03-05-2005 23:28									#91
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With bonuses, DC United spent about $2.5 million on salaries last year. There must be some room there, if the cap is $1.25 million...

	03-05-2005 23:28									#92
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they have a salary cap, whatever they make over $1.25 a year dont matter cuz they cant spend it on the team.

and you dont sign a player because you can, you sign him cuz he will make your team better. in this case he didnt. you can sign 2 or three other players from europe for the price of one adu to raise the level of the game. one player cant make a team play better, but two or three guys can make a marked difference (especially if they are completments ie. all play on the left side, all play in the midfield, etc)

	03-05-2005 23:31									#93
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I can guarantee you that Adu made the league well over $500,000 last year. It was a rational bet that paid off.

quote: 8 out of the 10 teams make the playoffs hahahahahahah

There are 12 teams now, FYI.

	03-05-2005 23:31									#94
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Btw, Adu actually makes $300,000 as counted against the cap. His $500,000 included bonuses such as loyalty bonuses, marketing bonuses (not performance bonuses).

And he sold a Hell of a lot jersies. He'll also pull in a REALLY big transfer fee. Not sure how much of that will go to DC, but perhaps they can use some of it for a Soccer Specific Stadium they are planning.

	03-05-2005 23:32									#95
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quote: Originally posted by DanS There are 12 teams now, FYI.

Yeah, I was about to point that out . From all reports, it seems Chivas USA and Real Salt Lake are pulling good attendance. See how long RSL can keep it going.

	03-05-2005 23:33									#96
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The soccer stadium in DC probably will be built with public funds on choice real estate. The mayor is gearing it up that way as a twofer with the new baseball stadium.

	03-05-2005 23:35									#97
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Really? That can't be very popular... I know the baseball stadium wasn't.


Woot... Chelsea and Liverpool! I only wish that ESPN would show Milan and PSV tomorrow, but I have to get some work done so probably better they didn't .

	03-05-2005 23:37									#98
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quote: Really? That can't be very popular... I know the baseball stadium wasn't.

The new baseball stadium will be a $700 million stadium before it's all said and done, including the infrastructure.

These soccer stadiums are inexpensive. The Columbus stadium was built for about $30 million, although it was with private money. I can't see how this order of magnitude expenditure would be unpopular, although infrastructure improvements might have to be made.

	03-05-2005 23:52									#99
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the commentators are from liverpool. no way can that old guy see if the ball was in or not.

	03-05-2005 23:53									#100
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quote: Originally posted by lightblue College soccer is not a big audience draw though is it (not like football or basketball).

Of the 50 or so teams that report attendance for Division I...

The women draw about 1,300 per match (300 teams total in Division I)
The men draw about 1,000 per match (198 teams total in Division I)

	03-05-2005 23:57									#101
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That isn't exactly a lot, Dan.

	04-05-2005 00:01									#102
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I DanS'ed you. If you combine the women's and men's teams, that's 2,300 per match for the 50 or so schools that report attendance. I see the possibility of good growth in these figures.

	04-05-2005 00:03									#103
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You can't combine both. They are different teams. And women are not sending players to the MLS. There is no womens' professional soccer league anymore. The WUSA folded.

	04-05-2005 00:03									#104
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Wus?

	04-05-2005 00:05									#105
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OK, then of the 100 or so Division I teams (out of 498 total) that report attendance figures, the average is about 1,150 per match. I think that's more than respectable for the current state of affairs. A lot of people are watching soccer in the US.

	04-05-2005 00:07									#106
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I like to think soccer would be more well received if goals were 6 points instead of one, and headers off of courner kicks were 3 points, and penalty shots were 2 or 1... and if you score on your own goal you get a point and the ball back.

	04-05-2005 00:11									#107
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quote: Originally posted by DanS OK, then of the 100 or so Division I teams (out of 498 total) that report attendance figures, the average is about 1,150 per match. I think that's more than respectable for the current state of affairs. A lot of people are watching soccer in the US.

Do people who watch womens' soccer watch mens' soccer, like the MLS? I don't think so. And the contrary applies as well (men don't watch women).

And would they watch the game if it wasn't their college playing? Doesn't seem like it.

	04-05-2005 00:11									#108
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quote: Originally posted by Japher I like to think soccer would be more well received if goals were 6 points instead of one, and headers off of courner kicks were 3 points, and penalty shots were 2 or 1... and if you score on your own goal you get a point and the ball back.

	04-05-2005 00:14									#109
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quote: I like to think soccer would be more well received if goals were 6 points instead of one, and headers off of courner kicks were 3 points, and penalty shots were 2 or 1... and if you score on your own goal you get a point and the ball back.

The whole fun of the game is that you can only win by getting the ball in the net.

	04-05-2005 00:21									#110
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quote: Originally posted by Az Yeah, 20-30k are ok, I guess, ( but only for 2-3rd tier euro teams). However TV viewers, and TV revenues are much larger in europe, it seems.

Here's a site for attendance stats. Take, for instance, the Premier attendance. 20 teams.

http://www.soccer-stats.com/divisio...ces.asp?divno=1

I can easily imagine an MLS of about 1.5x this size in aggregate attendance some time in the future. Right now, the MLS is something like a poor man's Division 1 (Championship) as far as attendance goes.

http://www.soccer-stats.com/divisio...ces.asp?divno=2

	04-05-2005 00:23									#111
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quote: The whole fun of the game is that you can only win by getting the ball in the net.

Us American's need high scoring games, and rules that are so confussing not even the refs no them all...

Also, if the soccer players could take breaks every 5 minutes or so... that would be nice, thank you.

	04-05-2005 00:24									#112
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quote: Originally posted by DanS I can easily imagine an MLS of about twice this size in aggregate attendance some time in the future.

In our lifetimes? I can't.

	04-05-2005 00:25									#113
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quote: and rules that are so confussing not even the refs no them all...

The rules are fairly simple... especially compared to American sports.

	04-05-2005 00:26									#114
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Well, I put it at a more humble 1.5x after thinking about it some. Certainly within our lifetimes.

	04-05-2005 00:27									#115
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Nope, not even that. I'd be shocked if the MLS reached parity with English aggregate attendance in our lifetimes.

	04-05-2005 00:30									#116
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aggregate attendance? that depends on how many games are played- the important thing is average attendance.

a) most teams in the premiership are 2-3rd tier teams continent wise.
b) the premier league suffers from tiny stadiums - the biggest stadium is 67k only!
c) TV viewerships are much better.

	04-05-2005 00:37									#117
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MLS plays roughly the same number of games as the EPL, IIRC.

The highest average attendance MLS has ever had was the first season with 17,500. The EPL team with the least average attendance in the 2004-05 season is Fulham, which had 19,765 (which is 89% capacity, btw). So the least attendance team in the EPL has a greater average attendance than the MLS' best season ever.

	04-05-2005 00:41									#118
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Yeh, but how long have the EPL teams been around?

	04-05-2005 00:55									#119
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And back then there was no TV either and people couldn't really drive 50 miles to go to a game.

The Football League opened in 1888 (first professional league in Britain). In 10 years it was drawing large crowds in terraced stadiums.

	04-05-2005 01:02									#120
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quote: a) most teams in the premiership are 2-3rd tier teams continent wise.

I would like to see the attendance figures Europe-wide. There used to be a site on this, but I can't find it now.