James Bessette gives more or less free rein to Blackstone Valley Tourism Council Executive Director James Toomey to tout the success of the stadium in Providence Business News, but the numbers need elaboration and context before a judgment can be made:

According to attendance data researched by PBN, total paid attendance through nine Rhode Island FC matches at Centreville Bank Stadium to date has been 79,535. The stadium has been oversold out three times so far, including the July 19 rivalry match against Hartford Athletic. Although, inclement weather hampered actual attendance for some matches, including on June 7 and June 14.

That works out to an average of 8,837 per game, which is 84% capacity in the 10,500-seat facility.  Compared with other teams, that record seems pretty good.  (Although the comparison with other sports and divisions would put it to shame.)

The big question mark, in my view, is how one defines “paid attendance.”  When I was a senior in high school, one of the large arenas in the New York area sent free tickets around to all the schools in the area because Van Halen was set to perform to a mostly empty room.  Were those “paid” because tickets were printed?  Another question is whether investors or special interests (e.g., the labor unions that benefited from the project and its government subsidies) took any steps to goose the early results.

Rhode Islanders should wish the stadium well, but so many powerful forces in the Ocean State have incentive to put a positive spin on its activities that the public should approach the news with skepticism.