Soccer is on the rise in America. The best supporting evidence is the continued growth of Major League Soccer in a time of budget cuts, tightened purse strings, and economic uncertainty. The inaugural season consisted of only 10 teams:
1.) New England Revolution
2.) Columbus Crew
3.) Los Angeles Galaxy
4.) Tampa Bay Mutiny
5.) D.C. United
6.) San Jose Clash
7.) MetroStars
8.) Colorado Rapids
9.) Dallas Burn
10.) Kansas City Wizards
From these small and simple beginnigs the league has expanded and strengthened. The 2009 MLS season consisted of the following 15 teams:
Western Conference
1.) Chivas USA (Los Angeles)
2.) Colorado Rapids
3.) FC Dallas
4.) Houston Dynamo
5.) Los Angeles Galaxy
6.) Real Salt Lake
7.) San Jose Earthquakes
8.) Seattle Sounders FC
Eastern Conference
1.) Chicago Fire
2.) Columbus Crew
3.) DC United (Washington, D.C.)
4.) Kansas City Wizards
5.) New England Revolution
6.) New York Red Bulls
7.) Toronto FC (Canada)
The 2010 season will see the addition of the Philadelphia Union to the Eastern Conference, and the 2011 season will see both the Portland Timbers and the Vancouver Whitecaps enter the league.
MLS opened its inaugural season on April 6, 1996 in San Jose's Spartan Stadium. This event drew a crowd of 31,683 people. Since that date the average attendance has seen its ups and downs. However, in all actuality soccer is still in its infancy. To show just how ahead of the curve soccer is I thought it would be interesting to compare the average attendance growth of the Los Angeles Lakers (NBA) to the Los Angeles Galaxy (MLS) during their first 15 years.
Los Angeles Lakers
1960-1961: 5,045
1961-1962: 6,139
1962-1963: 8,396
1963-1964: 8,954
1965-1966: 10,316
1966-1967: 10,935
1967-1968: 11,154
1968-1969: 10,276
1969-1970: 11,787
1971-1972: 13,086
1972-1973: 13,808
1973-1974: 16,301
1974-1975: 16,216
1975-1976: 14,711
1976-1977: 11,567
LA Galaxy
1996: 30,129
1997: 23,623
1998: 21,784
1999: 17,632
2000: 20,400
2001: 17,387
2002: 19,047
2003: 21,983
2004: 23,809
2005: 24,204
2006: 20,814
2007: 24,252
2008: 26,009
2009: 19,379
2010: ?
When you compare the first 15 years of the LA Lakers and the first 15 years of the LA Galaxy you'll see that the MLS is leading in the sheer number of people attending the games. The Lakers have been in existence for over 50 years and their average attendance in 2007-2008 season was 18,997 while the avg. attendance to a Galaxy game in 2007-2008 was 24,252.
The Los Angeles Lakers are considered by most as the icon team of the NBA, a league that has been in the forefront of American sports for over 50 years. However, the Los Angeles Galaxy has consistently posted higher attendance averages in their short 14 year history.
The newest MLS team, Seattle Sounders FC, had an average attendance of 31,207 in their first year of existence. This is the highest average attendance in the league.
Although attendance numbers have declined over the past year, their are signs of positive growth throughout the league. The addition of new franchises in 2010 and 2011 will bring the game to 3 different cities, soccer specific stadiums are being build at a greater pace (will be discussed in a later blog post) and the growth seen in comparison with the NBA is encouraging.
