My concern is that the new owner won't have the patience to wait for the team to turn around. Rocco brought the team on a whim and I'd wager on a very low price. That was a good business move (buy in low and hope to build it up) but his lack of interest in talking about a long term plan and his making noise about US soccer "failing" have me concerned he's not in it for the long haul.
I feel like the only way the Cosmos are going to grow their attendance over time is if that time is from 1975-1981.
Well, they're able to announce that much, anyway. Minnesota averaged 1,676 and 2,796 in its two years being league-owned.
3,302 in San Francisco, which is better, but they still lag behind the rest of the league with a 3,058 average. Indy - 8,094 Miami - 7,214 North Carolina - 5,176 New York - 4,940 Puerto Rico - 4,157 Edmonton - 3,426 Jacksonville - 3,354 San Francisco - 3,058 LEAGUE - 4,831
I was at Hodges tonight. I am genuinely surprised the crowd was announced as that small. The stadium felt about half full snd it seats nearly 10k. Atmosphere was good,.better than the Baseball Stadium they used to play at. And the Armada is a MUCH better team.
At the Cosmos game last week I sat with a relative of one of the Jacksonville players who said Hodges was a vast improvement; the crowd sitting together on one side gave the stadium an atmosphere that was lacking. It's great to see they're keeping an average above 3K [being league owned and budget limitations]; the question for a perspective owner is, can I realistically expect to bring attendance to 5 to 7k and increase sponsorship revenue?
I think with the right marketing and ownership, the Armada would do well. The real issue is who in their right mind would buy into the NASL without clarity on the league's future? Jacksonville is a very strong minor leage sports town. The baseball team is one of the top draws is AA, arena football is successful here as is minor league hoops, and we just got a new hockey team starting in the fall.
Question for those who have been following these numbers for a while. Is there a notable attendance bump when the Cosmos visit a team?
There used to be. Early on. There does not appear to be much of one anymore. (At least not for the mystique, but their status as a good team, maybe.) The identity of the opponent is usually not a big draw. But the Cosmos created what appeared to be a bump when they first made trips around the league.
Cosmos on the road (Season highs for the home team are in bold): 2013 - 5,470 in 7 games (7,032 in Tampa Bay, 4,096 in Carolina, 3,180 in Edmonton, 7,653 in Ft. Lauderdale, 3,629 in Minnesota, 7,702 in San Antonio, 5,000 in Atlanta.) 2014 - 6,074 in 13 games (4,399 in Edmonton, 4,066 in Carolina, 4,855 in Tampa Bay, 5,572 in Ft. Lauderdale, 14,593* in Ottawa, 3,257 in Ft. Lauderdale, 3,842 in Atlanta, 4,273 in Tampa Bay, 10,659 in Indianapolis, 5,593 in Carolina, 3,830 in Edmonton, 5,817 in Minnesota, 8,205 in San Antonio.) *New stadium inaugural. 2015 - 7,352 in 15 games (11,691 in Ft. Lauderdale, 10,524 in Indianapolis, 5,511 in Atlanta, 7,217 in Carolina, 9,317 in Minnesota, 8,167 in Jacksonville, 10,206 in Indianapolis, 5,667 in Ft. Lauderdale, 5,129 in Carolina, 6,042 in Ottawa, 5,630 in Tampa Bay, 9,418 in Minnesota, 4,240 in Edmonton, 3,469 in Atlanta, 8,053 in San Antonio.) 2016 - 4,840 in 16 games (9,067 in Indianapolis, 9,078 in Minnesota, 3,432 in Miami, 2,688 in Edmonton, 1,297 in Ft. Lauderdale, 4,519 in Miami, 4,621 in Oklahoma City, 6,301 in Tampa Bay, 2,104 in Edmonton, 4,208 in Puerto Rico, 1,821 in Ft. Lauderdale, 9,157 in Indianapolis, 3,093 in Carolina, 4,400 in Ottawa, 3,044 in Jacksonville, 8,609 in Minnesota.)
A few of them are. Home openers are typically better attended, but not always off the charts. Those are all in chronological order above, so after you get past the first handful, they're not home openers anymore.
The Cosmos had Raul on their squad in 2015. That certainly helped the away numbers. In 2013, the first away match against the Rowdies was promoted heavily by the club, with a panel discussion beforehand and the retirement of Mike Connell's jersey on match day.
Love seeing these numbers every week...two interesting trends developing this year. - Six of the eight NASL teams are up over last year, with Indy and Jacksonville down slightly. I agree with some of the posters above about the atmosphere at Hodges. I haven't been to a match yet, but it sounds better on the stream. In the long run, though, any new owner needs to think about a permanent stadium solution. - With a few data points, it's a mixed bag among the teams that made the jump from NASL to USL. Tampa Bay would be third in the NASL with their numbers...they're ninth in the USL. BUT they're also down 7.5%. FWIW, San Antonio also dropped the year after making the move from NASL to USL, although realistically as a new team. So far, Ottawa is up compared to last year. There's no reason to believe it's coming anytime soon, but I wonder what would happen if the moves were in the other direction...
You're looking at year-over-part-year. Looking at it by the same number of home games as a year ago, four of the eight teams are up over last year. (Puerto Rico's first three home games last year came in the Fall season). Team......................2017...2016.....Diff FC Edmonton..............3,426..2,116...+61.9% Miami FC.................7,214..5,252...+37.4% North Carolina FC........5,176..4,184...+23.7% New York Cosmos..........4,940..4,390...+12.5% Indy Eleven..............8,094..9,086...-10.9% Puerto Rico FC...........4,157..4,896...-15.1% Jacksonville Armada FC...3,354..4,647...-27.8% San Francisco Deltas.....3,058....N/A......N/A NASL TOTAL...............4,831..5,346....-9.6% The "league" total is just through 20 games last year, but it was a different collection of teams and games, obviously. And these are for only two or three home games.
Ok. I was thinking the numbers were to that point in the home schedule (first two games to first two games)...I stand corrected. Makes sense because as I recall, Jacksonville's numbers didn't fall through the floor last season until later on. So four of the seven are up (not counting San Francisco), and no one is flat. It also means that I was possibly wrong about the Rowdies as well, given the record crowd for the first match.
The Rowdies have drawn 27,191 to their first five home matches (5,438). Last year's first five home games drew 28,897 (5,779). So, off a little over 300 per game (about 6%). Not a huge concern, but worth watching.
Al Lang capacity is 7,227. Now that their referendum passed overwhelmingly, I would think the next step to their push for MLS is selling out the current place. They will have that lure of if you want season tickets to the new place, you should buy them now to get preferred choice for expansion. That may help, but they need to put full on blitz to show MLS they can fill the new place if it is built and they are given one of expansion slots.
To be fair, it was <10% of the population that voted. They SHOULD sell out the place. I think they have overpriced the place, but that's just me. History shows us that many people say, "Call me when you get to MLS." Because Al Lang's MLS capacity will be 18k+. You will not create demand for USL tickets by saying you must have them to get MLS tickets.