Commissioner Laments Galaxy’s Small Crowds

With the Galaxy having won its previous Major League Soccer game and thus being back on an even keel at 5-5, the pressure has temporarily shifted from the coaches and players to the front office.

This week, MLS Commissioner Doug Logan expressed disappointment that the team’s attendance is so poor. Last Sunday’s game drew an announced 7,581 to the Rose Bowl for the 1-0 win over the New England Revolution.

This for a team that drew 69,255 for its inaugural game in 1996.

The Galaxy’s average attendance through six home games in 1999 is 14,143, down from last season’s MLS-best 21,784. Season-ticket sales, too, lag behind MLS teams in much smaller markets.

“A major market like L.A. with only 2,000 season tickets is not enough,” Logan said. The Galaxy led the league in attendance with a 28,918 average in 1996 and was second in 1997 at 20,626.

But the loss of such players as Jorge Campos, Eduardo Hurtado and Martin Machon has hurt the team at the gate. Walk-up crowds have shrunk in part because of the team’s poor play and, more important, its continuing failure to reflect the ethnic makeup of the city.

“Walk-up attendance comes as a consequence of assimilation and long-term loyalty,” Logan said of the league in general. “We are still in the mode of getting people into the stadium in any way possible to witness the game. We have tried a variety of promotions. Some have worked and some have not.

“But once we get them in our stadiums, it’s our job to get them to stay. It’s the hard work of getting a one-game buyer to become a six-game buyer and ultimately a season-long buyer. There is no secret formula to this thing.”

Perhaps there is.

Today’s game against the Crew in Columbus offers the Galaxy a chance to see how it can be done. Columbus, with a league-record 9,083 season-ticket holders, has attracted consecutive crowds of 24,741 and 20,782 at its new soccer-specific stadium on the grounds of the Ohio Exposition Center.

Sergio Del Prado, the Galaxy’s general manager, said he believes the return next week of forward Carlos Hermosillo from Necaxa in the Mexican league will boost attendance and on-field performance.