In the continual saga of American Soccer's inferiority complex, comparing attendance sizes with other sports is our equivalent of whipping it out on the playground to see who's got the biggest one. Discarding that metaphor before it gets weird, at the top end of the asses-in-seats table, teams like Seattle, Philadelphia, Toronto, and Los Angeles are tickling Major League Baseball numbers. Around the rest of the league, most teams put up numbers that wouldn't be out of place in the NBA or NHL. Sure, there are always some laggards, but for the most part, Major League Soccer has done pretty well in justifying the "major" part of its name.


Then we get turnouts like last night's debacle in New England. The Revolution drew a paltry 5,990 people to Gillette Stadium, where they were hosed 4-0 by Chivas USA. That's closer to Major League Lacrosse than Major League Baseball. For all the good signs we've seen, and all the huge steps our sport has taken in the past two decades, an attendance figure like that paints an alarming picture of continued fragility for one of the league's original clubs.


The Revolution's problems are myriad. Foremost, perhaps, is the fact that Gillette Stadium is terrible for this level of soccer. Even a good crowd of fifteen or sixteen thousand gets swallowed up in a vast sea of empty seats. It's also notoriously difficult to get to. Thirty miles of claustrophobic highway separate the stadium from Boston, and in fact, it's closer to Providence, Rhode Island, than it is to downtown Boston. To make matters worse, there isn't a normal public transit stop within miles of the stadium. The special train that runs for NFL games isn't used for MLS matches.


Then there's the product on the field. In the past, Steve Nicol has done admirably with limited resources, taking the Revs to four MLS Cup finals, two US Open Cup finals (winning one), winning the 2008 SuperLiga, and finishing as MLS Supporters' Shield runner-up in 2005, but the ultimate prize, an MLS Cup title, has eluded them. This season, they've managed just two wins in their first seven matches, overcoming only a poor Toronto FC side and a DC United squad in the middle of its worst ever start to a season.


Additionally, there are few big names on this Revolution roster with the clout to bring out the unwashed masses. Of the club's two most marketable names, Revolution legend and all-time leading scorer Taylor Twellman is battling career-threatening injury, while captain Shalrie Joseph is on indefinite leave of absence while he is seeking treatment for substance abuse.


The lack of star players is just another accusation leveled at the Revolution's owners, Kraft Sports Group, by concerned and fed-up Revs fans. Some of the supports feel like KSG is using them to add a few extra zeros at the end of a balance sheet for a facility they've already paid for. They also contend that the Front office has done a poor job of marketing the team, and too often has made questionable personnel decisions. In recent seasons, talented young players like Clint Dempsey, Michael Parkhurst, and Jeff Larentowicz have left the club, and although of those three, only Larentowicz was traded, the fans are disappointed that issues of quality and long-term development haven't been addressed.


Now, the sub six-thousand attendance is more of an aberration than a rule, but it highlights the problems New England is facing. Boston is an important market for MLS, and solutions must be sought. The vast majority of the public would like to see a smaller facility close to the heart of the city; Harvard Stadium has been mooted as a potential option, while another proposal would see a stadium built in the much closer suburb of Somerville.


Whatever happens, the most important thing is that something does happen. MLS has grown beyond what the Revolution management are currently able of accomplishing, and stagnating in the current situation will have detrimental impact on the league's development and credibility.