THE BECKHAM EFFECT - Has attendance changed?

By: Dave Martinez | October 2nd, 2007

Game of the year.

Revolutionary

The turning point.

Well, the Beckham Bandwagon has significantly died down. But when you look back to those 60,000+, we all were wondering . . . what would the lingering effects of this game be on our Red Bulls and their fanbase . . . . well, here is your breakdown . . . . and I waited three home games for proper analysis . . . . . .

(btw: soft cast off, typing here I come!!!)

CHICAGO FIRE (2 weeks after the Galaxy Game and the Debut of Cuatehmoc and Wanchope in NY)
WEATHER: Clear -and- 76 degrees
ATTENDANCE: 13,219

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION
Attendance: 16,823
weather: Partly Cloudy -and- 73 degrees

REAL SALT LAKE
Weather: Partly Cloudy -and- 71 degrees
Attendance: 15,855

After a two week layoff, a lackluster crowd descended in Jersey for New York Debut of Mr. Cuatehmoc Blanco and Paolo Wanchope.

I think we dropped the ball. I am sorry to say, but some radio play would have been nice - some form of related advertisement in the papers . . . SOMETHING.

Instead, we sat on our laurels for 2 weeks, NOTpromoting the hell out of El Cuah arriving in Giants Stadium. We relied on word of mouth. We had the Mickey Mantle of Mexican Soccer debuting on NY soil, and we did squat.

I think an important chance to build was missed. Here was a chance for Red Bull to show that they are on top of the pulse of New York Soccer. Chance Blown.

Now is this Beckhams fault? Was his 60,000 a one game mirage? I guess it depends on the way you look at it.

AND THEN . . . .

We have New England. Standard attendance for a standard important game.

AND THEN . . . . . . . . . .

RSL. For a team which brings little interest to the table, the crowds did come (somewhat).

So . . . ?

The weather has been great for all the games. We have had opportunities to build upon. Yet I feel we havent gone the extra step to build off the momentum of that legendary game.

I am not saying that I expected 60,000 for Cuatehmoc . . . but a paltry 13?!?! Come now. We could do better than that. And throw in Wanchope? There is no reason 30,000 couldnt have been there for this game.

IN SUMMATION . . . .

So far, we are left scratching our collective heads. Lets face it, BECKHAM is what bought people here to watch us play, and BECKHAM will be the lone figure that people will tune in to watch. Attendance in New York has been the standard, maybe a bit better.

But New York demands more. And it will take more than one game against Golden Balls to turn our fortunes around. Though he is the catalyst, he wont be the ultimate solution without our organizations backing.

Until then . . . this little experiment has been thrown a curve . . . . and the results are inconclusive . . . .