Soccer Attendance From MLS to PDL
Monday, May 10th, 2010Other 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.
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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.