So what I get is, because of Crew Juniors pillaging youth teams in Ohio, the good ole network are subliminally 'protesting' in going to watch the A-team?
More, I think, that some don't think their kids can learn anything from the pros (believe it or not) or concern of loss of power and influence--and this was well before the founding of Crew Juniors, really right from the start. Some were worried about scheduling--especially with the 4 pm games. Some didn't think the Crew would be around that long (not an unreasonable thought at the start). There were some youth soccer orgs the Crew could work with and some that wanted no part of anything the Crew had to offer--even free. Some of the latter were/are quite large. It's probably been at least 10 years since I had any connection to this area--so I don't remember specific names (not that it's all that important). It may seem crazy--but that's what happens when egos get involved. There are others I'm sure that could say more about it. Bill for one.
Reeeeeeaeaaal faaaaaaaan arrrrrrggg! And your first paragraph is hilarious, so I guess you might be funny afterall...
Walking through Seattle-Tacoma International Airport this evening while waiting for my flight back to Nebraska, I wandered into one of the generic airport shops and what greets me? A freaking wall of Sounders gear. Also, when we were waling through downtown Seattle, every other bar/restaurant/shop has a Sounders flag in the window. Even the cruise ship that I sailed to Alaska on had Sounders gear in the gift shop. Why do I bring this up? Because it's all about exposure. If you pimp it, they will come. The American culture has become "Short Attention Span Theater of the Absurd." You have to constantly remind people that you're there, or you're easily forgotten in the noise. Get on the ball, HSG, because you're falling behind fast.
What's one of the biggest signs that something needs to be done? Not this most recent game, but the previous home game, I saw someone between 4th street patio and the stadium in a Galaxy jersey. That place should be Crew Central, and we're allowing it to fall to opponents? WTF? ------ How hard would it be to set up a booth during events at Columbus Commons? Get an intern, a ticket guy, several thousand pocket schedules, and a big stack of tickets for the next game.
I believe this is the core issue. Fans/Customers do not see the Columbus Crew as providing a good enough value proposition for their money. In real terms that means its costs too much for what the fans are experiencing. Based on this proposition the Crew needs to improve the team's value by, 1. Improving the product on the field. They don't have to win every game but it has to be a good, entertaining team that has some genuine stars that people want to watch. 2. Improve the game day experience The stadium and amenities are sub par. Some money needs to be investing in making the stadium more appealing. Things like a roof, better seating, better food and concessions all add to the value. 3. Differentiate the price The price of going to games is seen to be too high for what is provided. Incentives for new fans should be offered. The team needs to cater to the Season Ticket holders in one fashion, the supporters in another, occasional fans a third way and new fans in still yet another manner. 4. Connect with the Community Move closer to the Club concept where people feel much more connected with the team. Also leverage the Academy teams so that the players and their families are given discounts to games and have close access to the senior players. All of these items, and I'm sure you can add some others, focus on the core issue --- value for the fan/customer. If that value is there, they will be there if it is not, they won't.
5. Maybe this just isn't a big league market. I'm beginning to think this is the case. Jackets lost $25 million last season. Do they still lose money with all sellouts? I'm not sure, but I would not be surprised. I see where folks are coming from. I would hesitate to shell out $27 for a day-of-game ticket. But folks in other markets would. We are not competing in a vacuum. Sure, you can suggest better players. But I did a rough analysis indicating that our ticket prices are not too crazy with the salary budget this team has. If ticker prices really are too high for this market, and that may well be, that's one indication that this may not be an MLS market long term. Better stadium? Sure we'd all like that--but who's going to PAY for it? This was the best stadium that could be built in the time they had. The alternative was the Crew moving then and there truly was no other place to play, at the time. The team has indicated that they are looking at alternatives--but an average attendance of 10K probably will not convince an investor to put their money there. I do think we got our money's worth of entertainment last game. 6 goals and $1 beer tain't bad. I can live with that. One other point--we're probably not going to move to the "club" concept. It's alien to the US way of doing sports, and the truth is that many European sides are moving away from this concept. You never heard about "owners" in European soccer 20 years ago, but many top EPL teams have them now and the rest are mostly incorporated as something more akin to franchises as opposed to clubs. The pro team is usually now completely or almost completely separate from the actual founding club.
1) Agreed. Even if it's a tie or a loss, the team should at least be entertaining. If you're going to lose, then it's always best to go down in a blaze of glory, shooting the ball at every chance you're given. Put the fans on the edge of their seats. 2) You're a fan of another team, so i'll give you a pass here. The team is limited as to what they can do with food, as the contract is controlled by the fairgrounds people. There's on-and-off talk on the team looking at another site for a stadium. How serious you can take the word "talk" is up to interpretation. It's something that seems to come up on occasion, but as to how serious the discussions are seems to be anyone's guess. The current stadium only saw nine months and one day between groundbreaking and the first game. Obviously, a new stadium would be built in much more time. It was 1998 and a vote to build a stadium in a suburb had failed. According to the story, Lamar Hunt and the GM were sitting in a McDonald's looking at a map of the city. Their eyes came across the state fair's parking lot, and they thought that would be a suitable place for a stadium. As the field at Ohio Stadium was due to be lowered following the 1998 OSU season, there wasn't much time to build a new The ticket prices do seem to be too high, however the league keeps pushing us to raise our prices to bring them more in line with the average league prices. I do agree that the team needs to be connected with the community, and the academy is a good start, but given the current CBA, how many times could the senior players make appearances for the academy players? Many players used to sign autographs after all home games. Generally, they would alternate between players who wore odd numbers, and those who wore even numbers. Because of the CBA, a few years ago, it was scaled back to about 5-6 players per game. Even more recently, they only do autographs for about half the games per month.
I think this was a big mistake on the part of the union and I think it's showing up now in lower attendance. You cannot buy the type of connection the autograph sessions and other meet the team events gave. The guys used to mingle with the fans postgame in the tent too. Soccer just isn't to the place where you can get away with being prima donnas to the fans. One guy I really like is Jimmy Roliins (now, I'm a Phils fan, admittedly). But he spends a fair time pregame signing autographs and talking to the fans--even on the road. That's classy. We need more of that in MLS and not less. But the players won't do it anymore because it's not in their contract. Bleetch.
Subjective. People weren't exactly lining the streets to watch the '08 team either. A roof and individual seats instead of benches aren't going to bring in 10K more fans, that's ridiculous. Food does need to get better though. First, they do this already. Second, once again individual day of game prices is not an issue. The Crew are top 3 in day of game sales over the last few years. The problem is advanced ticket sales. Already done. If only it were that simple.
As a member of a 1-car family - I'm fairly stuck to the N. High St corridor. I may be wrong, but I see this as the central vein of the city's culture. I see so little Crew stuff in this area. I don't know if the Crew's focused on the burbs or what, but it amazes me that the core of Columbus (especially the 18-35 bracket) isn't getting swarmed with Crew marketing. I'd make Hudson and High the "Gateway to the Crew". I would put flags up all the way to Silver Blvd. I'd do the same at Summit and 17th. Connect the Crew to the young folks that are the obvious growing demographic for the Crew. How about rent a dinky little store front and sell tickets and gear? How about Crewzers hit up the bars and sell tickets to drunk dudes? Having a presence on High St would be fabulous. But I think that the FO only puts up with the young crowd to use the photo ops for marketing to the 'burbs. I say we have to promote the club in spite of the FO. If we leave it up to them then it ends up looking like the sections of the stadium that aren't SG controlled. That, I fear, will end up with the Crew moving. On a personal note - the Crew FO is stupid. They didn't think that it was important to return emails or voice messages from a job applicant with over 12 years of working in a demanding market (NYC), who designed previous logos and flyers for the FO and Crew Union (who went out of their way to recommend), and who was a season ticket holder in 96, 97, 98 and now. I fear that the FO is mostly sports business types who just see MLS as a stepping stone to the big 3.
I'm still trying to find it. I was lucky enough to see it live, but I wanted to link it to facebook and twitter.
Agree. If I had a time machine, i'd go back in time to home games between 96-98. Partying at the Varsity Club with Crew players must have been a blast. Now, i'm lucky to find three players NOT part of Autograph Alley in the stadium club postgame. (And before someone suggests "fake ID", I was about halfway through HS in 98. A fake ID never would have worked.)
I can attest that, yes, it was a blast. Nowadays, you just have to go to the Short North, although imo the guys were a lot more approachable and friendly back in the early days. Which I suppose goes back to the argument that the nicer/friendlier the guys are, the more fun it is to go watch them play. Crew Cat
I also think in those days that a lot of the players were regular guys who had the thought "they actually *pay* me for this?" and were having fun. Now, not so much. I mean, in thouse days, what American player actually thought they could make a living at soccer--outside of youth coaching? Kasey Keller, maybe.
Ken, it's not shock that you drive me nuts quite often but... That post above, you have hit the nail on the head better than I could have ever done.
Thanks. I appreciate that. Part of it I think comes from remembering the chances I had to have some good talks with some of those guys--because they were available--and the bonds that built (and half the time I was pinching myself in disbelief that I got to hang out with them at all). Not so with the new guys. You just don't get the chance. I know one buddy I have--Mais was at his kid's wedding last year. No joke. That's the kind of bonds that were built--and I still see Rob and Matt from time to time at church stuff.