Crowd Count: NASL openers down 37 percent

• by Paul Kennedy  @pkedit, May 4, 2016

Only two of the nine returning NASL teams -- its two Canadian teams, Ottawa and FC Edmonton -- had larger crowds for their home openers in 2016 than in 2015. The average for the home openers of the nine teams was 5,594, down from 8,882 in 2015, a decrease of 37 percent year-over-year.

The biggest drop was in Ft. Lauderdale, where the Strikers only drew 2,331 fans for their opener as compared to 11,691 in 2015. Their two subsequent home games have drawn only 1,097 and 1,086.

The NASL's other South Florida entrant, expansion Miami FC, drew 10,156 fans for its first home game. Its second home game attracted only 2,168 fans, though.

The other expansion team, Rayo OKC, drew 6,416 fans for its opener and then 5,851 fans in face of competition from the USL's Energy FC, who played the same day.

2016 NASL Home Openers:
ATT.  TEAM (2015)
10,156  Miami FC (-)
9,104 Indy Eleven (10,524)
9,050 Minnesota United (9,233)
7,023 Ottawa Fury (5,093)
6,416  Rayo OKC (-)
5,740  Tampa Bay Rowdies (7,010)
5,112 Jacksonville Armada (16,164)
5,094  New York Cosmos (12,550)
4,159 Carolina RailHawks (5,190)
2,731 FC Edmonton (2,492)
2,331 Ft. Lauderdale Strikers (11,691)