How about this for an eye popping stat. A dominant 3-0 win Sunday against the Portland Timbers, in front of 66,452, the second-largest crowd in league history for a stand-alone game, was a victory on multiple levels. Live near Portland but from Seattle. Dont know what to think. (To be truthful dont follow either spend too much time trolling these boards). But the crowd impressed me (on the other hand they get the same sort of crowd for what you guys would call a University game of American football). I think only Man U get anywhere near that? Bodes well for soccer (well football) in the USA?
That is a big turn-out, the top five average attendances here are... 1 Manchester United - 75,353 2 Arsenal - 60,092 3 Newcastle United - 50,558 4 Manchester City - 46,530 5 Liverpool - 44,667
The 'College' games in America do get massive attendances, but the whole set-up is different there. Not to mention that many teams in the US probably have a catchment area the size of Britain.
The league comprises just 19 teams, 3 of them Canadian, whereas there are over 100 professional teams in England and Wales. I'd bet half of them go because it's an excuse to eat hotdogs and chips and drink coke.
It certainly is getting popular, and a mate of mine on the East coast says in time it will take over from American football, as the watching public are enjoying soccer more, because it is not stop start like American football. I guess it will be long time before that happens, but interesting to see its popularity increasing.
Great attendances mate. How much are tickets for a MLS match? What are away crowd attendances like at MLS matches? i'd have thought they'd be quite sparce due to the amount of travelling involved. I doubt the stewards and police are as heavy handed over there as they are here. All these things put people off unfortunately.
Looked at prices 22-53 dollars for seats that were available. 22 behind the goals and 53 down the touchlines. I think that for this local derby there were quite a few from Portland (roughly 200 miles). Not sure about the stewards never been to a soccer game here. But at a NFL game, you dont even notice them. At least I did not.
The improving attendances are a credit to your league. Wish the clubs and the FA would take a leaf out of the MLS clubs book and lower ticket prices, but pigs will sooner fly.
MLS is probably Div. 1 or 2 standard at the moment. I have had season tickets for the Philadelphia Union for the last two years. It costs me an average of $34 (21 GBP) and I have a seat half way between the center line and the 18 yard penalty box. Great view. However parking is additional at $20 (12.4 GBP). If you want a beer it is $9 (5.6 GBP). They are crafty though. There are many stalls in the concourse area selling different types of beer. If you want Boddington's for example, the glass (plastic) is smaller than the glass for a local tasty microbrew. Never seen it but probably going on taste and value for money, the Budweiser glass must be as big as a bucket! There are also many concession stands in the concourse area selling all types of food. Never had any so I can't comment. Attendance has been at or close to capacity of 18,500 at the custom built stadium for all the home games. Our "derby" games are against the NY Red Bulls who play in a custom built stadium in Harrison (near Newark NJ) about 60 miles away and the Washington DC team DC United that play at the Washington Redskins (American football) stadium about 140 miles away.
I went to a few DC United games as I just moved out to Cali and I spent most of my life in the DC area. Every time I went I was behind some drum dude who gave me a migraine before the game even started. They need their own stadium using a stadium that holds 56,000 people and only having 19.000 seats available means a sell out looks as though you cant fill your seats. More importantly, does this mean your are a fliers fan?
No I am not a Flyers fan, I don't like wrestling on ice. I am with you about the apparent essential requirement for a drum to beat at each ground in the USA. I sit far enough away from the three drummers they have at Union games. When we play a local derby and the away team supporters bring their drummer, it is cacophony. The Union supporters called the Sons of Ben and the drums have one end, the river end completely assigned to them. I will say this though, the supporters sing and chant and support the team the whole 90 minutes, win, lose or draw. Hope this drum thing doesn't catch on at UK grounds. But it probably will, there already is MacDonalds, Burger King, Budweiser beer etc., etc.
