Crew home games: Game 2 v. Game 1

With the Crew's packed-to-the-rafters crowd of 7,465 for last night's home game against Colorado, BigSoccer is surely full of some people claiming that the Crew should be moved because Columbus is a terrible market, assuming of course that attendance is the sole indicator of an organization's financial health. Yesterday marks the second straight season that the season's second home game dipped below 7,500 for attendance, the two smallest crowds in Crew Stadium to watch an MLS game. Yes, we all know that the announced attendance does not equal the number of people in the stands. That fact's been stated at least 8,938 times on BigSoccer without it sticking; KKKrew gets mentioned approximately half as many times and all of a sudden foreign newspapers claim there's a Crew supporters' group by that name. Amazing.

Anyway, for reference only here is a tabulation of each season's first home game attendance, second home game attendance, percentages, and how the second game compares to the overall season average. Individual game attendances were taken from the Crew's media guide, so they're only as accurate as provided. Then again, the media guide cover states that Frankie Hejduk was an MLS Best XI selection in 2008. Season averages were taken from the MLS web site.

Year...Game 1 Att...Game 2 Att...G2/G1....Avg Att...G2/Avg
1996....25,266.......24,343......96.4%....18,950....128.5%
1997....14,485.......10,622......73.6%....15,043.....70.9%
1998....14,148.......10,121......71.5%....12,275.....82.5%
1999....24,741.......20,782......84.0%....17,696....117.4%
2000....16,095.......12,952......80.5%....15,451.....83.8%
2001....17,947.......14,488......80.7%....17,511.....82.7%
2002....18,450.......11,103......60.2%....17,429.....63.7%
2003....22,058.......12,165......55.2%....16,250.....74.9%
2004....20,356.......13,271......65.2%....16,872.....78.7%
2005....14,358.......12,449......86.7%....12,916.....96.4%
2006....20,818.......13,399......64.4%....13,294....100.8%
2007....13,782.......13,290......96.4%....15,230.....87.3%
2008....13,843........6,733......48.6%....14,622.....46.1%
2009....14,686........7,465......50.8%....XX,XXX.....XX.X%