Week 14 of Major League Lacrosse is upon us! The playoff picture is starting to sharpen up, but one spot remains, and plenty of pride is left on the line. Calling Week 14 games correctly is looking tough, but I’m going to give it my best shot! Make sure you read the whole post for some serious attendance talk at the end!
Photo Credit: Craig Chase
After going 3-1 last week in my picks, my record now sits at 26-17 (I missed making predictions on 5 games due to work and travel), which is not bad, but not great. A good week will get me back to where I need to be!
Top 10 Plays – Week 13
[fvplayer src=”https://youtube.com/watch?v=B94hWUpmgSE” splash=”https://i.ytimg.com/vi/B94hWUpmgSE/hqdefault.jpg” caption=”Major League Lacrosse: Top 10 Plays of Week 13″]
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2015 MLL Predictions – Week 14
Boston @ Chesapeake – Thursday, July 16th, 7:30pm ET – Chesapeake played on Sunday and now turn around to play 4 days later, thankfully, at home. At 5-7, Chesapeake needs this win to stay in the playoff race, but Boston will also want to get a W to put some distance between themselves and NOT making the playoffs. Seriously? That’s possible? It is. Boston needs the win, and I think they get it! Chesapeake (obviously) and Denver are praying that I’m wrong here.
Charlotte @ Rochester – Friday, July 17th, 7:30pm ET – Rochester is IN, Charlotte is OUT, and this game is going to be tough to call. I like Rochester to win because I think they are a better team than Charlotte (Sorry @HoundLegion!), but in a game like this, anything can happen. I’ll take the Ratz in a tight one based off talent alone.
New York @ Ohio – Saturday, July 18th, 7pm ET – Ohio, oh Ohio. I will never doubt you again. You have proven yourself to me 100%. That being said, I’m going to pick against you again this week. JUST KIDDING! In a moment of craziness, I’m actually taking Ohio. Don’t worry, I’m prepared to be disappointed. Ohio is just playing team BALL right now, and I like it. NY is loaded, but Ohio isn’t a JV squad. These guys can play.
Florida @ Denver – Saturday, July 19th, 3pm ET – Denver still has a shot at a playoff spot right now (although if Boston wins on Saturday they’re out), so I think they will be the more motivated of the teams… unless they are not. So, if Boston loses, I’ll take Denver to win. If Boston wins, I’ll take visiting Florida to win the pride battle.
Attendance Notes
Franchise – 2015 Attendance Average (+/- change from last week)
Denver – 10,980 (same) – Their AVG went up by 5,000+ last week. Thanks July 4th!
Chesapeake – 6,294 (same) – Great numbers for 2015.
Boston – 6,061 from 5,936 (+125) – Boston’s numbers continue to climb.
New York – 5,293 from 5,158 (+135) – No July drop off here!
Ohio – 2,450 (same) – Consistent numbers for Ohio
Charlotte – 2,282 from 2,286 (-4) – Same for Charlotte
Florida – 1,610 (same) – In year one they average 1,200 a game. 1,600 is better!
Rochester – 1,161 from 1,151 (+10) – Rochester averages 200 less fans per game than they did in 2014.
On any given weekend, an average of about 18,000 people are going out to watch MLL games in person across the country. Some weekends see a lot more, and others a lot less, but the fact remains that these numbers are actually lower than almost every other MLL season the past 10 years. On average, about 4,400 people attend an MLL game in 2015 during the regular season. Here are the league averages for the last 10 seasons:
2014 – 4,759
2013 – 5,069
2012 – 5,608
2011 – 6,417
2010 – 5,337
2009 – 5,557
2008 – 4,515
2007 – 4,429
2006 – 4,295
The top 4 MLL teams draw well, and they have done so in a relatively consistent fashion this season. The bottom four teams have also been consistent, but not in quite as good of a way.
Maybe it’s a coincidence that the top 4 attendance teams have a number of players on their rosters who live locally, and the bottom 4 teams have less (Rochester is an anomaly here). But it’s also interesting to note that the top 4 teams all play in relatively large pro or college stadiums, while the bottom four play in smaller venues (excepting Florida at FAU). To me, those two things seem to be predictive to some extent, but there has to be other stuff going on here, beyond just local players or big stadiums.
So what will work in MLL to draw in the crowds? And what doesn’t work? Personally, I find the attendance numbers issue incredibly interesting.
