While we await the mods' renaming of the forum, the old thread with the old name can go away and we can discuss 2014 and beyond here. Gotta say....leaving the obvious time crunch issues aside for a moment, you have to feel more optimistic going into 2014 than at any point since before it became apparent that 2013 was going downhill, right?
I feel good just knowing who is involved. The last group was clueless pretty much when it came to customer service, marketing, sales, ....life....you name it. Gilmore has ties to youth soccer which is a huge plus. Was stunned in the way PFC never really attacked the youth organizations with group offers instead just thinking people would contact them. This looks better. Way better. I am on board. If it was the Robertson/ Bento show again I never would have attended another game. They didn't want me as a fan.
Okay, so...options in that regard? SDSS in its full configuration was great. I dug it. We will see about PSC (but with the owner's offices right there...don't know if you can expect a change anytime soon). If not ASU, there is....well, back to square one. Phoenix College? Maryvale? Don't know. As with any soccer team, they will eventually need a stadium solution, and that will have to be addressed at some point. If this is going to be a viable, long-term team at whatever level, an actual stadium will have to happen. But first things first. Coach, players, tickets. The other stuff will have to be addressed, but not today.
We know this. We're not talking about now. The offices of the owner are literally steps away from Peoria Sports Complex. We know they're playing this year in Peoria. We're not talking about this year. Long-term, a baseball stadium in the northwest corner of the Valley is probably not the solution. But the luxury of long-term thinking is not one that they can afford at this moment.
Kenn, based on what you know is their ticket pricing and structure staying the same? Are they using Get Tix?
That I don't know. PFC's ticket prices last year were way out of whack, as we all know. They were more reasonable this year. But I have not seen or heard what they intend to do in terms of pricing for 2014.
I think they were out of whack this season too, more so than last if you do a section to section price comparison between SDSS and Peoria Park. Also, consider SDSS was a a great facility for soccer.
Here's the official team site. It has jack squat for info right now but at least gives you a means to contact the club directly and subscribe to their newsletter if you wish. Will be interesting to see how they develop the site in coming weeks. http://arizonaunited.com/
There is no way that THIS season's PFC prices were less reasonable than last year's. Last year's were completely out of touch with the market for the product. And I don't think any of us have actually seen a soccer match at Peoria to tell exactly what it is going to be like.
We have a team and honestly that's good enough for me. It's easy to bash on the previous owners, but to my knowledge they were the first to bring a professional soccer team here. They stuck their necks out, and while it didn't work out, we as a soccer community can learn valuable lessons from it. That being said, I have had the pleasure of meeting the new owners and I feel extremely optimistic. They actively listened to what my concerns were and what I had to say. They want to be more transparent and they want to do this right. The fact that on opening day they had a spot on the MLS home page, speaks volumes about their reach compared to the previous guys. The credentials show that they have the pieces to do things that the previous owners could not or would not do. Further, I believe from the fans perspective we should give them a fair shake of what happens on the field especially in the early part of the season. Time is not on their side, but these guys are trying to save pro soccer in the valley, I support them 100%
I agree 100%. Care to share anything from your meeting with the owners? What are their mid/long-term plans? Are they staying in Peoria for a while? Plans for a long-term stadium solution?
Given how quickly this has come together and how much time they have to do the stuff that they need to do right now, trying to pin them down on a long-term stadium solution is like wondering if you should put in hardwood floors while trying to put out a grease fire in the kitchen. Surprised no one has asked yet when scarves will be available.
Didn't see the new thread when I posted this in the old one: Arizona United will pay Phoenix FC debts even though they aren't legally required to do so. This is a great first step in mending some of the bridges that were burned. I'm interested to see the new ticket pricing structure. I knew there was a reason I didn't buy a jersey last season. I'm going to wait at least a few games to buy another scarf.
Also from that: That'll be good, too. The watchword seems to be, in soccer parlance, to "play the simple ball" here in the early going. They have enough to do and a short time in which to do it to try to make things overly complicated.
I think the new ownership group are off to a great start. They have made commitments and followed through. They are saying all the right things and have been reaching out to the fans. The interview with Kevin Stevenson over the weekend, was another positive statement. There are, no doubt, going to be mistakes made along the way but I have little doubt that we now have an ownership group that will learn from any mistakes they make, that sees the big picture, that has a vision and can very likely deliver on it. This season can not come soon enough....but I am OK with moving the opening game to later in the season too April 12 is going to be a blast. Come join the party with LFR: http://lfr1881.com/shop/
He was interviewed on FC Tucson's ESPN radio show. Here is the link: http://fctucson.com/team/soccer-talk-with-fc-tucson-episode-35/
Odeen interviewed Eng Eng says all the right things, but we'll see if he follows through. Getting some games on TV would be huge for building a fanbase. I might be wrong, but in the Stevenson interview on ESPN radio Tucson, Stevenson seems to hint that the first game might get pushed back. Eng also says the coach will have 2 or 3 weeks of preseason. 3 weeks would suggest the game on 30th isn't happening. I might just be reading too much into a few off the cuff comments.
These guys are legit. I have a great feeling about it. It's obvious they know where things went wrong. The fact they are speaking so openly is a great sign, although you would think any owner of any business that wants it to succeed would be. On the surface this seems like what we all expected to get when USL Pro was announced as an expansion site. Customer service is so important and these guys get it.