A Closer Look at USL Attendance

With all the rumors swirling around about Cary getting a USL First Division team in 2007, there's been a lot of discussion on various soccer forums about whether or not the Triangle Area can support a pro soccer team. I thought it would be interesting to take a closer look at the USL. My first task was to survey the average attendance at USL First Division games. Montreal lead the First Division with an average attendance of 11,176 per game in 2005. Rochester average 9,570 per game and the remaining 9 teams in the First Division were under 5,600 per game (Virginia Beach being the smallest at 1,240). Why is 5,600 a magic number? Because in 32 games played at SAS Soccer Park, the WUSA's Carolina Courage averaged 5,603 per game. Sure, there'll be no home games against a visiting Mia Hamm, but surely a well-marketed USL First Division team can average 4,000-5,000 fans per game putting it squarely in the middle-to-upper reaches of USL soccer attendance.

-- Jarrett @ 1/12/2006 03:37:00 PM