2021 in Numbers
A numerical overview of the last 12 months from a PRO perspective:
0.144 – The average number of red cards issued per game in the MLS regular season – down from 0.161 in 2020
0.26 – The average number of video reviews per MLS game, the lowest average from all four MLS seasons that have used VAR from start to finish
2:09 – The average number of minutes taken to complete a video review
3.85 – The average number of yellow cards issued per game in the MLS regular season
7 – The number of on-field officials that received their first MLS assignments (Jennifer Garner, Justin Howard, Eduardo Jeff, Meghan Mullen, Ben Pilgrim, Michael Radchuk and Lukasz Szpala)
8 – The number of international tournaments that were officiated by at least one PRO official
14 – The number of female officials assigned to MLS games in 2021, fulfilling 129 roles – equating to the highest percentage of officiating positions that have been assigned to female officials
58 – On-field officiating positions assigned to trialist officials in MLS during 2021
61.77 – The percentage of on-field officiating positions in NWSL that were assigned to women
69 – The percentage of education delivered to senior officials remotely as opposed to in-person
76.7 – The percentage increase in the number of yellow cards issued for Delaying the Restart, with 0.394 yellow cards per game being issued
95 – The total of clear and obvious errors that were corrected – better than in 2017, 2018 and 2019
99.46 – The percentage of goals that were fairly scored in MLS
167 – The increase in regular-season MLS games from 2020 to 2021
1,235 – The total number of regular-season games officiated by PRO officials across MLS, NWSL, USL Championship, and USL League One
2,754 – The number of assignments made in the MLS regular season
7,200 – The number of nights spent in hotel rooms by all PRO officials while working MLS games
9,646 – The average number of meters run by referees per game
14,137 – The total number of COVID-19 tests facilitated by PRO last year.