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Depending on where sports fans live, the boys of summer may not be on the diamond, but on the pitch.

So far this season, nine of the 18 teams in Major League Soccer are outdrawing Major League Baseball teams in average attendance. The Houston Dynamo's more than 17,000 fans per game, the Philadelphia Union's 18,180 average and the New York Red Bulls' 18,200 regular attendees are all a better draw than the Florida Marlins, who are drawing an average of only 16,975 to their home games. Toronto FC has been in the league for only four years, but its average attendance of 19,900 is 1,000 per game shy of baseball's Toronto Blue Jays, while the Los Angeles Galaxy's 22,200 puts it ahead of eight teams in Major League Baseball.

http://www.thestreet.com/story/11165606 ... en=GOOGLEN

of course, I think you also have to factor in the frequency of games.
MLS plays what..... one match a week?

while MLB plays 4-5 games a week. so overall, baseball still draws far more attendance.

but yes, soccer's niche is growing.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/attendance" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

JayJ79 wrote:of course, I think you also have to factor in the frequency of games.
MLS plays what..... one match a week?

while MLB plays 4-5 games a week. so overall, baseball still draws far more attendance.

but yes, soccer's niche is growing.

actually twice a week but your point is still well, taken

Heck, a good funeral can outdraw the Florida Marlins if they serve lunch afterwards!

hrm...

3 teams in MLS drawing 20k+

Seattle (Mariners draw 22k to the Sounders 37k - the Sounders are, far and away, the most compelling fan story in MLS)
LA Galaxy (22k/game... Angels draw 39k, Dodgers 36k)
Vancouver (20k/game... new team factor - still impressive against the Canucks Cup run)

20k/game puts them above MLB's bottom 5
Cleveland
Kansas City
Tampa Bay
Oakland
Florida

5 teams who for reasons like suckitude (KC) perceived pre-season suckitude (Cleve) or AWFUL stadia (TB, OAK, FLA) don't draw.

However - interesting that two of these markets were abandoned by MLS (Miami and Tampa) for poor attendance too... so maybe Florida fans just suck...

The other two shared markets - KC and Oakland... While Sporting KC in their shiny new park are currently outdrawing the Royals... that seems unlikely to keep - especially if the Wiz prove to be bad - their location in the boonies of Kansas will end up really hurting them. And San Jose Earthquakes are selling out 10k Buck Shaw - we'll see what happens when they move in to their SSS (though I suspect they'll do alright)

EPJr wrote:

JayJ79 wrote:of course, I think you also have to factor in the frequency of games.
MLS plays what..... one match a week?

while MLB plays 4-5 games a week. so overall, baseball still draws far more attendance.

but yes, soccer's niche is growing.

actually twice a week but your point is still well, taken

do all teams play two games most weeks?

TwinTownBisonFan wrote: 20k/game puts them above MLB's bottom 5
Cleveland
Kansas City
Tampa Bay
Oakland
Florida

Oh thank God the Padres didn't make the bottom 5 list...but I'm sure they are not far off it...

Yet another dishonor laid on one of the most storied programs in MLB history

F#ck the Giants for c#ck-blocking the A's move to the South Bay

The Phillies passed two million in attendance on Tuesday, prior to the halfway point of the season. I don't think the Union will quite match that.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/attendance

Silenoz wrote:Yet another dishonor laid on one of the most storied programs in MLB history

F#ck the Giants for c#ck-blocking the A's move to the South Bay

THIS - so many times THIS.

The A's get bandied about with the word "contraction" (along with the Rays)... and it really pisses me off... this is a 100 year old franchise... it's already been shunted to too many different places... but I'd rather have it in San Jose than in the dustbin of history.

The MLS has found a niche....in the Pacific Northwest, and as long as Beckham is in LA. West coast bias.

bluehenbillk wrote:The MLS has found a niche....in the Pacific Northwest, and as long as Beckham is in LA. West coast bias.

The key for the MLS has been a couple of things:

1. Soccer Specific Stadiums - gives the league some permanence
2. Increased access to European soccer via cable/satellite and internet has grown the game overall
3. Catering the game to the niche of fans who LIKE the game as it is played in the rest of the world - and abandoning silly things like countdown clocks and sudden death overtime
4. Encouraging things like Supporter Groups - making the game more like Match Days in the UK
5. Embracing markets suited to the game - Cities with higher levels of education and a bit of an alternative streak (dare I say "quirky"?) to them have proven successful - as has moving in to markets with no or limited competition for fans (the NBA strategy)

I'm surprised there is not yet a team in Austin, TX based on this philosophy.

6. Embracing Canada - two franchises already and Montreal next year... soccer fans aren't like those of other sports who would be terribly upset about having teams from other countries in their league - and the MLS is figuring that out.

Now their only problem is that the quality of play in their league - while improved greatly - still is dwarfed by EPL and Primera games on Satellite...

EPJr wrote:Depending on where sports fans live, the boys of summer may not be on the diamond, but on the pitch.

So far this season, nine of the 18 teams in Major League Soccer are outdrawing Major League Baseball teams in average attendance. The Houston Dynamo's more than 17,000 fans per game, the Philadelphia Union's 18,180 average and the New York Red Bulls' 18,200 regular attendees are all a better draw than the Florida Marlins, who are drawing an average of only 16,975 to their home games. Toronto FC has been in the league for only four years, but its average attendance of 19,900 is 1,000 per game shy of baseball's Toronto Blue Jays, while the Los Angeles Galaxy's 22,200 puts it ahead of eight teams in Major League Baseball.

http://www.thestreet.com/story/11165606 ... en=GOOGLEN

The Portland soccer team is outdrawing the Portland baseball team.

I mean the Portland soccer team kicked out the Portland baseball team.

I mean the City of Portland ended 80 years of baseball tradition for zero years of soccer tradition.

I mean...oh never mind.