And, adding to some of the earlier ideas, I'd love to see a team-sponsored pub on site that, (like the old days at the Red Lion hotel) hosted post-game parties with fans and players. The obvious sponsor for such an endeavor would be the San Andreas Brewing Company...
They won't ever call it the [Sponsor] Epicenter, because that makes it too easy for people to talk about it without mentioning the sponsor name. Everybody can just say how much they love going to the Epicenter. When it's something more generic like Stadium or Park, people need to say the sponsor's name to distinguish it from other stadiums and parks.
i don't drink, but I thought the Quakes keep the bar open an hour after the games? Why isn't that equivalent to having a post-game pub?
Because of that annoying "Please drink responsibly" announcement they make when the remind you the bar reopens after the final whistle... Unless you didn't have a thing to drink before the 75th min when they close up, there's no way your being a responsible drinker if you belly up after the game's over...
From NASL Quakes days, I always loved the half time shows with Frisbee dogs and airplane combat show (two planes on wires with tales).
Streamers or confetti when the Quakes score? Better halftime shows? Getting the animals from Marine World to come and parade around the stadium or Krazy George coming down in. Helicopter like he use to in the heyday?
Disallowed behavior under MLS Fan Code of Conduct: "Throwing any objects onto the field (including streamers) . . . " https://www.mlssoccer.com/fan-code-of-conduct
Regarding the jersey sponsor: I spoke to someone last week who had spoken to the Quakes' marketing VP or manager earlier this season and noted that, with half the season gone, why not offer the space on the jersey for free to a charity (see Barcalona/UNICEF)?. It would have had the double-edged benefit of helping a charity and giving some better/more positive exposure to the team. Needless to say, the idea was never even considered, and the jerseys remain blank...
I've got an idea for a charitable brand on the kit. It would be fantastic except for the fact that to MLS, San Jose does not exist.
Oh yeah, they used to do that at Spartan, until that game where the metallic confetti drifted into a PG&E transformer and short-circuited all the lights! Actually, confetti is a lot of fun.
I never really had a problem with this - and the colored penalty areas and 6 yard boxes. One thing from the Carbray years that I was okay with. Kind of gimmicky but it certainly adds to a team-fortress atmosphere and actually helps officials make calls on in or out of the penalty area.
We need flags. Big Giant Flags. Allow flags everywhere. BIg 10' x 10' flags that fans could wave all game long. From the front row to the last row. In every section. Everybody loves flags! Nothing makes the atmosphere like flags.
Calen Carr just published the video below on what the Sounders are doing for the environment. Do the Quakes do anything comparable? If not, maybe more environmental or socioeconomic activites away from Avaya would build community outside and thus improve enthusiasm inside the stadium. It seems to me that all of the community outreach they do is primarily to get people to come to the stadium. Even the school visits are really about enticing kids to come to games. Soccer x Sustainability@CalenCarr heads to Seattle to find out how the Sounders are fighting to save orcas and combat carbon emissions. The Movement full episode ➡️ https://t.co/AX6ZUVlZiI pic.twitter.com/TFYulBqDeC— Major League Soccer (@MLS) July 25, 2019
I finally got a chance to watch a game at Portland last Thursday against Orlando. A few things I noticed. (First one everyone already knows about). The Timbers Army section is huge and the stadium was pretty loud the entire game even though the Timbers didn't score their tying goal until late. They're our western conference foe, but I had to tip my hat off to a great/grass roots supporters' group. You can buy 24oz. can of beer (they had a pretty wide variety of selections) from your seat. There were beer vendors walking around the stadium so you don't have to leave your seat to get a drink. I didn't realize Timber Joey actually walked around the stadium during the game with a fake chain saw. He engaged with the fans and was popular with the kids who wanted to take pictures with him (similar to what Krazy George does with the Earthquakes fans). I can't compare to what the atmosphere was like prior to the expansion, but I thought the place was really buzzing on a Thursday evening.
MLS expansion teams target millennials / hardcore soccer fans / culturally hip people (who tend to be young, diverse, and living in urban areas), whereas MLS 1.0 teams like the Quakes and Dallas have always primarily targeted families, so their stadiums are full of boomers taking a break from destroying our planet to catch a game and soccer parents with their 12 year old brats... which doesn't exactly project a "this is the cool place to hang out" image. Sorry to break it to everyone but we as currently constituted are not a very cool fanbase, our supporters groups have been dwindling for years... our team president and the person who started this thread are not even aware that Arsenal's (post-Highbury) atmosphere is widely mocked by other fans! I remember when MLS fans made fun on this LA Times story (as if what LAFC was doing wasn't a natural progression from what Seattle, Portland, SKC with their rebrand and new stadium, Minnesota, Atlanta, etc. had done... even the Galaxy started copying them soon after), now LAFC has one of the best atmospheres in the league. LA Times: Marketing to millennials, Los Angeles Football Club looking to stand apart But the problems go beyond the team, it's hard to not have a stadium full of bland white bread suburban families when the entire city of San Jose is pretty much a giant suburb... that will take decades to "fix" even if the political will exists (see Minneapolis). NY Times: Cities Start to Question an American Ideal: A House With a Yard on Every Lot Residential land zoned for: detached single-family homes: 96%
Los Angeles is basically built out the same, and I'm told a lot of their hipsters are from the San Fernando Valley. San Jose may be suburban, but it's not "white bread." San Jose is one of the handful of most diverse cities in the country. You know what's white-bread, yet filled with urban hipsters? Portland.
That place was awesome in '98 when the US played Costa Rica (they put sod over the shit plastic turf). A great location so I can only imagine it's better now. I'm going to the 10/5 game... can't wait!