There are plenty of people, some of which probably post in here, that wouldn’t know good soccer from bad. Zero chance a newbie to the sport would say they aren’t coming back because of the level of play.
In recent years the Crew have had a habit of laying eggs before big home crowds. Even the FCC match this year would qualify.
So, this is an existential question the MLS has been asking itself since its inception and here we are still arguing it 25 years later: Who are we trying to turn into Crew season ticket holders: The general populace, soccer fans, or American sports fans? I don't know that I have an answer, because I know that it's not going to be possible to make all three of those groups happy at the same time. My gut, however, says be it would be easier to turn the general general populace into soccer fans.
Seconded. 1996 had a lot of cringey gimmicks, but the league seemed to do ok with the general populace, even at the expense of the knowledgeable soccer fan. In the more-current era, they seem to be doing ok in the newer expansion cities (because they bypassed the cheesy gimmicks) but it's no secret that 1.0 cities are lacking. It would certainly be interesting to see what would have happened if MLS was in cities like Atlanta, Seattle and Portland by 2001/2002 and had expanded to cities like Columbus and Denver. Would we be getting 30-40k per game while the first three cities mentioned would struggle to get 25k? But... I think MLS 1.0 did it right. Sure, there was some stuff that was very out-of-place that we'd rather forget about, but if we all going to introduce something foreign which had previously failed, would it be better for long-term growth to do it 100% the "foreign way" or do a hybrid "familiar/foreign" way and slowly jettison the "familiar" side? With that said... We've definitely had crowds of 18-20k before *and* on a regular basis. Give it energy via marketing and promotions, a winning team, an accessible FO/team (the TV channel and radio are both massive improvements already) and time and the fans will come back. Every game should have some sort of Buck-a-Brat or postgame PKs or dollar beer night or giveaway item. What definitely wouldn't hurt is more media coverage such as a weekly FO presence on radio and a weekly TV show. Have a "Guest of the Week" such as a coach or FO rep on Common Man and T-Bone. Bring back the weekly TV show with off-the-field news, weekly highlights, a look ahead at the next game, etc. Obviously, the Haslams, Dr. Pete and Bez have their work cut out for them...but I have faith that the next 5-6 months will result in lots of good things. The general public will definitely have a "fool me once" attitude, but with time and healing... Dr. Pete definitely knows the market and how to go about healing wounds.
I don't know where this fantasy of 'anyone who hasn't been to a Crew match has never ever seen a soccer game in their life' began, but it needs to stop. It's beyond idiotic. This isn't 1993, and at this point most American sports fans have seen more than their share of soccer matches. Regarding the bed-shitting performance at home against FC Cincinnati, that match prompted a phone call from a friend who wanted to meet for a beer and discuss why, as he put it, 'after all these years, why hasn't the standard of play in MLS improved?' I hate to go on about it, but the team is crap. There's not one single player in our starting eleven who would make it onto the first team of a MLS Cup winning side. That's unconscionable. We have a coach who, beyond being an utter dolt, is an asshole to boot. Until a major overhaul of our squad and coaching staff happens, this team will continue to be an embarrassment.
This might come as a shock to you but there are large portions of the country that don’t offer soccer as a sport in their high schools, let alone rec. I bring college kids to games frequently, friends of my daughter, who had never seen a game live or on tv. Even more people, American fans of the NFL and NBA, that have never watched by choice. I don’t know where this fantasy that everyone has seen a soccer game comes from but it has to stop. [emoji6] I hate to go on about it, but the FO was under huge pressure last year because of the circumstances the previous owner intentionally left them in. I get that a select few want to burn it all down and run screaming into the streets, as is their right, but I will wait until the FO and coaching staff has had a complete offseason to start losing my mind.
I am pretty high on Room. Unfortunately when you become such an all or nothing type of person you really must stick to the shitty script.
I find it odd that so many are still falling back on "the FO was under pressure because of Precourt/MLS sabotage yada yada yada" in regards to an end of season email sent a full season after the ownership took charge. I mean unless we are positing that somehow Dave Greely was behind this email from Bez's desk, or that he has post traumatic stress disorder after Greely left some stale food in the office fridge, it's a bit odd. Stating the obvious again, attendance went up despite the product on the field being brutally and at times historically awful. And yet, here we are begging the fans to do more. It's bizarre. You would think after years of making excuses and exalting Precourt's ownership of this team and shouting down anyone who questioned his stewardship some we'd learn a lesson around here. Maybe some have, but others are coming to extremely bizarre conclusions. Our billionaire saviors aren't victims here. They knew very much what they were getting into. They are not immune from criticism. To blame the tone of an end of season email on Precourt or Garber is a level I didn't see coming, but maybe I should have. It's consistent with the perpetual victimhood complex that has become part and parcel of the Columbus Crew identity. So much so that we pass it onto multi-billionaire owners. Incredible.
I thought I was on ignore @hangthadj? I was responding directly to another post, not to the letter that was sent by Bez. I did find the letter a little odd but certainly not something I an jumping out of a window about. See you at the groundbreaking tomorrow?
Hey cupcake. Thanks for the ring. You still are on ignore, don't worry. I curiously clicked to see what brought Archer to church above. It's still the Church of Victimhood, Father Stanger serving communion. It's a congregation of more than one. Nah, you won't see me at the groundbreaking tomorrow. Seeing Artur and Trapp playing a succession of 5 yard passes away from the goal before losing possession seems more exciting to me than some people taking pictures of shovels in dirt. I live for the games, and the season is mercifully over. To each their own though. I obviously have other friends going and I genuinely hope you and everyone else who are excited by these sort of events have a good time.
Room is quite good. And he seems to be the kind of keeper whom you don't really notice, which is both a good thing and also somewhat unusual in today's 'sweeper/keeper' era.
That's a relief, both that I'm still on ignore and that you won't be at the groundbreaking And I will have fun tomorrow with a group of people I tailgate with on a weekly basis. I am glad I can be a part of the history of the club and tomorrow will be a historic one regardless of how poor the on-field product was this past season, and not just for the team but for the league. Have a nice time wallowing in your pool of hate and despair, I will be day drinking in the soon to be finished Arena District
It's common practice in the professional world (sports or otherwise) to never disparage those that are leaving the organization no matter the circumstances (minus maybe criminal investigations). Thank them for their service, say they are going to be spending more time "with the family", wish them luck on their next venture and move on. At the very worst you say nothing. Professionals do not take out full page adds in the local rag to call out half their team.
Not to sound trite, because I think what I'm about to say is accurate, but I also understand that my answer is so simple as to be, to an extent, meaningless: Money. It's a bit like saying: "Why isn't my $500 car a reliable commuter?" Then saying, after upgrading: "Gosh, why isn't my $1,500 car a reliable commuter?" And, finally, after yet another upgrade: "I just don't get it; why isn't this $3,000 car a reliable commuter, either?" I mean, come on, the standard of play has improved. A lot. It still may not be very good much of the time, but it was far, far worse then. I remember those early years, too. Those were some miserable games, the quality of passing and defense, the quality of the goals, the production quality and the facilities the league played in that made the games look terrible on TV (for a cheap flashback, watch some USL soccer today). Put another way, MLS fielded ten teams for many of those years. Imagine that shallow talent pool stretched over 14 more teams, all with much larger rosters. It would be unimaginably bad. So, yeah, money. Because we still don't spend enough to buy the talent necessary for MLS games to be higher quality and more entertaining. But not just money spent on player salaries. More centrally, revenue, the sport's economics in this country. Back in the day, pre-1999, MLS thought it could rent NFL stadiums, that was the business model. They were wrong. The continued employment of that model would have led to the death of the league, and it almost did. What we've seen in response has been the expenditure of many, many hundreds of millions of dollars in infrastructure, stadium and training ground construction. In retrospect, the league kicked off in 1996 as a start-up in what, essentially, was a new, untested industry in the US. Not really new, I get it, in that pro soccer start-ups had existed before. But really, other than a handful of investors, MLS had nothing to stand on. No stadiums (money), no academies (money), no pro referees (money), no training grounds (money), no pool of players and coaches to tap into in order to populate a div. 1 league (money). No audience (money). No broadcast partners (money; the league paid to have its games on TV). Not MLS' responsibility, I suppose, but also no viable lower division pro soccer league to serve as a talent pool developer and to help the sport's visibility in the country (money); and there were very few Americans playing abroad. Everything had to be built from scratch (money). And, to be certain, the league made many mistakes along the way, thinking that it would be economically viable to rent American football stadiums being one such example. But it's also invested vast sums in all of the above problems. Thing is, every problem the league addressed seem to point to another one, or just placed in higher contract the severity of the challenge MLS was trying to fix. MLS may not be in start-up mode any longer, but it sure as hell still has mountains of work to do. Pro soccer is a "thing" in the US now, but it's still a minor pro sport compared to the big guys. Too, the whole sports landscape has shifted since '96. MLS was created based on the logical theory that it had to carve out a niche in the US sports landscape, find a foothold among football, baseball, basketball, hockey, both pro and college sports. But then the Internet happened, streaming sports became a big and fast-growing thing. And now MLS has to compete against the world's best soccer leagues for attention in this market, too. I'm thrilled the Bundesliga will be on ESPN+ next season. Something tells me, MLS execs aren't so happy about that. So when you ask, why isn't MLS a wonderfully entertaining league much of the time, it just seems to me that you're ignoring the obvious immensity of the challenge the league - and the sport - faces in getting to that level. I mean, seriously, in the real world the league inhabits, what would you do differently? And how would you pay for it?
I don't know. Maybe not full page ads in the newspaper, but in my 42 years of sports fandom I've seen many more direct statements from GM's, Managers, and Directors about certain players not being good enough to compete and win than I have of them begging the fans to bring more friends to spend more money. It's actually quite common.
I think one obvious answer is a group you're not mentioning: Corporate America. Look no further than our new stadium. We may never know the numbers, but the money it'll bring in for those suites, and its attractiveness to businesses - because of its location, amenities and ability host corporate events - will have a financial impact that's an order of magnitude greater than anything what would ever have been possible at Mapfre. MLS may have realized that fan support will only get the league so far. Hence the soft 20K-isk cap on most new stadiums, regardless of market demand. Save $$ on those seats, pump it into other stadium amenities, work like hell to fill a modest-sized stadium most games (because it creates a great atmosphere and maximizes revenue potential from that source), but then squeeze every dollar out of potential corporate partnerships, because that's where the real money resides. I think it's one reason why the stadium's supporters section is 50% larger. These will be the cheapest "seats" in the house, but also the ones that attract the most dedicated fans. Think of the new Nordecke as a loss-leader - occupying space partially subsidized by corporate sales - that ensures a good atmosphere (in person and on TV) and concession sales, and is built on the theory that eventually most of these people will graduate to other (more pricey) parts of the stadium as they age, get tired of standing, and have more disposable income.
Hearing a lot of talk of long time Nordeckians starting to move out to more "mature" sections of the stadium. Especially those just starting families. I'm on an opposite track. My kids are getting older (MS, HS & College). For me it might be time to move into Nordecke. Get to spend some raucous times with my offspring as they transition into their young adult years. Plus I'm probably about to hit midlife crisis and try to deny I'm getting old. What a better way to fight that off than be the creepy old dude hanging out with a bunch of 20 somethings. I'm still cool, right?
Standing in the Nordeck (and the corner before that) really made my daughter a fan. Had her with me from when she was 5-6 and now she won't be anywhere but there, even when offered suite tickets. And you can stand with me and the other late 40's/early 50's people at the top of the section.
Common? Really? Show me where players are getting called out before they are cut, not re-signed, sold for a bag of peanuts.