[BY THE NUMBERS] Without such big draws as Barcelona and Manchester United on tour, crowds were down for the summer series of international matches.
Only two games drew announced crowds of more than 50,000: Chelsea-AC Milan (57,748) at Miami's Sun Life Stadium, and Seattle Sounders-Chelsea (53,309) on the first day of the summer series.
Last summer, five international club exhibitions, all involving Manchester United and/or Barcelona, drew more than 60,000.
It is worth noting that three MLS games -- two hosted by
the Montreal and the third hosted by the Seattle Sounders -- have drawn more fans this year than the Chelsea-AC Milan game did in Miami.
A few other strong crowds were the Chelsea-Paris
SG and Real Madrid-AC Milan matches at the new Yankee Stadium in New York, the Liverpool-Roma game at Boston 's Fenway Park and a Liverpool-Tottenham game in Baltimore that drew more than 40,000
fans.
On the other hand, a sparse crowd turned out for the AC Milan-Olimpia game as part of a doubleheader with the Revs' MLS game at Gillette Stadium and less than 30,000 were on hand
for the Real Madrid-Santos game in Las Vegas, the homecoming of Santos' American star, Herculez Gomez.
More international matches involved MLS
clubs this summer, while less featured Mexican clubs as sparring partners.
Summer of Soccer Crowds:
July
18
53,309 Seattle Sounders vs. Chelsea (England)
17,915 Philadelphia Union vs. Aston Villa
(England)
July 21
33,087 Toronto vs. Liverpool (England) (at Rogers
Centre)
16,338 Chicago Fire vs. Aston Villa (England)
July 22
38,202 Chelsea (England) vs. Paris SG (France) (at Yankee Stadium, New York)
22,181 Roma (Italy) vs. Zaglebie (Poland)
(at Wrigley Field, Chicago)
July 24
25,676 LA Galaxy vs. Tottenham
(England)
20,438 Portland Timbers vs. Aston Villa (England)
19,225 Montreal Impact vs. Lyon (France)
14,769 Sporting Kansas City vs. Montpellier (France)
6,484 Colorado Rapids vs. Swansea City (Wales)
8,976 Columbus Crew vs. Stoke City (England)
July 25
37,169
Roma (Italy) vs. Liverpool (England) (at Fenway Park, Boston)
19,236 MLS All Stars vs. Chelsea (England) (at PPL Park, Chester, Pa.)
July 27
14,651 Roma (Italy) vs. El Salvador (national team) (at Red Bull Arena, Harrison,
N.J.)
n/a Ventura County Fusion vs. Swansea City (Wales)
July 28
57,748 Chelsea (England) vs. AC Milan (Italy) (at Sun Life Stadium, Miami)
42,273 Liverpool (England) vs. Tottenham (England) (M+T Bank
Stadium, Baltimore)
15,166 Montpellier (France) vs. Lyon (France) - French Super Cup (Red Bull Arena, Harrison N.J.)
13,176 D.C. United vs. Paris SG (France)
10,441 Orlando City vs. Stoke City (England)
July
31
21,701 New York Red Bulls vs. Tottenham (England)
9,239 San Jose
Earthquakes vs. Swansea City (Wales)
Aug. 1
16,197 Sporting Kansas City
vs. Stoke City (England)
Aug. 2
30,317 LA Galaxy vs. Real Madrid
(Spain)
Aug. 4
17,592 AC Milan (Italy) vs. Olimpia (Honduras) (at Gillette
Stadium, Foxboro, Mass.)
Aug. 5
29,152 Real Madrid (Spain) vs. Santos
(Mexico) (at Sam Boyd Stadium, Whitney Nev.)
Aug. 8
49,474 Real Madrid
(Spain) vs. AC Milan (Italy) (at Yankee Stadium, New York, NY)
Aug. 11
34,018 Real Madrid (Spain) vs.
Celtic (Scotland) (at Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia)



Andrzej Kowalski


