I just heard a rumor that the Revolution have let six staff members go, has anyone heard anything about this? I seem to remember a lot of staff leaving before this season, is there anyone left there??
Funny you should bring this up. I was up at Foxboro today. After I was done doing the Patriots thing, I told one of the Pats staffers I planned on stopping in to see the folks at the Revs. They replied, 'You'd better hurry up - there probably won't be anyone left if you wait.' I laughed it off. Well, apparently, there was whole lot of truth to it. Several Revs staffers have been been given their walking papers in what was termed by one as "a reorganization." You can count the ones remaining on your hands and those poor saps will be working harder than the one-legged man in that ass-kicking contest. I feel for those people. Not only the ones who got released, but also for the ones remaining, the players (they had relationships with these people), and the staff. Not a good footnote on what's been a less than satisfying season thus far.
Interesting...maybe the team is struggling for money more than we thought. I can't imagine trying to run a professional sports team with only a handful of people. The front office page of the website hasn't been updated yet...not really surprised... yes, the remaining few will be earning there paychecks...I'm sure the Patriots staff will be hard pressed to help, considering they have to support the Super Bowl Champions. You think we complain about miscommunication and projects falling through the cracks....just wait till they have one person doing 10+ jobs instead of the 5 they were used to. Maybe the players will join in and help out....TFIII could be selling you next year's season tickets?? Rusty could be in charge of customer service? A dark sign of the times for everyone involved.
Maybe they don't plan on making the playoffs, after all, it will just mean at least one more game to try and sell tickets to on short notice. How bad can things be if they couldn't wait until the end of the season? So how many diamonds were in those @#*&^%$ Patriots Super Bowl rings? I don't begrudge them a nice ring, but how many Revs staffers could have kept their jobs if they put 1-2 less diamonds in each ring? Maybe there is some truth to that thread Tom
At the first Pats pre-season game- Craig T was out on the access road- actually checking the passes for the luxury box/club seats crowd and directing them to the correct lot. So maybe that was a trial for a new position in the "re-oraganization"?? Only kidding- I HOPE...! Jon
this is horrible to hear. if this organiz. holds true to form....you can bet they let all the wrong people go. .....i'm starting to worry, i can't get a hold of my ticket rep.
"Maybe the players will join in and help out....TFIII could be selling you next year's season tickets??" I don't think they'll have a problem given the number of people who won't bother to renew next year.
Just got an email from my ticket rep,,said he will no longer be with the Revs as of today.... ITs a shame that this organization can't seem to at least break even.
It's gotten that bad I guess. How much of a drop do you anticipate? Half of this year's season ticket holders don't bother? Has the only one side open had as much of a negative effect on people? Pardon the old questions, being out of the area I haven't had a chance to go to Gillette.
Does anyone have specific names as to which staffers were released? Firstshirt, who is your ticket guy?
Are these cutbacks, or are they Todd Smith's way of saying, "This isn't working, we need to clean house a little bit."???
Turnover's nothing new in the Revolution front office, the shame is they've lost some very talented people: Joe Cummings, Rick Faubert, Marci Tyldesley, and "Dangerous" Dave Kartunen: Rob Stone eat your heart out ;-) The Magpie
Front Office Reorganization Only 3 staffers left apparently. There are two possibilites: (1) Kraft Soccer is merging staffs with the Pats to streamline the organization and save money. Supposedly this is how it is done (successfully) in KC. or (2) The Krafts have had enough of MLS and want out. There supposedly was a committment through 2006 but who knows. I cannot imagine a non-Kraft owned soccer team at Gillette. Unless the league signed a huge TV contract, the numbers wouldn't make any sense for even St. Phil. If the the Krafts let it go and the league wants a team in New England, where would they play ?
Relax folks. The Revs aren't going out of business anytime soon. There's a simple explanation for the paring of Revs staff and payroll. In the business world, it's called the economy of scale. Since the Pats ticket/marketing staff is sitting around on their hands, the higher ups made a business decision. What's happening is that the Pats ticket/marketing staff will be handling the Revs activities (What else do you do when you have waiting list of over 50,000 names - all of them paying a deposit for the priviledge?). I'm sure more details will be available with the light of day. P.S. Kelly Clarkson ain't no Tamyra Gray. Justin 'One Note' Guarini would have been roasted at Amateur Night At The Apollo in Harlem.
6 Staffers were let go altogether. The ones I know of are guys I have dealt with on tickets and my kids teams coming to games. Dave Pike - sales/youth development Darius Shirzadi - Director Marketing for Latino and Cape Verdean Community/Youth development Scott L - sales
All three - Dave Pike, Darius Shirzadi and Scott Laubenheimer - are great guys. I feel particularly bad for Darius; his wife recently gave birth to their first child. I'm sure he'll land on his feet in pretty short order, though. IMHO, he's a rising star in the U.S. soccer community. Maybe these aren't the guys we should feel sorry for. Perhaps it's the blokes who are left and will now effectively under the watchful eye of Big Bro 24/7. Craig Tornberg, Jurgen Mainka and Rui Costa: Nordstrom's at the Providence Place Mall sells those snappy blue shirts with the white collars. Also, it helps to get a degree in business administration at Harvard (Shouldn't Rai be graduating by now?)
the krafts have absolutely no vision for soccer in this region and america, no creativity or even concern for building a fan base that will last, and the iota of "loyalty" they show us tix holders is absolutely out of line and far less than what the other mls teams are showing their fans. todd, you say...."how many millions of dollars does someone have to lose before people believe they are committed"? i say, should a child feel parental love and commitment to long term growth because they get to stay in the house, use the phone, and get a weekly allowance? where's the love, man? all we get is "why can't you be like your older brother" vibes...from the patriot clad kraft parental units. i'm sure you've been in relationships before....what kind of real "commitment" is based almost soley on money. that's not the commitment i have towards the revs...and it certainly isn't the type of commitment i really give a damn about. and craig, .....i should "keep renewing my season tix because if i don't, this team may not exist in n.e. anymore and mls and our nat team will suffer in the end"? sounds a little n.p.r.-ish/we're all in this together to me.....however, i'm clearly not the suburban family market you all cater to. point blank, passionate soccer fans have no place in your world. you field a soccer team....yet intentionally foster a tennis atmosphere. i do believe the world changed after 9/11....but you all have taken the victim's mentality to an extreme and bought into the hype so much that the revs have needlessly created one of the most intentionally sanitized and dull soccer experiences in the world. i believe that rapids cust serv exec. now when she told me you all are their competition for sales team of the year. how can an organization that busts their hump all day finding creative ways to successfully increase their short and long term fan base possibly compete with an organization who's does little to no marketing and has no game day promotions yet still manages to draw 16,000 ignorant suckers who apparently are supposed to be grateful that they only pay 1/2 of what a 100 year old baseball organization that fields the 2nd or 3rd highest payroll in their sport to see a 7 year old squad who's team salary cap can't be too far off the average single mlb player's salary...that can't even make an 8 team playoff in a 10 team league...oh, but they don't have cup holders....i guess we have "balance" here then. and jonathan....before you go on the radio, please pay attention to the ads that you run in your own stadium so you can give out the "new" team's web address....you know, the one that changed 2 years ago and do glance over the revs schedule just in case someone asks you when the next revs match is. lastly, a little math lesson. if going to see the new stadium + the revs = the cost of admission. and "the stadium IS worth the cost of admission"...therefore, the c.o.a. = the new stadium....that pretty much makes the revs worth "zero". ....that's some great commitment level there pardner. maybe, you were just using new math or something and i didn't understand. i can't wait to see all the stops they pull out for "fan appreciation night" on 9/21 v the metros.....let me guess, the ceremonial hand clap from the players + a banner that reads "thank you fans". i say, save the money on the banner and let the new "revs sales staff" go out for a kick-off luncheon on us. its the least we fans can do.
There have been a lot of quality staff members and interns that have been rung through the Revolution front office in just this last season. Shawn Oliver, Hilary Pereria, Mike Ryan, Ann-Marie Jannace, and many more... Besides the three ticket agents, the following people were let go. (taken from staff list on site) Alfredo Montes - Community Outreach/grassroots Marketing Gaby Jordan - Player Resources/ Assistant to GM Rosanna Rutter - Office Manager
Add one more: Eric Slack: Publications Coordinator I guess they'll be having the Pats ticket people writing for the Revs too since they're so bored. 7 staff memebrs in all....it's funny....usually people leave before it gets to this. I guess the Revs were getting sick of people quitting first...wanted to beat them to the punch. It'll hit hardest in the community outreach and writing departments....they probably have some unfortunate interns who just came in for the fall who are wondering what the hell just happend. How can this staff get prepared for MLS Cup with 5 people doing the work...?
The timing, of course, could not be worse. While it may prove to be a wise, efficent and even helpful business decision the fact is that the perception left is that the Revs are seen as a drain on Kraft Spoprts and that what we will get from now on is watered down Patties people. As proper football fans we need to simply keep up the pressure for our own identity and for our team being treated with respect. The Krafts have a horrible record in sports mangement but that is partially due to the fact that they are fans as well. thery often make decisions based on the heart not the head. As far as our sport goes, they don't know a thing but if this restructuring makes for a better run front office, well it is cold but maybe worth it in the end. However, they should have respected the Revs season cycle and done this at the end of the footie season and not now at the beginning of the steroid season. Just another sign of fundamental ignorance and blindness but we need to wait to see if this "economiy of scale" move makes sense. JIM DOW
So, just getting everyone up to speed, the Revolution are/have let go the following people in the following positions?: Alfredo Montes - Community Outreach/Grassroots Marketing Gaby Jordan - Player Resources/ Assistant to GM Rosanna Rutter - Office Manager Eric Slack: Publications Coordinator Dave Pike - Account Executive/Youth Development Darius Shirzadi - Director Marketing for Latino and Cape Verdean Community/Youth development Scott Laubenheimer - Account Executive The Magpie