MLS is Killing it
Attendances are up with stadiums near full capacity and there are some pretty decent retro kits floating about, too. Also, it's gone bonkers in Brazil, while fish cakes fly in Norway...
No seriously, MLS really is killing it. Although, we’re not sure if there’s a chant that scans for “We set records in key business metrics at midseason.” Accusations of the game going too corporate aside, these are some pretty impressive numbers:
Attendance
Total attendance: 8.3 million fans, the most in league history by this date.
Average attendance: 23,194 per game, a midseason high.
Large crowds: Six games with 60,000+ attendance, seven with 50,000+, and 21 with 40,000+.
Capacity: 94% average attendance rate.
Sellouts: 153 games, a midseason record.
Season tickets: 12% increase league wide.
Sponsorship
Revenue: 10% increase for both MLS and individual clubs.
New partners: 17 companies, including Michelob Ultra and Beats by Dre.
Retail
Jersey sales: 17% increase on MLSstore.com.
Top seller: Lionel Messi, also the top-selling adidas jersey globally.
Social and Digital
Social interactions: Over 400 million, a 230% increase from last season.
Video views: 1 billion on @MLS, triple last year's numbers.
Followers: Fastest-growing among major men's North American leagues on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
Inter Miami: Most followed North American team on TikTok, third on Instagram.
MLSsoccer.com: 102% increase in traffic year-to-date.
The MLS All-Star Game is this Wednesday, July 24th, in Columbus, followed by the Leagues Cup starting July 26th. Both events will be available on MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app.
In Other Soccer News
Transfers:
Most expensive transfers so far this summer:
The Guardian’s interactive transfer thing.
Soccer Ball of the Day
Behold the Nike Flight - the official ball of the Premier League…
Kit of the Day
We do like the MLS Archive Kit Collection, although it’s a bit of a stretch basing a kit solely seventies iconography and the setting sun as they have done with LAFC (still nice, though). It helps if there’s a story, and Portland Timbers have a lovely one with The Clive Kit.
The short blurb via the MLS post:
Portland’s archive kit pays homage to Clive Charles, a trailblazer in soccer. One of the first Black players in England’s Premier League, he joined the Timbers in 1978 and is known as one of the biggest names in Portland sports.
He only played 14 times for West Ham in the early seventies - where he played in the first English team to field three black players - in the English First Division (the precursor to the EPL), before spending four divisions at the lower end of Division 2 and one in Division 3 with Cardiff City prior to moving to the US and Portland. His brother, John, was the more accomplished player, also playing for West Ham alongside England’s winning World Cup captain, Bobby Moore.
After playing for the Timbers, he played indoor soccer before coaching both the University of Portland’s men’s team for 17 years as well as the women’s team consecutively from 1989 to 2003. From 1993 to 2000 he also coached the national team: women’s U20, men’s U23, and assistant coach of the men’s senior side from 1995 to 1998. He also coached the USMNT to the semi-finals of the 2000 Olympics and was one of five people to win more than 400 NCAA games.
It could’ve been considerably more had he not died from prostate cancer at 51.
But, that’s one heck of a shift for a coaching career.
Make sure to read his full story. He was more than just stats.
Goalkeeper of the Day
John Wilquer in the 98th minute for Brazilian fourth division side Atletico:
Penalty of the Day
It’s all going on in Brazil…
Stat(s) of the Day
Most MoMs in European domestic leagues over the years:
VAR Protest of the Day
Sunday’s game between Rosenborg and Lillestrøm was postponed after fans threw fish cakes on the pitch (eurosport.no)
Which match day foodstuffs are you willing to sacrifice to end VAR?
Quote of the Day
“Never want to win more than your players.” - Clive Charles
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