It's been two champions in a row, but it took the PacNW to finally show that MLS and the sport of soccer are now of prominence to warrant a parade to celebrate their league's championship. Going into the 2016 final, it seemed a given that either of the two finalists, Seattle or Toronto would have a full parade to celebrate their cup win on the heels of their accomplishment. But this hasn't always been the case. Even perennial franchises with healthy fanbases like LA and SKC did not want to try to push the envelope on this and there is the question as to whether they had the pull in their respective markets to be the first in MLS to do so. With that said, it has now been done two seasons in a row. MLS has started to tick off the various markers on their way to legitimacy in the US market; presidential visits, stadium deals, increased tv money and viewership. The question now is, with Seattle and Portland's example, are other US markets now primed to follow suit, seeing as how many casual fans will now see it as an expectation and feel more compelled to attend such an event. Could SKC be able to host one should they win one in the next few years and do it all again? What numbers could the bigger and more crowded markets like LA and NY expect? LA and NY have hosted events for the WNT in the past. Why couldn't they do so for one of their four franchises? Going forward, you have teams like FCD, Colorado, NYCFC, RBNY, TO, Seattle, RSL and LA who could all be considered top contenders to win MLS Cup. Some of those would certainly host a championship parade with even greater numbers than the last. Others would might and a few on that list would be very big question marks and it would probably be better for the league if they didn't even bother trying to do anything outside of quietly gauging support on feasibility. Such things are probably best done now. MLS teams, even those who regularly struggle with attendance, have been more proactive in drawing attendance for important televised matches such as playoffs, USOC finals and CCL finals. However the numbers drawn for an evening of short entertainment are nothing on trying to draw double those numbers to have a presentable celebration on a weekday at midday. This presents other challenges going forward. So is it a step back for the league if we have a title-winner who can't draw enough support to one-up or go par for Seattle and Portland? Should we push a cup winner who draws support on the fringes of what's required for such an event to go ahead and do so or is this something that should only be done by those among the top levels of support in the league. Despite NYCFC's support, could they draw enough for a parade in a busy market like NY? Will LAFC's arrival in MLS put enough of a spotlight on the Galaxy to enable/force them to do so? Is SKC's support in a small-ish stadium translatable to such an event? How big is RSL's support outside of their stadium? For my part, I'll list my ideas in three groups without any views towards future fall-off or up-tick in support based on various factors like current season tix support, dedicated local news coverage& buzz, stadium atmosphere and past practices & marketing by ownership: Sure-fire support for an MLS Cup championship parade if they won in 2017- Seattle, Toronto, Portland, Atlanta, Minneapolis/St. Paul Orlando Could replicate gameday level support for a parade or bigger but may not attempt to hold one- SKC RSL Montreal Vancouver NYCFC San Jose Possible, but only with concerted efforts from ownership in advance; may delay celebration for a week- LA Galaxy Philadelphia DC United Columbus Houston New England NYRB Growing support for matchdays needs to be the current focus...- Chicago Columbus FCD Any thoughts about this list? Agree or disagree? Is MLS 3.0 enough to push all of these teams over the line on this point? Is this even important? Should MLS start pushing the teams to coordinate with city leaders in advance in order to push the envelope on this aspect so that it's a go, no matter who wins?
In Houston we had the mayor out, other suits and had a big throw down in front of city hall after winning it all in 2006. That's 11 years ago. I sure as hell hope other cities, who carry even more traction for pro outdoor soccer in their city than us in Gulf Coast U.S.A. that they receive some sort of downtown, steps of City Hall, street celebration. We are talking about the most dominate sport on the planet. If the local elected officials, media and local average sports fan does not recognize a trophy won for their city in our sport here in 2017 and beyond then when will it occur on such Americans that MLS is here to be celebrated for all that it is, and not looked down upon for what still isn't. The NFL n shit. No Fun League.
It's a bit of a combination of community leadership and media exposure. But many teams have been able to put together acceptable celebrations after titles. I thought that SKC would have put together a parade after their cup win since community awareness seemed very high at the time, but the team and the city chose not to pursue it. It costs money to shut down streets and tests the patience of the parts of the populace that may not be fans of the game. So it's not a simple question of whether the support level is high but overall community support for the team. Houston seems to have the will on both fronts, but have been bad for a few years in a franchise that was initially spoiled by early success. It's something that I worry about with teams like Seattle and possibly Atl as well. If you have a fanbase that can weather the early apathy like TFC fans have, then it hardens you towards the lean years that must surely come. You don't want to become like Galaxy fans who only seem to get into the team when they're winning titles. Houston seems to have fallen into this trap, but the team has enough media exposure to possibly come out of it well if they make a run this year with their new signings. We'll see if they make a run to MLS Cup how much community will there is to celebrate the title at this point in time. 11 years ago it was impressive how well Houston fans traveled and supported the team. If they win an MLS Cup this season, however, much will depend on how good of a job they do in reengaging with the fanbase. The supporters have been excellent though, even throughout the lean years, creating an atmosphere that is still very entertaining to watch on tv. But they need the awareness of the entire city.
Very good point to remember in this conversation. There is a civic pride to be had and yet a civic fee/shut streets down cost incurred with a city hall celebration and or downtown street parade. Lost in all the fun celebrating is someone has to clean up after all that fun. Spoiled really does not do justice. Shocked at even having a decent launch after so much bullshit from a certain politico looked to submarine anyone's good time at the new soccer team. To then turn that on it's ear 8 months later with our team winning a title on our eternal rival's home field and learning about this local 20 year old named Stuart Holden. To then go on a defeat regional power Pachuca in their prime as well there in 2007. In that era of MLS as well. The respect gained from going head to head with that Pachuca team really gave MLS as a league a terrific shot in the arm in Houston's soccer mad population. Absolutely. I recall folks from around the league speaking of this 11 years back about the lasting ability of your city post initial launch. This trait speaks to the core way of being for your city's attachment to the sport. The love is not a flash in the pan. DCU, and certainly Chicago and TFC hinchas have this love on lock. Our media are clueless if not named Texans, perhaps Astros n Rockets. And yet our brand and "good time outta the stadium" image has traction in the Deep South no less. Thank you. We shall see. Our FO goes long on words like "incredible" to describe what most of us would say is standard in fan experience. And our FO does well at tying their own shoelaces together before kickoff. Again thank you Unak. Our diversity inside said atmosphere is unique as well.
DC United 1999 SKC had a rally in 2013, 300 showed up. I've done it differently. My guesses are bound to be about 75% wrong. MLS Cup championship parades Seattle Toronto Portland Atlanta Minneapolis/St. Paul Orlando Vancouver Montreal Stadium rallies with marches to the stadium NYCFC DC United (when new stadium opens) LAFC (LA) Stadium rallies without marches San Jose SKC Houston RSL Civic Receptions only Philadelphia Nothing much New England NYRB Chicago Columbus FCD LA Galaxy (Carson)
Your headings definitely make relay better information than mine do. I'd still place the teams in about the same place that I do. That said, you're awfully pessimistic about the bottom quarter of the league. Hadn't the Galaxy hosted stadium rallies before? Can't say how many they drew off head, but they did something. Granted, I'd always thought that the Galaxy sold themselves short by never attempting to hold something more inclusive. It seemed to me that they were afraid of risking their brand by holding a march or planned large gathering that drew sub-par numbers. SKC is another one who I feel simply followed the Galaxy's lead on how they organized their celebration. Plan small and you won't be disappointed type of deal. Based on the local media coverage, they likely could have done something much more impressive. And I feel that, after a better example by Portland and Seattle, they would at least try the second option. With DC, I'd never recalled that they drew such a large gathering so early in the league's history. What were the numbers on that? My current assessment is based on sans-stadium DC. After the new ground is built I'd imagine that their profile should reassert itself quickly. Especially should they win their 5th title shortly after like SKC did after opening their own stadium. As said before, there prior to the Cascadia market, it seems that everyone was following LA's lead as far as setting expectations low. The question is whether the teams take recent examples as a sign of change in their own markets, or if they decide that Portland and Seattle were one-offs. Note to consider; should FCD win CCL (big if), it might behoove MLS to try to organize a New York rally and sell it as a national accomplishment thereby gaining some major traction for the team on a national level while also avoiding the likely apathetic reaction from the Dallas market. It may even aid FCD in raising their profile here in Dallas as well...
Well I was wrong about LA Galaxy. I was thinking about getting to the stadium and Carson being moody but it turns out Galaxy celebrated their 2014 trophy at Hermosa Beach Pier. Red Bulls and Chicago are irrelevant as they'll never win (again). Mayor Koch put the kibosh on a Jets parade many years ago because as they play in NJ. I just can't see a ticker tape parade in NYC and I'm told that getting to the stadium is a pain in the arse, unless you live near the Path. I think NYCFC would celebrate in The Bronx. Also New England, Chicago and FCD are in a similar situation because their stadiums aren't in the city they represent. To be honest I've forgotten why I included Columbus. But I've not lived in those places so it's a guess.
My thing is this, you know dam well that if a city had just won the NFL, MLB, NBA or NHL championships there would sure as hell be a parade. Do you think the Patriots gave a dam about the non NFL/Patriots fans in Boston when they had their parade. NO they did not. My point is this, a parade is automatic in all the other big sports leagues. As MLS is the 5th pro league there should be a parade no questions asked!
You say that about New England not playing in the city the represent, but the Patriots had their parade in Boston this past season. Why should it be any different for the Revolution if they won?
What I like about the Sounders parade was for people like me who don't live in Seattle, we were able to watch it live in the internet. Not sure if Portland streamed their parade in 2015.
I agree with this, but we must also balance the reality on the ground with the aspirations of the league. There are cities in this league where it would be more detrimental to make the attempt than to just wave the flag. I live in one of them. The complete lack of awareness about the team is staggering. The team is basically minor league baseball here. Now, I believe that we exist in an era for the league where we can safely say that markets like this are firmly in the minority, but the parity nature of the league almost guarantees that they'll remain successful despite their apathetic support which has proven refractive to positive results on the field. Would it be better to host a parade that shows the glaring indifference of said market thereby exposing the weakness of MLS and drawing back the narrative of the league's growth for all to see or is it better to hide these weak markets when they take center stage? If this is the case, how long will we have to wait until the league's most successful team is well-known enough in it's own city to host a parade there?
Dallas. Granted FCD isn't successful bc of parity. They do a lot of good things on the field and the academy, but the marketing is non-existent. They need a game-changer and it doesn't look like they're looking for one.
The parade was picked up on local TV but not streamed according to my memory.. They did however live stream the in stadium celebration at Providence Park where almost 6,000 showed up -- and I don't think they could've held more than that how it was arranged. That event was also picked up on live local TV (with a few swear words that I'm sure made the broadcasters blush).
Another interesting thing to note is how this list is essentially original teams at the bottom sans SKC vs New-ish teams at the top. I wonder how much MLS' front office roots for the teams at the top to make the big show and continue the championship parade trend there-by making it more the norm by the time an original side wins again. Remember how much many people believed (I am one of those btw) that David Stern's NBA often had their fingers on the scale in the playoff officiating-wise in order to achieve desired matchups. It's always been that much easier to affect results in soccer/ football since it can take a single well-timed call versus an hours-worth of sustained questionable calls in an NBA game, fouling out key post defenders and putting the NBA's chosen team in the penalty for over half of the game so that we can all marvel at how well they shoot free-throws while the out of favor team's best post defender watches forlornly from the sidelines while carrying 4+ fouls by the second quarter. Look at Mexico's run in the Gold Cup or some of the more controversial World Cup or UEFA CL calls which completely turned matchups. It's hard enough to pull off an upset after holding a better side for 90 minutes and then having them awarded a pk in stoppage time or a red card taking away one of your best players. I haven't really seen signs that this happens much in MLS, but perhaps others might have a differing perspective of what they've seen.
4 years running now. MLS has come a long way from this... ...it was interesting to see an Atlanta United crest in the comments from 6 yrs ago. This year's title game had the highest tv ratings in 20 years and it wasn't even a close thing. What I wonder is if LA Galaxy were to win next year has this thing grown enough over the past four years that their celebration will look more like the past 4 than what was in that video? I'm starting to put more stock into the thought that Beckham kinda did save the league. Look at that Fire celebration and the scope of the league title clearly and steadily regressed by the time we got to 2012. It's almost like the Galaxy were trying to hide the fact that they were even throwing a celebration. That seemed to be a low point. Sporting KC's rally at union station showed that the scale was increasing again... or was that just LA and Carson?
From the Wash. Post (about DC United's 1997 parade): A small, but enthusiastic crowd cheered D.C. United during its nine-block midday parade along Pennsylvania Avenue after the team captured its second consecutive MLS title. “Several hundred people gathered along the route as the Eastern High School Marching Band led the way, followed by several fan clubs with big drums, a Mexican mariachi band, and old D.C. United players waving from Old Town tourist trolleys,” The Washington Post’s Pamela Constable wrote.
I've been thinking about this for some time and truthfully, there isn't any reason that any MLS side with decent attendance can't host a presentable parade with moderate to good participation. Considering that the lowest acceptable crowd at a successful MLS Cup parade would be anywhere from 10-20K supporters, you are basically only asking for half of the number of fans that would likely attend the championship final at even the smallest stadiums in MLS to attend the parade. All of the last four champions now have stadiums that exceed that number and Portland could probably pack a 40k seat stadium if they could expand Providence Park to that size, so any team that can sell out a stadium should ideally be able to get those same fans to attend a title celebration on a weekday. Caveats are civic support since non-fans would have to accept the momentary inconvenience of closed off streets, etc, and I think that this is one of the biggest barriers that some teams have to cross if their profile doesn't reach a certain threshold within their city, no matter how many fans might ideally show up. This might have been one of LA Galaxy's biggest issues with title celebrations. Especially since they always played in Carson. LAFC playing in the city proper, might actually help LA Galaxy in that regard since now both side's profiles are more visible because if it. Cities which have hosted mid to large celebrations in public spots already have shown the willingness to accomodate their MLS teams to a certain level, so it's only a bit more municipal movement on their part that equals a full parade. But attendance should not be a problem. I think that MLS will truly have arrived when LA Galaxy, the most prominent team in the league's history, can host a title celebration outside of it's own stadium in Carson...
The Red Bulls, Philadelphia, Chicago, Real Salt Lake, Colorado, New England, and possibly others play in suburbs. New York City would make a parade for the Giants or Jets who play in New Jersey, but I don't know if New York City would make a parade for the New Jersey Devils, who probably get much higher TV ratings than the Red Bulls. I don't want a club to have a parade if people are going to laugh at how many people don't know there is a parade and how few people came.
The Rapids held their championship rally in 2010 in downtown Denver, in the same area the Broncos held their Super Bowl parade.