[njndirish]

Everyone always talks about the Hispanic or youth soccer teams or whatever other group that MLS always seems to chase, but why never the college student? We exist in huge numbers in each and every one of the cities that there is a team, hell some of the cities are either based around a college (Columbus) or have a ridiculous amount of colleges in them (NYC and Chicago).
Think about it, there is a strong movement within colleges in terms of following soccer. With the combination of foriegn students, studying abroad, and an unchecked access to the Kids skip classes to watch CL matches in the afternoon, or straight up watch it during class. Now many will discount these individuals as Eurosnobs, but very few have been to a MLS match or even know about MLS. I brought this up in the Philly forum, and there are only few snags.
1. Time, some people think college students are studying all the time. As a college student, I know this is false. Most college students have absurd ammounts of time they don't know what to do with. Hell some schools don't even have classes on fridays.
2. Money. College students are very fruegal without a doubt, which is why a supporters group is perfect for them, they get to drink, party, drink, be loud, and drink with other people at a sporting event, all while not breaking the bank to go to games, which brings up the last point.
3. Students are only around for a few months out of the year. This statement depends on the college. Some colleges (like mine) draw very few individuals from the surrounding areas, however there are some like Ohio State, UCLA, Washington, etc. that not only draw from around the world and country but a strong ammount from the backyard.

The big 4 do very little to grab hold of this group because it is assumed.
What do you think?

[babieca]

It's very hard to compete with NCAA athletics.

Students get tickets to their college games for free or very cheap and often it's included in a sports package that goes on the tuition bill that mom and dad pay for.

Furthermore, most have more of a connection to their college than to whatever the local team is. Here in Austin they will come out and cheer for the Horns regardless of the sport. Most of them are from elsewhere and care about the University and its teams rather than the city.


If they are soccer fans at all and especially from abroad, the local team is probably not their favorite team and if they just want to watch soccer for the sake of watching soccer, there is a much cheaper alternative that they are more likely to care about, be it ncaa, club, or on TV.

[SaltLakeKiddy]

Originally Posted by babieca

It's very hard to compete with NCAA athletics.

Students get tickets to their college games for free or very cheap and often it's included in a sports package that goes on the tuition bill that mom and dad pay for.

Furthermore, most have more of a connection to their college than to whatever the local team is. Here in Austin they will come out and cheer for the Horns regardless of the sport. Most of them are from elsewhere and care about the University and its teams rather than the city.


If they are soccer fans at all and especially from abroad, the local team is probably not their favorite team and if they just want to watch soccer for the sake of watching soccer, there is a much cheaper alternative that they are more likely to care about, be it ncaa, club, or on TV.

This is true.
Most soccer fans I know in college only follow EPL. Even when RSL played at Rice-Eccles stadium on University of Utah campus, I never saw other students going to the games.

[njndirish]

Originally Posted by SaltLakeKiddy

This is true.
Most soccer fans I know in college only follow EPL. Even when RSL played at Rice-Eccles stadium on University of Utah campus, I never saw other students going to the games.

Did RSL tell the students that there was a team playing there? I talk to OSU fans who have never heard of the Crew, my friend from Chicago (100 miles away from our campus) never had heard of the Fire til 2 years ago. I mean it could just be no one being informed about it.

Bebiaca, I have to argue though, that MLS cities usually have weak college football cultures (except LA, Seattle, and Columbus). In Austin you are in bad shape because all college seasons are big for Texas, while up here in the midwest and northeast, baseball isn't as big.

[kebzach]

Why would a MLS team want to spend marketing dollars on college students that may or may not be permanent residents of that team's city, and even if they are, you're still spending marketing dollars on people who don't have a lot of disposable income to spend at the games. Merchandising, concessions, etc.

[soccerfreak9210]

Taking all these responses into account, I think that the supporters groups need to get college kids into the mix, not the clubs. kebzach just said it... clubs want merchandise and concessions... sg's just want young hip peeps

[rups93]

I think in theory it's a good idea, but how long are college kids residents during the season? I know Canadian and American school schedules don't match up always, but for me I start school in the first week of September and finish in mid April. So I'm finishing school when the season is less than a month old and I'm back with maybe a month and a half left in the regular season. It doesn't make sense to me to market to a group that is missing May, June, July, and August.

Maybe a team could cash in on some college casuals by advertising a "cheap beer night" for an evening Friday or Saturday kick-off, but I can't see what more could be done.

[Stadium-Armory]

DC (home of Maryland, Georgetown, George Washington, George Mason, Catholic, Howard, American, Gallaudet, and Marymount) had College Night promotions for the US Open Cup and a few other dates. I'm not sure if they were successful or not. They were pimping them out to the Supporters Groups.

[babieca]

Originally Posted by njndirish

Bebiaca, I have to argue though, that MLS cities usually have weak college football cultures (except LA, Seattle, and Columbus). In Austin you are in bad shape because all college seasons are big for Texas, while up here in the midwest and northeast, baseball isn't as big.

My point is that it's not just about football, basketball, or baseball. It's about those extra 500-1000 students per game that MLS might even think about getting. Those students, or at least the vast majority of them, will go see whatever is at their university for free.

Ohio state just had over 2000 show up for a women's volleyball match. They average over 800 per match and that puts them just 48th in attendance in the NCAA. I'm sure the Crew would love to get an extra 800 people per game, but it won't happen. Women's volleyball is free for students and you get to cheer for your beloved Buckeyes, not some team for townies.

See this article: http://www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/Vie...CLID=204813754

I did my undergrad in Maryland at UMBC and went to some United games, but they were my home town team. I mostly went to UMBC games though, soccer and basketball, even though it was a crap school in a crap conference (Big South at the time) that no one has ever heard of. Most of my fellow students did the same. It was free entertainment, close by for a team we cared about, even when we didn't care about the sport. This is something that MLS just isn't going to compete with.

[BBBulldog]

Originally Posted by Stadium-Armory

DC (home of Maryland, Georgetown, George Washington, George Mason, Catholic, Howard, American, Gallaudet, and Marymount) had College Night promotions for the US Open Cup and a few other dates. I'm not sure if they were successful or not. They were pimping them out to the Supporters Groups.

problem is that won't work that well till there's section for $10 behind goal for a group to go to. I sure wouldn't be payin $30 a game in college.