Ok, I give in. MagicJack's strategy is BRILLIANT

Discussion in 'NWSL' started by WPS_Movement, Apr 25, 2011.

  1. WPS_Movement

    WPS_Movement Member+

    Apr 9, 2008
    MagicJack has decided to go in another direction.
    A completely different promoting direction than any other team in the history of women's professional soccer (WPS or WUSA). They have gone the "mystique" direction. And certainly nothing short of the "mystery" direction. They aren't all over twitter, or on forums begging people to come to their matches and to follow their team. They are allowing for their "awareness" to be mentioned by the league itself and by "awareness - word of mouth" from fans who used to be Freedom fans (plus current WPS fans of other teams). The other strategies haven't worked for many of the other clubs. This strategy that MagicJack has employed just might work. It's an "outside the box" strategy, but really it's not as far outside the box as you think. They have "intentionally" created a "hidden" agenda here. Their agenda is to make it look like they are the one and only "behind the scenes club" in the WPS, that everybody (and I mean everyone, all WPS fans) are anticipating will finally come out of their shell. It's actually a brilliant move. Everyone is "intrigued" by this situation. There is more talk about MagicJack's team lately than any other team in the league. Why? Becuase everyone is wondering these very questions ... "Who are they?" "Do they actually exist?" "How good can they be?" "What do their uniforms look like?" "What about their stadium?" "Are they actually the one team that could win in a WPS championship match head to head against Western New York?"

    The "mystique" has started and it has already lifted off the ground more with each day. This team has more "mystique" than any other team in the league.
    Whatever mystique that the Los Angeles Sol, FC Gold Pride, or even the Washington Freedom had, is completely gone. Yes, that includes the Freedom too. Why? Because they (MagicJack) don't want to be known as "the ex-Freedom franchise." They want to be known as "a new franchise", and one that has more mystique and talent than any team the Freedom has ever had in women's soccer history... including when they had Abby and Mia on the same team in 2003.

    I applaud the MagicJack franchise.
    They have reinvented a new franchise, and one that could soon become the envy of the league. Everyone (who has interest in women's soccer) is interested in them. That was their way to get initiated and to rally the internal base, and keep them interested and on their feet right from the launch pad. And soon, they will go after additional markets once their already up in orbit.

    Great work Magic phone device.
    Great work.
     
  2. FCGoldPrideGM

    FCGoldPrideGM New Member

    Nov 19, 2009
    Club:
    FC Gold Pride
    I think the irony is that this is a man in the communications business yet there is no respect to communicate. "Women's Soccer" is already a barrier to entry - now let's make it difficult to buy a ticket? Or difficult to Learn/connect with a team.

    Mystique only lasts so long before people will say "so long". We all saw the "announced" attendance #. Mystery doesn't = ticket sales. And for those that broke the code and found out how to purchase a ticket probably had to stand or sit on the grass.

    I wish it did work because we all want the league to survive. But that attendance # was not brilliant.
     
  3. rtiemens

    rtiemens Member

    Aug 16, 1999
    Virginia
    Announced attendance was, according to WPS site, 1224. Yikes. ANy way you slice it, that is abysmal.

    I'd have to say I don't see intentional "mystique" as I do an organization running its off-field matters by the seat of its pants. The mystique, such as it is, seems to be a byproduct of that.
     
  4. nine

    nine New Member

    Jul 16, 2010
    Club:
    Atlanta Beat
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    To give them credit (and I'm not really GIVING them any credit here), the FAU seating only really holds something like 1500. So from that perspective, their attendance numbesr are the best per-ratio of any team in the league. (82% attendance to cap)

    That being said, 1224 IS abysmal and what happened to a WPS minimum seating requirement? What happened to any "requirements" in this league that this bozo is able to get away with not conforming to?
     
  5. StarCityFan

    StarCityFan BigSoccer Supporter

    Aug 2, 2001
    Greenbelt, MD
    Club:
    Washington Freedom
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    When you desperately need a sixth team in order for there to be a league at all, you're not going to set a hard line.
     
  6. newsouth

    newsouth Member

    Nov 20, 2010
    Club:
    Santos FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Brazil
    oh brother, he is one of two guys who in the off-season made this season possible.

    i see a work in progress.

    1st, he has his product on Fox Soccer and the casts. John Sahlen said you need a business model to make it work. Dan's business model is in full motion and ahead of his team which it should be. even if he puts 3000 a game in the seats, he will still lose money, so that business model, the real one, better be going before he puts $10 per game customers in the stands.

    2nd, is he less organized than Sahlen? Well, he has his own fields, club house, etc like Sahlen, so he understands that part of soccer.

    someone said he should be a league sponsor like sahlen. why? his product is a info-commercial product. he needs major eyeballs on TV or casts, not a web site with 30k or so unique visitors.

    Ok, he is missing the boat on marketing the team to the fans as fast as sahlen or is this just how his situation is working out in FL, a bit harder market than Rochester?

    I predict by the end of the season his numbers at games will be near Skyblue whose fans dropped a goose egg with 2900 or near philly fans whose hang around sub 3000. maybe the new location will be better this season for philly.

    the only thing i see is his team is a lose leader like sahlen, and he is a bit behind the curve with the fans but has 9 games to work on that and probably a playoff game.

    he's ahead of the curve marketing his product. that's what matters, pays for those condos, club house, player salaries, and keeps this team around in 2012, not 25000 fans at $10 a piece. it's important but he still cant run the team on ticket sales and will probably NEVER sell enough tickets to cover the cost of the ALL-STAR type team he has.
     
  7. REALfootballRulez

    May 25, 2007
    Club:
    Saint Louis Athletica
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Hey newsouth, who is John Sahlen??

    I did a search and just came up with your post and someone from the SS death index. LOL
     
  8. REALfootballRulez

    May 25, 2007
    Club:
    Saint Louis Athletica
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Plus it sounds like this Magic Jack owner is more committed than most of the other owners.

    That attendance of 1224 is horrible but if the owner is willing to take the hits and keep on truckin' while keeping the league alive then it's good.

    At least until things can maybe eventually improve.
     
  9. Ben James Ben

    Ben James Ben Member

    Apr 28, 2009
    The risk is that the poor attendance and other shenanigans might make the entire league look bad. Up until now WPS has been a legitimate, respectable (albeit struggling) professional sports league. What the magicJack ownership is doing could potentially make the league look semi-pro. Plus, the inequality among owners is troubling. You have 5 owners who are putting in 100% effort and 1 owner who is putting in only 30% effort. 5 owners who have a vision of the league being a certain way and 1 owner who wants something else. I'm not sure how this discrepancy can be viable in the long run.

    (But, maybe I'm wrong, and after this season the others owners will be convinced to remake the league in magicJack's image.)
     
  10. hykos1045

    hykos1045 Member

    May 10, 2010
    Club:
    Philadelphia Independence
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I guess Borislow could be compared to the managers of the Knights in The Natural (movie), if it ends up working out. I hope for a movie happy ending to all this, and not like the book, though.

    Borislow doesn't do "by the book", so we should be ok? Is that all we can hope for now?

    I just don't think not having a valid website is an effective PR stunt, I think it's costly no matter how you look at it.
     
  11. nine

    nine New Member

    Jul 16, 2010
    Club:
    Atlanta Beat
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Agreed. In this day and age, not having a website kills most businesses. The customers (fans) are on the go, have instant accessible devices to bring up web and can't get to it because he doesn't bother putting one up. In most businesses if people can't find you on the web, you're toast. The fans are screaming for this.
     
  12. Beau Dure

    Beau Dure Member+

    May 31, 2000
    Vienna, VA
    I've been in a similar discussion at MLSTalk, and someone claiming to be Borislow (and we have little reason to doubt him) has joined in.

    I think I'm taking pains to make sure I'm not just whining that his team isn't catering to us journalists. Perhaps there is indeed some truth to the idea that marketing, as we've seen it so far in WPS, just isn't paying off. If you can spend $0 on marketing and draw an overflow crowd (the stadium usually holds 1,500, but FAU's football team had borrowed some bleachers), then maybe there's no point in hiring a PR rep, putting out press releases and so forth. And if he's content drawing modest crowds as a loss-leader for his business, that's his business. Maybe spending money on condos for the players rather than PR and marketing is a good idea. If he really thinks 90% of journalists are just out to bash the league, that's absurd, but so what?

    But at what point does this strategy cross the line?
     
  13. Morris20

    Morris20 Member

    Jul 4, 2000
    Upper 90 of nowhere
    Club:
    Washington Freedom
    Well, it crosses the finish line if he's still in the league, MJSC are viable, and their are 8 healthier teams next year. He crosses the stupid line if he can't sustain what he's doing with one team.

    OTH, he's right that most sports journalists are pretty useless when it comes to women's soccer, whatever motive he ascribes to them. He's already gotten more positive coverage being a jerk than the Freedom got all last year if you're looking at OTA video.

    I don't think he's that smart, I just think this is a situation where being an opinionated jerk and ignoring all the well meaning advice from geniuses who've seen it all (fail) before won't hurt you.
     
  14. Beau Dure

    Beau Dure Member+

    May 31, 2000
    Vienna, VA
    What's OTA?

    In any case, I've certainly spent more time writing and fretting about WPS than I thought I would this year, so again ... it's working. If he intended it that way, it's brilliant. But frankly, I'm not sure my writing and fretting helps his team one bit.
     
  15. law10

    law10 Member+

    Dec 26, 2007
  16. Morris20

    Morris20 Member

    Jul 4, 2000
    Upper 90 of nowhere
    Club:
    Washington Freedom
    I think the percentage of articles about WPS that include fretting is about 99%, and I for one am hard pressed to think of an article that simply covers, I don't know, a game? a season preview? a fluff piece about how Abby Wambach signs lots of autographs for screaming tweens? that isn't put out by the league itself.

    The truth is the media hasn't done WPS any favors, and frankly didn't do anything for WUSA either. The fact that the same people will blame WUSA/WPS/Julie Foudy/XX chromosomes for this doesn't explain it other than for a lot of sports journos, it seems this is what they want to do and they'll justify it however they want. I really wonder if WPS, from its inception, has had more than 50% of articles about it that DIDN'T mention or imply is was going to go under really soon.

    I expect anyone not pandering to these folks to be used to justify what they were going to do anyway. That doesn't mean I think Borislaw is being smart. I just think in this environment, it's irrelevant.
     
  17. Beau Dure

    Beau Dure Member+

    May 31, 2000
    Vienna, VA
    I think WPS has been hurt a lot more by apathy than negativity. I went to one Freedom game last year where the press contingent was literally me and someone from Bleacher Report. I wasn't even planning to write a game story, but I put one on my blog just so there would be at least one account of the game out there.

    AP declined to move game stories for WPS when it launched, and a lot of newspapers didn't cover all their games. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution didn't cover the Beat's home opener this year -- I was told on Twitter that their Beat writer was at the Masters.

    So when the game stories and weekly features are limited, the pessimism stands out.

    WPS anticipated the problem and hired the brilliant Amanda Vandervort to handle new media and social media initiatives. Now, of course, the league office is much smaller, and Amanda is with MLS. Some teams are still managing to keep following Amanda's ideas, and I think it helps.

    The problem with Borislow's approach of limiting access is that we can't write anything BUT business stories. I used to be able to talk with Abby Wambach pretty much anytime I needed to. Not any more.

    So we can't see the game, can't see video highlights and can't talk to any players or coaches. What are we supposed to write about?
     
  18. pasoccerdad

    pasoccerdad Member

    Mar 17, 2008
    KOP
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Not about magicjack - think they want to be in the black hole. I say leave them alone and let them do their thing without anyone writing about them. Just honor their wishes to be left alone.
     
  19. Morris20

    Morris20 Member

    Jul 4, 2000
    Upper 90 of nowhere
    Club:
    Washington Freedom
    Look, I really respect what you do and that you're interested in women's soccer. I also understand that sports reporters are working in a contracting marketplace, yadda yadda.

    But are you really saying that if the team doesn't spoon feed stuff to the press "what are we supposed to write about?" I dunno, go to the game and write a game report like you did. Maybe walk down and talk with Wombat while she's signing a million autographs, I bet she'll give you her cell number - if she doesn't Rampone will. You could talk about how tactics are evolving as some teams have stability to build on last year and some need to come up with simple styles of play to allow really talented players to gel quickly?

    I always feel like free food is the key to good press coverage, but WPS needs reporters who actively SEEK stories and interesting people, if I want lazy, moronic sports reporting, I can just read Tracee Hamilton. One reason sports coverage is contracting is that a lot of sports reporting isn't adding any value. Yet another "business" story about WPS fits right into that, we all know they're not making money - and won't this year. Of course neither will lot's of other "pro" teams, but it gets less ink because they're male and we figure they ought to be doing this.
     
  20. Beau Dure

    Beau Dure Member+

    May 31, 2000
    Vienna, VA
    No one is going to pay expenses for someone to fly to South Florida to see a WPS game.

    Believe me, I've tried to contact players through several means. I have some contacts. They're not responding. (Abby, at least, talked to reporters after the game.)

    To an extent, I agree that sports reporting doesn't add as much value as it used to. Of course, that argument is made primarily in leagues in which you can see all the games or at least go online later and find highlights. Ask your local non-revenue college team or any high school team how they feel about having reporters talking to them, and you'll get a different story. That's one reason why I've often gravitated toward underserved niches.

    So it's really not about the media as much as it is about the fans. And from a fan's perspective, I think Jeff, Jenna, Jacqueline et al add a lot of value. Part of the enjoyment of sports is talking about it, and they're conversation starters. (The old joke bears repeating: What's worse than being talked about? NOT being talked about.)

    And there is indeed some reporting about men's sports teams losing money. That's all we heard about MLS for a couple of years after the lawsuit. And we hear it about some of the titanic European clubs that spend themselves silly today. (And the Dodgers have certainly been in the news for off-field issues recently, as has the NFL.)
     
  21. MRAD12

    MRAD12 Member+

    Jun 10, 2004
    Chicago
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    I agree with you on this Morris20.

    I am one of those sports junkies. My radio is set only on sports talk, I search the internet for sports news, search twitters for information, etc.

    Unlike other top pro sports like baseball, football, basketball, we get very little information about what's going on in the WPS and yes much of it is due to "lazy" reporting, IMO. And it seems those reporting on WPS want to have this "cozy, cutsie-pie" relationship with players and even coaches, unlike some in the major sports.

    The only one(s) that give us a consistent update of what's going on in the WPS is Jeff Kassouf and his associates.

    I want probing questions about what's going on with each team, with each players, side stories, spats in the locker room, who's dating whom, etc.

    One of the biggest stories and fodder for jokes in Chicago in the last few days is Bears quarterback Jay Cutler getting engaged to reality star. People are eating it up on sports talk.
    People love that kind of shi...stuff.
    Why can't we do the same for women's pro soccer players? We want to know everything. And in order to know "everything" sports media folks have to be probing and yes, take risks.

    When White Sox GM Kenny Williams has a spat with Manager Ozzy Guillen, it is on the airways within minutes. People know what's going on.

    I'm also getting tired of listening to the "we are glad to see all these kids at the game because we want to be role models.....blah, blah, blah".
    That's not an interview nor an answer. We know Rampone is a real soccer mom. How many times does the media have to tell us that?

    An interview is something like, "toward the end of the first have you got a nasty slide tackle by so and so, what were your thoughts at the moment and did you say anything to her? "the defensive line got beat the whole game, what do you think you need to do to correct this before the next game?" and so on. Let's have some edge to questions.

    STOP with the role model questions and answers!! We get it. It's boring. We've been getting it since 1999.

    As long as we treat the WPS women with kid gloves and as goodie-too shoes role models, etc., it will never get interesting enough for the mass sports fans in this country.

    This league NEEDS the Tasha Kai's. It needs the Hope Solo twitters.
    The WPS is a bland, vanilla league. That's NOT what sells in American sports.

    This league needs some edge.
    And the media has a big part in making it interesting.
    Media, quit waiting for them to come to you. Do like in baseball and football, you go to them and dig for stories.

    We need more Hope Solo twitters.
     
  22. Beau Dure

    Beau Dure Member+

    May 31, 2000
    Vienna, VA
    OK -- I'll ask Abby who she's dating and see if I get a response. :rolleyes:
     
  23. Blaze20

    Blaze20 Moderator
    Staff Member

    Seattle Reign FC
    Sep 22, 2009
    Club:
    Philadelphia Independence
    Just let her know we at BS are dying to know and I'm sure whe will respond :p
     
  24. MRAD12

    MRAD12 Member+

    Jun 10, 2004
    Chicago
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    Well, that's part of the taboo. Why is it OK to know who Jay Cutler is dating but not Abby? Not that I really give a sh_t, but it makes for interesting talk.
    It's part of reporting, it's part of our American pro sports culture.
    Enough of the role model interviews.

    I think you get the gist of what I'm trying to say here.
     
  25. DemitriMaximoffX

    Aug 19, 2006
    Apparently Hope Solo does too considering she just linked to one of your previous posts on her twitter.
     

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