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After last night's 2-1 loss to Sporting Kansas City, Real Salt Lake coach Jason Kreis took umbrage with the referee selection for the match. With the referee for the match in question having only 16 MLS matches under his belt, and with the two teams in question at the top of the league, with one known for a generally physical approach, there was some sense that Kreis had valid complaints.
For posterity, here's Kreis on the refereeing from his post-match press conference: The level of consistency was the lowest I've seen from a referee in MLS. And again, I don't want to belabor the point about the referee being poor. He is going to be poor. It's his 14th match of his entire career. The referee in a sold out stadium, in a first place versus second place matchup - it's the wrong game for him to make his 14th MLS game." (Note: Kreis was mistaken about it being his 14th — it was his 17th MLS game, but it's a moot point.)
It's not the first time Kreis has had this specific complaint, so looking at some facts is a wise plan. Before we jump in, some notes on these numbers. Match counts are for all professional competitions refereed in as the head referee, and they come from transfermrkt.com.
Without further ado, the numbers:
By team, average number of matches officiated by head official
Team | Average | Median |
---|---|---|
Real Salt Lake | 48.24 | 34.00 |
Columbus Crew | 54.05 | 26.50 |
Vancouver Whitecaps | 54.75 | 25.00 |
Colorado Rapids | 60.10 | 26.00 |
New England Revolution | 62.37 | 34.00 |
Chicago Fire | 62.89 | 36.00 |
Philadelphia Union | 73.43 | 34.00 |
D.C. United | 74.55 | 26.00 |
Toronto FC | 75.30 | 30.50 |
Houston Dynamo | 75.84 | 51.00 |
FC Dallas | 78.29 | 34.00 |
Montreal Impact | 79.11 | 51.00 |
Chivas USA | 83.35 | 61.00 |
LA Galaxy | 92.81 | 71.00 |
San Jose Earthquakes | 93.19 | 98.00 |
Sporting Kansas City | 95.29 | 71.00 |
Portland Timbers | 96.25 | 90.00 |
New York Red Bulls | 106.00 | 98.00 |
Seattle Sounders FC | 106.61 | 98.00 |
Non-national TV
When match is not on national TV: By home team, average number of matches officiated by head official
Average | Median | |
---|---|---|
Colorado Rapids | 40 | 22 |
Vancouver Whitecaps | 44 | 24 |
Chicago Fire | 51 | 36 |
FC Dallas | 53 | 34 |
Real Salt Lake | 58 | 36 |
Houston Dynamo | 60 | 43 |
Columbus Crew | 64 | 26 |
New England Revolution | 65 | 23 |
San Jose Earthquakes | 68 | 22 |
Toronto FC | 70 | 39 |
Montreal Impact | 73 | 51 |
Chivas USA | 79 | 38 |
New York Red Bulls | 81 | 63 |
Philadelphia Union | 86 | 90 |
Sporting Kansas City | 92 | 36 |
LA Galaxy | 99 | 51 |
Seattle Sounders FC | 101 | 94 |
D.C. United | 106 | 109 |
Portland Timbers | 135 | 139 |
When match is not on national TV: By away team, average number of matches officiated by head official
Average | Median | |
---|---|---|
D.C. United | 22 | 22 |
Real Salt Lake | 36 | 24 |
Philadelphia Union | 48 | 21 |
LA Galaxy | 51 | 24 |
Columbus Crew | 51 | 34 |
New England Revolution | 60 | 43 |
Vancouver Whitecaps | 60 | 29 |
Portland Timbers | 61 | 30 |
Chicago Fire | 65 | 44 |
Houston Dynamo | 72 | 39 |
Toronto FC | 81 | 29 |
Colorado Rapids | 82 | 36 |
Sporting Kansas City | 85 | 61 |
Chivas USA | 88 | 81 |
Montreal Impact | 92 | 90 |
FC Dallas | 92 | 67 |
Seattle Sounders FC | 103 | 105 |
San Jose Earthquakes | 105 | 109 |
New York Red Bulls | 115 | 119 |
National TV
An interesting pattern emerges, but first let's note the difference between referees selected for national TV matches and those selected for non-national TV matches.
Average | Median | |
---|---|---|
Non-national match | 72 | 34 |
National match | 103 | 98 |
When match is on national TV: By home team, average number of matches officiated by head official
Home Team | Average | Median |
---|---|---|
Columbus Crew | 21 | 21 |
Montreal Impact | 22 | 22 |
New England Revolution | 22 | 22 |
Colorado Rapids | 51 | 51 |
Sporting Kansas City | 56 | 56 |
D.C. United | 62 | 62 |
Chicago Fire | 85 | 62 |
Vancouver Whitecaps | 98 | 98 |
Seattle Sounders FC | 102 | 102 |
New York Red Bulls | 108 | 94 |
Philadelphia Union | 110 | 110 |
Portland Timbers | 118 | 98 |
LA Galaxy | 135 | 187 |
FC Dallas | 190 | 190 |
Houston Dynamo | 193 | 193 |
San Jose Earthquakes | 193 | 193 |
When match is on national TV: By away team, average number of matches officated by head official
Away Team | Average | Median |
---|---|---|
FC Dallas | 24 | 24 |
Columbus Crew | 26 | 26 |
Real Salt Lake | 51 | 51 |
Colorado Rapids | 56 | 56 |
Chicago Fire | 56 | 56 |
Philadelphia Union | 70 | 90 |
Houston Dynamo | 83 | 62 |
New England Revolution | 98 | 98 |
San Jose Earthquakes | 98 | 98 |
New York Red Bulls | 124 | 187 |
LA Galaxy | 125 | 142 |
Seattle Sounders FC | 146 | 146 |
D.C. United | 173 | 173 |
Portland Timbers | 182 | 182 |
Sporting Kansas City | 190 | 190 |
Without regard to national TV: By home team, number of matches officiated by head official
AVERAGE of Matches refereed | MEDIAN of Matches refereed | |
---|---|---|
Colorado Rapids | 41 | 22 |
Vancouver Whitecaps | 49 | 25 |
Real Salt Lake | 58 | 36 |
Columbus Crew | 60 | 25 |
New England Revolution | 61 | 23 |
Chicago Fire | 63 | 36 |
Montreal Impact | 68 | 43 |
Toronto FC | 70 | 39 |
Houston Dynamo | 75 | 51 |
FC Dallas | 78 | 34 |
Chivas USA | 79 | 38 |
San Jose Earthquakes | 81 | 23 |
Sporting Kansas City | 85 | 36 |
Philadelphia Union | 91 | 90 |
New York Red Bulls | 92 | 94 |
D.C. United | 97 | 98 |
Seattle Sounders FC | 101 | 94 |
LA Galaxy | 110 | 117 |
Portland Timbers | 126 | 98 |
Without regard to national TV: By away team, number of matches officiated by head official
Average | Median | |
---|---|---|
Real Salt Lake | 38 | 25 |
Columbus Crew | 49 | 31 |
D.C. United | 52 | 23 |
Philadelphia Union | 55 | 24 |
Vancouver Whitecaps | 60 | 29 |
Chicago Fire | 63 | 44 |
New England Revolution | 64 | 51 |
Portland Timbers | 72 | 34 |
Houston Dynamo | 77 | 39 |
Colorado Rapids | 77 | 36 |
LA Galaxy | 78 | 71 |
FC Dallas | 78 | 31 |
Toronto FC | 81 | 29 |
Chivas USA | 88 | 81 |
Montreal Impact | 92 | 90 |
San Jose Earthquakes | 104 | 98 |
Sporting Kansas City | 106 | 112 |
Seattle Sounders FC | 111 | 109 |
New York Red Bulls | 119 | 119 |
Do your own analysis of these numbers, but from a Real Salt Lake perspective, here are some interesting patterns that emerge.
- Head officials in Real Salt Lake matches have, on average, officiated over the fewest matches when compared to all teams in MLS. The median offers a different perspective — Real Salt Lake is 9th-lowest when sorted by median.
- When the match is not on national television and Real Salt Lake are the home team, they are well in the bottom half in both average and median matches officiated by head official.
- As above, when they are the away team, the head official has officiated even fewer matches.
- Real Salt Lake have had no home matches and have had only a smattering of away matches on national TV, so we'll skip that thought for now.