2019 Dynamo Attendance Review

In our recent past, all of us witnessed our FO delivering a minor league experience in a Major League venue for a Major League team. Thus, our very soccer savvy population has said back to our FO "no thank you". Look, all of us used to go to a college venue to support our Major League team but once we moved to our own home and we started to endure sub par game day experiences, again, people stayed at home. Or worse, stopped caring all together and did something else with their time. Thus, what is always so vital to MLS success in any city, our FO has to continually grow the soccer market in our great city. For once the soccer folks have their candles burn out, there is little fire for the league with so many other options to be had for the sport. And then there are the other sports options in town. It was apparent that our FO had no clue what to do when the perfect storm of not good Dynamo football collided at the same time with Astros and Rockets bossing their leagues. Teams that are Houston pillars of fan devotion.

Also, on Dash attendance and how the two teams of ours exist, I found this on that Twitter banter:
I have been a
@HoustonDash
season tix holder for 3 years. This year taking my girls to
@FIFAWWC
instead. No one from organizing ever called to ask why I did not renew. On the board of
@DynamosSC
so I’m an influencer! Stunning!

 

It's simple to say: It's the fans fault. It's the media's fault. It's the owners fault.

It's a little bit of everyone's fault.

Ownership for waiting for it to get this bad before acting last year and its general financial tightness and many other things. Canetti for running the franchise straight into the ground. The fans for being driven off and not returning despite the fact that the on the field play has improved dramatically in two years and there was a leadership change last summer. Cabrera for his practice restrictions - like they matter. The media for general apathy.

Plenty of places to point fingers - very little room for solutions. I feel like an alcoholic approaching rock bottom. The sad part is it's not hear yet.

 

man, i wish i could find my post from 4-5 years ago from the Owen Coyle-era when some of these problems began to manifest themselves. i remember sounding the alarms and the orange kool-aid drinkers (there were still several of them on here) shutting me down. a lot of the current problems could've been avoided or at least minimized.

 

Indeed rey!
In the past I would email Oliver and he would take the time to respond, respond to any fan really, and that meant he understood to listen to someone's insight. Oliver was good at having his ear to the ground.
When Canetti ran the club, I emailed him as well about the specific concerns and problems that were growing for our Dynamo. I brought the issues to the table, and emailed him how best to sort them out before they grow like a cancer in our club. Free insight from a guy like me that did run a minor league soccer team here in town.
The responses were generic and aloof liners like, "We are doing our best" and then no answers from him became the norm these last 4 seasons. Canetti lead us to face Major League problems and confronted them, at best, with minor league mindset. Which mostly consisted of firing staff and cutting everything from our Dynamo Girls to promotional gifts to social events for team, FO and fans.

 

The MLS needs to figure out how to grab La Liga and Liga MX fans in Houston, Dallas, and Los Angeles. Football is huge, but people are apathetic towards MLS. It’s likely going to take star power.

 

To my mind the blame really rests with ownership. They are running a franchise that has failed to recognize the league has changed and continues to keep changing. Owners with deeper pockets who are willing to spend on impact and name players. New teams are coming on board and we are still reliving the glory years of 14 years ago (the video intro at the start of matches).

I don't think you can blame Canetti if he was given a budget and had to stick to it. has play really improved over the last two years? We got Ellis, Manotas and Quioto, but the defense was not addressed - and that probably comes down to $$$. We didn't make the playoffs and no-one really cared or were held accountable.

Media has always been apathetic, but restricting practice is lame because it drove off those media folks who bothered to show up (although realistically they're about as media related as I am). The only time I can remember media bothering to turn out was when they catered lunch .

The splitting of the organization into team ops and business ops actually gives cover and no-one is really accountable. You can't hold business ops accountable if STH's have left in droves because of the poor performance of the team, and you can't hold team ops accountable if you extend the contract of the coach when the team didn't even come close to making the playoffs.

But it's definitely not the fans fault. This ain't the UK where a team is handed down from father to son (sorry parent to child) and you stay with the team and suffer through the down years and cheer on the good years. Americans are too demanding and fickle to do that.

 

the mexican yeti search continues!!

 

To the older Latino that has been living in our nation for decades now, they still recall when MLS started and went rogue against FIFA standards with a clock running down and the run up n kick shoot outs to decide ties. Basically repeating what the NASL suits thought would work by Americanizing the beautiful game. Which Latinos and our nations other ethnic groups wanted to have a league to take their kids to but those goofy gimmicks really was a blow to MLS's credibility in the eyes of so many footy die hards. 24 seasons later and as I have witnessed it as an inner city coach, the youth Latino kinda follows MLS but it still isn't "cool" to go all in for your city's crest n colors. They still hear their uncles n dads perhaps low talk MLS at the dinner table having never forgiven those MLS early years with the goofy ideas and we all must recall so many immigrants to our nation just get confused with the general lack of respect the sport receives in our media. An issue that MLS HQ should have aggressively taken task to and cut that Gordian Knot in half with education and promotion of the sport. Their confusion quickly grows into apathy, like if your own locals don't care in such large numbers, what is it to me to anchor my support for this MLS adventure.

 

Timely article.... LOL
Will more Mexican stars join Carlos Vela, Jonathan dos Santos, Marco Fabian in MLS?

 

Hector Moreno - yes, please. still so good we can play with 10 men and let him play both CB positions. seriously tho, he's cleans some much sht up that you can pair him with a Fuenmayor-type or that young academy CB for them to learn.

Andres Guardado - class all around. like a honda civic this guy is going to play until his knees fall out.

Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez - in before, someone says he sucks! he's closing in on 100 goals in Europe while playing in 3 of the top 5 leagues (Premiership, Bundesliga, La Liga). i wish i wouldve sucked that bad at soccer.

pipe dreams though, there's still plenty of Honduran internationals that we havent signed!

 

protip - call a tix rep and the tix are $7 with no service charge.

 

the beers and hot dogs are probably the same as the happy hour ones. meaning the beer will be a regular sized (12z) beer and available and at all four sides of the stadium.

I'm curious as to where the GA tickets will be

i know necessity breeds invention but i'm still happy that the new boss is not like the old boss. at least not when it comes to fan choices at the stadium

 

btw, it couldnt have come at a worst time. i swear im not Webbing you: these team(s) while not world beaters have been exciting to watch. i have only missed the Tigres game this year and have had a good time at all of them.

even the Dash game yesterday. PK save in the 93rd minute. get out of here with that! also, the weather has been fantastic and only a slight nuisance even with the extreme weather of the Guastatoya and SJE.

 

Imagine an MLS front office that can cultivate new fans to the most dominate sport on our planet.