The playoff numbers look like this…
| 5 year comparison | ||||||
| Conference Semifinals – 1st Leg | ||||||
| Avg | +/- | Home Teams | ||||
| 2005 | 12,147 | NA | Chicago | NY | Colorado | Los Angeles |
| 2006 | 9,533 | -21.52% | Chicago | NY | Colorado | Chivas USA |
| 2007 | 14,245 | 49.42% | Chicago | NY | Dallas | Kansas City |
| 2008 | 10,476 | -26.46% | New England | NY | Salt Lake | Kansas City |
| 2009 | 19,985 | 90.77% | New England | Seattle | Salt Lake | Chivas USA |
| 5 year comparison | ||||||
| Conference Semifinals – 2nd Leg | ||||||
| Avg | +/- | Home Teams | ||||
| 2005 | 14,400 | NA | New England | Dallas | San Jose | DC United |
| 2006 | 15,938 | 10.69% | New England | Dallas | Houston | DC United |
| 2007 | 19,838 | 24.47% | New England | Chivas USA | Houston | DC United |
| 2008 | 19,444 | -1.99% | Chicago | Columbus | Houston | Chivas USA |
| 2009 | 21,526 | 10.71% | Chicago | Columbus | Houston | Los Angeles |
| Quarterfinals Totals(both legs) | ||||||
| Avg | +/- | Teams | ||||
| 2005 | 13,273 | NA | CHI, COL, DAL, DCU, LA, NE, RBNY, SJ | |||
| 2006 | 12,736 | -4.05% | CHI, COL, CHV, DAL, DCU, HOU, NE, RBNY | |||
| 2007 | 17,041 | 33.81% | CHI, CHV, DAL, DCU, HOU, KC, NE, RBNY | |||
| 2008 | 14,960 | -12.22% | CHI, CHV, CLB, HOU, KC, NE, RBNY, RSL | |||
| 2009 | 20,755 | 38.74% | CHI, CHV, CLB, HOU, LA, NE, RSL, SEA | |||
| Semifinals Totals | ||||||
| Avg | +/- | Teams | ||||
| 2005 | 15,454 | NA | NE v CHI – COL v LA | |||
| 2006 | 21,330 | 38.02% | DCU v NE – HOU v COL | |||
| 2007 | 20,645 | -3.21% | NE v CHI – HOU v KC | |||
| 2008 | 17,348 | -15.97% | CLB v CHI – RSL v RBNY | |||
| 2009 | 23,548 | 35.74% | LA v HOU – CHI v RSL | |||
| Playoff Totals | ||||||
| Avg | +/- | Teams | ||||
| 2005 | 13,709 | NA |
MLS Cup 2009 Los Angeles v Real Salt Lake Sun, Nov 22, 8:30pm |
|||
| 2006 | 14,455 | 5.44% | ||||
| 2007 | 17,762 | 22.88% | ||||
| 2008 | 15,437 | -13.09% | ||||
| 2009 | 21,314 | 38.07% | ||||
Observations
The semifinals began with a near sellout at the HDC. Maybe a bit disappointing, but still a strong 25,000+. Toyota Park however was sold out by midweek. Another great showing for the league’s championship series.
While the league must be disappointed from a marketing standpoint that Chicago failed to join Los Angeles in MLS Cup ’09, they must also be very pleased about the live attendance to the 2009 playoffs. Leading up the the final match, the 2009 playoffs are the highest attended in league history, more than 3,500 per game higher than the previous top mark of 17,762 in 2007.
| MLS Quarterfinals – 2nd Leg | ||
| RSL Advances 4-2 | ||
| Columbus | 2 | Columbus Dispatch – Crew XTra |
| Real Salt Lake | 3 | RSL – Behind the Shield |
| Chicago Advances 3-2 | ||
| Chicago | 2 | Chicago Fire Confidential |
| New England | 0 | Revolution Soccer |
| Houston Advances 1-0 | ||
| Houston | 1 | Soccer y Fútbol – Barnard Fallas |
| Seattle | 0 | Seattle Times |
| Los Angeles Advances 3-2 | ||
| Los Angeles | 1 | LA – Official Blog |
| Chivas USA | 0 | Chivas USA – MLSNet |
| MLS Semifinals | ||
| Los Angeles | 2 | LA – Official Blog |
| Houston | 0 | Soccer y Fútbol – Barnard Fallas |
| Chicago | 0(4) | Chicago Fire Confidential |
| Real Salt Lake | 0(5) | RSL – Behind the Shield |
MLS Cup
Los Angeles v Salt Lake Sun, Nov 22, 8:30 pm ET on ESPN
Unless they change the rules again …
MLS in 2010-2011 CONCACAF Champions League
- Columbus – Supporters’ Shield Winner
- Seattle – Lamar Hunt US Open Cup Winner
- Los Angeles – MLS Cup Finalist
- Real Salt Lake – MLS Cup Finalist
MLS in 2010 SuperLiga - Houston
- Chicago
- Chivas USA
- New England
MLS Throw Ins - Preki out of Chivas USA, in at TFC? (He played with Mo Johnston in KC)
- Cousin Brucie(for all of you old timer easterners) Arena won MLS Coach of the Year honors for the 2nd time.
- Is MLS lurking in the background of the USL/TOA situation?
- Defender Omar Gonzalez wins MLS Rookie of the Year, the 2nd year running for a Galaxy defender(Franklin).
- Of the 10 players Seattle selected in the expansion draft, 7 remain were on the roster as season’s end.
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Union TownI stated last week that I’ll be adopting the Philadelphia Union as my MLS team. The basis for this is nothing more than it’s the last MLS ‘domain’ that I lived in and that there is no professional soccer(MLS, USL-1, USL-2, TOA?) closer than a six+ hour drive from my home. On that note, here is the latest …
- The Philadelphia Union expansion draft will be on Wed, Nov 25.
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2008(Seattle) Expansion Draft rules. I have yet to see any changes for 2009 posted by MLS.
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John Hackworth joins Peter Nowak on the Union coaching staff.
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Here is one of many websites that will be speculating as to who will be protected and selected by the Union.
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Click here for a google search on the upcoming expansion draft.
- Oh yeah, the official home kit for the Union was introduced. Note: this is not an endorsement of the Philadelphia Union Store, just the best ‘official’ pic I could find.
And …
The US team lost a friendly to Slovakia in Bratislava. They’ll play Denmark on Nov 18.
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Just want to say well done to the great Chicago Fire fans. A SRO crowd at Toyota Park for the semi-final. Chicago has great fans and with the perspective of watching live sporting events from the 60′s on I’ve seen Ernie Banks, Walter Payton, Michael Jordan and many other great players in a Chicago uniform. I’ve seen the fans fill the parks and stadiums year after year with no championships for the most part to show for it. The love of the Chicago fan for their teams is apparent and beyond doubt. Yet,I must say that Fire fans have become the BEST fans in Chicago. Section 8 worked nights to prepare for the playoff games. Everyone is invited to their tailgate parties. Everyone shows up in a Fire shirt of some kind. The fans forums are packed. When I wear my Fire jersey around the town other Fire fans will come up and talk to you. That happens for no other teams in town. Becoming a Fire fan is becoming a family member.
Fire fans you are winners and you deserve a ring! I can’t wait for the opener.
didn’t the Fire win a championship in ’98?
Yeah, so it’s been 11 years. We want another win for our favorite team. US Open Cups are great, but they aren’t MLS Cup, and the team doesn’t really seem to be taking the competition seriously anymore anyway. If we can’t get MLS Cup, what can we get? Superliga? I think the tournament’s an unnecessary distraction, at least until games get played in Mexico. And without a Cup win or a Supporter’s Shield, the team won’t be playing in CCL. I want an MLS Cup.
Kudos to a great atmosphere the city of Chicago created for their 2 playoff games. It is unfortunate that they did not go through.
I believe the western conference totaled 140,000 fans in all their games. Something like 28,000 average.
Not only has the Fire won a previous MLS Cup but they have also developed a fan base as far south as St. Louis. They have also won the Open cup in 1998 (the Double), 2000, 2003 and 2006.
Above all they are always ENTERTAINING.