State of the Revs

Stejskal: Market size not the reason Nguyen doesn't get enough attention
https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2017...not-reason-nguyen-doesnt-get-enough-attention

Interesting that on the MLS main page, THIS is the title of the article: Stejskal: Not enough attention given to Nguyen

This is about national attention. Right or wrong, how much an MLS team gets is determined by how well they perform, how many big names they have on the roster and how many fans – preferably of the passionate variety – are in their stadium each week. Market size plays a role, but I’d argue it’s a relatively distant fourth on the list.​

 

Has anyone ever seen rkupp and Chris Tierney in the same place at the same time?

Boston is a "major" market, by any stretch of the imagination, 9th in the US and 10th in MLS. Funny how the author claims that if he were playing in a bigger market like Atlanta (10/11) or Seattle (#14/15) he'd be getting more publicity. Actually, if he were playing on a better team owned by someone who wanted it to be a "major league" team, like Seattle or Atlanta, that would be the case. If he played for LA, he'd be on a crappy team in a large market, but I don't think that would help.

 

Tierney is right; Boston is a smaller market for domestic pro soccer by any metric imaginable. Small media presence, low profile against the other pro teams, lower third in the league for attendance. What's a common misconception is calling a metro area a big market based on other sports, like the big 4. For soccer, Portland, LA, Orlando, Seattle and a myriad of other MLS cities are bigger markets than Boston.

If the revs were pulling in 30k a night routinely the last 22 years (not just in the fall) you could make a case. It's just not a big market for the revs and probably never will be.

 

Got it. So Portland is a "big" market because their owner cares enough to put the effort into making his team as good as it can be. And we might as well be Springfield (any of the Springfields, even the one on the Simpsons) simply because our owner can't be bothered to put in more than a "gentleman's C" worth of effort.

 

Well, with 2 games left we are the table below. The Revs can finish anywhere from 6th to 10th. Unfortunately to get to 6th (and in the playoffs) they have to overcome 4 points and a team with a game in hand. So... the only team we can catch at this point (Red Bulls) have a magic number of 3 to get in their 3 remaining games or to have the 4 teams on 39 points each drop enough points in their last two games. While mathematically possible, the forks are poised...the toaster is on, the golf clubs are getting cleaned and the season is just about over.

 

we can do it!

 

It dawned on me the other day while reading comments on why we didn't make the play-offs. That the Revs goal to make the play-offs is another way of saying - we are trying to be 6th in our division. We just missed last year and it looks like we are going to just miss it again this year. Damn MLS added a team to our division this year and it looks like they will add another next year or the year after. That just makes it harder to reach the 6th spot; but we will keep trying real hard to reach that magical 6th spot in our division!! We're No. 6, we're No. 6!!

 

To have ambition is my ambition!

 

Ok so based on that argument, the signing of Jones in 2014, in a WC year, should have catapulted the revs into the Boston sports mainstream.

I will acknowledge there was a nice 3k bump in avg home attendance from 2014 to 2015. But really, beyond that, did the profile increase?

Did the sportshub or WEEI guys give a shit or report on the scores, discuss the game - or even know who Jermaine Jones was? Did the local tv channels sports idiots talk about them as if they belonged among the Boston big 4? Were revs games on at any bars around New England not named the Banshee? Did any area media outlets beyond the now famous Boston Mag article that spring cover the revs that season - or 2015 while Jones was still there? Was there an uptick in people giving a shit beyond the ones who post here, STHs or some casual soccer fans in our area who went to a game or two?

Because if you can tell me with a straight face the answer is yes to one or more of those questions, then yes, Boston is a big soccer market.

Of course, the counter argument will be to pivot my questions into "but if they built a SSS in Boston then..." No. Go to a game in Portland, Toronto, almost anywhere else in MLS. Boston is not a big domestic soccer sports market because we have incredibly successful teams in the big 4. There's just no room for the revs. Though it's not to say it's not a big market for soccer in general.

For the premier league, Serie A, Portuguese teams in preseason friendlies, people will absolutely turn out.

Internationally for Brazil, Portugal, Ireland even the US friendlies against name countries like Spain a few years back - absolutely. People without cars will find a way to get to Foxboro if they care about who is playing. But for MLS it's just not a big market at this point. Blame Kraft all you want but IMO it's bigger than him and how they have run the team. MLS thrives in cities with mediocre teams or who have less sports competition in general. Portland has just the NBA, Seattle has the Seahawks and the perennially mediocre mariners. Cbus has just OSU; Orlando only has the Magic. I could go on but I think you get my point.

The only way to turn Boston into a big domestic soccer market is for the revs to win. That's it. In the words of Al Davis, just win baby. I guarantee if they won it in 2014 more people (announcers, pundits, etc) from the broader community would give a shit.

 

Basically, yes - and other market factors in their favor I noted in my prior post.

 

I am so glad they fixed the defense over the winter.

 

I'm fairly positive that won't do it. The four-time finalists from the 2000s went largely ignored. Even if they had won an MLS Cup, I doubt it would have made a difference. I'm a soccer fan and I don't care that much about MLS Cup. It's nice to win if you get there.

What's going to make soccer prominent in Boston is a first-class organization that plays in Boston. Fill the city with Revs fans and put on a spectacle the media gatekeepers can't ignore. They've proven they can ignore soccer in Foxboro.

 

It's not a matter of making one big splash like the Jermaine Jones signing, although that certainly helps. If it is the only thing you've done in 10 years, it isn't going to move the needle.

But if they had signed another Jones-level player (or someone close) during that off-season, and if they added at least 1-2 significant players every year, it would make a major difference on the field.

Only somewhat related to that, if they had done some outreach for all the off-the-field stuff, like reaching out to media and doing things that show they are a serious organization, no different than the other 4 teams, it would have been different. Years ago they had a guy named Lou Imbriano, who supposedly had all these media contacts and was supposed to raise the Revs' profile in that area. He literally didn't know his ass from a hole in the ground! He lasted like 6 months and his only claim to fame was showing up at the tailgate, flashing his Super Bowl ring. Whenever someone tried to talk Revs, he shifted the conversation to the Pats at everey turn. That's what happens when you hire cronies based on their loyalty, rather than an outsider who actually has expertise in a certain area.

The point is, they used to do a pretty decent job at the public perception angle during the last century. But they stopped doing it completely once the new stadium opened. The Krafts were of the mindset of if you build it (with cup-holders!), they will come! They were so blinded by the fabulousness of their new stadium (and the Patriots' success) that they got lazy and didn't think they needed to do anything for the Revs. Sure, for the Pats that may be true, but there was lots of work to be done on the Revs side, and no one was there, willing, or able to do it.

So the market size is Large. The team could be a "big-market" team. But they aren't becaue the ownership has decided to put in zero effort and let the Revs be a minor player. There is no greater sin that the squanering or unlimited potential.

 

I find something that resonates with me in each of the posts on this topic. I do think Boston is a big market. I do think Boston is a big soccer market. I do not think Boston is a big MLS market. I think Bob Kraft's stewardship of the Revs has played a key role in the failure of the Boston MLS market to meet its potential.

I couldn't agree more with this. This was me for 10 of the years I was a STH. This is the big issue and the lasting issue that will cause the Revs to fight upstream no matter where the stadium is located. Not enough people care about the Revs. One could question how much the Revs owners care about the Revs.

For things to turn around for the Revs in the Boston market things need to change. I don't know exactly what all of those things are. I am sure that some are major changes and some are minor changes. Some are very expensive and others are very cheap. To begin to thrive the Revs need to find a way to get more fans to the games and have the fans leaving saying "I never knew how much fun Revs games are."

They need to win fans over one fan at a time and not lose any. If they lose a fan, they need to find out why, and get win that fan back. They need to find a way to make each fan and potential fan care. They need to fight for their survival and their place in the Boston sports market. They need to care first, then other people might start caring. If they don't care or stop caring, the fans will too.

 

I agree with the sentiment that the team needs to pay way more attention to the fan experience and conduct much better fan outreach.

Yet the morgue is a big part of the problem. The Revs largely have a sit-on-your-ass fan culture. If you watch games from Atlanta or Portland or Cincinnati, no one's sitting. Whole stadiums are going crazy. Every section is a supporters section. With the Revs, let's be honest, it even gets a bit quiet in the back of the Fort.

I know some people in Atlanta who are now insisting soccer is the greatest thing ever based on their stadium experiences. For the Revs to build that kind of culture, they're going to have to be willing to scare away some of the more sedate folks. A lot of MLS 1.0 fans aren't going to make the jump.

 

Yeah, I've sometimes heard people (often Brits) say that "MLS is crap," but what they really mean is that the Revs are a crap organization. If they ever saw what went on in Portland, Seattle, Toronto, Atlanta, etc. they wouldn't be saying that about the league. But they would still be right about the Revs and Krafts total neglect and apathy.

If they don't care, why should I care?

 

Well, when the organization goes out of its way to squash the supporter culture like an insect, that is the likely result. It was what, 3-4 years ago that they sent their goon squad into the fort to make a mess of everything?

They have never, ever understood that. The Krafts are allegedly savvy businessmen, but they think that running the Revs like an NFL team is a sound strategy. From Day One they were wary of fan culture, and even while other cities have shown that it is clearly working, the Revs are still insisting that Beta Max is the next wave of the future.

 

By morgue do you mean anywhere that isn't a designated supporters section?

Where I sit, the fans may not be constantly chanting, but they're pretty engaged and react when there's something to react to. Just like fans of most sports do.

The Revs aren't going to have much success if they have to depend on not only having fans, but on having the right kind of fans.

 

Those are all valid points. I guess it's a circular argument back to having a SSS. To do as you suggest and make it more of a standing, 20something culture, logic dictates the venue needs to be a smaller. Tickets need to be more in demand. Perception is everything.

 

The State of the Revs, in this the Year 2017 A.D. ?...... Dead, Dead, Dead!

 

To further verify your quote, NBC Boston's new ads to promote their name change shows a lot of Patriots and Celtics, but I didn't see any Revs! Who they televise on their channel. Pretty pathetic.

 

For the most part, yes, that's what I mean. The shoulder sections that fill up with kids have some life to them, but all along the length of the field it's a dull affair. That's where I used to sit. It's an unsalable stadium experience in the game of soccer. Soccer isn't "most sports." What's selling the game in other cities is it's different from the rest.

And the teams that are having success in MLS owe it to the right kind of fans. A lot of people who'd sit politely in the morgue get with the program. They stand up. They make some noise. It's a blast (it also keeps you drier on wet days and warmer on cold days). Too many empty seats in Gillette to change the culture, but it would change quickly in a SSS. You want to see the game? You better stand up. That seat is for resting your jacket.

The fan culture that's taking root across the rest of the country absolutely can thrive here as well. It won't turn overnight, but it needs to move in that direction or the Revs really aren't selling the same product as the rest of the league.