MLS attendance down despite Seattle bump

By Paul Kennedy, Special to SI.com, Soccer America

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MLS Average Attendance Team 2009 2008 +/- Seattle 30,897 -- -- Los Angeles 20,416 26,009 -21.5% Toronto FC 20,344 20,120 +1.1% Houston 17,047 16,939 +0.6% Real Salt Lake 16,375 16,179 +1.2% D.C. United 16,088 19,835 -18.9% Chivas USA 15,092 15,114 -0.1% Chicago 14,689 17,034 -13.8% Columbus 14,447 14,622 -1.2% San Jose 14,114 13,713 +2.9% New England 13,732 17,580 -21.9% New York 12,491 15,928 -21.6% FC Dallas 12,441 13,024 -4.5% Colorado 12,331 13,659 -9.7% Kansas City 10,053 10,686 -5.9% TOTAL 16,037 16,460 -2.6%

Major League Soccer average attendance declined 2.6 percent in 2009, but it could have been a lot worse.

Without the expansion Seattle Sounders, who set an MLS record with an average attendance of 30,897 fans a game, the league's average attendance would have been down 9 percent.

MLS attendance was helped by the exciting playoff race in which all but three teams were still alive on the final week of the regular season.

Average attendance in October climbed 4.6 percent from 16,815 fans a game in 2008 to 17,593 a game in 2009. If you throw out the one Seattle game in October, average attendance was up 0.9 percent.

Four MLS teams saw modest growth in 2009. The biggest increase was San Jose's 2.9 percent, but the Earthquakes' average was boosted considerably by their game at San Francisco's Candlestick Park, the pregame to the Barcelona-Chivas match that drew 61,572. Throw out that crowd, and the Quakes' average attendance fell 21.8 percent.

Three MLS teams saw their average attendance fall more than 21 percent: New England (21.9 percent), New York (21.5 percent) and Los Angeles (21.5 percent). D.C. United and Chicago also experienced double-digit percentage declines in average attendance.

The David Beckham factor? Average attendance for L.A. Galaxy road games also fell more than 21 percent.