Freddy Adu

Yeah that and traffic on 291, and 95 for that matter was a nightmare. 291 was a 30 minute travel from Boeing to PPL yesterday from 5-7PM.

 

yeah i-95 south traffic sucked for no apparent reason. We were at the stadium around 5:10. Zack Macmath was already in the Home Depot tent when when got there not long after. Anyone had the misfortune of parking on Lot C and being stucked in that clusterFruck because they wouldn't let people except for one way. (highland ave i think).

 

Yeah, all the players were coming from appearances elsewhere in the city and were on a schedule run by MLS or the Union or whoever. A lot of the hate for Freddy is spurred by confirmation bias in my opinion

But the truth is, in the larger scheme of things it's not THAT bad. $200,000 against the cap is less than Mapp counted against the cap, so that doesn't really hurt us. that means the team is spending about 400,000 on adu. But you really have to consider how much extra money his name brings in for the team in merchandise sales, sponsorship money, generated interest, and marketability. Freddy is an investment just as much for his name as he is for his ability (Which apparently I find to be much better than a lot of people are willing to give him credit for.) We also need to consider his potential if he does stay. If we went out and signed any 23 year old with his ability and potential that wasn't named freddy adu everyone would be going crazy.

 

A lot of love too.

He gets a larger share of both (conf. bias inspired hate and love) than most players. Hell, at the big Benfica board there's *still* a Freddy Adu thread, 37k posts of people arguing about whether he's awesome or horrible (plus a few links to Union highlights these days ).

Btw, I'm a nats fan who watches LA because of Landon, Fulham because of Clint, etc. You know what's interesting, though? Most teams never really garner my support, e.g., I never developed an affinity for other Galaxy players; I watch Landon. I really like the Union, though. Garfan, Marfan, Okugo, fireplugs like Torres (I miss watching him) and Hoppenot, etc. are all fun to watch.

Even Piotr was fun to watch, though I often questioned his decisions and actions. (In the beginning, I was shocked at how poor a passing team the Union were. Little off the ball movement, no recognition of open people or areas, no rhythm, etc. I wondered if Piotr's defensive and ever-changing lineups had something to do w/ that. Whatever the change was - maybe Hack, I don't know - the Union sure are a joy to watch these days. Even when the result's not great, as an outsider who's less vested in W/Ls, I can still enjoy the quality of play.)

While impressed by various aspects of them, I never developed a fondness for any of Freddy's previous clubs. The Union, though, (like Everton) are an easy team to like.

 

you know what else provides marketing opportunities and garners fan interest? Players who show up AND put points on the board.

 

Over reaction much?

 

Yep, definitely an overreaction! We are talking about 400K...the Union make that in one game. He probably isn't the best value for money, but seems silly to be so concerned about that amount. When Hackworth stops playing him and he sits on the bench like Lopez then I could see that salary really being an issue. I find M. Farfan much more frustrating player since he has the most talent and ability on this team and he often goes missing.

 

Bold...
1) it's not a stretch. it's truth. Why did LA bring in beckham and keep him and pay millions a year even though he wasn't producing... oh wait, he still sells out a carolina NASL team only because he's on the team.. AND DOESN'T EVEN TRAVEL! Believe it or not, people who don't even follow soccer - who i've brought to games - said "Adu... wait, isn't that that wonderkid a few years ago". This is a 26 year old, who hasn't followed MLS ever, or even the national team, and knows of Adu. People with better recollection would come out to see him - not in droves like beckham, but a decent amount just to see him (and then be disappointed to some degree).

2) Why do you feel it necessary to go off on opinion comments. This is YOUR opinion, and you're berating our opinions - not opposing them, berating them. One step away from attacking the actual person... you're not, but that is what you are doing. You aren't adding to the conversation, you're forcing it down to the most inane, repetitive nature possible.

3) We aren't stuck with him. There is a term limit to his contract, and anything can happen. Maybe some Qatari nation will buy him. Who knows. Things aren't definite, and even though he hasn't produced to your expectations (which are superhuman), neither has much of anyone else on the team. Sorry you over-evaluate his abilities and then prove that notion to why you hate him.

He's a member on a team of talent, that hasn't fully (and consistently) put it to use.

So stop over reacting to opinions.

 

Yay, people who agree with me!!! No but really, he more than makes up that 400,000. It's not a question. Lets say he sells 1000 jerseys, which i think is fair to assume he does, that's almost of 1/4 of that right there. Then you have his marketability (See MLS Xbox Kinect commercial). You add that to his ability to generate actual interest in the team (believe it or not I have seen first hand instances of this happening) and you make up that $400,000 without a doubt. Then you have the fact that he is actually one of the better players on our team and he is definitely worth the investment.

 

This point is true and it is the crux of this thread and the all arguments that are Freddy Adu. Is he a cash cow as Schanbacher321 states here, a great player who is stuck with inferior talent who make him look bad or is he a 22 year old has been who at times can display some very good skills but doesn't have the physical ability to show those skills on a consistent basis at this or any major football level.

Comparing Freddy to David Beckham is like comparing McCauley Culkin to George Clooney. He was good as a kid and he brought some notoriety to the league and himself. But he has never been the key player on his national team, played for a super club or shown that he can play at a high level for an extended period of time.

The question is, should the team wait him to become a Beckham by giving him more time but is it worth the money, holding the ball too much, the turnovers, the lack of physical presence and the defensive liabilities. Personally I don't want us taking that chance because I don't see Freddy taking a leadership role with this team or in his own development to become a better player. And whatever residual money we make from him because he was America's first soccer phenom is not worth it.

Though I may be wrong because I am not at the practices day in and day out. And if the team disagrees with me I will root for him to become the George Clooney of soccer in America every game he plays here.

 

It's not a question, really? How could you possibly have any idea what those figures look like? Do you keep the club's books too? I had no idea so many of the Union's accountants posted on BS!

Even if the club did sell 1,000 Adu jerseys - which is a figure you just pulled out of your ass - how many of those people would have bought a jersey with a different player's name on it if he wasn't part of the team?

How many people became STHs because Freddy Adu was signed to the club? How many people just came to a few games because he was signed? What was the Union's cut of the money paid to Freddy for his appearance in that XBox commercial? Is Freddy being paid directly from the club's coffers, or is he being paid with Nowak's giant stack of allocation money?

 

While we can agree to disagree on his talent level and effectiveness (a whole other discussion than his value), it's nice to see that every Freddy hater isn't hoping for him to fail simply to validate their arguments.

Ok I'm going to speak from a marketing perspective here because that's what I do. You have to look at his salary vs value, which essentially is the Union's return on investments for his contract. Now money from advertising is NOT going to be the amount paid to the Union for being in the ad. While there most likely was a minimal amount, that doesn't matter. If you watch the ad, you'll see Freddy is wearing the new uniform. This ad is played on national tv, even when the union are not playing. Let's say someone who is 22 years old, sees the add during the NHL playoffs and recognized adu and see's the jersey and likes it and buys it. Now conversion rates are hard to calculate with television ads, but they are reaching both a local and national audience which would mean interest is obviously being generated. Even if the person doesn't recognize adu and like the jersey, they may buy one. Even if they buy one with another name or no name, they saw it because of freddy. Now the union don't really have ANYONE else that MLS or Microsoft would want in that commercial so it was him or nobody from a Philly standpoint. Also it is not as simple as him generating season ticket holders. Let's say he gets X amount of people to come check out a game because they heard about adu coming. Y amount may come back and Z amount may tell their friends. In the end there are people who work for the Union and MLS who sit down and look at these numbers and decide whether he is worth it or not, and they know better than anyone on this board, so I will trust them when it comes to money.

So if you are saying Freddy sucks that is one thing, but if you are saying he is an alright player but not worth what we are paying him, then I think your argument is completely invalid, seeing how $400,000 is an incredibly easy amount to make up with his fame.

And yes I pulled the number out of my ass which i think I made apparent by saying "lets say" and "assume".

 

Like it or not, Adu provides legitimacy to the Union and to MLS. My son and I went to the ASG this week. We got there early and got autographs from ten Union players. Of all of the Union players, the line to meet Adu was the longest.

I took a photo of my son with several of the Union players (MacMath, Williams, Carroll, Garfan, Albright, Gaddis, Harrison and Adu) and then shared them with my family (parents, siblings, in-laws), none of whom are soccer fans at all. Three responded along the lines of, "Is that [your son] with Freddy Adu? I've heard of him. I didn't know he was on the Union." And then, of course, they asked about Beckham.

To them, having Adu on the team and in the league transformed the league from something that they have vaguely heard about (along the lines of arena football or box lacrosse) to a better understanding of why we go to so many games: they have players that even non-soccer fans know so it must be of a high quality.

There is substantial value to having name recognition that is not easy to quantify.

 

I did not comment on his skill level as it was not particularly relevant to the immediate discussion. You stated that he "more than makes up that 400,000", and it was "not a question". I only pointed out that you have no idea how much money he has made for the club, either directly or indirectly, through jersey sales, ticket sales, TV advertising, or other means. So yes, actually, there is a question. Maybe he does or maybe he doesn't. It may be very well true that the club views the salary as a sunk cost that gives them the kind of recognition that they do not get from other, less known players. It may also be the case that the club expected him to perform at a much higher level than he has and is stuck holding his salary until his contract is up.

There is some evidence to point to the latter case, as he was exposed during the expansion draft. Consider also that he was NOT taken in the expansion draft while Justin Mapp was. What does that say about him?

And that is a fair argument to make. But to say definitively that he makes up his salary in jersey/ticket sales or TV ads is pure speculation.

 

20 dollars (near average cost of the land endline season ticket) times 18,000 (average regular season attendance on a given day - weather and mother's day permitting) = 360,000

Do your math first before making a statement. This also doesn't account for increased prices of endlines, sidelines, suites, field level, concessions, parking, beer, merch....

And i am an accountant.

Also, his argument was that the CLUB makes that much money on gameday... yet alone any sponsors, or whatever else.

It says that our manager - as was noted prior - knew what gambles to make with who montreal's manager would pick... and that a team starting out in it's first year wasn't going to take on a huge salary near DP player without first being able to get a core group going to decide how the team was going to play...

Or maybe it just means adu is a prick, or the manager is an idiot, or means nothing at all....

I'd go with option 1 or 4

 

Average home ticket price is $63.52. this times 18,000 is over a million dollars. You have to add in cost of operations but they make well over 400,000 a game. To be honest, freddy adu's popularity in non soccer fans in USA is comparable to beckham's.

This part makes no sense. If his salary is giving them "the kid of recognition" then it is NOT a sunk cost. You need to look at this from an economic standpoint (and no that does not simply mean how much we pay him). You pay for recognition, that is how it works. It is a cost, and I can guarantee that they calculate his return on investment and base their decisions off that, not just some hunch.

 

In terms of of marketability / a HOUSE name... yes. People have more facets than just skill

You didn't berate someone, and your opinion can be stated without putting down someone elses.

My expectation was nothing.. your expectations were the same ones that made people disappointed back when he played in the league at 17. We're only defending our OPINION, not him, because people just dont see it... but i'm also sure you were one of the fans that never gave ruiz a chance here. Now in his defense, he's only 22 and hasn't had a stable team to play with where he can work on his skills... another wasted potential player that nowak adores (like mapp).

needless to say though, he does have an ego that can't necessarily be back up unless he plays someone 1v1... when it's 1v2... he's out.

 

I love our guys and agree that their club performance is great...but you're going overboard here. Neither Farfan is USMNT quality, as Adu has been at various times. And there is zero chance Okugo is getting anywhere near the USMNT with guys playing at Roma, Schalke and Hamburg in front of him.

I also think people are under-rating Freddy's value as an investment. If they sell him to a Danish team they'll easily recoup 500k. I know Freddy makes a lot, but it's not like he's making crazy money in MLS terms.

 

You're so judgementally "it's black and white" it's not worth it.

20 years playing, and more celebrity than footballer vs 7 years and playing, and people don't even follow soccer and know who he is (and he doesn't flaunt himself infront of paparazzi and parties like beckham)...

my argument holds water, and you're just trolling with "you mad" the entire time.

Btw, i'm not sensitive, i just have no patience for thickheadedness. And my judgment on your attitude is based on your responses to others, not mine...

And if you want all our players to play with heart, and so forth... why don't you go and create a Lopez Party Rock thread and start bitching... otherwise you're just another WIP fan boy focusing on the big name on the team and bitching just like every other philadelphian fan for every other sport.