Other threads have discussed the sad state in the stands but I think this is a huge marketing issue that must be discussed. I'm sure with Blanco coming to town the stands will be full tomorrow, hopefully, but Blanco ain't coming every week. The one major problem I see is television marketing. The Quakes are on Comcast Sportsnet, where is that? What are the chances of a non-fan coming across the game? San Jose's lacrosse team does a much better job marketing their game(I don't know their attendance) on KRON, which is between NBC and CBS on my tv, between coverage of March Madness and Golf. Comcast Sportsnet provides very little opportunity for discovery of great family fun. Parents flipping channels could see a sport that their children are doing and take them to the game. 2. Huckerby commercial sucks. I get it. I'm sure you get it, but the non-fan won't get it. Its so monotone. It sucks. KRON 4 and other independent stations are dying for programing. The Earthquakes need to make a move to a relevant station. Thoughts?
I'd love to see KRON cough up a couple million for the local TV rights. Wonder what they'd be willing to pay, and wonder what the Quakes are getting from Comcast.
I don't see any Stealth ads anywhere. They must be doing a REALLY good job being stealthy with their promotion. i see Quakes ads all over the buses here, with the occasional bench back and billboard.
Get some schedule posters and pocket schedules from the front office and go put them up in your favorite local joints. Invite someone new to each game. If we all did this, problem solved. On my way to work this morning, I stopped by my local donut shop, Rollo's, and put up a Quakes schedule poster and left some schedules in Espanol. (Owner gave me a box of free donuts.) Then I was off to Japantown where I left some pocket schedules in the new coffee house, Roy's Station. Got to work and gave a freebie ticket in the Ultras section to a copyboy in my law office. All before 9 a.m. What's the big deal? If I can do it, you can do it. When is it going to resonate that we fans are part of the team?
Truly, you rule like a God on High. I would follow your example, except that I live hundreds of miles away. I am going to start beating on one of the local radio stations though to give some love to our local Portland Timbers. GOOOOOOO QUAAAAAAAKES!!!!!!!!!! - Mark
The major problem is the product on the field. Other than Huckerby and Alvares, there are no exciting players to watch. And with two losses and unattractive team play, team cannot overcome too much quality soccer on TV.
Depends on the individual. I'd much rather come to see the hometown team play live than watch soccer on TV, no matter what the quality of play differential might be.
Nonsense. The major problem is that somehow "soccer fans" in the South Bay don't give a crap about their local side. Last season, the Portland Timbers increased their attendance by 25% from the previous season, while simultaneously going from being one of the top teams in 2007 to absolutely dead last in the league in 2008. It was a completely horrible, awful, dreary, very bad season. But attendance was way up. If you are a soccer fan, then you go out and support the local team. I don't care if the local team are fourth division and bottom of the table. We have alleged fans who would rather watch some English or German side that they have never seen and have no connection too than to go out and watch the local lads. What makes it worse is that these supposed fans can easily tape the Euro game off their TV's and go watch the local team also. Yes, the team need and especially the league need to do a much better job of marketing, but the fans need to step up too. That 25% attendance boost in Portland? It's mostly driven by the Timbers Army going out and recruiting new fans. GOOOOO QUAAAAAAKES!!!!!!! - Mark
Just a note on the stealth thing, I'm almost positive their attendance is under 5,000 a game, and they only have 8 home games.
While I understand attendance at the Dynamo game was a tad disappointing, why the thread about "attendance woes"? We sold out the season opener, and we're likely to sell out the game tomorrow. Let's wait and see how the game after the LA game in Oakland goes before we start worrying about attendance. And also keep in the back of your minds that the economy is in the shitter. Even if our attendance drops a big, attendance will likely be down league wide, just as it will be for MLB, etc...
Wasn't there also a sharks game that night as well? I had my son's school auction, sharks tix and quakes tix...if my wife would have let me live I would have chosen the quakes...but figured I wanted to be able to walk without a limp into buckshaw for the rest of the season. I think that there is a fair overlap between sharks and quakes ticket holders...so maybe some of them chose the hockey game. Also, and its been said before, that we have a smallish stadium (not gonna get that much better with the new one either) and an owner who is notoriously tight with the purse strings (not knocking Lew...god rest his everlasting soul for bringin our quakes back...just sayin') I don't see us making investments in big name branded players since there's no big stadium to fill. and...I think that attendance picks up when its warmer (would be interesting to see the stats on that actually) in the evening. Finally...I can think of 4 or 5 guys that would gladly go hang out at the game if they could drink beer in the stands...if not, they'll drink beer on their couch at home and watch. The newness is off...the core group is here...now we need to socialize and motivate the casual fan to start going to more games...I agree that there's nothing like seeing a game live so lets share those extra tickets with friends instead of trying to sell them...
9,717 I dont think so...there were A LOT of people standing. The stadium looked like it was sold out. Maybe the stupid sun and its blaring heat from the stupid afternoon game threw off my judgement.
9,717 sounds about right to me. There were a lot of people standing, but some empty bench / seat space as well. It wasn't a bad crowd for a day match, which is a more difficult draw, and also factoring in bad economy and relatively pricey seats. Blanco / Fire fans helped fill out the crowd a bit.
Historically what the MLS has reported as attendance is an Inflated Number of Tickets Distributed. It's not a gate count. Lot of open space in the north end of the university side.
How do numbers say otherwise? Today's attendance was up over the Houston game (Houston 9,177, Today 9,717). And no it wasn't raining vs Houston, it was a clear cold evening though the USNMT and the Sharks were both playing in concert with the Quakes game.
They didn't show that part on TV. They never do....the numbers will improve for the Galalxy game with or without Beckham....
The El Camino stands looked full and those are the stands that you see on tv. There was lots of space around me on the university side. Maybe it wasn't such a good FO decision to bump up the price of those tickets? We were second tier pricing last year, and this year we are first (even though we are nowhere near the center line) and tons of empty seats every game.