Beneath the "veneer of growth" in MLS is the "sober reality that attendance, while holding steady and showing modest improvement, is lagging in some important markets," according to Jack Bell of the N.Y. TIMES. The "drag on attendance has come from some of the charter clubs, most notably" the Revolution, Crew, Rapids and FC Dallas, as well as Chivas USA to a "lesser degree." In addition to the "strength at the gate among expansion teams (including Toronto, which entered the league in 2007), what the biggest-drawing teams all have in common (aside from Los Angeles and the Red Bulls, to a degree) are downtown stadiums that have become festive destinations for fans." And in the Pacific Northwest, the Sounders, Timbers and Whitecaps "have little competition from other professional sports." MLS President Mark Abbott: “There’s no magic bullet in business or professional sports. Stadium location is important, but there’s room for two models, stadiums downtown and in the suburbs. I don’t think it makes sense to overemphasize attendance on a day-in, day-out basis. It’s important, but trends take place over longer periods of time and we can’t really worry about numbers from one week to next, especially this early in the season” (NYTIMES.com, 5/3).
CONSTRUCTION CREW: The Crew are averaging 10,962 fans through their first four home games this season, down 17.4% from 13,271 over the first four home games last season, and in Columbus, Bob Hunter wrote there “isn't any kind of a buzz right now” around the team. The weather has been “not so good for professional sports teams” this spring, and a lot of fans may be staying home “in protest of the team's failure to bring back” F Guillermo Barros Schelotto and Ds Frankie Hejduk and Gino Padula. Crew President & GM Mark McCullers said, "Every team has to transition. We need the stars to emerge." Hunter noted while “stars and ticket sales are certainly related, it's hard to dismiss McCullers' concerns that the season-ticket base of 5,000 isn't large enough.” McCullers said that “if it were 10,000, the team would routinely draw 16,000 or 17,000 and wouldn't be subject to the whims of walk-up sales and bad weather.” McCullers: "We need to get to 10,000. If you look at the expansion teams, that's the difference right there. I think the lowest season-tickets base among those teams is over 12,000” (COLUMBUS DISPATCH, 5/1). McCullers: “In some way we have to recreate the emotional connection between our club and the community. Where that's gone, I don't know.” He added, "Our corporate season ticket base is one of the lowest in the league. We need those companies to come back on board, and understand that this team represents the city” (COLUMBUS DISPATCH, 5/1).
SCHEDULE ISSUES: In Newark, Frank Giase noted Red Bulls fans “were promised more consistent scheduling and prime dates when Red Bull Arena opened last year,” but so far “it hasn’t happened.” The team last season “played just eight home games from May through August and only five were on the weekend.” This season, “only nine of the 21 games from May through August are at home, and beginning this weekend there isn’t a Saturday night game at home for a month.” Giase: “For a league competing with baseball for the majority of that time, that’s just not enough” (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 5/3).
