MLS Attendance: Worst Seasons

As a followup to the post on the teams seen by the smallest percentage of fans I thought it would be interesting to see the worst seasons in terms of average home attendance.

year team         home avg
2000 Miami        7,460
2003 Dallas       7,906
1998 Kansas City  8,073
1999 Kansas City  8,183
1999 Miami        8,689
1997 Kansas City  9,058
2004 Dallas       9,088
2000 Kansas City  9,112
2000 Tampa Bay    9,452
2001 San Jose     9,635
1997 Dallas       9,678
2005 Kansas City  9,691
2009 Kansas City  10,053
1996 Colorado     10,213
1998 Miami        10,284
1996 Colorado     10,213
1998 Tampa Bay    10,312
2003 San Jose     10,466
2001 Tampa Bay    10,479
2008 Kansas City  10,686

From these numbers, it looks pretty grim for soccer in Kansas City. Owners of seven of the 20 worst seasons for attendance in league history they are also the only team to make the list in the last five years... which they did three times. This is interesting since six of the seasons belong to teams which don't exist any more.

However just looking at the raw average attendance doesn't control for the overall attendance ebbs and flows of the league. This list shows the worst home attendances relative to the league average.

year team         diff in %
2003 Dallas       -46.93
2000 Miami        -45.77
1998 Kansas City  -43.59
1999 Kansas City  -42.71
2004 Dallas       -41.59
1996 Colorado     -41.32
1999 Miami        -39.16
1997 Kansas City  -38.04
2009 Kansas City  -37.31
2005 Kansas City  -35.85
2001 San Jose     -35.60
2008 Kansas City  -35.08
1997 Dallas       -33.80
2000 Kansas City  -33.76
1996 Tampa Bay    -32.91
2000 Tampa Bay    -31.29
2007 Kansas City  -30.91
2001 Tampa Bay    -29.96
2003 San Jose     -29.75
2002 San Jose     -29.53

Measuring this way, Dallas' abysmal 2003 season takes over the top spot, underperforming the league average by a whopping 46%. Sadly the Wizards actually add an eighth season to the wall of shame. To be fair, their last two seasons have been played near the capacity of their minuscule temporary stadium, but it'll be interesting to see what happens when they move into their new home. If you're a Wizards fan (or owner,) you have to hope things change drastically.