Union attendance has averaged just over 15,000, including a record low 12,890 for a game last weekGETTY IMAGES
The Union currently sit atop MLS' Eastern Conference standings, but the team's average attendance of 15,223 through six games this season is "down nearly 1,300 fans per game" from last year's average of 16,518, according to Jonathan Tannenwald of the PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER. The Union's win over FC Cincinnati last week drew an announced crowd of 12,890, the "lowest figure for a league game in team history." Some U.S. Open Cup games and international friendlies have "drawn fewer fans, but those tickets are sold outside of season-ticket packages." Tannenwald: "Why are the stands so empty? A long list of reasons adds up to the big one: The team's fan base isn't all that big." The Union's "longstanding emphasis on marketing to families with soccer-playing kids contrasts with marketing to the young urban professionals who are the core of nearly every other MLS fan base." Talen Energy Stadium's location in Chester, Pa., is also "part of that." When soccer bars across Philadelphia are packed for the UEFA Champions League semifinals and the final day of the EPL season on Sunday, it would "help the Union to show up at those establishments and ask fans why they're staying away" (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 5/7).
