I think we're beginning to see the 'massive' (as you note) scale of the challenge. When you say, "This will take time," we need to realize that the scale we're talking about is years, not weeks or months. At the Supporters Summit, Bez and Pete talked about re-building relationships (or in some cases building those that never had been developed) and noted that this disconnection between the team and the community was a problem going back many years; preceding PSV. I wouldn't say I'm worried, but I am frustrated, confused, and see this as being a serious challenge for the club and this market. How the hell do 18k show up on March 2, then the bottom falls out? I really don't get it. Yesterday was effing gorgeous. I wouldn't expect great numbers, but a hair under 11k is embarrassing.
Our ‘business metrics’ have been a problem for a long time. I was always confused about how people could claim they weren’t. Attendance so far is not surprising. And anyone who thought this would turn around in just a couple months is crazy. You can fix years, dare I say decades, of mismanagement and shit marketing in just, what, 3 months? This year is a transition year, both on and off the field, period. It might be a ‘loser mentality’ that some people like to claim it is, but I prefer to think of it as reality.
I think the drop off from the home opener is from those who bought partial packages. I’m pretty sure the home opener was a mandatory game they had to select, and then they had the option of selecting other games. I think we can see where people are buying games to by the reduced number of games ticket holders can exchange tickets for. The games after the home opener this far were are eligible, then the next two up are the Wednesday la and dc matches. I think we will have a few pretty well attended games the rest of the way with some bad attendance mixed in. My question is what is the estimated fan base you think the crew has right now that would go to more than just one game a year? That number needs to grow
Well, if people talking about attendance bothers you, then perhaps the FRACKING ATTENDANCE THREAD is the wrong place for you? Jesus. Also, the stupidity of saying that you cannot comment on attendance AND enjoy the season at the same time is mind-numbing. They are not mutually exclusive, at least for those of us capable of having more than one thought in our heads at the same time.
Look, I had no issue with the poor attendance the last two matches before yesterday. The weather was awful. But yesterday was gorgeous. No Jackets game. No OSU game. Not Holloween. Did I expect a full house? No. But had hoped for 15k-ish. With all the talk from Dr. Pete about record setting ticket sales, new ownership, bikes with ads in the Short North, and the strong opener, I thought we would bounce back some. Nope. Add to that no buck-a-braught/beer nights and no new hiring to ticket/marketing staff 3 months in, and it is hard to give the FO a good grade so far on attendance. Granted, bigger fish to fry pre-season, but we are a month in now. Hire staff and get to work.
On the positive side: 1) Getting in is WAY easier now. More points of entry. No wands. Friendlier staff. Huge improvement. 2) Bands over DJs is a huge improvement. High marks there.
I'd just like to point out we have higher attendance than New England, Colorado, and Chicago so far this year. And that our average attendance is up from last year (barely, but it's up). https://soccerstadiumdigest.com/2019-mls-attendance/
I think the ticket packages are a major point in this. If you are picking 10 or less games to attend and HAVE to pick the opener, of course, it will be well attended. If you are picking these games in February and looking at weather and opponent I can't imagine the March games or even April will be desirable. I really want to see how the second half games sell. Wednesday games this year will be interesting as they don't sell well traditionally but the opponents are very good. The second half of the season sets up well with good opponents on weekends. (LAFC, NYCFC, KC, Seattle, Cincinnati, Chicago, and Toronto should be good draws after 5/1 on weekends.)
If I’m a Crew fan (which me let me look at my notes here) which I appear to be, my goals for the FO for this year is the following: 1. Exist (so far, this seems to be happening) 2. Have games in 2019 (again, this looks to be happening) 3. Not completely suck on the field (so far, so good) 4. Improve the fan experience (some positive signs thus far) After that, we need to have some patience. I know, it’s frustrating and it’s sucks. I don’t have patience and I complain about attendance and what not. But if we aren’t having success in the stands this year, and we are thinking the FO only had so much time for this year, I would hope the FO would then move on to the following goals for next year and beyond: 1. Get the pieces in play for a successful 2020. This means use 2019 and the short turnaround time to experiment on new marketing approaches, new promotions, new partnerships, and use the raw data from these items to implement change for next year, when you have a full offseason to work with. And to try and grow the brand in the city. Also, get your stadium plan in a good spot so it stays on schedule. They have done some of these things already, with the new tv and radio deals, the post game surveys after every match, my membership specialist has emailed me more often, etc, the improved entrance to games with security, etc. I hope that they are doing the power washing of the brand and making the repairs to have the team ready for next year. I think 2020 is going to be a huge season in importance for us. I hope they market the new stadium, make ticket packages for 2020 give you first choice at best prices for 2021. With a little luck in scheduling, maybe we get the Mexico qualifier in 2021, and we link tickets to that with season tickets/ticket packages like they did in years past. I’m all good for 2019 being a transition year provided we keep the product good and use it to set up 2020 to build up excitement for 2021 with the new stadium. I don’t expect miracles in one year, and attendance this year is forgivable considering the circumstances. What wouldn’t be forgivable if they just throw away this year and we run into more of the same next year. I don’t think Dee and Doc are going to accept failure here. I don’t think Bez comes here if he doesn’t think they can turn this around. I honestly think we got the guys here who can do this.
Also I apologize for the many typos I’m seeing after re-reading my posts. That’s quite a bit to type up on my phone using Tapatalk, and I can’t seem to find the edit button. But dammit, I’m passionate about this team and when I have a few thoughts about the team, I like posting it here on BS because you guys are passionate just like me. I’ll also blame that I tailgated last night and I’m kind of a lightweight, and I drank more than a lightweight should. I’ll try to do better, folks.
Last night's attendance is disappointing. We have about 9K season ticket holders so there wasn't much of a presale (not surprising in early April) or walk up (disappointing considering the weather). Last year the CP promised the Crew would have a local sponsorship package that would get us from revenue around 24 mil per year to the league average. That's 37 mil according to Forbes. Has anyone seen any sign of that happening? I thought Fischer had businesses lined up. Usually sponsorships come with tickets included so our attendance should be getting a bounce from those.
Where'd you see those numbers? I don't recall seeing that kind of specificity. The CP, obviously, can't sell sponsorships for the club. It can help line them up, of course, but they won't become actual deals until the club and these various companies negotiate something in particular. I mean, these aren't charitable donations, they're corporate sponsorship/marketing contracts. I do recall the club saying that, before the March 2 opener, they'd barely even begun "corporate sales," which I assume could be something different, but then again, it doesn't seem to me that the FO had time to do much more than sell tickets to fans, prep/repair the stadium, hire a coach, and negotiate TV/radio deals. I get the sense that this page hasn't been updated in a while (The CW and Spectrum are still listed): https://www.columbuscrewsc.com/club/corporate-partners The club seems to have been fortunate that the guy who runs corporate partnerships is a long term employee. But he didn't even have a boss until mid-January.
The Dispatch has buried most Crew articles in the back of the sports page. The only time they seem to make the front page is after they win. Today is the first day that they have been above the fold on the front of the sports with a positive story since the season began. The only other times it has been a negative story about attendance and once on the front of the paper -parking problems at the new stadium. I do think they need to cover the hokey team. They do three to five pages of hockey coverage everyday. The Crew - about three times a week usually buried. If I only got my sports news from the Dispatch. i would be excited about hockey and not soccer. Other media nearly ignores the Crew. I listened to the news on several local radio channels last Friday. The highlighted all the Sports happening that weekend except - They did not mention the Crew. There is likely not good public perception of the Crew. There is no excitement building around them in the media. People who follow the Crew closely like those on Big Soccer get a distorted view. This is a which came first problem. Can the excitement build without the media? Then the media will join in (like they did with the Save the Crew movement).
My first game in my 4 pack is LAFC. Why would I risk the weather? Yes, May is iffy as well, but it's got a better shot than April of being above 70.
My new meaning for the NASL - National Attendance Soccer League. My team is near the bottom of the table for this league. Fortunately, it’s not the league they play in so I don’t give a sh!t about where we fall in that league. I no longer have an inferiority complex. I’m good enough, I’m smart enough and doggone it, people like me.
If a market like Chicago, Philly, and Denver can’t overcome a bad stadium location how would Columbus? I think those worrying here underestimate what a tail wind a new stadium will be. And to be honest I think the FO is keeping there powder dry for 2021.
So what we’re all the excuses again for people not showing up last night? OSU? Nope. CBJ? Nope. Weather sucked? Lol. Hmmmmmmm. Was there some big hipster craft beer fest I didn’t know about? It already seems as though @Kyle Crew has the excuses lined up, so which one is it?
The biggest fantasy is people saying they won't come to games at the fairgrounds but they will attend games if they are played at a stadium downtown! Seems to me they aren't that interested in soccer!
If you have experience talking to people around town the three most common things you hear are: 1. Having always wanted to go to a game 2. Not knowing a game was happening 3. A negative comment on the stadium, usually related to getting in and out or parking in mud. Fixing 2 will take some community involvement and better marketing. 3 is a fix that is a few years away. 1 shows people are interested, the Crew just aren't reaching them.
I’m here because sometimes, when people aren’t being obstinate little children, we actually do have interesting and, I can only hope, constructive conversations about the various factors affecting attendance. Stomping your feet and crying “no more excuses!” is lame, pointless, and quite honestly the only embarrassing about the whole situation
Actually, there was a Jackets game. One that would decide their Wild Card fate and whether they would face Tampa Bay or not. Still no excuse though. I had tickets to the theater bought last year as a Christmas present for my wife and daughters so I was one of the empty seats. But that also means we have an extra seat on the 24th.
Just quoting this because some have claimed - erroneously, I think - that one reason the March 2 game was so well attended was that partial season package buyers had to choose that game as part of their package. It sounded very dubious to me, and I know the 10 game package I bought allowed me to choose from all 17 matches, and didn’t require me to buy a ticket to any particular match.
Guys, I’m not worried about attendance at the moment. The front office staff is still getting things put back together. We can’t expect 10+ years of neglect to right itself in a few months. It’s going to take a few years to get this right. Sit back and enjoy that we’ve actually got a team to watch. League attendance is low, this isn’t just a problem with us. I park near the exits. I’ve not had any problem getting out. Sure, it’s a couple of minutes extra walking up but beats the 45 minutes sitting in the car having to pee because we were trying to rush out of there before traffic piles up.