Taking Attendance 10/31/2016: NASL’s 20% Drop Just One Problem
After four straight years of average announced attendance growth, the second-division North American Soccer League took a step back at the gate this season, part of an overall challenging year that has put the league’s immediate future into some question.
Perhaps more important than losing 1,177 fans per game through the turnstiles in its sixth season, the NASL has already lost two solid franchises as the Tampa Bay Rowdies and Ottawa Fury have jumped to the third-division United Soccer League. When added to the departure of Minnesota United to MLS for next season and the ongoing dramas in Fort Lauderdale and Oklahoma City, the result is the perception – right or wrong – that the league’s very existence is in question1.
First, the numbers from the just-completed regular season, and then some notes after the jump:
. . .
The final attendance figure of 4,736 was 20% off last season’s DII record of 5,913 and the lowest for the league since 2013. Only Carolina (up 12%), Ottawa (up 6%) and Tampa Bay (up 4%) showed growth from a year ago and, as mentioned, two of those three are outta here. (Because someone asked on Twitter, the average without the clubs currently known to be departing was 4,185.)
. . .
Only Miami (up 64%) and Tampa Bay (up 3%) showed growth in the Fall two-thirds of the campaign. All the other teams (with the obvious exception of Puerto Rico, who did not compete in the Spring season), saw drops at the gate in the Fall ranging from 3% in Fort Lauderdale to 51% in Oklahoma City. Overall, the Spring season outdrew the Fall 5,071 to 4,596.
Perhaps more important than losing 1,177 fans per game through the turnstiles in its sixth season, the NASL has already lost two solid franchises as the Tampa Bay Rowdies and Ottawa Fury have jumped to the third-division United Soccer League. When added to the departure of Minnesota United to MLS for next season and the ongoing dramas in Fort Lauderdale and Oklahoma City, the result is the perception – right or wrong – that the league’s very existence is in question1.
First, the numbers from the just-completed regular season, and then some notes after the jump:
. . .
The final attendance figure of 4,736 was 20% off last season’s DII record of 5,913 and the lowest for the league since 2013. Only Carolina (up 12%), Ottawa (up 6%) and Tampa Bay (up 4%) showed growth from a year ago and, as mentioned, two of those three are outta here. (Because someone asked on Twitter, the average without the clubs currently known to be departing was 4,185.)
. . .
Only Miami (up 64%) and Tampa Bay (up 3%) showed growth in the Fall two-thirds of the campaign. All the other teams (with the obvious exception of Puerto Rico, who did not compete in the Spring season), saw drops at the gate in the Fall ranging from 3% in Fort Lauderdale to 51% in Oklahoma City. Overall, the Spring season outdrew the Fall 5,071 to 4,596.
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