News: DC United 2014 - News, Speculation, and links

BREAKING NEWS: The team still sucks.

 

Where was the awesome post about the first ten games actually having an enormous impact on the season? We're off to a great start. Let the Olsen job countdown begin.

 

My perfect world would be:

A stadium deal gets inked and the first shovel goes in the ground.

Earnie Stewart comes to DCU to be the coach.

Hey I can dream.

 

That's not news

 

https://www.bigsoccer.com/community/...to-predict-the-road-to-playoffs-2014.1999730/

 

link?

 

http://www.dcunited.com/news/2014/03/march-8-highlights-dc-united-0-columbus-crew-3

 

13,840 attendance last night versus the 2013 season opener of 17,072. This means there were 3232 less tickets sold this year than last or a drop of 19% attendance in a single year. How much less money did DC United earn?

On average, fans pay 30 dollars a ticket. DC United lost approximately $97,000 in ticket sales.
Let's say 1,000 of those fans paid 20 dollars each for parking. DC United lost $65,000 is parking costs.
Assume the average fan paid a low end of $10 dollars each for snacks and food. DC United lost $33,000 on food and snack sales.
Assume they paid on average $8 for merchandise. DC United lost $26,000 in merchandise sales.

In total, DC United lost roughly $220,000.00 last night that they earned in 2013 during the same game.

Looks like a coaches salary to me.

 

I couldn't believe how few people were there. I was on the metro with more Crew fans then DCU fans.

 

Think about how much money Seattle made. They are grossing about 1.15 million per game. During the home opener last year they announced that they make about 15% more than average because people buy new jerseys and what not, so perhaps 1.3 million the first game. We complain and whine about other teams being able to pay for expensive players, but the team has actively conspired to put us in a position where at least a few teams in the league are making 600,000 or more dollars profit over what DC United does each game- which amounts to roughly 11.3 million dollars per year more money than DC United gets from tickets, concessions and merch alone, or as much as 15 million dollars for the top teams in the league.

 

Really hate to burst your everything DCU sucks bubble, but your math is wrong. DCU doesn't get full parking, only a modest cut. Same, if any for food. I'm also sure your "average" ticket price is way too high. The youth teams get a big discount, STH get a discount and some tickets are pure comps. That goes back to the issue of an SSS, you can't make money if you rent a stadium, especially from an operation as clueless as DC Events.

Just had to add after reading your next post, do you really believe the FO is "conspiring" to put a shitty product on the field? And if so, who are they "conspiring" with? I think the FO is clueless regarding foreign player acquisitions and clearly is cost-conscious in the absence of a concrete stadium deal, but they are not "conspiring" to put crap on the field.

 

So what you are saying is that DC is actually earning far less per game than I afforded in my conservative estimate? Your argument is good for the club, how? Further, 20% less attendance still means roughly 20% less earnings per game. I can't really see a case for a greater proportion of the 3232 unsold tickets being comped or cheap seats, relative to paid seats, or expensive seats, so perhaps we're talking 120,000 or 150,000 dollars lost relative to last season (rather than 210,000), with the added caveat that the team makes less money overall than can be predicted, due to comped or free seats and deals or fans being cheap as hell with merch and food. Again, that situation is actually worse than the one I presented.

Further, yea, I get that much of the parking fees don't go to DC United. It's still money lost, and despite some of that money going to the City, during times of a stadium negotiation, you really don't want to be representing $40,000 losses per game in parking revenue for the city, or $700,000 per year.

It's important to note that we're comparing 2014 with 2013 and 2014 with 2012 and 2014 to 2011:

1. It's the same stadium
2. It's the same club and marketing
3. It's better scheduling

You can talk about rents and the SSS in the future, like 2016 or 2017 when it's finished. For now, we need to talk about how much more money we're hemorrhaging even across 1-3 years. For example, 18,500 in attendance in 2011 means we lost 26% attendance across 2 years for the same match. Do you realize how big of a deal that is?

 

If what many fans argue is true, and the team is in a holding pattern until the stadium deal is done, then everything from Kasper, Olsen and Ashton remaining on staff, to a lack of proper scouting, to the secretive firing of much of the staff is all part of a 'hope the league funds our roster' strategy and are all part of deliberative efforts to create a low quality product on the field and low quality experience at the stadium, despite the stadium already being shitty. It's certainly cost-cutting and lazy, and maintains their hold on a soccer franchise that has long-term growth potential. It certainly sows discontent with fans, who blame the league, blame Garber's absent efforts to push for a stadium on our behalf, blame the city for their part in not coming to a deal on the SSS. At this point it feels like certain forces want to keep their hooks into a dying organization in the event that things turn around later and what is presented now doesn't really matter all that much. I regularly see fans admit that as long as a SSS is built, they don't care what is happening now- whether we have 9,000 fans at a match, or whether we win the wooden spoon again, none of it matters.

 

2016

 

Yea, the only way 2016 was viable is if we had a deal with the city by the end of this Spring, and a plan hashed out. My best guess now if we do come to agreement is Winter 2017. Which makes the whole "until we get a stadium we will keep sucking and not making smart decisions" argument even more eyeroll-inducing. These people must realize we have 3 more years of high rents and a shitty stadium environment at RFK.. right? It's not like the stadium deal is announced and magically we hire a new coach and top flight players.

 

Can we talk about the team's marketing strategy? There was more push for the release of The Tradition then the home opener itself.

Then they sell a package deal to the game that comes with a D.C. United hat. Cool, I guess? I asked about it when I picked up my tickets. The woman at the will call window just smiled and shrugged. Nobody seemed to know anything about it. So, my team stinks and a raccoon is in RFK somewhere wearing my hat.

 

I want to know what the radio announcer thinks of the club after having to call that game. I already heard him talk crap about soccer on the radio a few times, so it's not like he's going to be converted anytime soon.

 

There's a monkey in Gibralter with my hat.

Thx,

Jay!

 

The only way DC United is going to put butts in seats is to put a product on the field that people want to watch. Not supporters, but the casual fan who is looking for something to do.

If I was trying to figure out what to do for a Saturday night with my friends/kids/date, etc. I'd think of the DC United game, and then I'd remember how bad they sucked the last few years, and now they got blown out in their first game of the season. It is not where I'd want to spend my money, since going to a game to watch the home team lose is not really entertainment.

This is a how a death spiral really starts speeding up, with the inevitable result.

 

Have to agree here.

I used to LOVE to watch the Moreno/Gomez games when we were at our tippy top performance wise. The CCC games vs. Chivas or Pachuca were sooo much fun, and exciting to think we could take one of them out.

I had friends who didn't watch soccer come out because oru team was GOOD. Now...I could careless about attending a game because I don't feel the team deserves my cash right now until they bring a better product on the field.

Our team has potential...but we need some help in the center of the park. I will attend a couple of games this year...but not with the same passion as I had for this team which used to represent the beauty of the game with nice passing sequences, creativity from our midfield and forwards, even outside backs too. It's gone. I have to watch Portland or RSL to get soem of that back. I am really ashamed to say that.

 

I think they are conspiring by keeping the supporter's groups to a minimum, thereby ensuring that when they jump they don't rock RFK too much, otherwise RFK would collapse...

 

Rocky the Racoon!!!?