NBA surpassed by MLS this season in attendance percent!

lol, keep dreaming. MAYBE 20-25 years from now you will see the idea of stadium expansion, but i guarantee you not before then. i can see if RSL was consistently selling out the stadium for 5 to 10 years straight you might see the topic come up, but i cant see this team even looking at that area for a couple decades for many reasons.

Would you mind expanding on a few of those reasons? I can understand there could be reasons but I'm just too ignorant to know them.

lack of demand is the first
yeah, we are doing better, but we aren't so hot of a ticket that they sell out each and every game. They constantly have to give discounts on tickets in order to get a near sellout crowd.

I think it is naive to think MLS teams/players are less likely to be involved in scandal. We've already had a doping scandals in MLS.

http://goal.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/16/two-red-bulls-players-suspended-for-failed-drug-tests/

http://www.oregonlive.com/timbers/index.ssf/2011/06/drug_usage_surfaces_in_mls.html

Drug use scandal:
http://www.boston.com/sports/soccer...evolutions_joseph_in_substance_abuse_program/

As the money gets bigger, as the value to be gained by winning gets bigger, etc. the motivation to cut corners to win will increase.

a bounty hunting scandal would explain the way those hacks in Colorado and Houston play...

I don't think they'd consider expanding unless the # of season tickets doubles (or so). They've got to guarantee that they'd be selling enough seats in the new place to make that investment.

Also, they're not going to make that kind of investment while still paying off the original stadium. At least, not with only 8,000 season ticket holders.

First being that they still owe a lot of money on the current stadium, it is financially unstable to look at an expensive stadium expansion:remodel when you are a small market team operating in the red. This team has been a model of financial smarts, uncle Dave and co. Aren't going to change now.

Second, as was mentioned above, we have only 8k season ticket holders which is important to long term stability. The SLC sports market is full of fickle fans who love winners but are quick to find other entertainment when a team isn't doing so hot. Expanding a stadium would mean that the team has greatly expanded its sth base, ideally you would like at least half the stadium capacity occupied by sth's if not many many more. This helps drive demand and guaranteed high attendance for every match, no matter the time of the year. Even in their recent weak years the Jazz still have roughly double the sth base RSL has.

Third, stadium expansions are generally a sign of a stable operating league which has advanced to the point where outside revenues are a significant contributing factor, especially tv money. It also generally occurs when stadiums have become outdated and are in need of modernization. The league isn't to this point yet, the vast majority of its "SSS" are all perfectly suitable for their occupants. Columbus being the only exception, and the oldest sss in MLS, which remodeled slightly to put in a stage and actually reduce overall capacity.

RSL and the league as a whole still have a ways to go to get to stadium expansion projects.

Right on all points.

On the season ticket holder issue, yes RSL has 8,000 or so season tickets sold but the actual number of people that hold those tickets is considerably less when you figure in multiple seats purchased like my 4.

Both numbers need to grow dramatically. RSL needs to get to a point where there is a waiting list for season tickets and even then expanding the stadium would be a big decision.

I would prefer we sell out the RioT a couple SEASONS in a row before expansion is even considered.

Watching the DC United game last night and memories of the Rice Eccles experience lead me to believe that small, packed, and a waiting list for tickets is the way to go.

Stadiums will expand with the TV revenue. When MLS is signing multi-million/billion dollar TV deals payrolls, stadiums and ticket prices will all rise.

Lets pack the RioT and enjoy the good times while they last.

And what hurts us in the US, for primetime games... is the lack of commercial usage during games...

Which I LOVE.... But its all about the tv's money that will expand the league.

This is one thing I don't understand. Soccer is made for TV. What better way to promote a product knowing everyone watching will see tour ad. No one is heading to the kitchen, bathroom etc.

You have a captive audience watching a game. Run the ad under or split screen.

There have been broadcasts in the past that did split screen for the ads and it's terrible. You can barely see whats going on during the game during their stupid 30 second ad. Sponsors, ad boards, and the tiny company logos by the scoreboard are fine. Split screen or running something on the bottom is a horrible idea. I'm even fine if they break commentary to speak about a sponsor. But don't obscure my view of the event.

While I don't want to see it happen, I'd rather have 20 shirt sponsors all over than to see crap on the screen during the run of play.

this x10000000000000000000^23. ESPN picked up MLS games a number of years ago and tried to split screen ads into the game. it. was. horrible. it got to the point where on the MLS N&A forum there was a thread dedicated to the number of goals and important plays that were missed because the split screen made it damn near impossible to see what was happening in the game. MAYBE if they had run a split screen where the game occupied 50% of the screen and that ad was only say 25% (the rest has to be occupied by black space due to the layout of the broadcast), it might be better. but that would never work, nobody is going to pay to have a tiny ad running next to a game like that.

i still have no idea why the league hasnt adopted the on field projected ads like other leagues do on the sidelines/endlines where there is a lot of space. technology has gotten to the point where those could even be animated. granted their are video boards and signage on the sidelines, but still there is plenty of space that goes un-used and lots of other leagues utilize that space.

IMO the league does a very very very poor job selling/marketing itself, especially outside this country. take for instance the MLS Live online subscription, its not available to those outside the US, Canada and Mexico. That is ********ing RIDICULOUS. There have been a lot of complaints about that in the last couple years and MLS has failed to address it. People resort to some crazy work arounds to get access to that service, many who would be more than willing to pay the price for it.

I thought MLS sold digital international distribution rights to a 3rd party, or as part of its international broadcast rights. And that's why MLS Live isn't available outside of N. America.

I'll try to look that up.

Why the NBA hate? You were a Jazz fan your whole life but now that they've had a couple bad seasons you're a hater? Is that the kind of support you'll show RSL when they inevitable have their bad seasons over the course of your lifetime?

There's nothing wrong with being a fan of BOTH local teams. I don't fully understand why so many on these forums think its "cool" to hate teams from the "big four leagues". Don't get me wrong i'm a huge RSL fan, have been since the first season at Rice Eccles, and rarely miss a match on tv even though I live 2000 miles away, but I also love the Jazz, as uncool as that may be on here. I would rather watch an RSL playoff game vs a Jazz playoff game, but tonight I will have my main focus on the Jazz game which is pretty much a playoff game. If that makes me a bad RSL fan, so be it.

I think some of it comes from some of the political and business discord between the Jazz FO and the RSL FO. With that said, I agree that there is no inherent fault in being a fan of both.

I do think that the situation you face tonight is what DVRs were made for. I watch every RSL game. But, occasionally, there is a situation that takes me away from watching it on time. I record and watch it late. Life is about making choices and RSL doesn't have to be the first choice in all situations.

2 Reasons why we (others have voiced the same thing so no I'm not putting words in mouths) hate the Jazz. I grew up loving this team, and it wasnt because they won, it was because of the way the game was played then.

1. The league they play in
- full of egos that make Cristiano Ronaldo look humble. Money thrown around like its toilet paper. Top heavy with only a hand full of teams ever likely to win. No real rivalries anymore with how free-agency is setup.

2. The owners
- All they want is playoffs. It's slightly because of the first, but it's also because reaching a final again would take some legitimate management - aka money invested. Ever since the Stockton to Malone era they've been content with being a 4-12 team in the west and hoping to maybe reach a WCF via a hot streak.

Whilst I understand your point relatively speaking the scandal in MLS is non-existent by comparison. IMHO MLS is still considered 'quaint' by the other big national leagues.

The other piece to this is that whilst MLS remains a little less attractive as a news story for the mainstream to keep talking about for long then MLS can still hide behind that lack of attention. It will certainly continue to gain more attention but sometimes a certain amount of anonymity can help in the earl days. I think to the mainstream public MLS scandals wouldn't come in the top 4 of sports with scandal issues.

For many reasons I am not a fan, this last round of strikes did it for me. NBA playes want more for much less. The Jazz I just have no room for, I wish them well... But I can only dedicate so much time and money to sports. Right now thats the Forty Niners... And the RSL

When im in, im in. Merchandise, games, away games im planning, etc.


Unless you have a money tree, to share... I made my choice.

Simple: The NBA is unwatchable, and it is the antithesis of MLS.

Overpaid, spoiled, crybaby high school dropout players (for the most part) vs. humble, down-to-earth, well-educated players who make a salary most of us can identify with (for the most part).
Constant one-on-one vs. teamwork.
Players who don't give a crap vs. players who do give a crap.
No defense vs. plenty of defense.
Manufactured, amusement park atmosphere vs. organic, real sport atmosphere.
Ridiculously-priced tickets vs. affordably-priced tickets.
Etc. etc.

The only thing the NBA and MLS have in common is their refs stink.

And don't get me started on the Jazz. I couldn't stand Larry Miller, but at least he wasn't a chicken-shit owner like his son. Greg doesn't care about a championship....he wants to do the minimum necessary to get the Jazz into the playoffs. Why? Because the Jazz only turn a profit if they make it to the playoffs (LHM confirmed this a few years before his death). Greg Miller is basically using Jazz fans and you guys are falling for it hook, line, and sinker.

this is why i dont care about the jazz anymore. i gave up on them the second sloan walked away because of the prima-donna d-will. everything the jazz once represented has been washed away for the new era NBA full of pansy ass players who make way too much money, play no defense, and whine like a bunch of babies when they cant get a check for $100 million. the NBA sucks, it's barely even watchable and the blatant favoritism makes every season more or less a foregone waste of time. you have maybe 5 teams that are going to win it, other than that you have teams that fight for the playoffs but a vast majority of the teams just want to spend as little as necessary to make money. larry's son is a total douche who couldn't care less about the team, he just wants to make money off of it.