The New York Red Bulls announced a crowd of 15,619 at its new stadium for last weekend's game against Philadelphia. That was a bit disappointing for what is hoped to be an exciting Northeast rivalry. "They told me a week ago there would be around 5,000 fans from Philadelphia," Bulls coach Hans Backe said. "It was probably just a couple of hundred. I don't know why."

The Red Bulls, last season's worst team, lead the East with a 4-1-0 record. "It was a very beautiful day," said Bulls striker Juan Pablo Angel. "It is not an expensive sport to watch and we're getting results. It's probably not being as pretty as we'd like to, but we're getting results. Hopefully people will come in numbers for the next game."

Michael Lewis reported that three busloads of Sons of Ben, the Union's supporters' club, watched the game. It was not known how many other Union fans drove here.

"The last game was very entertaining with Dallas even though if it was a game that could have been 4-4," Backe said. "It's a stadium that should sell itself. In this area, there are a lot of South Americans, Europeans, Portuguese who love soccer. It should not be sold out, but an average of between 17-20,000. But I have no answer why."