987	20,664
Toronto FC	7	136,898	19,557	20,086
Portland Timbers	5	93,135	18,627	18,627
Philadelphia Union	6	108,596	18,099	18,482
Houston Dynamo	6	105,705	17,618	17,281
New York Red Bulls	5	85,955	17,191	16,365
Chivas USA	5	85,592	17,118	14,058
Real Salt Lake	4	66,634	16,659	15,907
DC United	6	98,063	16,344	15,276
FC Dallas	7	96,099	13,728	12,109
Chicago Fire	4	54,513	13,628	12,315
Colorado Rapids	5	66,568	13,314	13,598
New England Revolution	6	65,353	10,892	11,585
Columbus Crew	5	50,996	10,199	10,306
San Jose Earthquakes	6	59,132	9,855	10,006
Sporting Kansas City	0	0	0	0
TMLS TOTAL	94	1,633,480	17,377	16,752
NASL	G	Total	Avg.	Median
Montreal Impact	2	23,967	11,984	11,984
Ft. Lauderdale Strikers	2	10,844	5,422	5,422
FC Tampa Bay	6	18,538	3,090	3,173
Atlanta Silverbacks	5	15,128	3,026	3,161
Puerto Rico Islanders	2	5,374	2,687	2,687
FC Edmonton	1	2,631	2,631	2,631
Carolina RailHawks	5	10,023	2,005	2,016
NSC Minnesota Stars	4	5,096	1,274	1,231
NASL TOTAL	27	91,601	3,393	2,764
USL PRO	G	Total	Avg.	Median
Orlando City	3	21,088	7,029	7,279
Rochester Rhinos	3	14,158	4,719	4,136
Charleston Battery	3	11,490	3,830	4,079
Wilmington Hammerheads	4	13,919	3,480	3,632
Antigua Barracuda FC	3	9,200	3,067	2,000
FC New York	1	2,011	2,011	2,011
Richmond Kickers	5	8,923	1,785	1,833
Harrisburg City Islanders	3	3,738	1,246	1,393
Charlotte Eagles	4	3,831	958	951
Pittsburgh Riverhounds	4	3,774	944	865
Dayton Dutch Lions	4	2,719	680	613
Los Angeles Blues	2	1,319	660	660
River Plate Puerto Rico	2	442	221	221
Puerto Rico United	2	210	105	105
Sevilla FC Puerto Rico	0	0	0	0
USL PRO TOTALS	43	96,822	2,252	1,421
WPS	G	Total	Avg.	Median
Boston Breakers	3	13,075	4,358	4,158
Atlanta Beat	4	16,582	4,146	3,691
Western New York Flash	4	13,316	3,329	1,934
Sky Blue FC	2	5,857	2,929	2,929
Philadelphia Independence	1	1,879	1,879	1,879
magicJack	3	3,184	1,061	1,008
WPS TOTAL	17	53,893	3,170	2,910
PDL	G	Total	Avg.	Median
Fresno Fuego	2	11,965	5,983	5,983
Des Moines Menace	2	6,464	3,232	3,232
Carolina Dynamo	1	2,967	2,967	2,967
West Texas United Sockers	3	5,756	1,919	2,022
Ventura County Fusion	4	4,662	1,166	962
FC Jax Destroyers	1	1,111	1,111	1,111
Victoria Highlanders	1	1,027	1,027	1,027
Laredo Heat	3	2,822	941	925
Jersey Express	1	750	750	750
Mississippi Brilla	1	741	741	741
Nashville Metros	1	700	700	700
St. Louis Lions	1	689	689	689
Chivas El Paso Patriots	3	1,970	657	757
RGV Grandes FC	2	1,100	550	550
BYU Cougars	1	547	547	547
Cincinnati Kings	1	506	506	506
Kitsap Pumas	3	1,375	458	498
Central Florida Kraze	2	780	390	390
River City Rovers	2	725	363	363
Long Island Rough Riders	3	1,079	360	296
MPS Portland Phoenix	2	717	359	359
Ocean City Nor’easters	1	357	357	357
Virginia Beach Piranhas	2	688	344	344
Reading United AC	2	655	328	328
Los Angeles Legends	3	900	300	200
New Hampshire Phantoms	1	300	300	300
Fredericksburg Hotspur	2	521	261	261
Tacoma Tide	1	250	250	250
Toronto Lynx	1	250	250	250
Vermont Voltage	1	250	250	250
Portland Timbers U23	1	223	223	223
Real Colorado Foxes	2	420	210	210
Akron Summit Assault	2	393	197	197
IMG Bradenton Academics	2	375	188	188
Springfield Demize	2	372	186	186
Vancouver Whitecaps Residency	2	327	164	164
West Virginia Chaos	2	283	142	142
Abbotsford Mariners	1	118	118	118
Orange County Blue Star	2	200	100	100
LA Blues 23	1	86	86	86
Fort Lauderdale Schulz Academy	2	120	60	60
New Jersey Rangers	1	60	60	60
Washington Crossfire	1	53	53	53
Westchester Flames	1	20	20	20
PDL TOTAL	76	55,674	733	352
W-LEAGUE	G	Total	Avg.	Median
Vancouver Whitecaps FC	1	1,555	1,555	1,555
Atlanta Silverbacks	1	612	612	612
Long Island Rough Riders	1	496	496	496
Charlotte Lady Eagles	1	470	470	470
Virginia Beach Piranhas	2	747	374	374
Fredericksburg Impact	1	346	346	346
Victoria Highlanders	2	690	345	345
Colorado Rush	1	235	235	235
LA Strikers	1	225	225	225
Colorado Force	1	128	128	128
Pali Blues	2	225	113	113
New Jersey Rangers	1	89	89	89
W-LEAGUE TOTAL	15	5,818	388	265

Here’s the first full rundown of attendance figures for the various levels for 2011. Not every team has had a home game yet, so there are some zeros and there are a few games for which attendance figures aren’t available (yet).

THE MLS	G	Total	Average	Median	High	Low
Seattle	3	108,870	36,290	36,223	36,443	36,204
Los Angeles	3	75,717	25,239	24,998	27,000	23,719
DC United	3	62,806	20,935	18,132	26,622	18,052
Vancouver	5	104,315	20,863	20,809	22,592	19,396
Toronto	5	97,965	19,593	20,086	22,453	16,313
Portland	2	37,254	18,627	18,627	18,627	18,627
Salt Lake	2	36,020	18,010	18,010	20,507	15,513
Philadelphia	3	52,767	17,589	18,591	19,027	15,149
New York	3	48,954	16,318	14,308	20,982	13,664
Houston	3	46,608	15,536	15,176	19,385	12,047
Chivas USA	3	44,534	14,845	13,385	18,122	13,027
Dallas	3	43,428	14,476	12,261	20,145	11,022
Chicago	3	42,833	14,278	12,473	18,203	12,157
Colorado	3	41,181	13,727	14,185	17,139	9,857
Columbus	3	32,550	10,850	10,306	14,549	7,695
San Jose	4	40,254	10,064	10,401	10,525	8,928
New England	4	39,412	9,853	9,692	12,914	7,114
Kansas City	0	0	0	0	0	0
MLS TOTAL	55	955,468	17,372	18,052	36,443	7,114
NASL	G	Total	Average	Median	High	Low
Montreal	1	12,060	12,060	12,060	12,060	12,060
Ft. Lauderdale	2	10,844	5,422	5,422	6,402	4,442
Tampa Bay	2	7,074	3,537	3,537	4,161	2,913
Atlanta	3	9,931	3,310	3,227	3,543	3,161
Carolina	3	4,416	1,472	1,219	2,016	1,181
FC Edmonton	0	0	0	0	0	0
Minnesota	0	0	0	0	0	0
Puerto Rico	0	0	0	0	0	0
NASL TOTAL	11	44,325	4,030	3,227	12,060	1,181
USL-Pro	G	Total	Average	Median	High	Low
Orlando	2	15,212	7,606	7,606	7,933	7,279
Antigua	#1	6,000	6,000	6,000	6,000	6,000
Charleston	1	4,083	4,083	4,083	4,083	4,083
Wilmington	1	1,924	1,924	1,924	1,924	1,924
Richmond	4	6,917	1,729	1,742	2,049	1,385
Pittsburgh	1	1,004	1,004	1,004	1,004	1,004
Charlotte	2	1,930	965	965	1,076	854
Dayton	2	1,669	835	835	1,044	625
Sevilla PR	&1	315	315	315	315	315
River Plate PR	1	128	128	128	128	128
Puerto Rico United	2	210	105	105	105	105
Harrisburg	0	0	0	0	0	0
Los Angeles	0	0	0	0	0	0
New York	0	0	0	0	0	0
Rochester	0	0	0	0	0	0
USL PRO TOTALS	18	39,392	2,188	1,231	7,933	105
#Missing two games
&Missing one game
WPS	G	Total	Average	Median	High	Low
Boston	1	4,158	4,158	4,158	4,158	4,158
Atlanta	*2	7,382	3,691	3,691	4,002	3,380
Sky Blue FC	1	2,910	2,910	2,910	2,910	2,910
magicJack	1	1,224	1,224	1,224	1,224	1,224
Philadelphia	0	0	0	0	0	0
Western NY	0	0	0	0	0	0
WPS TOTAL	5	15,674	3,135	3,380	4,158	1,224
*Missing one game

NOTES:

• MLS has four teams averaging more than 20,000 a game and Toronto is just under that. It seems likely Toronto will finish above 20k (they historically do) but it seems unlikely that DC United will, so four is probably about what can be expected.
• WPS’ Atlanta Beat, playing on the same weekend as their NASL counterparts, outdrew the Silverbacks each of the first two weeks. Yesterday’s figure for the Beat is unavailable, but probably didn’t beat the ‘Backs’ announced 3,227.
• Montreal set a new NASL record with an announced crowd of 12,060 (tix distributed, I’m guessing) for its home opener against Tampa Bay. It was the earliest home opener in the Impact’s 19-year history. They’ll absolutely lead the league in attendance. The three teams that have yet to have home matches aren’t likely to help much (Edmonton, Minnesota and Puerto Rico).
• Until someone changes it, Antigua Barracuda FC’s home opener crowd will be listed as 6,000. for consistency’s sake, I go with what’s on the USL website unless there’s compelling evidence to the contrary. The local newspaper said “about 3,500,” and someone who I know who was there said “about 4,500.” The Sticky Wicket Stadium (great name) supposedly seats 5,000 in the main stand. BFC hasn’t announced an attendance figure for its last two games yet.
• The former Washington Freedom, who moved to Boca Raton and are now called “magicJack,” drew an all-time WPS/WUSA low of 1,224 for their home opener. Supposedly there were only 500 available seats in the “grandstand” at Florida Atlantic University because they took the rest of the bleachers across campus to the FAU spring football game.
• Western New York has their home opener in Rochester this Sunday. And magicJack will be back at it again, hosting Philadelphia. I’m not optimistic.
• The PDL season starts this weekend, with Fresno hosting the new LA Blues 23 on Friday in the first match. The W-League doesn’t start until May 14.
  

Other sites may give you the MLS attendance numbers (no one was doing it in 2001, when I started it), but who else gives you numbers for every level of the outdoor game? Now that the last two pro holdouts had their home openers, and the Premier Development League season is well underway, here’s a look at the current (unofficial – corrections welcome) attendance averages for teams in the familiar outdoor leagues.

MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER
Team	G	Total	Average
Seattle Sounders FC	5	180,723	36,145
Philadelphia Union	1	34,870	34,870
Toronto FC	3	60,432	20,144
Los Angeles Galaxy	4	76,978	19,245
New York Red Bulls	3	53,858	17,953
Houston Dynamo	5	78,772	15,754
Real Salt Lake	3	46,853	15,618
DC United	4	61,198	15,300
Chicago Fire	3	44,812	14,937
Chivas USA	4	58,216	14,554
Columbus Crew	3	38,055	12,685
Colorado Rapids	3	31,451	10,484
Kansas City Wizards	3	30,658	10,219
San Jose Earthquakes	4	38,056	9,514
FC Dallas	4	37,407	9,352
New England Revolution	4	36,987	9,247
MLS TOTAL	56	909,326	16,238
USSF DIVISION II SOCCER LEAGUE
Team	G	Total	Average
Montreal Impact	3	36,853	12,284
Portland Timbers	3	27,119	9,040
FC Tampa Bay Rowdies	1	8,082	8,082
Vancouver Whitecaps	3	14,652	4,884
AC St. Louis	2	8,680	4,340
Rochester Rhinos	2	8,571	4,286
Austin Aztex	2	5,461	2,731
Puerto Rico Islanders	1	2,498	2,498
Carolina RailHawks	2	3,707	1,854
Minnesota NSC Stars	3	3,690	1,230
Miami FC Blues	4	4,840	1,210
Palace Baltimore	2	2,100	1,050
USSF2 TOTAL	28	126,253	4,509
WOMEN’S PROFESSIONAL SOCCER
Team	G	Total	Average
Atlanta Beat	1	7,248	7,248
Boston Breakers	2	10,466	5,233
Washington Freedom	4	19,023	4,756
Chicago Red Stars	2	8,270	4,135
Sky Blue FC	2	8,238	4,119
Philadelphia Independence	3	11,694	3,898
FC Gold Pride	3	9,912	3,304
Saint Louis Athletica	3	9,763	3,254
WPS TOTAL	20	84,614	4,231
USL-PRO SECOND DIVISION
Team	G	Total	Average
Charleston Battery	3	10,455	3,485
Richmond Kickers	3	5,682	1,894
Harrisburg City Islanders	1	1,433	1,433
Charlotte Eagles	2	1,632	816
Real Maryland Monarchs	3	2,307	769
Pittsburgh Riverhounds	1	658	658
USL-2 TOTAL	13	22,167	1,705
PREMIER DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE
Team	G	Total	Average
West Texas United Sockers	1	2,682	2,682
Fresno Fuego	2	5,082	2,541
El Paso Patriots	1	1,543	1,543
Los Angeles Legends	1	1,500	1,500
Dayton Dutch Lions	1	1,000	1,000
Laredo Heat	1	950	950
Ventura County Fusion	1	712	712
Reading United	1	289	289
Hollywood United Hitmen	1	276	276
Ironbound Express	1	275	275
Dallas Fort Worth Tornados	1	210	210
MPS Portland Phoenix	1	174	174
IMG Bradenton Academics	1	150	150
New Hampshire Phantoms	1	150	150
Orange County Blue Star	1	130	130
PDL TOTAL	16	15,123	945

Some notes:

• My Tampa Bay Rowdies sold out Steinbrenner Field for their inaugural home opener Saturday night (8,082). The layout wasn’t ideal for soccer, but if they draw okay the rest of the year, it may help them finally get their own stadium built. Their next home game isn’t for more than two weeks, and it’s on a Thursday night, so we’ll see what happens then. In any case, they bear watching.
• WPS’ Atlanta Beat opened their new stadium last night, and while they didn’t sell the place out (7,248), KSU Soccer Stadium got rave reviews (and looked cool on television).
• The PDL’s West Texas United Sockers drew 2,682 to their home opener. The second-year team in Midland, Texas plays in a 15,000-seat football stadium.
• Charleston continues to double the USL-2 league average, pulling in 3,400+ per night in a league averaging 1,700. The drop to a lower division (made amidst the offseason chaos in Division II) hasn’t hurt the Battery at the gate – they averaged 3,534 last year in USL-1.
• Four USSFD2 clubs – all part of the NASL – are averaging under 2,000 a game.
• Seattle’s crowd of 36,273 was their largest ever for a league match. And they’ll be crediting their season ticket holders with the cost of a game because they got drubbed.

These are from the PASL-Pro, a young league still trying to make inroads. They have the (once again) reincarnated San Diego Sockers, as well as the California Cougars, who you may remember as an MISL expansion team from a few years back.

Team	G	Total	Avg.
Prince George Fury	2	3,445	1,723
San Diego Sockers	5	7,833	1,567
Louisville Lightning	3	2,676	892
Denver Dynamite	4	1,942	486
1790 Cincinnati Express	3	1,323	441
St. Louis Illusion	*4	1,685	421
California Cougars	3	1,153	384
Texas Outlaws	4	983	246
Detroit Waza	*4	813	203
Edmonton Drillers	#1	177	177
Saskatoon Accelerators	1	157	157
Ohio Vortex	@3	448	149
Calgary United	*0	0	0
Winnipeg Alliance	#0	0	0
TOTAL	37	22,635	612
*1 game missing
#2 games missing
@4 games missing

Credit to the PASL-Pro for making it to their second season and continuing to forge ahead. It’s not like anyone in indoor soccer can crow about the state of their league these days.

Updated with the one missing game (thanks to USL’s hard-working Gerald Barnhart), here are my final unofficial attendance figures for USL-1 this year:

Team	G	Total	Avg.	Median	2008	Change
Montreal Impact	15	180,494	12,033	12,180	12,696	-5.22%
Portland Timbers	15	146,008	9,734	9,157	8,567	13.62%
Rochester Rhinos	15	96,425	6,428	6,381	7,313	-12.10%
Vancouver Whitecaps	15	79,678	5,312	5,288	4,999	6.26%
Charleston Battery	15	53,013	3,534	3,826	3,991	-11.45%
Puerto Rico Islanders	15	49,391	3,293	3,198	4,423	-25.55%
Minnesota Thunder	15	48,135	3,209	3,311	3,573	-10.19%
Austin Aztex	15	44,611	2,974	2,786	N/A	N/A
Carolina RailHawks	15	40,953	2,730	2,377	3,869	-29.44%
Cleveland City Stars	15	22,362	1,491	1,502	N/A#	N/A
Miami FC Blues	15	15,952	1,063	922	1,701	-45.80%
USL-1 TOTAL	165	777,022	4,709	3,662	5,164	-8.81%

#Cleveland was in USL-2 last year and averaged 1,634 in a different venue.

Some notes:

• After three straight years of overall league average attendance growth, USL-1′s average dropped just under 9% in 2009. Only two teams (Portland and Vancouver, who, coincidentally or not, announced they’ll be going to MLS) saw average attendance growth. Everybody else was down – in some cases (Puerto Rico, Carolina and Miami), way down.
• Despite dropping off just over 5% (an inevitable new stadium sophomore slump?), Montreal still led the league for the fifth straight year.
• Portland’s 9,734 average made them the only team other than Montreal or Rochester to average over 9,000 per game since 1994.
• September (5,427) was the best month for USL-1 average attendance, while April (3,689) was the worst (with only 16 games in the first month).
• The league only averaged 4,168 on Saturdays, but (thanks largely to Montreal playing several games midweek) 7,205 in 10 Wednesday games.
• Home openers averaged 5,536, home finales 5,079.
• 22 games on Fox Soccer Channel drew just barely below the league average (4,617).

Whether or not the supposed “breakaway” league comes to fruition, I would have to think we’ve seen the last of Miami and Cleveland in the top flight.