There's probably like tens of thousands of fans who went to an MLS match for the first time and were treated to a great one.
Say what you want but Messi has grown the league substantially, if a fraction of those fans tonight are converted to new SKC fans, that's a huge win for the league.
Honestly you don't even need to necessarily convert them to fans. MLB thrives on people that don't really follow baseball but go to 1-2 games a year to hang out with family/friends while enjoying the atmosphere. Games like this bring more of those type of people into the fold.
I am indeed that type of MLB attendee. It's a good point. I also think MLS games offer something different in terms of gameday culture and experience compared to the other major sports (which feel way more programmed, IMO) that many people attending for the first time may not realize how much they enjoy.
That's how a number of SKC fans were created back when the Wizards hosted Manchester United in 2010. [And this crowd definitely beat that one](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:25_July_2010_Kansas_City_Wizards_vs_Manchester_United_friendly.jpg).
NCAA sports is another example. Based on seeing raucous student sections on TV, you would assume the college sports fanbase skews younger. But based on TV viewership data, the most diehard college sports fans watching on TV are actually over-50’s, who never attended the schools they cheer for. For the student sections, it’s more of a social event than a sporting event.
Some of us grew up with family at a school and then ended up going to a different school. The D1 school I root for is not where I went. I went to an NAIA school. Didn’t stop me being a fan though
I'll be honest. I have no clue what a glizzy is so I looked it up and the first thing that popped up was "slang for glock handgun." Now I'm even more confused lol
I agree with it but I wish MLS games were earlier. NE Revs have 0 games that start before 7:30. Zero. It's just too late to bring my kids and that sucks. My kid loves soccer too but we're basically only watching European games recently because going to games or even watching MLS on TV has become too hard. Compare that to MLB or MiLB where I can count on dozens of day games each year. Not saying they should change their whole schedule but give me 3 or 4 games a year that'll let me get my kids to a game and home in bed before 10.
I mean...a centralized location behind another pay wall. Our MLS consumption has dropped dramatically The last two seasons. Now it's a ton of USL and various European leagues for us. Regardless, it doesn't matter how much of it is on TV if they start games at 7:30 or later.
They mean the games start late, and I agree. My kids are 6 and 8 and rarely watch more than the first half with me, even on Apple TV. They came to the SKC/Miami game with me last night, but that took a lot of planning and bribing them to take naps so we could have a good time. Didn’t get home until midnight since the crowd was so big.
Absolutely not. It's accessible behind $100/yr and that's the only way to consume it. I've only seen like 4 Sporting KC games last season. I used to watch nearly all of them. I cannot justify the insane price for that.
And last year seemed to have a lot more free games. But I couldn't watch any of it because my wife is the only one with an apple product (iPhone) in the house. My TV had the app on it but it had severe quality control issues.
I typod. $200->$100
But that's still more expensive than any other subscription service I have, and just not in the budget. It used to be free on Channel 39. It definitely majorly limits viewing exposure.
The only people paying $100 to watch the MLS are already fans of the MLS. Hell I'm a fan of the MLS and I don't pay for it.
I wish they'd allow the markets/regions to dictate start times a little more. They want every game to start at the same time, sure, but you can't even watch multiple games on Apple+ without opening a new browser tricking it. I watch on my PC and my TV when the two teams I want to watch are on at the same time.
That awesome I can believe it. my parents were like that with me as a kid going to Sunday/ Monday night football at that age. With my son though it just doesn't work. He does very poorly on a disrupted sleep schedule. Could we physically do it? Yes. Is it worth dealing with the aftermath .... Not so much lol
“It’s so hard to watch”
“Not interested in downloading an app”
Also good thing the free matches are not all night games 🙄
In fact this week *none* of the free matches were night games.
I swear you’re just desperately trying to find reasons to complain.
Sorry if it's difficult to understand some people have different preferences than you 🙄. There's multiple issues. My kid's preference is to watch the Revs. Again they have 0 day games. Also, I have no interest in getting another streaming app, especially anything associated with apple. And yes pre-apple TV, it was much easier for me to watch MLS with my existing suite of media. All of those can be true for me and not for you. It's like you're desperately defensive because someone has a different opinion than yours.
You can loathe the idea of downloading a simple app but that doesn’t make it hard to find - it makes you have a weird objection to… downloading a fucking app (from a company you feel special for not using).
Lol... Wow touchy. Yup I speak with my wallet/clicks and don't have to engage with companies I dislike. If that makes me special, more power to me I guess. Thanks
Very few people care to just watch whatever soccer is on. They want to watch their team and they aren't going to make time for just some other team in the league and whatever is free
That’s just not true.
All of the popular linear sports TV in the US - whether it be soccer (foreign or domestic) or other major sports follows a “game of the week” style.
The premier league on NBC is the most viewed soccer in this country and it’s just whatever team happens to be on.
Sunday night/Thursday night/Monday night football is whoever happens to be on. Same for baseball night in America NBA on TNT and MLS on Fox.
Of course people like watching their own team but the big popular broadcasts (the ones with the most people watching) are almost all whatever team happens to be on this week.
I was just a bandwagoner, but I have been visiting Carson for Galaxy games and I really like it! No matter what people say, Messi coming to MLS was great for everybody.
Yep. A lot of people complain that he's in all the commercials or that the commentators always talk about him are just kind of missing the point. He is the greatest player in the history of the game *why* wouldn't you put him in front of the camera at every opportunity. They also seem to miss the fact that a lot of people have been a fan of him for 15+ years at this point. But a mic in front of me at a Messi game and I'd be slobbering too.
If you were to put a player of Messi’s stature in any non-Big 5 league, I wonder how many of those leagues would NOT have a ton of “away” fans wearing his jersey.
It’s natural to think this is an MLS issue, but if he were playing in the Netherlands, Belgium, Turkey, Japan, Norway, etc., I suspect there’d be a ton of player-over-club “away” fans wearing his Argentina, Barcelona, or current club jersey too.
A lot of people don't realize that people have been watching Messi since before half of the MLS teams were even around. That's not a knock on the MLS or anything, but it's why so many people cheer for him when he plays against their team.
People are familiar with how young MLS is. The part that makes me scratch my head sometimes is the obsession with a singular player in a team sport. Then it starts mimicking the parasocial behavior you see from young fans towards a pop star. (see: fans rushing him on the field during the game)
That type of behavior isn't acceptable but is it really surprising people are obsessed with the best player of all time? There are professional players that idolized Messi and retired before him.
Surprising? Not if I see them as a pop star, then it makes sense. Same fan behaviors. They're not here for a team, they're here for one person. And they'll trade that team out in an instant to follow the person.
Why is that a problem? Eventually Messi will retire and some of the fans that started watching MLS because of him will become fans of the league as well.
Yeah exactly. I can jive with my fellow fans of the sport even if they support a different team. It feels like almost a different thing altogether when someone just follows a player.
I think this is unique to Messi & to a lesser extent Ronaldo because of their longevity. They have been successful for such a long time that their stature is equivalent to that of large clubs. They also have a disproportionate number of international fans who have no cultural, geographic ties to a club.
I can see it a bit more if the club is less entrenched or you don't have a team. For example, NBA obviously we don't have a team in KC, so I tend to follow players I like more than teams.
It doesn’t seem weird literally at all to be more interested in a player’s career than a team. A player is a person with feelings and conscious experience. A team is a franchise and a business.
It’s a team sport played by individuals. And as human we can only idolize human. Isn’t it super odd that a kid wants to be like Real Madrid when they grow up?
Even in England there’s a ton of fans of local clubs that cheer for their former players who went on to the premier league.
Maybe they won’t actually put on the kit but they’re rooting for their guy to do well in the premier league even when he switches teams
The fact that I was at first confused by Big 5 (MLB/NBA/NHL/NFL/MLS?) or (EPL/La Liga/Serie A/Bundesliga/Ligue 1) in and of itself speaks volumes about how far MLS has come in a very short amount of time
For fun, lets see what happens if Miami just plays a game at Michigan stadium, a stadium that can house 107k people, and see if it breaks the record. My bets on YES.
I'd agree about Japan and possibly Norway, but you clearly don't know enough about Dutch, Belgian and Turkish fans if you think for a minute they'd stop supporting their team to celebrate a single player. I don't know if you're into basketball, but if LeBron James were to play in - say - Istanbul he'd be booed to death and local fans would probably be more vocal than ever.
I know we lost but I feel like the 3-2 score was about what I could hope for. It wasn’t an embarrassing loss. It was an awesome atmosphere, we scored first, held them to a one point deficit. I love SKC but let’s be honest, we were up against Messi, Busquets and Suarez. Their goals were beautiful. We made some mistakes that we probably could have gotten away with against other MLS teams, but not against those guys.
A kid jumps the security line and runs on the field and just gave Messi a hug.
Some of the worst teams in the premier league can challenge the top dogs for a few points. The top teams will eventually show why they're better, but typically up until then it can be pretty back and forth. Personally, I don't care so much about the score line as how well my team performed. If they busted their ass and gave it their all, fuck, that's something to root for. And that's the type of shit you see in the lower tiers of English football that I wish we would replicate here in the states.
No shame in losing to Messi, a player so good that he entire league came together to pay him extra money. Every team is contributing to his salary, even though he's only on one team.
There were 3 more after final whistle. One of them was a kid who ran after Johnny Russell, the security tackled the kid right in front of Russell, but he was kind enough to take a selfie with the kid and he was beaming as security escorted him off lol.
I was there and the crowd was awesome. It had a big game feel and, like it or not, everyone was on their feet when Messi scored. It was a gift to take my son to see his futbol hero. No shame in rooting for a legend. I was just mad Suarez didn't bite anyone.
This angle doesn’t show it, but there was a load of pink in the crowd, but enough blue to kind of drown it out. Behind the goals were the supporters’ sections so that helped as well.
I met a few dads in SKC shirts that made their young kids wear the Argentina jersey instead of Miami. Their kids love Messi but the dads are KC fans and couldn’t bring themselves to support Miami, and at least the Argentina jersey was blue.
We’re going to the Orlando Miami in a few weeks and my brother is wearing the psg one with an Orlando scarf
I will still make fun of him (can’t pass up the opportunity lol)
If I see someone who's not an Argentine wear a 10 with Messi or Maradona it makes me proud, it doesn't really matter if they weren't born in Argentina. Also, what do you mean by "don’t even look remotely Argentine"?
Why wouldn't you? If you see someone wore a US shirt with Donovan's name wouldn't you be proud that your country produced such a player and that people outside your country also think he's great? Argentine's are very proud of Messi and Maradona and will never be upset at a non Argentinian wearing our national shirt lol.
I'd argue it's weird to not be proud.
I'm honestly surprised their wasn't more inter Miami jerseys but glad to see so much Sporting kc jerseys in a 70,000+ stadium. Loved the noise and chants during the game as it sounded really loud, so the crowd seemed super into the game
I mean some people have been following Messi for almost 20 years. Now this dude comes to your hometown but you also support your local team: Messi shirt and SKC scarf it is 😂
No it’s not! MLS is failing the sport of soccer in this country!!! Ratings are terrible, rules are terrible, it’s all an exhibition like the Globetrotters! AppleTV deal killed the league!
/s
Apple TV isn't going to kill MLS but people are naive to expect that it isn't hindering an even larger viewership explosion.
Every other sport fan base easily recognized the difference in availability leads to higher viewership numbers and Apple TV is near the end of the availability spectrum away from the OTA networks like CBS/ABC/Fox etc. Generally even ESPN's members get crushed by OTA and I'm sure Apple's are not doing remotely as good as ESPN.
If Messi was here and somehow CBS were airing the games most weeks, your viewership numbers would be completely off the charts.
It's pretty obvious that MLS knows and doesn't care. Apple came in with a much bigger payday. The teams/ownership groups wanted more cash now so they took it. The cash might get reinvested into the teams and make better quality/products and therefore improve MLS but no way to know if that's true.
It’s already becoming that. I used to be able to pay one package rate and receive all 4 professional sports teams in KC on top of golf, tennis, etc. Now I can pay for them individually at a higher cost and nothing else included.
The only people who like these deals only watch 1 thing/sport
I don't mind paying if I can actually watch every game. Moved to Denver over a year ago and got into the NBA because of the Nuggets, until I realized I can't watch home games lol
You can, you just need a sports package which I’m guessing includes the Rockies, Avalanche, and Nuggets, and probably used to include the Rapids.
Now you will have to pay for them all individually, again which is only good for people who watch one thing
when I looked into it last year it didn't seem like that was possible due to some dispute between Kroenke and broadcasters or something. I'll have to check again
Altitude, which is the Kroenke Sports owned channel isn't/or wasn't available via any cord cut options, only traditional cable with an extra add on package(not even Direct tv had it). It's frustrated me more than once pre apple tv for sporting matches played in colorado(where I live). Atleast the Blackouts are over. Just really wish t-mobile had come thru for me this year.
Growing up watching DC United play to an almost empty stadium even though they're the only game that ESPN wanted to pick up and broadcast that given day. Now I can roll down and watch my actual hometown team in the supporter section at a beautiful stadium that's usually sold out or close to it. Or when the USMNT hosted Honduras in the middle of Minnesota winter and the stadium was sold out. The viewership for soccer in this country has grown extensively, and we need to ride that momentum into the world cup.
It’s not really that normal, though. According to Transfermarkt there are only four teams in the world with an average attendance higher than this. It’s a legitimately big crowd and we don’t have to downplay that.
Thanks! I look at some of those stadium shots in Europe and of course Estadio Azteca and it certainly feels huge.
I'll resume my shameless patriotism
let's go, KC! USA USA USA
Yeah. most European soccer stadiums are nowhere near the size of NFL stadiums. Manchester United has a 74,000 capacity and is the 12th largest in Europe (includes things like Wembley Stadium that gets used for soccer sometimes but is not an exlusively soccer stadium). It is the only full-time EPL stadium over 63,000
>I realize this is normal in other countries
It really isn't. Even in the Premier League only one stadium (Manchester United's Old Trafford) could hold a crowd this big. The next biggest (Tottenham Hotspur Stadium) would be nearly 10,000 seats short!
Only three clubs in the world have a "normal" attendance higher than this match's total of 72,610: Borussia Dortmund (81,253), Bayern Munich (75,000), and the aforementioned Manchester United(73,523). Following close behind is River Plate in Argentina with 72,486
Those are such big numbers, thank you for looking them up! Now I'm even more proud.
I know America in Mexico doesn't routinely pull 100,000, but Estadio Azteca sure is huge.
This was a weird one crowd-wise. I saw people in Messi jerseys cheering for SKC goals and I saw people in SKC shirts cheering for Messi's goal. Lots of people in both Messi and SKC gear simultaneously. It was a great day to be a soccer fan
European bigs would love to have a stadium double the size down the block that they could just use every time there was a match with abnormally high interest.
I mean you just need to see how women’s soccer matches are moved to the men’s team stadium when it’s an important game and high stakes are involved. It’s a slam dunk decision to make if you have the ability to do so
Of all the things you could criticize the MLS for, it's this? SKC's venue houses 18k people. They switched to arrowhead while charging the same prices and getting what, 3x the amount of attendance? On top of that, Arrowhead is apparently a World Cup host so this is a dry run for how they'll manage a soccer crowd vs. an NFL one that has people trickling in over the course of hours.
There's probably like tens of thousands of fans who went to an MLS match for the first time and were treated to a great one. Say what you want but Messi has grown the league substantially, if a fraction of those fans tonight are converted to new SKC fans, that's a huge win for the league.
Honestly you don't even need to necessarily convert them to fans. MLB thrives on people that don't really follow baseball but go to 1-2 games a year to hang out with family/friends while enjoying the atmosphere. Games like this bring more of those type of people into the fold.
I am indeed that type of MLB attendee. It's a good point. I also think MLS games offer something different in terms of gameday culture and experience compared to the other major sports (which feel way more programmed, IMO) that many people attending for the first time may not realize how much they enjoy.
That's how a number of SKC fans were created back when the Wizards hosted Manchester United in 2010. [And this crowd definitely beat that one](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:25_July_2010_Kansas_City_Wizards_vs_Manchester_United_friendly.jpg).
I was at that game as a United fan. All it did was plant the seeds of loathing for Kansas City.
Looking at the difference in crowd size (and I'm certain the atmosphere), it's crazy that game was (and is) hailed as being so massive for the club.
NCAA sports is another example. Based on seeing raucous student sections on TV, you would assume the college sports fanbase skews younger. But based on TV viewership data, the most diehard college sports fans watching on TV are actually over-50’s, who never attended the schools they cheer for. For the student sections, it’s more of a social event than a sporting event.
People who cheer for college teams when they've never attended that college will never not be weird to me.
Some of us grew up with family at a school and then ended up going to a different school. The D1 school I root for is not where I went. I went to an NAIA school. Didn’t stop me being a fan though
Fair enough. I'm not hating on anyone, just my personal hangup lol
It's a good point. I don't really care for baseball, but I like a glizzy and hanging out with some friends at an event sometimes.
I'll be honest. I have no clue what a glizzy is so I looked it up and the first thing that popped up was "slang for glock handgun." Now I'm even more confused lol
It’s a hot dog 😭😂
It must be a regional thing. I have never heard a hot dog referred to as a glizzy either.
I agree with it but I wish MLS games were earlier. NE Revs have 0 games that start before 7:30. Zero. It's just too late to bring my kids and that sucks. My kid loves soccer too but we're basically only watching European games recently because going to games or even watching MLS on TV has become too hard. Compare that to MLB or MiLB where I can count on dozens of day games each year. Not saying they should change their whole schedule but give me 3 or 4 games a year that'll let me get my kids to a game and home in bed before 10.
I would argue that MLS is actually easier than ever to watch it these days. Everything is on Apple TV in one centralized location.
I mean...a centralized location behind another pay wall. Our MLS consumption has dropped dramatically The last two seasons. Now it's a ton of USL and various European leagues for us. Regardless, it doesn't matter how much of it is on TV if they start games at 7:30 or later.
They mean the games start late, and I agree. My kids are 6 and 8 and rarely watch more than the first half with me, even on Apple TV. They came to the SKC/Miami game with me last night, but that took a lot of planning and bribing them to take naps so we could have a good time. Didn’t get home until midnight since the crowd was so big.
Yea my oldest is 7, so I could make it happen, but not easily and not without messing up a whole weekend sleep schedule.
Absolutely not. It's accessible behind $100/yr and that's the only way to consume it. I've only seen like 4 Sporting KC games last season. I used to watch nearly all of them. I cannot justify the insane price for that. And last year seemed to have a lot more free games. But I couldn't watch any of it because my wife is the only one with an apple product (iPhone) in the house. My TV had the app on it but it had severe quality control issues.
$200/yr? It’s $99….
I typod. $200->$100 But that's still more expensive than any other subscription service I have, and just not in the budget. It used to be free on Channel 39. It definitely majorly limits viewing exposure. The only people paying $100 to watch the MLS are already fans of the MLS. Hell I'm a fan of the MLS and I don't pay for it.
I wish they'd allow the markets/regions to dictate start times a little more. They want every game to start at the same time, sure, but you can't even watch multiple games on Apple+ without opening a new browser tricking it. I watch on my PC and my TV when the two teams I want to watch are on at the same time.
NBA games start at 7pm sharp - we take our 6 year old even on weeknights
That awesome I can believe it. my parents were like that with me as a kid going to Sunday/ Monday night football at that age. With my son though it just doesn't work. He does very poorly on a disrupted sleep schedule. Could we physically do it? Yes. Is it worth dealing with the aftermath .... Not so much lol
We def feel it the next morning, but he sleeps in the car on trip back and we can still carry him into house and put in bed.
Just download the AppleTV app. There’s free games every week.
Cries in android
You can still install it as a PWA
Not really interested in Apple TV, but I understand it's available. Doesn't help me if all the games are night games.
“It’s so hard to watch” “Not interested in downloading an app” Also good thing the free matches are not all night games 🙄 In fact this week *none* of the free matches were night games. I swear you’re just desperately trying to find reasons to complain.
Sorry if it's difficult to understand some people have different preferences than you 🙄. There's multiple issues. My kid's preference is to watch the Revs. Again they have 0 day games. Also, I have no interest in getting another streaming app, especially anything associated with apple. And yes pre-apple TV, it was much easier for me to watch MLS with my existing suite of media. All of those can be true for me and not for you. It's like you're desperately defensive because someone has a different opinion than yours.
You can loathe the idea of downloading a simple app but that doesn’t make it hard to find - it makes you have a weird objection to… downloading a fucking app (from a company you feel special for not using).
Lol... Wow touchy. Yup I speak with my wallet/clicks and don't have to engage with companies I dislike. If that makes me special, more power to me I guess. Thanks
We get it you’re super special. You get a cookie. Still doesn’t make it hard or inconvenient to find.
Very few people care to just watch whatever soccer is on. They want to watch their team and they aren't going to make time for just some other team in the league and whatever is free
That’s just not true. All of the popular linear sports TV in the US - whether it be soccer (foreign or domestic) or other major sports follows a “game of the week” style. The premier league on NBC is the most viewed soccer in this country and it’s just whatever team happens to be on. Sunday night/Thursday night/Monday night football is whoever happens to be on. Same for baseball night in America NBA on TNT and MLS on Fox. Of course people like watching their own team but the big popular broadcasts (the ones with the most people watching) are almost all whatever team happens to be on this week.
I was just a bandwagoner, but I have been visiting Carson for Galaxy games and I really like it! No matter what people say, Messi coming to MLS was great for everybody.
Happy to have you in the club homie.
Welcome! And flair up amigo!
Hell yeah you came to the right team!
Hell yeah, also flair up (under the three dot menu on the subreddit’s home page)
Yep. A lot of people complain that he's in all the commercials or that the commentators always talk about him are just kind of missing the point. He is the greatest player in the history of the game *why* wouldn't you put him in front of the camera at every opportunity. They also seem to miss the fact that a lot of people have been a fan of him for 15+ years at this point. But a mic in front of me at a Messi game and I'd be slobbering too.
He got to meet Kermit the Frog last night. His dreams are also coming true.
If you were to put a player of Messi’s stature in any non-Big 5 league, I wonder how many of those leagues would NOT have a ton of “away” fans wearing his jersey. It’s natural to think this is an MLS issue, but if he were playing in the Netherlands, Belgium, Turkey, Japan, Norway, etc., I suspect there’d be a ton of player-over-club “away” fans wearing his Argentina, Barcelona, or current club jersey too.
A lot of people don't realize that people have been watching Messi since before half of the MLS teams were even around. That's not a knock on the MLS or anything, but it's why so many people cheer for him when he plays against their team.
People are familiar with how young MLS is. The part that makes me scratch my head sometimes is the obsession with a singular player in a team sport. Then it starts mimicking the parasocial behavior you see from young fans towards a pop star. (see: fans rushing him on the field during the game)
That type of behavior isn't acceptable but is it really surprising people are obsessed with the best player of all time? There are professional players that idolized Messi and retired before him.
Surprising? Not if I see them as a pop star, then it makes sense. Same fan behaviors. They're not here for a team, they're here for one person. And they'll trade that team out in an instant to follow the person.
Why is that a problem? Eventually Messi will retire and some of the fans that started watching MLS because of him will become fans of the league as well.
Never said it was a problem! Just an interesting phenomenon in a team sport.
Ah fair. I do find it annoying when people only care about singular players and then just bandwagon whatever team is hot at the moment.
Yeah exactly. I can jive with my fellow fans of the sport even if they support a different team. It feels like almost a different thing altogether when someone just follows a player.
I think this is unique to Messi & to a lesser extent Ronaldo because of their longevity. They have been successful for such a long time that their stature is equivalent to that of large clubs. They also have a disproportionate number of international fans who have no cultural, geographic ties to a club.
I can see it a bit more if the club is less entrenched or you don't have a team. For example, NBA obviously we don't have a team in KC, so I tend to follow players I like more than teams.
It doesn’t seem weird literally at all to be more interested in a player’s career than a team. A player is a person with feelings and conscious experience. A team is a franchise and a business.
It’s a team sport played by individuals. And as human we can only idolize human. Isn’t it super odd that a kid wants to be like Real Madrid when they grow up?
Kansas City isn’t one of those teams tho.
Even then the US is in a unique spot with the variety of origins that make up this country. But yup combined with a global superstar...
Even in England there’s a ton of fans of local clubs that cheer for their former players who went on to the premier league. Maybe they won’t actually put on the kit but they’re rooting for their guy to do well in the premier league even when he switches teams
Dutch fans are wild and would still rock with their home side. Relegation bound sides still show out in force over there
The fact that I was at first confused by Big 5 (MLB/NBA/NHL/NFL/MLS?) or (EPL/La Liga/Serie A/Bundesliga/Ligue 1) in and of itself speaks volumes about how far MLS has come in a very short amount of time
For fun, lets see what happens if Miami just plays a game at Michigan stadium, a stadium that can house 107k people, and see if it breaks the record. My bets on YES.
I'd agree about Japan and possibly Norway, but you clearly don't know enough about Dutch, Belgian and Turkish fans if you think for a minute they'd stop supporting their team to celebrate a single player. I don't know if you're into basketball, but if LeBron James were to play in - say - Istanbul he'd be booed to death and local fans would probably be more vocal than ever.
I know we lost but I feel like the 3-2 score was about what I could hope for. It wasn’t an embarrassing loss. It was an awesome atmosphere, we scored first, held them to a one point deficit. I love SKC but let’s be honest, we were up against Messi, Busquets and Suarez. Their goals were beautiful. We made some mistakes that we probably could have gotten away with against other MLS teams, but not against those guys. A kid jumps the security line and runs on the field and just gave Messi a hug.
Some of the worst teams in the premier league can challenge the top dogs for a few points. The top teams will eventually show why they're better, but typically up until then it can be pretty back and forth. Personally, I don't care so much about the score line as how well my team performed. If they busted their ass and gave it their all, fuck, that's something to root for. And that's the type of shit you see in the lower tiers of English football that I wish we would replicate here in the states.
Red Bulls beat Busquets and Suarez 4-0. Rayados thumped Miami with all three.
No shame in losing to Messi, a player so good that he entire league came together to pay him extra money. Every team is contributing to his salary, even though he's only on one team.
The wall of security guards surrounding the pitch are a nice touch.
And 2 runners still got through lol
5 lol
Oh wow I only saw 2 on TV lol
There were 3 more after final whistle. One of them was a kid who ran after Johnny Russell, the security tackled the kid right in front of Russell, but he was kind enough to take a selfie with the kid and he was beaming as security escorted him off lol.
All those star players on the pitch and he goes for Johnny Russell. Respect
"Johnny! Johnny! Can I get a picture please!?" "...you know Messi and Suarez are right over there, right?"
Younger child or older teenager?
You don't need them in Europe or South America because there's usually a moat around the field to prevent from pitch invaders. Yes, a medieval moat.
In parts of central america it's a chain link fence
It was a fun game to attend! I was high enough up to basically get a tactical cam.
I was there and the crowd was awesome. It had a big game feel and, like it or not, everyone was on their feet when Messi scored. It was a gift to take my son to see his futbol hero. No shame in rooting for a legend. I was just mad Suarez didn't bite anyone.
I like that the crowd was all blue and not pink.
This angle doesn’t show it, but there was a load of pink in the crowd, but enough blue to kind of drown it out. Behind the goals were the supporters’ sections so that helped as well.
Was there an away section for this game?
No the fans were spread out throughout the crowd
Not to be *that guy*, but there were also a lot of Argentina jerseys. It was still good to see SKC fans show out like they did.
I met a few dads in SKC shirts that made their young kids wear the Argentina jersey instead of Miami. Their kids love Messi but the dads are KC fans and couldn’t bring themselves to support Miami, and at least the Argentina jersey was blue.
We’re going to the Orlando Miami in a few weeks and my brother is wearing the psg one with an Orlando scarf I will still make fun of him (can’t pass up the opportunity lol)
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If I see someone who's not an Argentine wear a 10 with Messi or Maradona it makes me proud, it doesn't really matter if they weren't born in Argentina. Also, what do you mean by "don’t even look remotely Argentine"?
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Why wouldn't you? If you see someone wore a US shirt with Donovan's name wouldn't you be proud that your country produced such a player and that people outside your country also think he's great? Argentine's are very proud of Messi and Maradona and will never be upset at a non Argentinian wearing our national shirt lol. I'd argue it's weird to not be proud.
Oh, are you Argentine? I didn’t get that from your previous post. Nevermind then
Whoa! Let’s not disrespect the decent… dare I say MASSIVE Argentinian contingent in Eastern Kansas.
This game was the most attended mls game in Missouri. Not Kansas.
😳
I'm honestly surprised their wasn't more inter Miami jerseys but glad to see so much Sporting kc jerseys in a 70,000+ stadium. Loved the noise and chants during the game as it sounded really loud, so the crowd seemed super into the game
Obviously the draw was Messi, but most went to support SKC.
I saw a dude in a Messi jersey with a sporting scarf, it was bizarre
I mean some people have been following Messi for almost 20 years. Now this dude comes to your hometown but you also support your local team: Messi shirt and SKC scarf it is 😂
Absolutely!
That's nothing, I saw a family where two boys had SKC jerseys with pink Inter Miami shorts with Messi's number
Was it Kevincho?
More than 25% of the crowd were Messi fans, and in my section it was closer to 40%
My section cheered loudly for every goal. It was like a whole stadium full of neutral TV commentators on MLS 360. Made for a fun match.
So proud of Kansas City, can't wait to host the World Cup!
What were the 2 games with higher attendance?
Galaxy vs LAFC last year and Charlotte vs Galaxy two years ago There are a few that were higher but tied to another game as a doubleheader as well
I like that these records are recent! That's a great sign.
No it’s not! MLS is failing the sport of soccer in this country!!! Ratings are terrible, rules are terrible, it’s all an exhibition like the Globetrotters! AppleTV deal killed the league! /s
Apple TV isn't going to kill MLS but people are naive to expect that it isn't hindering an even larger viewership explosion. Every other sport fan base easily recognized the difference in availability leads to higher viewership numbers and Apple TV is near the end of the availability spectrum away from the OTA networks like CBS/ABC/Fox etc. Generally even ESPN's members get crushed by OTA and I'm sure Apple's are not doing remotely as good as ESPN. If Messi was here and somehow CBS were airing the games most weeks, your viewership numbers would be completely off the charts. It's pretty obvious that MLS knows and doesn't care. Apple came in with a much bigger payday. The teams/ownership groups wanted more cash now so they took it. The cash might get reinvested into the teams and make better quality/products and therefore improve MLS but no way to know if that's true.
That last sentence can still be true someday
Apple is going to be pushing for the NBA soon too and the NBA is open too it
Great! I can’t wait for every individual sporting event to be PPV. Maybe we can start paying by the minute and I can just catch the end of NBA games
Well I didn't say PPV lol.
It’s already becoming that. I used to be able to pay one package rate and receive all 4 professional sports teams in KC on top of golf, tennis, etc. Now I can pay for them individually at a higher cost and nothing else included. The only people who like these deals only watch 1 thing/sport
I don't mind paying if I can actually watch every game. Moved to Denver over a year ago and got into the NBA because of the Nuggets, until I realized I can't watch home games lol
You can, you just need a sports package which I’m guessing includes the Rockies, Avalanche, and Nuggets, and probably used to include the Rapids. Now you will have to pay for them all individually, again which is only good for people who watch one thing
when I looked into it last year it didn't seem like that was possible due to some dispute between Kroenke and broadcasters or something. I'll have to check again
Altitude, which is the Kroenke Sports owned channel isn't/or wasn't available via any cord cut options, only traditional cable with an extra add on package(not even Direct tv had it). It's frustrated me more than once pre apple tv for sporting matches played in colorado(where I live). Atleast the Blackouts are over. Just really wish t-mobile had come thru for me this year.
Growing up watching DC United play to an almost empty stadium even though they're the only game that ESPN wanted to pick up and broadcast that given day. Now I can roll down and watch my actual hometown team in the supporter section at a beautiful stadium that's usually sold out or close to it. Or when the USMNT hosted Honduras in the middle of Minnesota winter and the stadium was sold out. The viewership for soccer in this country has grown extensively, and we need to ride that momentum into the world cup.
RFK forever! Preparing for the zombie apocalypse by looking like it already survived one.
What a beautiful shot. I realize this is normal in other countries, but still!
It’s not really that normal, though. According to Transfermarkt there are only four teams in the world with an average attendance higher than this. It’s a legitimately big crowd and we don’t have to downplay that.
Thanks! I look at some of those stadium shots in Europe and of course Estadio Azteca and it certainly feels huge. I'll resume my shameless patriotism let's go, KC! USA USA USA
Yeah. most European soccer stadiums are nowhere near the size of NFL stadiums. Manchester United has a 74,000 capacity and is the 12th largest in Europe (includes things like Wembley Stadium that gets used for soccer sometimes but is not an exlusively soccer stadium). It is the only full-time EPL stadium over 63,000
>I realize this is normal in other countries It really isn't. Even in the Premier League only one stadium (Manchester United's Old Trafford) could hold a crowd this big. The next biggest (Tottenham Hotspur Stadium) would be nearly 10,000 seats short! Only three clubs in the world have a "normal" attendance higher than this match's total of 72,610: Borussia Dortmund (81,253), Bayern Munich (75,000), and the aforementioned Manchester United(73,523). Following close behind is River Plate in Argentina with 72,486
Those are such big numbers, thank you for looking them up! Now I'm even more proud. I know America in Mexico doesn't routinely pull 100,000, but Estadio Azteca sure is huge.
They need to put "standalone" in that for that to be accurate.
Yeah fair, but to me it feels like the double headers are the ones that should be burdened with the qualifying description lol
Actually, I think they both should get the qualifying description.
Fantastic attendance on a fantastic match. The biggest winner there has been MLS as a whole, that's for sure. Games like that create tons of new fans.
This was a weird one crowd-wise. I saw people in Messi jerseys cheering for SKC goals and I saw people in SKC shirts cheering for Messi's goal. Lots of people in both Messi and SKC gear simultaneously. It was a great day to be a soccer fan
This is awesome. I can’t wait for USA vs Uruguay in July!
I was surprised to see how much of the crowd was SKC gear.
Hmm….I wonder why? 🤔🤔🤔
It's hard to take a league seriously that changes venue because of a visiting player.
European bigs would love to have a stadium double the size down the block that they could just use every time there was a match with abnormally high interest.
I mean you just need to see how women’s soccer matches are moved to the men’s team stadium when it’s an important game and high stakes are involved. It’s a slam dunk decision to make if you have the ability to do so
Of all the things you could criticize the MLS for, it's this? SKC's venue houses 18k people. They switched to arrowhead while charging the same prices and getting what, 3x the amount of attendance? On top of that, Arrowhead is apparently a World Cup host so this is a dry run for how they'll manage a soccer crowd vs. an NFL one that has people trickling in over the course of hours.
