When it comes to the important numbers in sports, few are as important to franchise owners as the number of fans in attendance.
For the owners in American soccer, a sport still trying to make a dent with TV audiences, the take at the gate is even more important than it would be in one of the other major leagues in the US. That anxiety at the turnstiles is even more pronounced for some of the longest-tenured MLS teams like the Rapids, who helped found the league in 1996 and still struggle to sell every ticket each week, even in a modest 18,000-seat stadium such as Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.