What can US SOCCER do to help the Fans

[helpmenow]

Well, what do you think?

[nancyb]

Well, what do you think?

Win the World Cup.

[TeamUSA]

Win the World Cup.

Now that's wonderful Nancy, but let's take a step towards defeating Mexico in Azteca in qualifying and then win the World Cup. :D

[obewan]

I like Nancy's idea. :)

Here are a few other ideas:

Cheaper jerseys, etc. I love the MNT, but I haven't found it within myself to pay what they're asking for one of those jerseys. Generate interest by enabling those not in the upper/middle classes to afford your gear. Travel to another country, even the poorest kids have some form of a national team jersey.

Share the love. There are large areas of the country that are ignored by the USSF. The southeast and the midwest are two areas that come to mind. The USSF ought to work hard to get a game in cities like Charlotte, Atlanta, St. Louis, or Kansas City at least once every three - four years.

Play soccer. Although the USMNT under Bob has been grinding out results, I would love to have someone in who would encourage our attacking players to be creative with the ball and play soccer. The average non-soccer-loving sports fan isn't going to watch that crap in Cuba or Guatemala and want to watch another US soccer game. In order to generate more interest in our sport, we're going to need to make our sport more interesting.


Just my $0.02.

[helpmenow]

I like Nancy's idea. :)

Here are a few other ideas:

Cheaper jerseys, etc. I love the MNT, but I haven't found it within myself to pay what they're asking for one of those jerseys. Generate interest by enabling those not in the upper/middle classes to afford your gear. Travel to another country, even the poorest kids have some form of a national team jersey.

Share the love. There are large areas of the country that are ignored by the USSF. The southeast and the midwest are two areas that come to mind. The USSF ought to work hard to get a game in cities like Charlotte, Atlanta, St. Louis, or Kansas City at least once every three - four years.

Play soccer. Although the USMNT under Bob has been grinding out results, I would love to have someone in who would encourage our attacking players to be creative with the ball and play soccer. The average non-soccer-loving sports fan isn't going to watch that crap in Cuba or Guatemala and want to watch another US soccer game. In order to generate more interest in our sport, we're going to need to make our sport more interesting.


Just my $0.02.

THIS IS A GOOD START,
WHO ELSE HAS SOME GOOD IDEAS.

[Bill Schmidt]

Play soccer.

Instead of doing nothing for six months after a World Cup.

[Taly]

Play WC Qualifiers that is before the Hex at USL SSS.

US Soccer can have an intern contact and organize every USL and MLS supporters group to show-up at these small venues. It can be treated like a private party. Tickets are sold privately - to create value.

Imagine the atmosphere at Blackbaud Stadium (5,100 seating capacity) if US Soccer pulled this off. It would sure beat the atmosphere at Home Depot Center when the USMNT played Barbados and 11,476 showed-up in a 27,000 seating capacity stadium.

[obewan]

Play WC Qualifiers that is before the Hex at USL SSS.

US Soccer can have an intern contact and organize every USL and MLS supporters group to show-up at these small venues. It can be treated like a private party. Tickets are sold privately - to create value.

Imagine the atmosphere at Blackbaud Stadium (5,100 seating capacity) if US Soccer pulled this off. It would sure beat the atmosphere at Home Depot Center when the USMNT played Barbados and 11,476 showed-up in a 27,000 seating capacity stadium.

Good idea...especially for the semis. Bring the game to the fans. Another venue (where he US has played a friendly before) is SAS Stadium in Cary (now Wake Med Stadium). The main stadium seats 7k, with temporary seating expandable to 10k. Sell tickets through USSoccerfan, Sams, and the AOs. Release the remainder to the general public, if any remain.

IMO, it's better to have a packed 10k stadium than a more than half-empty HDC or Toyota Park (both of which will probably see games in the Hex).

[aimorris]

Have their store do a better job of shipping customized jerseys.

I understand customized jerseys take longer and it specifically notes 3-4 weeks delivery, but it's not like I ordered a Ron Mexico jersey. I thought they would at least have some pre-made US Soccer jerseys of the regular starting XI and it's been over 3 weeks since I placed my order.

/rant because I ordered a jersey after the Guatemala game and I want to freaking wear it

[Nerazzuri]

I like Nancy's idea. :)

Here are a few other ideas:

Cheaper jerseys, etc. I love the MNT, but I haven't found it within myself to pay what they're asking for one of those jerseys. Generate interest by enabling those not in the upper/middle classes to afford your gear. Travel to another country, even the poorest kids have some form of a national team jersey.

Share the love. There are large areas of the country that are ignored by the USSF. The southeast and the midwest are two areas that come to mind. The USSF ought to work hard to get a game in cities like Charlotte, Atlanta, St. Louis, or Kansas City at least once every three - four years.

Play soccer. Although the USMNT under Bob has been grinding out results, I would love to have someone in who would encourage our attacking players to be creative with the ball and play soccer. The average non-soccer-loving sports fan isn't going to watch that crap in Cuba or Guatemala and want to watch another US soccer game. In order to generate more interest in our sport, we're going to need to make our sport more interesting.


Just my $0.02.

With regards to #1, prices are set by manufacturers, not by federations. Thats why generally, when Nike releases new kits for their teams, pretty much every one will be the same price, regardless of the quality of the team, or the wealth of the team's country.

As far as "even the poorest kids" in other countries having some form of a national team jersey, I think the key there is the "some form." In just about any country where soccer is the #1 sport, street vendors will have cheap knockoffs of the national team jerseys. Not the real deal. These aren't sanctioned by the federations, but it's not worth it for them to try to crack down on the sale of them. It's not up to USSF to make sure someone is producing cheap knockoffs of their Nike jerseys (in fact, it would lead to them being sued by their kit manufacturer). The reason these don't exist as much in the US is because, quite frankly, there isn't enough of a market for them.

With regards to #2, the national team is never going to be able to successfully cover the country and appear where every patch of fans want them. The US is roughly 3.8 million square miles, and one national team. By contrast, Europe is slightly larger, at 3.9 million sq miles, and UEFA has 53 members. They're never going to be able to cover that effectively. As for the cities you mentioned, Atlanta doesn't have an acceptable venue (Silverbacks' facility has capacity of 4,500 which is too small. Herndon Stadium, which WUSA used, is turf, which the nats won't use). Charlotte has an NFL stadium, which is usable, but far from ideal. As for St. Louis, while personally I'd love for it to happen, again, we don't have a venue. We used to host national team games, youth games, womens games, etc, but the fact is, the venue where these games were played is not international caliber, and it's not large enough. St. Louis was a great home for US Soccer matches fora while, but US Soccer has outgrown St Louis (as it stands now). Kansas City is in a similar boat to Charlotte as far as venue is concerned. It's also worth noting KC has hosted games, and Cary NC, which has hosted games, is only about two hours from Charlotte. The same goes for Birmingham, which is 140 miles from Atlanta. At some point, you the fan have to be willing to make the trek.

With regards to #3, I think we can all agree on that. But at the same time, just about every fanbase of just about every country wants their team to be playing better, more attractive soccer. Doesn't mean its going to happen.

I found this initial question a little odd...as a fan, I've never really thought US Soccer had to do anything to help me. I became a fan because I enjoy it, not because they courted me. Your list seems to indicate that you want to be a fan, but only on the conditions that US Soccer make it affordable, convenient, and attractive. It seems to me that if you're a fan, you don't need them to do anything for you (aside from what we may think about tactics, I think most of us can agree that the team does try to win, even if we don't agree with what they do to get there. Their tickets are reasonably priced. They do try to spread their matches around the country, but they do concentrate some matches in areas that allow them to be successful events. In the last four years, they have played in California, New Mexico, Alabama, Illinois, Utah, Washington, Massachussetts, New Jersey, Connecticut, Ohio, Texas, North Carolina, Tennessee, Arizona, and have a match coming up in Washington DC, and Colorado. That's about diverse as they can get, considering that they've put a focus the last two years on playing more games out of the country (for the benefit of the team).

[obewan]

It's also worth noting KC has hosted games, and Cary NC, which has hosted games, is only about two hours from Charlotte. The same goes for Birmingham, which is 140 miles from Atlanta. At some point, you the fan have to be willing to make the trek.

I don't know if this is pointed at me or not, or if it was pointed at fans of US Soccer in general...but I have driven to DC (six hrs) and Columbus (eight) for multiple games, including friendlies. It was nice to see the Jamaica game in Cary, as I only had to drive a little over an hour to see that one.

To get back to the original post:

#1 - I realize the jersey prices are probably set by Nike. I also realize that, due to the licensing regulations we have here in the US, we'll probably never see the off-brand replica jerseys like I've seen in other countries. However, it would seem like the USSF could request that Nike produce a replica jersey at a reduced price. Maybe use a different fabric. The USSF shouldn't be scared to lose Nike...there are other soccer outfitters. This is why I thought the USSF could help fans with the jerseys.

#2 - Again, I see your point, and I don't disagree. I just think there could be some changes. Unlike some similarly sized countries which have large areas of uninhabitable land (i.e. Canada, Russia, Brazil, and China), the US, by comparison, has relatively few "uninhabited" areas. Because of that, it will be difficult to suit everyone's desires. However, I do think it should be the goal of the USSF to ensure that as many fans as possible get to see games live. I guess what I was getting at in my original post was this - whenever qualifying rolls around, you know games are going to hit LA, Foxboro, DC, Chicago, Columbus, and probably now Denver. Add NY to the list when their stadium is built.

You saw how well attended the Barbados game was in LA and the T&T game in Chicago. While Charlotte or KC aren't as well suited for soccer as the HDC or Toyota Park, I can't imagine the crowds being as sparse. As for Atlanta, the Georgia Dome could be used (although I hate artificial surfaces), and Birmingham wouldn't be a bad alternative. Basically, the way the USSF sets up qualifiers is this - if you live in Miami, Tampa, Jacksonville, Orlando, Atlanta, Charlotte, Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Seattle, Kansas City, St. Louis, New Orleans, etc, etc, you are going to have to dedicate two to three days, plus tickets, hotels, meals, travel expenses, etc. to watch the USMNT play.

I'll use myself as an example - I'm working a job making around $10/hr and going back to school (again). My wife stays home with our four children. However, before I went back to school and quit a more well-paying job, I promised my then-six-year-old that I would take him to the next qualifier in DC. Now he's eight, and he didn't forget. For us to get a hotel and buy tickets, I've dropped $200. That does not include gas and food. I'm guessing I'll spend at least $300 by the time it's all said and done. $80 jersey? Forget it.

I can't argue with having the Mexico game in Columbus or a game at the HDC, DC, and Foxboro. I would like to see, though, at least a rotation of some sort to try to share the qualifiers with some other locations. You make valid points, but I still see areas where the USSF could help the fan.

[Master O]

I think the USSF needs to advertise a lot better on all forms of media than it currently does.

There is barely any coverage of the fact that the US is qualifying for the World Cup. Isn't this the USSF's responsibility to get the word out? :mad:

[soccermusician]

Force Mls To Change There Schedules On International Dates!

[blue_wizard10]

Come to Mexico city more often...since I live here, but hey...that's just me :o