Philadelphia Acknowledges It Has An Attendance Problem, Does Something About It

For all the great things that are going on with the Independence, it’s a shame that few Philadelphians seem to care. Philadelphia is coming off of last weekend’s game against Boston which took in a paltry gate of 2,093; the lowest of the 2010 season and the second lowest in league history. (The first being the Sky Blue FC game last season that attracted 1,878 attendees. Also on July 4th. Thanks to Jacqueline Purdy for the correction).

Philadelphia ranks rock bottom in overall league attendance at 3,068. That average is buoyed by the 6,028 people that attended the Independence’s inaugural match, however. In reality, the team hasn’t been able to break the 3,000 mark since then. They’ve been the only WPS team with that distinction.

The numbers are particularly sad because Philadelphia is actually you know, a good team with good players, a great coach and compelling storylines. Amy Rodriguez was the finest American player of the month of June not named Michael Bradley. Karina LeBlanc has a great personality. Tina DiMartino has proven to be a great pick-up. Heather Mitts is pretty. Lianne Sanderson is a fine #10. Allison Falk is the best aerial defender in WPS. Val Henderson is the best goalkeeper in WPS without a starting job. Lori Lindsey is a fantastic creative (and destructive) force in midfield. Joanna Lohman is funny. Holmfridur Magnusdottir has an awesome name. Caroline Seger, well who knows about Caroline Seger.

Those things should all count for something. Come on Philadelphia, other WPS markets would love to have your team. The Independence deserve your love and affection.

(However, performance evidently has little to do with strong attendance numbers as FC Gold Pride are right down there with Philadelphia while Boston and Chicago have consistently had the best attendance figures of the season. In fact, the attendance average chart is almost the exact mirror image of the league table.)

The fact that West Chester is on the outskirts of Philadelphia probably hasn’t helped. But what else could account for such little interest? MLS’ Philadelphia Union (also an expansion side) actually has the second best overall attendance average in the league behind the Seattle Sounders. Granted, they’ve only had 3 home games so far but they’ve been able to attract 26,221 people to each match which is an outstanding figure for an expansion team that’s at the bottom of its conference. So come on guys, what gives?

With this in mind, General Manager Louise Waxler has appointed Eric Hansen as Director of Ticket Sales. Hansen has previously worked in similar positions with the New York Jets and a minor league hockey team. Per the press release, he specializes in “creating a strategic plan to increase sales from the previous season, implementing new procedures, organizing databases and tracking methods, and managing staff needs and communications.”

Sounds good to me.

Considering Hansen’s past experience with the Jets, perhaps Paul Riley can make personal phone calls to season ticket callers a la Rex Ryan. Hey, if it helps spur support…

That last line about not having the best players but having the best team sounds exactly like something Riley would say. Hmmmm.

(Thanks Ian)