MLS Expansion
Take Me Out to the Playoffs – Finals
The playoff numbers look like this…
| 5 year comparison | ||||||
| Quarterfinals Totals(both legs) | ||||||
| Avg | +/- | Teams | ||||
| 2007 | 17,041 | 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 | |||
| 2010 | 18,551 | -10.62% | CLB, COL, DAL, LA, RBNY, RSL, SJ, SEA | |||
| 2011 | 20,776 | 11.99% | COL, HOU, LA, PHL, RBNY, RSL, SEA, SKC | |||
| Semifinals Totals | ||||||
| Avg | +/- | Teams | ||||
| 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 | |||
| 2010 | 22,390 | -4.92% | COL v SJ – LA v FCD | |||
| 2011 | 22,138 | -1.12% | COL v SJ – LA v FCD | |||
| Finals Totals | ||||||
| Avg | +/- | Teams | Venue | |||
| 2007 | 39,859 | NE v HOU | RFK Stadium, Wash DC | |||
| 2008 | 27,000 | -32.26% | RBNY v CLB | Home Depot Center, LA, CA | ||
| 2009 | 46,011 | 70.41% | RSL v LA | Qwest Field, Seattle, WA | ||
| 2010 | 21,700 | -52.84% | COL v FCD | BMO Field, Toronto, ONT, CA | ||
| 2011 | 30,281 | 39.54% | HOU v LA | Home Depot Center, LA, CA | ||
| Playoff Totals | ||||||
| Avg | +/- | |||||
| 2007 | 19,771 | |||||
| 2008 | 16,488 | -16.60% | ||||
| 2009 | 23,559 | 42.88% | ||||
| 2010 | 19,535 | -17.08% | ||||
| 2011 | 19,891 | 1.82% | ||||
Observations
Potpourri of Soccer Stories
MLS
- Expansion: Rochester Rhinos no longer on MLS radar
- MLS_UK: Diary of an MLS Convert(East) – Diary of an MLS Convert(West) – Week 14 of Glenn Williams’ brilliant series.
Tourneys
- Copa Libertadores: Santos and Penarol play out scoreless draw in 1st leg of final
- US Open Cup: US Open Cup 1st round recap
- World Cup ’14: Belize kicks off World Cup qualifying with victory
Interesting Reads
- Jamie Trecker: Who has the courage to save CONCACAF?
- In The Stands: The Disillusioned Football Blogger, a series… Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 – Part 4 – Part 5 – Part 6
Friday Morning Football Potpourri
MLS
- MLS_UK: Diary of an MLS Convert(East) – Diary of an MLS Convert(West) – Week 9 of Glenn Williams’ brilliant series.
- Zac Lee Rigg: No history, no problem – Real Salt Lake fans have grown along with the team
- Stats: MLS Castro Index
- Portland: How cool is this Timbers Propaganda?
- Johan Freedman: Why can’t teams beat Jet Lag Effect?
- Inside Minnesota Soccer: Major League Soccer to Minnesota? Probably, and Here’s Why
Interesting Reads
- When Saturday Comes: The Life Lessons of Relegation – via Must Read Soccer
- FIFA.com: Inter’s Zanetti reaches remarkable milestone
- Guardian: How Valeriy Lobanovskyi’s appliance of science won hearts and trophies
- Harry Harris: English football ‘set back ten years’
The Business of Soccer
- Bill Wilson-BBC: FIFA contests free-to-air World Cup TV broadcasts in UK
News and Views from Fri Jul 30
MLS
- Sounders deal Ljungberg to Chicago
- Chhetri Leaves For National Team Duty
- Revolution signs two forwards
- Revolution waives Michael Videira
- Red Bulls Waive Veteran Forward Wolyniec
- Union sign JT Noone, waive Brian Perk
- FC Dallas Sign Three From Development Academy; Deal Anthony Wallace To Colorado
- DC United U17′s win 2nd consecutive SUM Cup
- Galaxy U-20′s Move One Step Closer to USL Super-20 Finals
- Steve Davis: MLS considers moving to 34 games. I’ve been asking this question for several months. Steve is the first to address the issue as far as I can tell.
- Expansion: MLS’ 20th team at All Things Footy. Thanks to Kartik for this link.
USA Soccer Stuff
- USSF D2: A Look Ahead at Week 17.
- USMNT U20: U.S. U-20′s Win Milk Cup.
Around the World and other Stuff
Player Moves
- Lazio sign Javier Garrido from Manchester City.
- David James joins Bristol City.
- Sami Khedira to join Real Madrid from Stuttgart.
- Defender Stam joins Wigan from FC Twente.
- Ajax signs Morocco striker El Hamdaoui from AZ.
- Portuguese international Miguel Veloso headed to Genoa.
- West Brom signs Hull keeper Myhill.
The Business of Soccer
News and Views from Thu Jul 15
MLS
- Midfield error leads to late game winner for Seattle.
- RBNY: Thierry Henry And The Foreign Perception Of MLS.
- Steve Davis: Henry brings cachet to New York.
- Rob Hughes: Bigger Than Beckham? Henry Arrives.
- Jason Davis: MLS the Retirement League, Henry the Savior.
- Drew Epperly: Expansion – The Other Markets.
- Expansion: San Diego and MLS.
- Expansion: Mets talking with MLS about soccer team.
- Expansion: English Club Looking at Atlanta for MLS Expansion(unconfirmed).
- Seattle’s new DP Nfuko added to active roster.
- Namoff Suspends Career, Questions on Concussions in MLS.
- Sports Marketing Experts On Why Thierry Henry’s MLS Move Is Not In The Same League As David Beckham’s.
Club Tourneys
- N.A. SuperLiga: Houston 2, Pachuca 1.
- N.A. SuperLiga: Puebla 2, ChivasUSA 1.
| N.A. SuperLiga | |||||
| Group A | |||||
| W | D | L | Pts | GD | |
| Monarchas Morelia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| New England | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| UNAM Pumas | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | -1 |
| Chicago | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | -4 |
| Group B | |||||
| W | D | L | Pts | GD | |
| Houston | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| Puebla | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| Chivas USA | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | -1 |
| Pachuca | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | -1 |
Around the World and other Stuff
- Brian Quarstad: Rethinking Division-2 Pro Soccer in North America – Part 3.
- Brasileirao update.
- Papa Bouba Diop leaves Portsmouth for AEK Athens.
- Uruguay striker Cavani to join Napoli on loan.
- Celtic Sign Mexican Defender Efrain Juarez.
- Man City Uses Riches for Good in New York City.
- Sid Lowe: Del Bosque finally proves he’s far more than just a player’s coach.
- USMNT: Project 2010: a postmortem.
- Since Man U is touring North America: The Clock is Ticking Man U.
The Business of Soccer
- Greg Clarke gets serious with English League clubs over salary caps.
- False profits. Revealed: how Tottenham cooked the books.
News and Views from Thur Jul 8
MLS
- RSL wins ugly in Chicago
- expansion: San Antonio looks to score pro soccer team.
- tactics: Linking up through the midfield.
- signing: Chivas USA Announces Maldonado Signing.
World Cup On Field News and Updates
And then there were two. Netherlands v Spain on Sunday for the trophy.
- FIFA
- ESPNSoccernet
- Goal.com
- The Guardian
- SI
- The Netherlands View: How to win a World Cup, pt. 1….
Non Game Specific Football World Cup Stories
- FIFA Looks to Compensate Fans Who Missed Semifinal.
- Brazil 2014 World Cup Head Says Plans Now on Track.
- How Important Is Width To Victory in the World Cup?
- World Cup no panacea for South Africa’s economic woes.
- Referee System to Change For Next Cup, Says FIFA.
- Dan Loney: Honor Among Thieves.
US News and Views
- Salgado opts for USMNT over Chivas de Guadalajara.
- Looking South, The Shifting Focus of the U.S. U-20s.
- The Makeup of an “American” National Team.
Player Moves and other News
- Gosling free to find new club.
- How can we justify footballers’ wages?
- Barcelona A Good Example Of Suicidal Financial Management.
- Barcelona’s Debt And Salary Caps in Europe.
- Portuguese keeper Eduardo signs with Genoa.
- Is England’s Premier League the Third Best Domestic League in the World?
- Spurs announce £20m shirt deal.
- Villarreal agree deal for West Brom’s Borja.
- Wolfsburg signs Denmark defender Kjaer.
- Sunderland sell Cana to Galatasaray.
- Liverpool sign Serbian striker Milan Jovanovic.
- Belhadj leaves Portsmouth for Al Sadd.
- Palermo sign Polish defender Glik.
- Middlesbrough adopt novel new approach to shirt sponsorhip.
- Tottenham try to double their money by splitting shirt sponsor deal.
- On Boringness: Soccer vs. Baseball.
- President Rosella Sensi Signs Over Roma To Unicredit, But Will Stay On Until New Buyers Are Found.
- When It Comes to Stats, Soccer Seldom Counts.
News and Views from Wed May 19
MLS
- Expansion: Miami fans renew expansion push.
- LA draws Puerto Rico, Seattle draws Central American team in CCL preliminary play.
- Crew set CONCACAF Champions League as priority.
- Portuguese champs Benfica defeat Revs in friendly.
- Philadelphia sells out season ticket packages.
Interesting Reads
- Peter Wilt: Sports results effect on one fan’s psyche.
- Some statistical comparisons of the top Euro leagues.
- US players and the Mexican league.
- Brian Zygo: Americans cheering for England and the USA on June 12.
Player Moves
The Business of Soccer
Club Tourneys
- CONCACAF Champions League draw.
- Sevilla win Copa del Rey.
- Sao Paulo over Cruzeiro to move into Copa Libertadores semifinals.
- Canadian NutraLite Championship: Vancouver draws with Toronto to stay alive in tourney.
- Chicago Fire fall as Sister Cities International Tourney gets underway.