Observations

Home games by Chicago, Colorado, Orlando, Portland, San Jose, Seattle, Kansas City, and Vancouver.

Six of the eight hosts entered the week on track to hit all 3 attendance targets, and remain so (Seattle and San Jose are mathematically not on track to hit one of their targets, but they each have HICAP games ahead). The other two... well, let's dive in:

• Chicago and Colorado had shocking numbers this weekend, with no weather to blame. Chicago, at least, had prepared us for this hairball with their first two dismal outings; but Colorado, after having sold out their opening game, dropped attendance by a full 1/3, for an attendance that was more wretched than the club's on-field performance. Colorado, in a small stadium, never had a chance for either the 20K or the Club Record marks (having played in a larger stadium in the past); this week's performance moves them from On Track to Possible for the Sellout mark. Chicago continued their steady progress toward elimination from their last available target of Club Record; three more games like this and they're done.
• Orlando continues to impress. A year ago any MLS fan would have been happy to have one of the expansion clubs hit 20K. Both are on pace for well above that, with OCSC likely to exceed 30K. At some point, you have to think this has ownership steering toward the larger version of their stadium for year 1. Yes, it's early in the season in the inaugural year when many clubs post record attendance seasons. But, heavens, it's impressive that there are currently three clubs averaging numbers previously not seen outside Seattle.
• Portland, Seattle, and Kansas City continue to be dependable sellouts. Vancouver continues to show very strongly so far this season, and are on track so far to have the sellout season they barely missed in 2014. You know who else continues to show strongly?
• San Jose. These guys are my favorite attendance story. It amazes me that just last season they couldn't consistently sell out a 10,500-seat venue, but with the buzz of the new stadium they're having to trouble selling out 18,000-seat Avaya. It's early days, and the real test will come mid-season against weaker, out-of-division opponents (I'll avoid naming names so as not to prematurely squash anyone's delusions). But if Dominic Kinnear, Innocent & Co. can put a consistent product out on the field, we may be witnessing the beginning of the next consistent sellout club. Keep in mind 12K of 18K are season tickets, leaving only 6K to be sold week-to-week. And playing in larger stadia for big games is a brilliant construction-money-saving strategy that helps boost their numbers with Seattlesque gamedays, while bringing the game closer to different parts of the Bay Area. Consider this: if San Jose gets the ~100K combined attendance for the two HICAP games that it did last year, they'd only need to sell 4K individual tickets in their remaining 15 games to average out to 18K for a sellout season. And having already sold out two games, they now only need to average ~3,700 individual tickets weekly. This new-stadium effect has to be encouraging for DCU and (possibly) NE fans.

Needlessly Rude Remarks

• ChivasUSA. Actually this might be favorite attendance story. So long, Goats!
• The Alphabet Effect? - Why is it that the best attendance clubs are clustered at the end of the alphabet, with the absolute dogs clustered at the beginning? I'm certain there's meaning in this, but it eludes me so far. Philly, there's hope for you yet.... (NE is clearly an exception. Ugh, it pains me to look at those numbers.)
• By the ChivasUSA calendar, Colorado and Chicago are playing their 4th-to-last seasons. Columbus, DC, and NE only have 3 seasons left.
• New England are in the lead for the Golden Ticket award, wherein the club with the worst season attendance gets a trophy of an unsold ticket.