billsportsmaps.com

June 24, 2016

Highest-drawing football clubs in Europe (UEFA domestic leagues), for 2015-16 or 2015 seasons: all clubs (75 clubs) which drew over 25 K per game (home matches in domestic season).

Filed under: UEFA top drawing clubs (75) '16 — admin @ 6:09 pm

uefa_2015-16_top-drawing-football-clubs_the-75-european-clubs-that-drew-over-25-k_post_c_.gif
Highest-drawing football clubs in Europe (UEFA domestic leagues), for 2015-16 or 2015 seasons: all clubs (75 clubs) which drew over 25,000 per game




By Bill Turianski on 24 June 2016; twitter.com/billsportsmaps.

-Primary source for attendance figures on map … soccerway.com.
Secondary sources… european-football-statistics.co.uk, worldfootball.net, ligue1.com.

The map and the chart…
The map shows all clubs in Europe which drew above 25 000 per game in 2015-16 (75 teams). Each club’s crest is placed on the location-map of Europe, and at the far right is a chart which shows national flag, club crest, attendance-rank [in Europe], and 2015-16 home average attendance.

If a club on the map was not in the country’s first division in 2015-16 (ie, not in the 1st level), that is noted on the chart…there were 9 second-tier clubs that drew above 25 K last season, and there was one third-tier club that drew above 25 K last season (Dynamo Dresden). Also noted is any promotion/relegation in 2015-16…and of these 75 clubs on the map, 13 of these clubs will be in the second-tier in 2016-17. In other words, a rather surprising 17% of all European football clubs which drew above 25 K in 2015-16 will be in the second division in 2016-17.

Clubs that just missed out on being on this map are 3 English clubs…Crystal Palace, West Bromwich, and Middlesbrough – all 3 of whom drew in the high 24-K-range.

Below is an illustration showing a stadium-photo of each of the twelve highest-drawing clubs in Europe in 2015-16 (all teams which had an average crowd-size of 50 000 or more). Highest-drawing club, yet again (for the 5th straight season), is Germany’s Borussia Dortmund, who drew 81.1 K in their 81.3-K-capacity Westfalenstadion (aka Signal Iduna Park), in Dortmund, which is in the Rhine-Ruhr region of west-central Germany. Of the 12 clubs which drew above 50 K in 2015-16, 6 are German clubs (Dortmund, Bayern, Schalke, Hamburg, Stuttgart, ‘Gladbach), 3 are English clubs (Man Utd, Arsenal, Man City), 2 are Spanish clubs (Barça and Real ), and one is a Portuguese club (Benfica). All 12 of these clubs were top flight clubs in 2015-16, but next season one of them – Stuttgart – will be in the 2nd division (in 2-Bundesliga). And speaking of high-drawing clubs that were recently relegated…just missing out at 50-K-per-game last season were 3 clubs, including the once-again-relegated Newcastle Utd of England (at 49.7 K per game). Also just missing out on 50 K per game last season were Hertha Berlin of Germany (also at 49.7 K), and Ajax of the Netherlands (at 49.2 K).

    Below – Highest-drawing football clubs in Europe (UEFA) – Top twelve highest-drawing clubs, 2015-16: All clubs which drew over 50 000 per game
    (from home, domestic league matches in 2015-16).

1. Borussia Dortmund/ Signal Iduna Park (aka Westfalenstadion), 81 178.
2. FC Barcelona/ Camp Nou, 78 251.
3. Manchester United/ Old Trafford, 75 286.
4. Bayern Munich/ Allianz Arena, 75 000.
5. Real Madrid CF/ Santiago Bernabéu, 67 698.
6. FC Schalke 04/ Veltins Arena, 61 386.
7. Arsenal/ Emirates Stadium, 59 944.
8. Manchester City/ Etihad Stadium (aka City of Manchester Stadium), 54 041.
9. Hamburger SV/ Volksparstadion, 53 700.
10. VfB Stuttgart/ Mercedes-Benz Arena, 51 983.
11. Borussia Mönchengladbach/ Stadion im Borussia-Park, 51 715.
12. SL Benfica/ Estádio da Luz, 50 322.
uefa-2016-crowds_stadiums_all-11-clubs-drawing-over-50k_best-is-borussia-dortmund-81k_fc-barcelona_manchester-utd_bayern-munich_real-madrid_f_.gif
uefa-2016-crowds_stadiums_top-11_6th-to-11_schalke04_arsenal_manchester-city_hamburger-sv_stuttgart_monchengladbach_benfica_e_.gif
Photo credits above –
1. Dortmund, Suedtribune (South Terrace) at Westfalenstadion, photo by Christopher Neundorf at Datei:Südtribüne Dortmund.jpg (de.wikipedia.org).
2. Barcelona, tifo at Camp Nou, photo unattributed at deportesrcn.com.
3. Manchester United, full house at Old Trafford (yet again, but maybe not for long/see rest of this sentence…), photo by Getty Images via metro.co.uk/2016/02/04/manchester-united-to-close-part-old-trafford-due-to-drab-ticket-sales.
4. Bayern Munich, tifo at Allianz Arena, photo unattributed at ecofoot.fr.
5. Real Madrid, photo of interior of Santiago Bernebeu Stadium prior to tifo [April 2013], photo by Luisao200 at File:Real Madrid fans at Santiago Bernabeu between the chreography vs. Bor. Dortmund.JPG (commons.wikimedia.org).
6. Schalke 04, photo of fans with flags and banners in Veltins-Arena, photo by FC Schalke 04 at schalke04.de/[stadion-und-tickets/ticketshop].
7. Arsenal, photo of interior of Emirates Stadium unattributed at anajovanovicai.wordpress.com.
8. Manchester City, photo showing 2015 Etihad Stadium expansion [Aug. 2015], photo by Higor Douglas at File:Etihad Stadium – Man City vs Chelsea 2015-16 (2).jpg.
9. Hamburger SV, tifo at Volkparkstadion, photo by Witters via hamburg-zwei.de/2014/Oktober/Aenderungen-beim-HSV-Shuttle-HSV-Hoffenheim-So-kommt-Ihr-zum-Stadion.
10. VfB Stuttgart, photo of fans with flags and banners in the Canstatter Kurve, photo by RudolfSimon at File:Cannstatter Kurve 2013.JPG
11. Borussia Mönchengladbach, screenshot of youtube video, image from Borussia Mönchengladbach vs Manchester City [Oct. 2015] (youtube,com video uploaded by vflman).
12. Benfica, photo by estadio11.blogspot.com/2011_02_01_archive.
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Blank map: Thanks to Roke at File:BlankMap-Europe-v4.png (commons.wikimedia.org).

Thanks to Soccerway for attendance figures.

June 10, 2016

Affiliated Double A minor league baseball (MiLB): location-map of 3 leagues, the Eastern League, the Southern League, the Texas League (2015 attendances)/+ the 3 new teams in Double-A baseball since 2011 (Pensacola, Biloxi, Hartford)/+ illustrations for the 4 highest-drawing Double-A teams in 2015 (Frisco, Birmingham, Richmond, Reading).

Filed under: Baseball,Baseball: MiLB Double-A — admin @ 2:58 pm

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Affiliated Double A minor league baseball (MiLB): location-map of 3 leagues, the Eastern League (EL), the Southern League (SL), the Texas League (TX): map with 2015 attendances




Links…
-Teams in Double-A ball…Double-A (baseball) (en.wikipedia.com).
-Official site of the Eastern League…Double-A/Eastern League.
-Official site of the Southern League…Double-A/Southern League.
-Official site of the Texas League…Double-A/Texas League.
-2015 Affiliated Attendance by League…2015 Affiliated Attendance by League (by Kevin Reichard at ballparkdigest.com).
-2015 Affiliated Attendance by Average.. 2015 -Affiliated Attendance by Average (by Kevin Reichard at ballparkdigest.com).

-Top 100 MiLB caps in 2014 [fan vote]…Clash of the Caps – Who has the best caps in the minor leagues? [2014 season] [#1: El Paso Chihuahuas]…(milb.com/milb/fans/caps).
-Top 100 MiLB caps in 2015 [fan vote]…Clash of the Caps – Who has the best caps in the minor leagues? [2015 season] [#1: Daytona Tortugas]…(milb.com/milb/fans/caps).

-Here is the Double-A map I made from April 2011, Minor League Baseball: the 3 Double-A leagues…the Eastern League, the Southern League, and the Texas League. Map, with all 30 teams’ 2010 average attendances, locations, and MLB affiliations.

    The 3 new teams in Double-A baseball since 2011
    (2012: Pensacola Blue Wahoos, 2015: Biloxi Shuckers, 2016: Hartford Yard Goats)…

-2012, Pensacola Blue Wahoos of the Southern League – the Carolina League [Single-A/Class-A-Advanced level] Kinston, NC franchise moved ~58 miles north-west to the Greater Raleigh-Durham, NC area [in Zebulon, NC], as the Carolina Mudcats (II) /meanwhile, the Carolina Mudcats (I) franchise (est. 1991) moved from Zebulon, NC to Pensacola, FL as the Pensacola Blue Wahoos [and also thereby moved up a level from the Single-A/Class-A Advanced level, to the Double-A level]. Pensacola Blue Wahoos (en.wikipedia.org).
{See this small franchise-shift-graphic from March 2012, billsportsmaps.com/carolina-mudcats-II_kinston-to-zebulon_zebulon-to-pensacola.}

-2015, Biloxi Shuckers of the Southern League – the Huntsville, AL franchise moved ~328 miles south to Biloxi, MS as the Biloxi Shuckers. Biloxi Shuckers. (en.wikipedia.org). From Chris Creamer’s Sports Logos site, from November 2014, by Chris Creamer, Introducing the Biloxi Shuckers (news.sportslogos.net).

-2016, Hartford Yard Goats of the Eastern League – the New Britain, CT franchise has moved ~12.5 miles north to Hartford, CT as the Hartford Yard Goats. Hartford Yard Goats (en.wikipedia.org). From the New York Times, from June 28 2015, by Kristin Hussey, Hartford Yard Goats? The Name Isn’t a Hit Yet (nytimes.com/nyregion). Hartford ballpark will not be ready for opening day 2016…Yard Goats Deal Would Have Stadium Ready May 31; Hartford, Team, Developer All Kick In Millions ([Hartford] courant.com).

2015 overall league-average attendances for the 3 Double-A leagues…
Texas League: 5,181 per game overall.
Eastern League: 4,580 per game overall.
Southern League: 3,605 per game overall.

    The 4 highest-drawing ball clubs in Double-A baseball in 2015 (all Double-A teams which drew over 6 K per game)
    Frisco RoughRiders (TL), Birmingham Barons (SL), Richmond Flying Squirrels (EL), Reading Fighting Phils (EL)…

Frisco RoughRiders (Texas League) [the Double-A farm team of the Texas Rangers]…
Frisco, Texas is about 25 miles N of Dallas, TX; and Frisco is about 42 miles NNE of where their parent-club the Texas Rangers are located, in Arlington, TX. In 2015, the Frisco RoughRiders (est. 2003), once again drew the highest in Double-A baseball, at 6,918 per game at their Dr. Pepper Ballpark. That figure of 6.9 K was also the 20th-best minor-league-baseball attendance – out of the 176 MiLB teams which report attendance figures [176 teams within 14 MiLB leagues].
frisco-roughriders_dr-pepper-ballpark_best-crowds-in-double-a_h_.gif
Photo credits above –
Aerial shot at twilight of Dr. Pepper Ballpark twilight, photo unattributed at sportstravelmagazine.com. Interior shot of main grandstand at Dr. Pepper Ballpark, photo unattributed at activerain.com/blogsview/dr-pepper-ballpark-in-frisco-texas. Interior shot of Dr. Pepper Ballpark during a night game (photo circa 2015), photo by Frisco RoughRiders via milb.com/[Frisco tickets].

Birmingham Barons (Southern League) [the Double-A farm team of the Chicago White Sox]….
Birmingham, at 6,352 per game had the 24th-highest MiLB attendance in 2015.
birmingham-barons_regions-field_b_.gif
Photo credits above –
Exterior shot of Regions Field’s distinctive giant aluminum-clad BIRMINGHAM sign, photo by Pac-Clad Petersen Aluminum at pac-clad.com. Interior shot of Regions Field from the 1st base stands, photo from 2014 by Mark Almond/malmond@al.co at al.com.

Richmond Flying Squirrels (Eastern League) [the Double-A farm team of the San Francisco Giants]….
Richmond, at 6,055 per game, had the 27th-highest MiLB attendance in 2015.
richmond-flying-squirrels_the-diamond_b_.gif
Photo credits above –
Interior shot from 2nd deck of the Diamond, photo by Richmond Flying Squirrels at linkedin.com/company/richmond-flying-squirrels. Interior shot from 1st base side of 1st deck of the Diamond during the 2015 home opener, photo by Dean Hoffmeyer at richmond.com/sports/flying-squirrels.

Reading Fighting Phils (Eastern League) [the Double-A farm team of the Philadelphia Phillies]….
Reading, at 6,044 per game, had the 28th-highest MiLB attendance in 2015.
reading-fighting-phils_firstenergy-stadium_b_.gif
Photo credits above –
Interior shot of main stand at FirstEnergy Stadium, photo by Reading Fighting Phils at milb.com/[Reading attendance history, 1987-2015]. View from outfield swimming pool at FirstEnergy Stadium, photo by Malcolm Macmillan at theballparkguide.mlblogs.com/tag/reading-fightin-phils. View from leftfield dining deck booths at FirstEnergy Stadium, photo by Malcolm Macmillan at theballparkguide.mlblogs.com/tag/reading-fightin-phils.
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Thanks to BallparkDigest.com, for attendance figures, 2015 Affiliated Attendance by League (ballparkdigest.com).
Thanks to the contributors at:
Double-A (baseball) (en.wikipedia.com).
Thanks to AMK1211 for blank map of USA, ‘File:Blank US Map with borders.svg”>File:Blank US Map with borders.svg‘ (commons.wikimedia.org).
Thanks to milb.com for photos of Akron, Biloxi, Corpus Christie, Midland, Mobile, Reading, Springfield cap-logos, here.

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