MLS Commissioner Don Garber "isn’t worried" the Union's recent attendance struggles could cause the team to relocate, and yesterday "offered a robust defense" of the team and Owner Jay Sugarman, according to Jonathan Tannenwald of the PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER. Garber said, “It’s a huge market. It’s an influential market. ... We continue to have great faith in the club, its ownership and the market.” As part of the Union’s lease of Talen Energy Stadium, if after 10 years the team’s attendance is in the bottom 25% of MLS, the team can pay the county $10M and "leave the venue." But the Union have "insisted that will not happen," and Garber "does not expect it." Garber: “There is a belief in the market; there is an absolute commitment on behalf of ownership. ... No fan in Philadelphia should be remotely concerned about that team being anywhere other than where it is" (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 3/14).
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UNION ATTENDANCE TREND SINCE EXPANSION
|
|
SEASON
|
AVERAGE
|
|
'17
|
16,812
|
|
'16
|
17,519
|
|
'15
|
17,451
|
|
'14
|
17,631
|
|
'13
|
17,867
|
|
'12
|
18,053
|
|
'11
|
18,259
|
|
'10
|
19,254
|
