The last month of the MLS regular season begins on the back of an outstanding week for crowds. According to Ian Plenderleith of USSoccerPlayers, there was an average of 23,100 for last week’s seven games, including two Beckham-less “Beckham” games and Cuauhtemoc Blanco’s Los Angeles debut against Chivas USA.
Aside from these expected average boosters, New England and New York also pulled better-than-expected crowds-more than 19,000 at Gillette Stadium and nearly 16,000 at Giants Stadium.
Why the boost? Maybe it’s because some soccer fans wake up for the playoff push (like other American sports fans). In any event, the week’s results helped push the season average to 16,387, nearly a thousand more than last season.