More than halfway through the 2012 Major League Soccer regular season, attendance figures remain steady. Now through 181 of the season’s 323 matches, 55 sellouts have been recorded, three of which came during the 19th week of the campaign.
In the ten matches of Week 19, a total of 167,704 fans bought tickets to MLS matches, generating an average attendance of 16,770 per game. This slightly dipped the season average, taking it from 18,846 to 18,732. The 19th week of the season marked the sixth-lowest weekly average attendance of the season.
Toronto FC and the Philadelphia Union began the week on a very strong note. TFC filled BMO Field to 99.1 percent capacity for a thrilling 3-2 comeback win over the Vancouver Whitecaps on Wednesday and on Saturday the Union filled up PPL Park for the fifth time this season for a 2-1 win over the visiting Montreal Impact.
Columbus and Chicago then posted strong figures in the early evening on Saturday, filling Columbus Crew Stadium and Toyota Park to 87.3 and 84.1 percent capacity, respectively. These were followed by back-to-back sellouts by San Jose (102.1 percent capacity) and Portland (27th-straight MLS sellout) in matches which turned out to be absolute goalfests.
Week 20 of the 2012 Major League Soccer season begins on Wednesday, July 18 when New York hosts Chicago at 1 pm EST. Wednesday will prove to be an unusual day, as three of the seven league matches scheduled are set to begin before 8 pm. The week will not only feature 15 league matches but also a bevy of international friendlies.
This is Brett Compton’s 244th post for WeFollowFutbol. Read more about him here.
Hi Brett. I think for sure there’s the Seattle Factor, which probably results in a 2K bump in average attendance.
Ok, so I’m clearly biased here, but Philly’s emerging as a rock solid soccer market. I can tell you it feels like a football atmosphere, people everywhere tailgating, and tailgaters show up even when the team stinks. Beer always tastes good. (Kudos to the three rows of Impact fans that traveled to Philly and made a good amount of noise the whole game. You still lost. Ha.)
I’m seriously impressed with Toronto. Nothing ever to cheer for and they still fill the place. Imagine if they had a winning team.
Have a great week!
Hi Alex. Thanks for commenting!
Philly is a great soccer market. I was fortunate enough to have worked with the Union during the summer of 2011 and really enjoyed the gameday atmosphere. Really good stuff.
I really, really hope Toronto starts to win sometime in the near future. Those fans deserve it.