MVN - Most Valuable Network

GALAXY leading in league attendance (26,000 avg. home and away), as well as in Western standings [UPDATED]

updated July 5 - 

This week marked the 15th round of Major League Soccer, and as with Major League Baseball, we are approaching the exact midway point and our own All-Star break…

In the 30-week MLS season, most teams reached their halfway mark this holiday weekend.  The Western Conference-leading LA Galaxy had their 15th match on Independence Day night this Friday, and it couldn’t have been planned any better for fans, for it was a home stand versus the Eastern Conference-leading New England Revolution.

On a weekend with another sold-out crowd for Galaxy at the HDC, it’s a good time to point out a positive development beyond the team’s much-improved play over last season…attendance is also up significantly !

In fact, LA’s average for their first 15 regular-season matches (both home and away) leads the entire league - 26,046 to be exact…

Over half of their regular-season matches this year have been sold-out, and what makes the average number so great is that the capacity at Home Depot Center tops out at 27,000.

Already in the first half of this season, two of their away games each attracted over 35,000 fans: 

35,979 attended last Sunday’s contest with DC United at RFK Stadium, which was showcased on ABC, and 39,872 witnessed the season’s first ‘California Clasico’ at San Jose’s McAfee Coliseum versus the Earthquakes.

Because of the growing attendances and resulting spectator demand for more seats at the Home Depot Center, that venue and others MLS stadiums with regular sell-outs such as Toronto FC’s BMO Field are looking closely at the rising numbers and and may consider expansion in the near future.  Galaxy has a tradition of being the league’s leading team for attendance, and TFC has the second-highest average, with a much smaller home venue.

Overall, the Galaxy’s attendance this year could be their highest-ever, and they are on pace to beat last year’s average by 1000 or more per match…

Many people have the false impression that LA had their highest attendances last year, and due to Beckham’s arrival, but this is not true at all.  Attendance for the Galaxy in 2007 was actually down slightly from 2006, and that had more to do with their struggles on the field than anything else.

Last year, the LA Galaxy beat the league’s average by around EIGHT THOUSAND per match - that just HOW POPULAR that team is and has been for years.  Historically, they are one of the most successful MLS teams, along with DC United.  It has only been very recently that LA had EVER failed to make the playoffs - they did make the post-season for TEN consecutive years. 

The fan base is there, and their top-of-the-table play this season is only bringing more on board.  The best news of all is that Galaxy-type fan commitment is also more apparent than ever across the board with other teams this year.  There have been more sell-outs overall during this first half of the season than ever in league history, and many teams will have a chance for historically high attendances this year.

In fact, it is possible that we will see even more teams with over 20,000 average when all is said and done this season, and that would likely mean the best year ever for attendances for Major League Soccer.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008 at 12:20 pm and is filed under Soccer. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.