Deseret News | Real Salt Lake: Attendance historically low for MLS playoffs

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Real Salt Lake: Attendance historically low for MLS playoffs

Doel | 9:27 a.m. Nov. 2, 2008

The capacity at CommunityAmerica Bank Stadium is roughly 11K so % attendance for the Kansas City game was higher than in Salt Lake.

matt | 10:23 a.m. Nov. 2, 2008

15k is pretty good going up against ute football and the jazz in the same night.

cam | 10:48 a.m. Nov. 2, 2008

BYU played at 4, right when Real kickoff was. Utes and Jazz played later that night. Combine that with Higher ticket prices than normal when people are pinching thier pennies, and 14K doesn't look so bad for a sport that supposedly "no one cares about." I was there, and it was fantastic!

Comments continue below

Full90 | 11:21 a.m. Nov. 2, 2008

We sold out of the opening game of Rio Tinto but the crowd had a lot of lookie-loos, who would just as easily have turned up for the opening of a new hockey rink. Yesterday's crowd was mainly the faithful, and we made twice as much noise as there was for the stadium opening. I'll take 14k active and passionate over 20k sitting on their hands and whinning about hot chocolate any day.

georg | 12:27 p.m. Nov. 2, 2008

Crowd was fantastic, We sat below the Chivas supporters and they added to the atmosphere.
RSL played 90 minutes of great attacking soccer against a team hoping to go home tied, thanks to Yura (again) we are going to L.A. up a goal and with some real confidence.
Soccer haters in Utah will always be with us! but the best part of that is that Soccer will always be here in Utah with them!

Nussdorfer AC | 2:10 p.m. Nov. 2, 2008

It was a fabulous match. We played a great attacking style and used our strength and talent well. This should be the game plan every time we take the field. I hope we play as well in LA next week.

Thank you for a great game RSL.

Playoff audiences represent: | 5:39 p.m. Nov. 2, 2008

* People who will go on short notice, arranging their schedules around soccer instead of the reverse.
* People who don't need the weather to be great.
* People who will pay a little more for a big game, not needing the discounts given for regular season games.

Basically, that means the really committed fans. And if, after three years of misery and facing mostly a tower of cynicism from the rest of the community, RSL still has a core of 14.7k committed fans, they're doing pretty good.

Johnny Q | 11:15 p.m. Nov. 2, 2008

Way to not mention the fact that the 10,300 in Kansas City was actually a sellout. But that fact wouldn't have been convenient for the premise of the lead notebook item.

Soccer | 4:30 a.m. Nov. 3, 2008

Playing for 90 minutes and no one scores until the end. No one wonder few attend the games.

Cowboy | 7:54 a.m. Nov. 3, 2008

Scrap the play-offs.
1)the lead-in times are too short to activate the demand efficiently.
2)the emphasis on so few play-offs matches also detracts from the regular season.
3)there are mutliple competitions in soccer and knockout play exists already in the US Open Cup.
4)a second season reduces the length of the season.
5)the second season in soccer is next season and exists already in the form of regional Concacaf CL play (soccer also has a third season in the Fifa CWC - a true world series).
6)playoffs prevent US soccer from integrating into the global calendar and are detrimental to the professionalisation of the sport over the longer term.
7)pandering to the prejudices of US sports fans is harmful the development of their knowledge about the game.
8)playoffs are uneconomic - you lose more than you gain.

Duh | 9:46 a.m. Nov. 3, 2008

Just give the Play-off tickets away to season ticket holders. Its that simple.

Cohen | 12:26 p.m. Nov. 3, 2008

Scrap the play-offs. Don't "Americanize" the game. Follow the European format, single-table, with the winner of the regular season as the champion. Get rid of the salary cap, and institute relegation/promotion. Face the facts, Garber!

Playoff are here to stay | 1:33 p.m. Nov. 3, 2008

The only team will bad attendance was NE.
The playoff are here to stay. Mexican football uses it. The UEFA Champions League is basicaly a playoff.

@Cowboy | 2:28 p.m. Nov. 3, 2008

14.7k is more than enough to make it viable when you aren't paying rent. For the costs associated with just one game I would guess even 10k is enough.

Anonymous | 4:11 p.m. Nov. 3, 2008

For anyone that was at the game they probably noticed that the cheap tickets were almost all sold out. It is really simple, lower the price!

@@Cowboy | 8:52 a.m. Nov. 4, 2008

"For the costs associated with just one game I would guess even 10k is enough."

That's probably true. Look at Dallas. One of the worst attendance records in the league, but one of 3 or 4 profitable teams, because they're in their own stadium.

Also, @Cowboy and Cohen, you go ahead and dream on. The rest of us are going to enjoy the league as it is. And since it's always going to be "Americanized" to a certain extent, you're always going to have something to whine about. Everyone wins!

yeah | 10:44 p.m. Nov. 7, 2008

its a good thing Justin Braun played fairly well. a hometown boy, and a good story, so congrats justin on being dope

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