Market the team to the military....

[Eleven Bravo]

Coming from the Atlanta Team Name thread, names like Rangers, Marauders, and Generals have been discussed, and made me think marketing a "pro-military" team would be good for the Atlanta MLS team. With the south being as conservative as it is and the fact that there are numerous military instillations in the south, I think it would be a good idea to market the team to the military. Marketing to the military worked very well for the USMNT in Germany, and there really hasn't been any outreach for the military by MLS. Not only would it work well with the team, but it would be good for a league that sometimes receives backlash for not being American enough.

There are 12 military installations in Georgia, 5 in Alabama, 2 in Tennessee (3 if you count Ft. Campbell), 7 in North Carolina, 8 in South Carolina, and 9 in northern Florida. counting Campbell that's a total of 44 military installations, and that not even including the national guard/reserves, retirees, and the other small military installations like the Navy Supply Corps School. I think it's safe to say that the numbers are there.

The area is swamped with military and it would also make good press for the sport. MLS has a chance to do something no sport has (really) yet to do, and that's try to sell their sport to the military. And with a large amount of military supporters it would get people's attention. This could help with the bad name that goes with soccer being anti-American could finally rub off and it would bring in new fans. And selling the product to the military wouldn't exlude (except for your Michael Moore's) anyone because people from all different backgrounds are in the military.

You want passionate fans? i guarantee there is no group of people on this planet that can be more passionate at a game than the military. Seriously, you have the age range that you would want (typically around 18-35) for passionate fans and ever hear the saying "train hard and play hard" well, that's the military ethos (not really for those who think i'm serious).

The question is how to market it to them? What i would suggest is to travel to each of the bases before the season starts like the USMNT did in Kaiserslautern to first get their attention. second, at least for the first couple seasons (once a passionate fan base is established) i would say anyone with a military ID gets in free. you can still make money off of them from parking and merchandising...It's kind of like ladies' night is actually a way for clubs to make more money. The big thing you want to do in the first couple season is to sell out as many games as possible. That way you create a little bit of a buzz about the team. Trying to make a quick buck isn't going to help anyone. And last i would try to do as many things as publicly as i could to show that the team supports the military.

[Eleven Bravo]

One thing i want to make sure it's clear because i'm sure someone would say something about it...is that just because you market the team to the military doesn't mean that's only who you market it too.

[jade1mls]

. This could help with the bad name that goes with soccer being anti-American could finally rub off and it would bring in new fans.



Does anyone really still believe this? You had the last outspoken 'conservative' talking head against soccer in the form of Jack Kemp, say he liked soccer during this year's World Cup and admired "Brazillian athleticism". (http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=15665) That's a far cry from "soccer is communist" which is what he used to say.. Most conservatives kids probably play the sport now.


And selling the product to the military wouldn't exlude (except for your Michael Moore's) anyone because people from all different backgrounds are in the military.

You want passionate fans? i guarantee there is no group of people on this planet that can be more passionate at a game than the military. Seriously, you have the age range that you would want (typically around 18-35) for passionate fans and ever hear the saying "train hard and play hard" well, that's the military ethos (not really for those who think i'm serious).

The question is how to market it to them? What i would suggest is to travel to each of the bases before the season starts like the USMNT did in Kaiserslautern to first get their attention. second, at least for the first couple seasons (once a passionate fan base is established) i would say anyone with a military ID gets in free. you can still make money off of them from parking and merchandising...It's kind of like ladies' night is actually a way for clubs to make more money. The big thing you want to do in the first couple season is to sell out as many games as possible. That way you create a little bit of a buzz about the team. Trying to make a quick buck isn't going to help anyone. And last i would try to do as many things as publicly as i could to show that the team supports the military.

Unfortunately it's not a new idea and one which would probably put off some people familiar with the close ties between soccer and the military of another nationalistic country during WWII.


FC Schalke 04 dominated German football during the Nazi era and was often held up for propaganda purposes as an example of the new Germany. As the Reich expanded through conquest, teams from Austria, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Alsace-Lorraine and Luxembourg were incorporated into the Gauliga. After the Anschluss, the forced union of Austria with Germany, Vienna's Rapid Wien captured the Tschammerpokal/German Cup in 1938 and the German national championship in 1941, the latter with a 4:3 win over Schalke who had been ahead 0:3 with just fifteen minutes to play in the game.

During the war, football was used as a morale booster for the population and was supported by the regime. Many teams were sponsored by the Luftwaffe, the SS or other branches of the military. As the tide turned against Germany, the Gauliga began to crumble as players were called away to military service or were killed in the conflict, stadiums were bombed and travel became difficult. The original sixteen Gauligen broke up into over thirty smaller, more local, circuits. The level of play deteriorated and lopsided scores became common, the record being a 32:0 win by Germania Mudersbach over FV Engen. The 1943-44 championship was initially cancelled, but eventually went ahead after widespread protest. The 1944-45 season began less than two weeks later, rather than after the usual three month summer break. The last recorded match in the Third Reich was on April 23, 1945 as FC Bayern defeated TSV 1860 3:2. Less than three weeks later, Germany surrendered unconditionally.


I think its best to keep sports and politics separate especially at a time when the US Military is a polarizing thing in the world and country.

[Eleven Bravo]

Does anyone really still believe this? You had the last outspoken 'conservative' talking head against soccer in the form of Jack Kemp, say he liked soccer during this year's World Cup and admired "Brazillian athleticism". (http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=15665) That's a far cry from "soccer is communist" which is what he used to say.. Most conservatives kids probably play the sport now.



Unfortunately it's not a new idea and one which would probably put off some people familiar with the close ties between soccer and the military of another nationalistic country during WWII.



I think its best to keep sports and politics separate especially at a time when the US Military is a polarizing thing in the world and country.

oh! Lord!!!

i swear you must have got beat up a lot as a kid. You come up with most wacked out theories i have ever heard of. Seriously, Michael Moore would be jealous.

FWIW, about 99.9% of the country (not bigsoccer.com) supports the troops despite if they think the war in Iraq is just or not.

[BigKahuna]

Military discounts...not free entry.....would be a good idea. That all there really is to say about the subject.

[Eleven Bravo]

Military discounts...not free entry.....would be a good idea. That all there really is to say about the subject.

just curious, why do you say no free entry? I can see the logic behind it...just i think if in the first few seasons the team aggressively tried to go after the military crowd it would pay off in the long run (granted, i could be wrong). Main reason why is that i think having sell out crowds week in and week out for the first couple season would increase demand for tickets. plus, since the military is really an untouched market in MLS, it would help with merchandising if military personnel saw them as aggressively trying to bring them in to the club.

Anyways, military discounts would still be a nice touch and would still appeal to the military that enjoy soccer. another thing i think they should do is give college student discounts. *do most teams do this already?

*note so this thread doesn't get out of hand and taken for something it wasn't meant for(for everyone in general)-please, let's not get into the Nazi empire and how this is a way for conservatives to show their dominance over liberals or whatever. just simply does it make good marketing sense? and what measures should be taken to attract the military fanbase?

[jade1mls]

FWIW, about 99.9% of the country (not bigsoccer.com) supports the troops despite if they think the war in Iraq is just or not.

Not at all. Not even close.

One can not logically 'support the troops' without that support being seen as supporting the policy and over time people have realized that. Even in a "stormin mormon" state like Utah the "Support the Troops" thing only can boast 70%.
"In an exclusive Survey USA Poll for KSL-TV, nearly 70 percent say they approve of her work.:"

try Gallup.com
zogby.com

The number is much less nationally (around 47-60% depending on the time at which the polls were taken).


I would be in favor of military discounts and college discounts and senior citizen discounts but no free tickets cause a club and league doesnt make money from free tickets. It just devalues the product in the end, which is not in MLS's best interest.

[GTMerciless]

Marketing to the military is by far the BEST way to make a great team with instant support, marketability, international appeal and have the best chance at a true history like the old baseball teams have.

With that said, it just wont happen. In order for this to work the club would have to be 100% pro- military. A wishy washy attitude would destroy the club. I actually was thinking about this and would love to see a Rangers SC or Columbus Rangers as a USL team. Anyways lets not forget that while the 'South' is conservative Atlanta is not.

So while giving college and military discounts is a great idea, I think a prodomenently pro-military club is just a disaster waiting to happen.

[MPoole]

I have to agree that making a club pro-military is a bad idea. But I do not think that marketing to the military and having a military name would hurt the club at all, but it is important to keep the two separate. It's not like the team would bear the Army's crest and have camo kits. A name like Rangers envokes a military feel, which is fine since sports is pretty much a modern type of war between clubs and fans. And marketing a "military night," where say anyone with a military id get's in half price, is a good idea for any team to try. Even having advertisments from the NAVY and ARMY wouldn't be too much. Where it would become too much is when you have the club openly endorsing the military. A pro-sport team should embrace the military fan as well as the common fan, but the club would not be owned by the ARMY. That's like having a team in atlanta that, without endorsement, openly supports Coca-Cola. It just would be inappropriate.

[BigKahuna]

I would be in favor of military discounts and college discounts and senior citizen discounts but no free tickets cause a club and league doesnt make money from free tickets. It just devalues the product in the end, which is not in MLS's best interest.

Yeah, they can't give away tickets. At least for the first few years, if not indefinately, I would offer like 25-50% off for military and college students. They would have to pre-register online for it though. No showing up at the stadium with an ID expecting such a large discount.

[jbeall]

I'm with those who think specifically making a team "pro-military" is a bad idea. A name like Rangers, I'd be fine with, but remember that all the Eastern Bloc leagues had pro-military teams... a pro-military team is more a product of a communist country than anything else.

Discounts for the military, fine. But I don't think any kind of affiliation is a good idea.


And FWIW, ElevenBravo, as someone who's politics are far to the left of center, I can tell you that Michael Moore is hardly the darling of the Left. How the mainstream media keeps perpetuating that myth is beyond me. Among my liberal friends (many of whom live in less liberal areas than I do), I can't think of a single one of them who likes Moore. His smug, condescending arrogance rubs a lot of people--right AND left--the wrong way, and he doesn't do himself any favors by being so blatantly loose and fast with the facts.

[Eleven Bravo]

Now granted i could be wrong. I am admitting this, but I don't think most people would be turned off by a team that is supportive of the troops. As everyone knows how conservative i really am and the fact i was in the military myself, I wasn't trying to turn the team into a conservative-only team. Simply the fact that the team welcomes in the military thanking them for their service would be good press for the league.

As far as that goes, discounts probably is better than given free entry because it could probably get complicated with seating arrangements and so forth. However, what about a guest section in the stadium for the team to give away tickets to like a company or whatever on certain occassions? This is NOT a new idea. the Seattle Seahawks gave away free tickets to my whole entire brigade when we returned from Iraq. And in my opinion, if it worked in one of the most liberal states of Washington than there shouldn't be any trouble in Georgia.

And it doesn't just have to the military who they give the tickets away too. They could also give away tickets in the guest section to different colleges, businesses, different youth clubs, etc... (you get the idea). My main point in suggesting this is a way for the team to bring in new fans not trying to impose my conservative values on the team.

[jade1mls]

And everyone knows the Seattle Seahawks of NFL would be JUST LIKE an expansion MLS club in Atlanta.

When you get the kind of money to throw around in the form of free tickets please buy an MLS club for Atlanta! :D The business metrics aren't even in the same "ballpark".

Forget free tickets to the military..

[Eleven Bravo]

And everyone knows the Seattle Seahawks of NFL would be JUST LIKE an expansion MLS club in Atlanta.

When you get the kind of money to throw around in the form of free tickets please buy an MLS club for Atlanta! :D The business metrics aren't even in the same "ballpark".

Forget free tickets to the military..

That's just how you do business. You don't jack up the prices because you are hoping to catch up with the competition. You have to do something to bring in new fans. And the more you expose the team to more people the more popular it will become. How do you expect to bring in new fans if you don't give them a taste of what they're missing? Tell me your plan to bring in new fans...because 3,000 in MLS isn't going to cut it.

[jade1mls]

That's just how you do business. You don't jack up the prices because you are hoping to catch up with the competition. You have to do something to bring in new fans. And the more you expose the team to more people the more popular it will become. How do you expect to bring in new fans if you don't give them a taste of what they're missing? Tell me your plan to bring in new fans...because 3,000 in MLS isn't going to cut it.


You're either very naive or very out of touch with how sport's marketing works.

If a club gives away tickets:

1) they devalue the product
2) they don't make money from free tickets
3) they can't sell advertising at the same rates as other clubs because they devalued their product and brand.
4) they set up unrealistic expectations.
5) it's common sense that something of value is never free.

and a MLS club in Atlanta will get far more than 3,000 fans without resorting tto giving tickets away. stop thinking Silverbacks and start thinking Crew or Real Salt Lake.

[Eleven Bravo]

You're either very naive or very out of touch with how sport's marketing works.

If a club gives away tickets:

1) they devalue the product
2) they don't make money from free tickets
3) they can't sell advertising at the same rates as other clubs because they devalued their product and brand.
4) they set up unrealistic expectations.
5) it's common sense that something of value is never free.

and a MLS club in Atlanta will get far more than 3,000 fans without resorting tto giving tickets away. stop thinking Silverbacks and start thinking Crew or Real Salt Lake.

Showing the team supports the troops isn't going to devalue the product. It's going to show the team is supportive of the people who protect it which would be good press for the league considering that most people consider it already too unamerican. And they can still make money from parking and merchandising. And to add to that the fans who went to a game for free would be more willing to go another time when at first they never would have gone. Also, they would be more willing to bring someone else that hasn't ever gone.

But i guess it's a new idea to give away free tickets.

[jade1mls]

Showing the team supports the troops isn't going to devalue the product. It's going to show the team is supportive of the people who protect it which would be good press for the league considering that most people consider it already too unamerican. And they can still make money from parking and merchandising. And to add to that the fans who went to a game for free would be more willing to go another time when at first they never would have gone. Also, they would be more willing to bring someone else that hasn't ever gone.

But i guess it's a new idea to give away free tickets.

Substitute military for any other minority group.

It just doesnt make sense financially for an expansion MLS club to be giving tickets away to any group of people. We are not the NFL. There is NOT that kinda money to throw around or margin to risk devaluing your brand right out the gate. Seahawks did it because they CAN. expansion MLS clubs won't do it because they CANT. discounts yes, freebies, not likely until years after operating.

try seeing the bigger picture than just military military. from a business stand point it doesn't matter who the freebies go to. the effect is the same.

[Eleven Bravo]

Substitute military for any other minority group.

It just doesnt make sense financially for an expansion MLS club to be giving tickets away to any group of people. We are not the NFL. There is NOT that kinda money to throw around or margin to risk devaluing your brand right out the gate. Seahawks did it because they CAN. expansion MLS clubs won't do it because they CANT. discounts yes, freebies, not likely until years after operating.

try seeing the bigger picture than just military military. from a business stand point it doesn't matter who the freebies go to. the effect is the same.


I've said it many times in my previous posts it doesn't have to just be military, military, military... If you don't create a buzz than you don't have anything. If you don't have people being exposed to the product, they aren't going to come.

The Atlanta team just needs to make sure that they keep the stadium packed. Tell me who are you going to be making more money off of? people who aren't there because they didn't want to pay the admission fee to something they don't really care about or people who got in free but still had to pay for parking and bought a couple beers? Just because you give away free tickets doesn't mean you are going to go broke. You can still make your money off of them in parking and merchandising (you think they're going to show up and not buy a $4 beer?). As a result, to them coming up and having a good time they go "hmm that was fun let me tell so and so" and then you create a chain reaction...and there's your buzz.

And i'm not saying sell every seat in the house as a freebie. Just save a corner in the stadium that probably wouldn't have been sold out anyways and simply fill in the holes. Packed stadiums are going to make a more lively atmosphere anyways. Which in return, are going to cause more people to want to come out and be a part of the action.

[Eleven Bravo]

If you don't like the way i suggested to market it to the military...fine. i'm always open to hear new ideas of better ways to advertise the product, but just oh! that's stupid you shouldn't market it to the military type attitude is ridiculous. (in case you didn't notice, it worked very well for the USMNT in Germany) In case some of yall haven't noticed...i have said do this with other organizations. The point of this thread is NOT to come down on liberals...it's to come up with ideas for marketing.

To me the thing the Atlanta team needs to advertise to are the residents of Atlanta, their southern audience, and the military.


AN IDEA OF MINE TO ATTRACT THE SOUTHERN AUDIENCE:
A thing i would like to see the Atlanta Marauders (what i decided to call them until they pick a name :)) do is try to reach out to their southern audience, as well. How do you do this? what i would do(meaning i'm open for suggestions)...is try to set up fan clubs for the team in Birmingham, Nashville, Macon, Augusta, etc... and provide shuttle buses and/or give them fan club discounts. You can make it a card handling type deal where fans have to pay a fee to join the fan club, but then they get certain discounts and they can ride the shuttle bus to the games. For example, "the Marauders of Augusta" arrive in their shuttle bus to the game, get in half off(whatever the discount is), and they can reserve a certain part of the stadium for them to sit. Just being able to bring in 100 a people from each fan group would greatly help with attendance. That would also be a good way for the Marauders to get involved with the different communities to expand their product.


AN IDEA OF MINE TO ATTRACT THE MILITARY:
Ok i can see not letting in people at random because they have a military ID. But you can't say don't market the team to the military. You have to remember there are a lot of soldiers that when in garrison have nothing else better to do and are just looking for a reason to leave base. Now rethinking how i would advertise to the military is a way that i've seen other organizations advertise when i was in...they would send letters down to the different companies trying to get a number of the amount of people that would want to go and then the CO or first sergeant would ask their soldiers at the end of the day hey "who wants to go to so and so?" and you would be surprised by how many people would go to just about anything. NOTE-THIS IS NOTHING NEW!!! now once you get your list of people you reserve a section of the stadium that isn't filling up or simply just fill in the gaps that didn't sell.

From this, you can still profit off of merchandising because they're not going to want to come to the game and not buy a beer or what not. second, it would make for a more lively atmosphre at the games. third, you create a buzz because you get more people talking about the Atlanta Marauders saying "Man! that was fun. i wouldn't mind doing that again!" And then you can give them a schedule and say, "hey i hope to see you guys again on the 30th when we take on our rivals FC Dallas(or whatever)."

Since there are so many military installations and military personnel in the southeast, the well will never dry up. It would be a good way for the Atlanta Marauders to fill in the seats that aren't being sold out. Which in return, would be a lot better than just having empty seats making the games appear boring and not making money off of the merchandising.

*note-this method could also be used to bring in the college students, as well.

WAY I WOULD MARKET TO THE ATLANTA RESIDENTS:
Ok this is going to be your primary fan base to fill in most of the seats. The die-hard fans are going to want to come out anyways...especially if there's a lively atmosphere, but how do you get the local residents to come to the games? of the three, this is honestly the one i have thought the least about...simply because i figure the ones of you that are from Atlanta would know better, but i'll go ahead and give it a stab.

What i would try and do is locate the stadium somewhere in the stadium that's near a bunch of condos. probably some where in midtown. MARTA is a must. From there, I would try to set up deals with condo owners to help sponsor the team in return of allowing special discounts to residents of those condos. Another possibility is maybe hold concerts there. I'm not too sure about how that would work out. Most importantly, i would just try to do whatever i could to get the team on the front page as often as possible....especially, to the Spanish speaking media. The more the people here about it, the more willing they are going to come.

*anyone have a better idea, feel free to add.

[MPoole]

AN IDEA OF MINE TO ATTRACT THE SOUTHERN AUDIENCE:
... what i would do(meaning i'm open for suggestions)...is try to set up fan clubs for the team in Birmingham, Nashville, Macon, Augusta, etc... and provide shuttle buses and/or give them fan club discounts.

A good idea, but one that I think would be up to the fan groups rather than the ownership. Shuttle buses from those locations would be expensive, and the fact that traveling from Nashville would be an all weekend affair would mean that only the die hard fans would do it anyway. The thing about tickets is that they really aren't that expensive as it is, and discounting really isn't neccissary. When you see Boy Scout Troops at events, it's not paid for by the team, it's just organized and paid for by the troop. For your club, you would have say 30 tickets at $30, last I checked bus fare wasn't that bad or even better would be to utilize church vans (for 30 people you would need 3 vans) so let's say $200 on travel. The whole trip would cost less than $40 per person without food. It's really not bad for a solid fan. Organizing those clubs is the key which a fan in each city would need to step up and take care of.

Your idea about the military is a good one, but it's not really a military thing. That pretty much the way that teams advertise to any orgainization. 4-H, Big Brothers and Sisters, Boy and Girl Scouts, Corporations, etc. But it is something that is done to boost attendance to unpopular games (like the Atlanta Braves vs. The Oriels). I don't see that type of thing being needed in MLS. It works well for Baseball and Basketball because there are so many games and you can't keep up 20,000 people every game if you have over 100 games. With the NFL and MLS you only have 10-15 home games. The attendance shouldn't fluctuate that much between them (granted LA and DC will bring a bigger crowd than Columbus but it shouldn't fluctuate enough to warrant ticket price slashing.).


I don't know about the condos, the problem with Atlanta is that there are so many companies running residential realestate. You would have to provide a lot of advertising space just to get them to buy in. A better spin on your idea would be the discount that Six Flags does with Coke cans at Publix. Bring in a Coke can when you buy your ticket and get $5 off. Not a big profit loss for guaranteed pregame sales. And that way people make plans to go. I do agree that front page publicity and MARTA accessibility are essential though. Whoever the ownership group is needs to make sure that they get the media on their side, and some MARTA advertising wouldn't be a bad idea (those things are moving billboards! I probably notice their advertising twice as much as normal signs.)