Any ideas for the 2012 season on how we can boost up the Rowdies popularity and getting more people in AL LANG ?
No mascot. Pimp the Rowdies history and supporters, and Strikers rivalry. This was a template for the Portland Timbers MLS. Supporters need to blast local sports media outlets and try to contact the decision maker to cover more Rowdies.
Mike Pepper from 1010 Sports is their play by play announcer. I have talked soccer with him on the air many times.
I posted this in a similar thread about the Strikers 2012 plans... The Timbers while in the USL had a tradition of cheap & good beer for Thursday night games IIRC. This made the stadium a destination for fans (both diehard and casual). The week night games are usually poorly attended and I bet you could find some attendance thread somewhere that would show how well this worked for the Timbers.
There shouldn't be more than one or two midweek games this season, so no thirsty Thursdays. Working to get the Rowdies talked about more on local radio is definitely a good step to take though.
When it comes to outreach and visibility, consider how you can do it meaningfully for your community. If there is a local issue your supporters group feels invested in, consider volunteering opportunities for it under the banner of your supporters group. That way you would be increasing your visibility, but not in a way that is just more push marketing noise. You would actually be earning your visibility wile also demonstrating your relevance to the community. Depending on the volunteer setting, you'll have a chance to talk to people who aren't aware of you and do that real one-on-one recruiting that takes time but develops long term bonds with the group and the club. If nothing else, it is a chance for your members to hang out in the off season. Otherwise, what are the best supporters groups around the world if not a bunch of people who give a shit about their neighborhoods and communities, and also happen to love soccer? Public activism and volunteering is just a natural fit for true supporters groups.
All good points and definitely a direction the Mob is looking at going in the near future. We are taking care of some house cleaning at the moment, getting properly incorporated, etc. The last two seasons we've held fund raisers for local charities, but definitely could be more active through the rest of the year.
Pass. Sounds like MLS 1.0. Rowdies need to focus on the young crowd and origonal NASL TB Rowdies fans who will be the season ticket holders. They will bring their kids regardless.
Have to agree. FC Tampa Bay has been trying to woo the youth soccer market from day one and it does not translate into butts in seats. I'm sure they've made mistakes and very probably could have done a better job, but I'd still much rather see the club focus more on other demos. Expect a multi tiered marketing campaign to begin after the new year, that is the word from the front office. It'll be very interesting to see how much money they spend and the quality of marketing we get. One of the biggest complaints from all fans over the past two seasons has been the complete and utter lack of any meaningful marketing. From what we are hearing, the new look Rowdies are finally prepared to open the pocket books. I still feel that they've been waiting all along for the Rowdies trademark to be settled before they spent money on marketing and now we'll find out for sure. So let's hope so!
I don't see how that could hurt. Remember that the economy isn't exactly in great shape. For parents that are on a tight budget,discounted youth tickets just might help them make up their mind's to attend a match.
Well this season they are offering a youth season ticket at $105. That's roughly $7.50 per game. This is the first time they've done something like that. We are still waiting for single game ticket prices to come out and maybe they'll have a youth rate as well? Parents are going to bring their kids to games. If there is a youth ticket price then they are even more likely to do so. I agree there should be SOME kind of youth ticket price. $5 isn't ever going to happen, not while they are leasing Al Lang. Maybe when they get their own stadium, who knows. In the meantime they really need to be focusing on the demos with expendable income who they can count on coming back again and again. A family of four isn't going to prioritize pro soccer, especially not lower division soccer. Even if the tickets are dirt cheap. A family of four has a ton of other things every weekend that they may want to do. They'll come often, but probably not more than half a seasons worth of games. A family of four with youth soccer players is especially less likely to come to a pro soccer game consistently. Brian Quarstad at Inside Minnesota Soccer made this point well recently. A soccer mom spends many days of the week, maybe every day, attending soccer events. Practices, youth games, other team related activities. He argues that the likelihood of this family adding yet another soccer related expenditure to the list of things to do on a Saturday night is very low compared to most other demographics. This makes alot of sense and would explain why the strategy of wooing youth leagues and their parents hasn't been very successful for MLS nor for lower divisions.
Wooing the children to games is fine and dandy, but the REAL money is in the young adult category (18-35 years). This is the demographic that'll spend $$$ on tix, merchandise, beer, food, etc. & are the most likely to return week in, week out. In order to increase their numbers at Rowdies' games we must find a way to replicate what's been done in the Pacific Northwest.
That explains why St. Louis has never worked in actual practice. They are considered the kings of youth soccer, and yet in the heyday of the original NASL, they failed to take off when more than half the team was soaring into the tens of thousands in attendance per game. And of course we all know what happened to AC St. Louis.
I wasn't aware of this. $7.50 a game is a very reasonable price. I can't wait for the season to start.
From the NASL combine and this: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/soccer/news/2001/09/24/under_17_ap/ it's a article from 2001 so that makes the player about 27 or 28 but he did play for Argentina's under 17 WC team. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8kuBbl2t5s&feature=related"]MAURO ANDRES FANARI 2010 - YouTube[/ame]
By the time more than half the NASL teams broke five figures in average attendance, the Stars were in Anaheim. They did lead the league in 1972, but they never ever did anything to make anyone think St. Louis' reputation as a huge pro soccer city was warranted.
Thank's for the info on old NASL fact's. Kenn,will you be coming down to Florida for the World Cup Qualifier this june?
there's no point in even attempting to replicate the pacific northwest. there's a completely different culture there that is more fit for soccer. i can't see the support for soccer in florida ever match what is going on out there. too suburban and too many old people.
But Florida does have 2 things going for it that the PNW teams have: history and a fierce regional rivalry, both of which are somewhat unique aspects in the Florida pro sports landscape. The Rowdies and Strikers (brand-wise, not the current teams) predate every other pro team in Florida except for the Dolphins and Bucs. The Rowdies were TB's first major league team of any sort. That's a major selling point. And the rivalry that exists between the two is easily the best pro sports rivalry between Florida teams. In the NBA, NHL, MLB and NFL, we all hate the Northeast teams, not the other Florida clubs. But soccer is different. Can we be Seattle? Probably not. Portland? Maybe. But I think we can definitely see a Vancouver, Philly or Montréal level of support given a decent period of stability and eventually a second(and proper) shot at MLS.
That's not saying much, to be honest. The Bucs and Dolphins and Bucs and Jaguars rarely play each other (just three times in the last 12 years...the annual Bucs/Dolphins preseason game was a semi-big deal at launch, but obviously isn't now). The Dolphins and Jaguars rarely play each other (just five times since 1998, only one playoff game). The Marlins and Rays play in interleague every year, but a handful of games (about six a year, rarely any meaningful ones) doesn't make a rivalry. And the Heat and Magic have played every year since 1989 (93 times, five playoff games 15 years ago), but it's not Celtics/Lakers by any means. But I think there's a tendency to romanticize Strikers/Rowdies (some even saying it will "save the NASL" or be this thing that draws huge national interest, and it will do neither) because it was a ton of fun for a very short period of time a long time ago. The original rivalry ended in 1983 and the Rowdies' heyday was over by that point. And the "new" rivalry has been played exactly four times. There have been no playoff games since 1978 (and there was only one playoff series - a memorable one - in the history of the rivalry), no memorable games, really, since 1978. Games aren't on television. The personalities that made the rivalry aren't there and new ones haven't had a chance to show themselves yet. Rowdies/Strikers (The Original Series) was incredibly fun and meaningful to those of us old enough to remember it. But the things that actually make a rivalry (not just proximity, but meaningful games, playoff runs, heartbreak and road wins and heroes and villains and controversies) simply aren't there. So you're left with proximity, a lot of nostalgia and twentysomethings who like to be hard men. I'm sorry, that's not a big rivalry. Not yet.