The Columbus Crew has the look and feel of a moribund franchise. It goes beyond the quality of the product on the field - which is sub-par - and extends to the overall atmosphere surrounding the club, the entire organization. It's boring, but beyond that, the situation implies that the cub and its ownership sees the Crew - and by extension MLS - in very limited terms. The vision, such as it is, is for gradual, incremental growth, a slow evolution to something better; even while it's clear to anyone who looks beyond what's happening in Columbus that the Crew have been leapfrogged by other franchises, that it's not 1999 anymore, that the criteria that define success in MLS have been upgraded considerably. Marketing efforts alone - such as the Crew Corridor idea, mimicking what's been seen in Seattle, would fail miserably if the club continues to slouch toward mediocrity (at best) on the pitch; viewing the franchise as being a soccer team, purely, and if we start wining, well, the fans will come back to watch an entertaining product, and that because of this belief, marketing, pushing for a broad and deep sense of connection with the community shouldn't, wouldn't be necessary, would fail equally. You need commitments in both areas, and right now the Crew organization's efforts seem inadequate in both of them; strikes one and two, then. Strike three is the rather obvious situation that Columbus (and we're not alone here) simply doesn't have a very large supporter base. Not anymore. What can HSG do to bring back the fans? It needs to create more of them. A lot is said about places like Seattle and Portland, and both cities may just be categorically more committed to their MLS franchises - or to soccer - than is Columbus. Maybe so. But their products are new, at least as MLS clubs, yet benefit from a history that pre-dates MLS; both benefited from the fruits of a very long MLS learning curve; both have dedicated local ownership. A few years ago much the same could have been said about TFC (not the long history part), but it's pretty obvious that fans have begun to abandon that trainwreck of a franchise in droves. And I very much doubt that TFC-like on-field performance wouldn't have the same sort of effect on the crowds and atmosphere we're currently seeing at places like Qwest and Jeld-Wen. The problem being that those cities start out with what appears to be a much larger fan base. I'm convinced that a modest-sized market like Columbus can thrive in MLS. But I'm concerned that the league's made strides in recent years, and the Crew simply haven't been able to keep up (we're not alone in that regard). In 2008, we struck gold, yet did little to capitalize on that achievement; we coasted, instead of using that championship performance to re-invest in even greater success. Is HSG committed to winning and to making the Crew a deeply-rooted part of the community in central Ohio? Is it willing to spend the money, take the risks, required to go that route? All I see from this club now is that its corporate culture implies that nothing is likely to change very quickly in CrewLand: stadium upgrades...maybe someday; a new training facility...yeah, right; aggressive efforts to bring in talent that'll make us focus less on the talent we used to have...don't hold your breath; a serious, professional marketing effort, as opposed to a half-assed, sometimes downright insulting history of asking me to come out to Crew stadium to watch Freddie Adu or David ********ing Beckham...I've seen no signs of it; then there's HSG's long-standing trend toward only making coaching changes once it's become pathetically obvious that Coach X has failed miserably, driven Team Y into the ground. I don't believe Columbus is a strong enough market for soccer to allow the Crew to survive here, to attract enough fans, if we're just another 50/50 club, not necessary in the lowest tier of the standings, but not realistic contenders, either. Maybe if we had a swank, downtown stadium, but probably not even then. To make it, we're going to have to be a consistent winner, one of the best run franchises in MLS, across the board; as a club, as a marketing entity, as business. What's truly disappointing to me is that I think the Crew have the building blocks to achieve that level of success, yet doesn't. There is so much history wrapped up in the Crew, so many great players, wonderful moments, so many former players who seem to gravitate toward the franchise, the city, who speak warmly about their time here (a community that so wonderfully visible in 2008), yet the club seems to be unable to retain that sense of history, to leverage it. It's just weird, frankly. Obviously, I'm not optimistic about the direction this team is headed. I just don't believe in silver bullet solutions, don't think this coach or our roster are good enough, question whether HSG is as committed to this franchise as it needs to be, and don't see any reason to expect positive change in the foreseeable future.
I'm not going to quote a long article here. This is a thoughtful look. I'm not saying a agree with all of it, but it's worth thinking about. I do feel that HSG could be the key in the future. If we had local ownership, we'd be better off--probably. The Thrashers had local ownership--and I was reading about the Blues early ownership--which was also local--and how they almost lost the team to Saskatoon of all places. So it's not a guarentee. One thing that Seattle and Portland had and have is a long soccer history--over 40 years. That really makes a difference. We don't have that. But, as you point out, we *do* have 15 years of some pretty decent history to look back on. I will point out that HSG's "slow" approach has gotten their teams into MLS Cups over the past few years. That's not a bad record. We could be splashier with marketing, I guess--but how much would it cost? I'm also not offended by marketing Beckham and Adu. That's to get the casual person to come in (and then to come back)--and perhaps the one thing that the team has done that truly hurt that marketing was to s*ck in those big attendance games (and did so under Sigi too). I'm also not convinced that a coaching change will bring anything positive. This isn't Europe. Who is out there that is any better? And available? I'm not convinced Sigi would have done better had he stayed. Is Seattle dominating the league? I expect the key is twofold. One is HSG and the other is the question: Is this truly a major league market? I used to think we were. Now I'm not so sure.
Awesome post. Perfectly stated while leaving a certain level of emotion out of it. Honest evaluation of the current reality and the brutal facts as they are. Can someone with some credibility (i.e., not me) send this post to MM? It should become the standard of our unhappiness and unease.
I don't know. I thought the bolded parts hit the nail on the head. Are you looking for specific things like "McCullers should hand out free tickets on Tuesdays at Tuttle Mall"? This post goes beyond the bandaids and quick fix patches and really sets in the systemic issues that are plaguing this franchise.
Anyone can whine, and that's just what this was. "You need commitment" is useless verbiage, it's not a prescription for anything. How will we know when the switch is turned on and the organization is "committed"? Being "committed" means nothing if the organization isn't doing anything differently. What different things should they do to show "commitment"? The organization need to "take risks". What does that mean? Every player we sign, every coach and assistant we hire is a "risk". We need to be a "consistent winner". Well, duh. And how's that "local ownership" working out for the Blue Jackets?
I'm convinced that a majority percentage of the dropoff at the gates is the economy. It's certainly the reason I don't go that often anymore after having a season ticket for the first 11 years of the stadium. I mean, I can understand why people don't show up to the CBJ -- they suck, and the ticket prices are certainly higher compared to CCS. But the Crew? As pissed as people may be at Warzycha or whomever about certain players leaving, the club gave us a Shield two seasons ago and won the whole f***in' thing three seasons ago. To suddenly drop below 10,000 fans on multiple occasions -- is the leash for a championship club that short? There's gotta be more to it. Myself, and a lot of people I know, stuck through the Andrulis years, and the first two years of Schmid's tenure, and those weren't exactly fun times either. Is it the fact that we saw a title, so now we can die in peace? As far as I'm concerned, the economy is such complete dogs**t that it makes the other factors hard to read. Yes, I'm disappointed that it's no longer 2008, and yes, the Crew games have been hard to watch this year sometimes, but if gas wasn't $4 a gallon, plus the automatic $10 to park, plus the fact that tickets are a bit more expensive -- I'd sure as hell still be going. All the things that people rattle off about entertainment value and coaching and results and player moves -- that makes spending money on Columbus Crew tickets less attractive, but that's sports. Sometimes spending that money will be more attractive (good, entertaining team) than others (shitty team). But when you're already tightening up the belt financially, you think about how much value you're getting for that dollar much more than you used to.
I think it is the vulgar language from V-Army running all the families off that is to blame. oh wait.... Maybe its the families that ran off the atmosphere.
The current Crew franchise is kind of like thinking of an ex-girlfriend from long ago and all those good times you had, but then you quickly remember all those things that led to her becoming a ex. Someone posted in a prior thread the feeling I have. I love the Crew but I hate this team. I dont like most of the players, I dont like the coach, and I despise the product they put on the field. Ive had some form of season tickets or ticket connections for the entire franchise history, but last year was the first time in crew history that I didnt attend a game. My excuse was having a baby girl at home who didnt like to stay up past 8pm, I was also out of town for those afternoon games...so instead I suffered through watching games on non-HD ONN. This year she is older and can stay awake a little longer, we even made it to the homeopener. My wife and I agreed that this is the worst team yet....our prior #1 was the 2004 team. We got through that year by playing a drinking game of "For Every backpass turned into randomly ball booted up field" got a drink. We would leave the game feelin pretty good....I cant play that game anymore unfortunately. Several years ago the Crew had players at lots of local events. The best ambassador of this team was frankie. You name a local event and he was there. He wasnt the only guy, but he was probably one of the most approachable guys in MLS/USSoccer. CD101 had him and other players on all the time. One of my favorite skits they did was where I believe Kyle Martino would go across the street to Frankie's house to see who was staying at his house that night. These types of things humanized the players. The fun loving element that people like Frankie brought is lacking badly. Chad Marshall is a great player but he isnt the type a guy you wrap a marketing campaign around. Getting rid of all the heart and sole of this team last year by management was a horrible PR move. They had a plan in place to gut this team before last year ended so why didnt they give fans an opportunity to say goodbye to all these guys? The Crew needs to figure out how to tell the history of this team, one way of doing that is honor your players that helped shape this team. I believe Small to Midmarket teams thrive when fans can have a personal connection with the team from management all the way down to the waterboy. I dont think our team management "gets it" I think they look at the numbers but dont look whats behind the numbers. Last Im not a member of one of the crew fan clubs, I think what you guys/gals have done is great. I think the crew has lost my demographic....whats that? The people that arent part of the core fan clubs, and not the random walk ups. But we are the ones that use to show up to almost everygame, some seasons we had season tickets, others we didnt. What I mean is I love the team but im also not going to pay for the crap product on the field. Before I had a family blowing money on games wasnt a big deal....and it was also alot cheaper than it is now. For example 1999 you could get tickets at crew stadium for $28, $18, $14 ($15, $11 for youth under-18) Now the cheapest ticket is $24. They have priced themselves into a hole. $10 for parking $28.25 x 3 adds to being bored watching soccer quality that is slightly better than watching some elite youth teams play. I dont want to sound like a cheap bastard because I will throw down money to see quality. Ive traveled to see the US and Crew play and I went to germany for WC06.......now im just rambling There isnt One problem with this franchise, there are several little things that have festered over the years. 2008 was a great moment but we failed to capitalize on success, and botched the handling of losing a coach, and things have snowballed from there. I read this article the other day, and hope that maybe we will see a turn around like RSL has. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/grant_wahl/04/20/rsl/index.html?sct=sc_bf1_a7 I apologize for the long ramble of thoughts, Ill now go back to my normal reading of everyone elses thoughts and bitching to my wife and friends about this team.
In terms of parking costs, it's well known that the fairgrounds people get X amount of dollars per car. Could there be ANY way...ANY way at all to bury the cost of the parking in to the ticket costs? The questions to be answered include: 1) How much would ticket prices have to be raised? 2) Would the psychological effect of "free parking" offset the fact that ticket prices went up by whatever amount?
I have to say that Sagz response hit it on the mark. I too used to have season tickets but once the FO gutted the team, there was no one else to be excited to see play. Marshall is a great defender but we don't have anyone who can serve him the ball like GBS. Who is the face of the Crew? gaven? Rogers? Neither are exciting players who are game changers like GBS or McBride or iconic like frankie. Sagz said it right that the FO doesn't get the Midwest. Not only do we cheer for the team, we cheer for certain players we can associate. The FO gutted the team then told us that don't worry, we aren't rebuilding. That statement has still PO'd me to this day. imagine waking up tomorrow and Rick Nash is traded for two no name players. What do you think would happen to the CBJ attendance. if the FO really wanted the casual fan back! They need to do two things immediately: 1). Recognize what they have done and publicly say it. The public will come back... 2) determine who is the face of the team and market the crap out of him/them. Give us someone that we have to watch. The person/people need to be charismatic both on/off the field. I hope the FO can figure this out soon as I will come back but there needs to be some healing first
It's looking like a big challenge to market the team this season, and I don't anticipate that changing anytime soon. The only real "draw" for the the Crew right now is the Nordecke, which can cater to several different types of fans. It's a cool place to experience a game at least once, works well for anyone who likes to drink and yell, and fosters the whole "student section" atmosphere prevalent in high schools and colleges. It works for young crowds and old alike, though I think the younger crowd populates it a bit more (under 25). The biggest issue in marketing it to them is making them pay $27 for a ticket. I think it'd be good if the FO could sell the Nordecke tickets for $20. It would (hopefully) boost attendance AND help the Nordecke grow, though I could see other potential drawbacks (people buying the tickets but not actually sitting there, people who are buying the tickets but don't actually understand anything about the supporter culture). At this point though, the FO should do everything they can to help out the Nordecke because it's about all the club has got in terms of something that can bring fans out to games.
Eh? You mean to tell me there are 4-5K fans whose only reason they are not coming is that they are waiting for an apology from the FO?? You know, though, the Jackets have been lucky to have Nash--and if Nash were 38, he probably would have been traded. The Jackets have dumped a number of fan favorites over the years in much the same way--Malhotra, Vyborny, Shelley (and some of those guys have played in the Stanley Cup finals). The trick here is the market. The NHL is the top league in the world. You can get the best players--even in a market like Columbus. MLS is far from the top league in the world--that's good because neither we nor any other team in MLS could afford to play with the big boys. Good charismatic players are not a dime a dozen. They are very expensive--far more than DP salary. With GBS we got lucky. You need to find a solid, older player who is willing to come to the US for a fraction of the value they once got or a young kid with potential (who will move on quickly, a la Stern John). The first is a gamble because maybe that older player is done. We've seen a few of those--the Doctor and Rosenthal to name two. Remember, we're not the NHL. They, maybe, compete with one other league for players. We compete with the world with maybe a couple of dozen leagues in our price range and quite a few above that. And they are all looking for that guy. I mean, I agree--we need a player we can market. But where will we find such a player at a price we can afford? I mean we paid market value for Mendoza, whose flaws have been repeatedly noted. A half a million is a lot to us but on the world market it doesn't get you that much. BTW, the Jackets attendance already has hit the dumpster. With Nash. Half empty most nights and the team was pretty decent for about the first 2/3rds of the season. That makes me think that we are talking about (a) the economy and (b) the viability of a major league franchise in Columbus. Any major league franchise. I hope I'm wrong.
I think a lot of what people are saying about "marketable" players is pretty accurate. Hanging in my cube at work are the playoff scarfs for 2008 - 2010. One right on tope of each other so they make sort of a wallpaper on my cube wall. A guy that I work with occassionally and knows that I'm into soccer and the Crew asked me if "that one guy" still played. "American guy....can't remember his name....started with a "B".......whatever happened to him?" "Brian McBride?" "Yeah...that's the guy. He was pretty good wasn't he?" That sort of made me think..... I think we all acknowledge that MM is a better GM than the carnie, right? But in some ways, perhaps the Carnie was better at getting the brand recognized out in the marketplace? As much as we all love GBS and Frankie for their contributions and love and dedication to this team, to the non soccer fan (granted one person isn't exactly a valid sample size) who are these guys? Why is there no Lego GBS sitting in a back room at FO HQ like there is of McHead? The economy was statistically the worst in 2009. 2010 was a recovery year, and thusfar in 2011, it appears to be recovering even more. Trade is up, unemployment is down year over year. I think the economy is the "easy" answer and that covers up some of the other issues.
I believe the tickets available to OSU students are $10, plus you get a $5 food voucher and possibly a t-shirt with it. (Maybe they're $20, for all I know.) I know the CSU tailgate and Hooligans bar sell tickets for $20, but the key is that you need to know about it. However, I'd bet after one or two $27 Nordecke tickets, most people find a lower-priced option. It would be nice if the CFO could match the $20 price, but keep in mind that the northwest corner is the same $27 price, so they're probably keeping things uniform.
Ding! Winner. I think that's exactly the gap that is missing (I include myself in this group). I asked myself this question early...Why should I go see this team? What makes me want to see them live? At 50 bucks a pop ... I just can't justify going to see this team every game.
FYI, I just received an e-mail a couple days ago from the Blue Jackets, which offered a 6-game ticket package for $99, with the choice of certain games. I heard at the Open Cup match a PA announcement of a Crew 3-pack, for $22 a ticket. You don't have to be a business major to figure out which is a better deal, and that's not even factoring in that one CBJ player makes more in a year than the entire Crew squad does. My point is that the CBJ, whose payroll and operation are significantly greater than the Crew's, are offering quite a deal to get butts in the seats. As cheap as the Hunt organization is, even they should be able to see that actual bodies in the stands would contribute more to the bottom line than empty seats do, right? Crew Cat
I'd be willing to bet that those $99 seats are (a) limited and (b) in the top 2 rows of the stadium (I think that's their "new" deal for 2011-2012). Part of the problem (from a sales perspective) is that it's a lot easier to "move down" in Crew stadium. And I wonder if it includes a preseason game. That would make it less a deal. Update: Checked it--it *is* the top two rows. You do not have to buy a preseason game (though you *can*) but you *do* have to buy the opener. Looks like a plan to try to sell out the opener.
CBJ have taken a commanding lead in the race to devalue their product the fastest. Kick that mule, MM!
I will say, as a holder of a Jackets 10 game season ticket plan, which I have had for a few years now, that I'm wondering why I renewed early last year, with all the extra stuff they are giving away right now. Especially when the "pick your seats" thing was a real pain--as they got badly backed up and it took me over well an hour's wait in line just to get my stuff from the ticket guys so I could go find my seats (if you don't have a seat license, you are reseated every year)--during work hours (and you were given a specific, reserved time to come too).
But, on the other hand, if you can get people to attend, enjoy the product and experience you can sell regular price tickets to them. I started out coming to games buying scalp tickets at usually 25% to 33% off the face value. Converted to tickets from the FO to be sure I could see all the games in the first third of '08 and have been a ST since '09. I don't think the cheap cost of my first tickets devalued the product for me in fact, they made me want to be in CCS for every game. I do not think I am that unique a buyer so others can be converted the same way.
A lot of jobs have been lost the last 3-4 years in Columbus too. Chase alone has cut thousands, sending them to India. The Central Ohio economy is bad right now. I wouldn't mind seeing a rebranding. Maybe replace the 3 construction workers with a new badge. I love the Union logo with the city skyline in the center. I honestly think people are broke and nights out are premium. Or they just miss Hardhat Mike so much they're too heartbroken to go & not see him there. Maybe we can get a cardboard standup of HM & stick it in the front row?