The regular season is over, the playoffs are about to begin. But first I wanted to go back to something I started last year, and that's posting the average attendance of the league.
Overall this year, MLS' average attendance was 16670, the highest average attendance for the league since the inaugural season back in 1996, when the league averaged 17406.
Here are the team break downs.
1. LA - 24252
2. DC - 20967
3. Toronto - 20130
4. New England - 16787
5. New York - 16530
6. Chicago - 16490
7. Salt Lake - 15960
8. Houston - 15883
9. Columbus - 15230
10. Dallas - 15145
11. Colorado - 14749
12. Chivas - 14305
13. Wizards - 11586
Yes, the Wizards are at the bottom of the table again this year in terms of attendance. That got me thinking, though, about the Wizards schedule this weekend. I couldn't remember many Saturday games, so I began to look at that. The Wizards had the most random schedule of any team in MLS. The Wizards played on 5 different days of the week (only not playing on Monday or Tuesday). They also played at varying times, 4 Saturday night, 1 Saturday afternoon, 4 Sunday evening, 1 Sunday afternoon, 1 Thursday evening, two Wednesday evening, 1 Wednesday afternoon, and 1 Friday evening.
Definitely not having a set start time has hurt the Wizards. What also hurt the Wizards, was the fact that they waited so long to decide on a venue for this year. If the Wizards had picked a spot sooner, chances are they would have had a few more Saturday night games, and a few less Wednesday and Sunday games.
If you want more information on attendance, particularly the Beckham effect, check out this post on bigsoccer. That post does show a good sign for Wizards fans, though, even with the crap scheduling, the Wizards increased attendance this season.
Not wanting to be a blog Nazi either, but any posts left here that are just move KC posts will be deleted. I'm tired of dealing with you guys and most Wizards fans are tired of dealing with you, we're not going anywhere.
The schedule sucks. Hopefully wherever we are next year includes a lot more Saturdays and no noon July 4th game.
ReplyDeleteInteresting analysis of the schedule. I'm sure that contributes, but I think the major reason is how little press they get. I'm trying hard not to sound like a whiny little bitch, but the weather guy on every station points out when the Chiefs and Royals will play that week...I think we need pressure the news outlets to talk more about them, announce upcoming games, etc.
ReplyDeleteI love our boys in blue and new ownership is making strides, but I still think that we have two years to get a stadium deal inked. If that doesn't happen, I fear the worst.
ReplyDeleteBoy, I hope we get our stadium soon.
honestly, kansas city is just a weak team. if they start winning championships, then they will attract more attendance
ReplyDelete