One of the most frustrating things about covering a league like Major League Soccer, especially for the stat-obsessed among us, is the lack of easily accessible information. If you want team-specific information beyond the current or most recent season, you’re likely at the whim of the individual teams. Same goes for finding information on players who have left the league.
Houston Dynamo Embrace Statistical History; Hopefully Other Teams Will Follow
Today, the Houston Dynamo joined select company when Dynamo Theory pointed out that the team released box scores and results for the entirety of their time in Houston. It's not necessarily the best presentation of data (it's not sortable, for instance), but at least it has all the pertinent information, including results from non-MLS action such as U.S. Open Cup and CONCACAF Champions League. As far as I know, the Dynamo are the only MLS team that offers this information on their website (although historical Seattle Sounders data can be found if you do some basic web searching).
I’m not going to sit here and pretend that providing this kind of historical data would instantly make MLS more popular. But I do think it’s a sign of how MLS team are missing opportunities to appeal to different types of fans.
Americans are far more stat-obsessed than most, and MLS is in a prime position to become a league where these kinds of fans can feel instantly more comfortable. We like to know things like what is the longest winning streak in team history or who has scored the most goals in U.S. Open Cup competition. Maybe this kind of data is ultimately irrelevant, but why hold it back if it’s available?
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