Where is this franchise heading? Is their future as dead as this forum? Ironic that at a time there seems to be some glimmer of hope for the league, one of the better franchises of WUSA and WPS feels like it in the worst place in its history. What is going on? The move to Harvard Stadium, much welcomed when announced, netted 10 extra people per game vs Dilboy in 2013. Fail. While not a great venue, why is attendance running just slightly over 50% of the WPS Harvard days? They are missing more than just my 3 season tickets I held for WUSA and WPS. Excessive mid-weeks due to a 9 team league? Bizarre 6 week stretch without a home game? Unfortunate weather? Lack of repeat attendees due to poor game day experiences? Lack of marketing/communication efforts/quality? Too much focus on getting youth group sales? Not enough focus? Roster turnover? Coach turnover (or lack thereof)? Loss via trade (by request?) or other of the few recognizable name players? Things just do not feel right with this organization. How hard to update your website banner with players in your current sponsor's jerseys? For an ENTIRE SEASON? And now 2 of the 3 players aren't even part of the team. The NWSL "link" directs to a static page with a 2 year announcement about Cheryl Bailey's appointment, a tad dated to say the least, and links to the 8 original teams. Guess they didn't get the memo about the Dash? The online store is a classic blank page---- not looking good for those holiday/cyber Monday sales. If the organization doesn't do the little things to create at least the perception that they are in fact professional and maybe even give a damn, how do they expect fans/potential fans to care? #irrelevant #deathspiral
It's troublesome, for sure. They still have enough offseason to ramp things up and appear as a healthy franchise without many people (aside from us on forums like this) noticing anything "off", but chances of that certainly seem slim...
Some of these issues (primarily website presentation) is not unique to Boston, but it seems like this is low cost low-hanging fruit. Other issues like why they are drawing so poorly at Harvard relative to WPS days are much deeper rooted. Boston speaks to rebuilding while WNY has blown up their roster as well..... rebuilding in year 3 says they didn't get it right to start with, despite more favorable (on paper) business models. Scary when the big stuff AND the little stuff isn't being handled successfully.
I think attendance suffered because the team wasn't good. No other team in the bottom 4 had their attendance improve. And losing a big name star like Leroux certainly didn't help attendance either. So at the end of the season, for them to come out with a +10, is really good. As to everything else, well yeah... It's pretty sad. Especially the website header... I could fix that in like 5 minutes. Heck, here you go Boston: (of course you'll have to license the images from the appropriate rights holders...) I've been saying Lee Billiard should be fired for a while now. Clean house, start fresh from the top. But I guess they decided to go with "Bring in Brazilians" as their mantra this year. Could work out great, or it could completely backfire. Who knows. Maybe they'll trade Mewis and Naeher for a few more international roster spots that they can use to sign Brazilians. WNY could probably use Naeher and they have some extra International Slots to spare...
The website indicates a lack of attention. I don't think anyone from the Breakers (or apparently Stewart) actually looks at it. Nice job updating it, maybe they could use someone with your skills on staff When I asked Billard about it, the reply was that the website was in the process of being redone. Shouldn't take a redo to perform simple updates, but apparently they apply the same standards to it as to roster building. The +10 was disappointing given they moved to Harvard, a bigger facility that actually had parking and public transit access, tailgating and presumably alcohol sales and wasn't new to the team, having 3 prior (WPS) seasons there. To the team's credit this should have addressed most of the complaints about playing at Dilboy but for some reason didn't. As noted they drew almost twice as many at the same venue for WPS, 4500 vs 2400. Even excluding roster building issues, prior staffs led by Cummings and Crossley seemed more engaged and invested than Billard's. I know I experienced a lot more reach out from them, and Crossley was a regular on these boards (and there were a lot more regular posters who were likewise invested in the team). When NWSL started, I hardly heard anything from Billard or staff despite being a multiple season ticket holder for all WUSA and WPS years. Reading bios and following Twitter feeds for the current staff gives the perception this a part time gig for most, which may or may not be true or fair, just my perception. Billard's resume indicates a stronger work experience background in coaching and development than in sales and marketing. Crossley brought a stronger background in sales and promotion with extensive minor-league baseball experience, which seemed to fit the needs a bit better, at least at the time. Attendance did not seem to be performance driven in past years, the lowest attendance in both WUSA and WPS came in years that the team actually met expectations on the field. WPS attendance was stronger in 2009-2010 even though the team went about a year without a win across seasons. Rather, attendance was driven by schedule, weather and sales effort. All 3 were below standard this past season in my opinion. They can not control weather but should be able to do better on the other 2. As much as people may have issues with the roster and the coach, the business performance is what needs immediate improvement to survive.
That's a great line! I didn't expect the move to Harvard to magically increase attendance. It's not like it's a beautiful SSS that people will flock to just for the atmosphere (even at it's WPS average, Harvard was 85% empty, that's not a great atmosphere). There has to be some motivation to come out to games beyond the improvements you mentioned. And maybe that's what you're getting at... In 2009 Boston averaged 4665. In 2010 Boston averaged 4490. That's -175. That's what I'm talking about in regards to the 2nd season drop. In WPS, every team dropped in the 2nd season. So I'm pointing out that Boston being the only team in the bottom 4 to not have the drop should be seen as a positive. The other NWSL teams to have gains were all in the hunt for the playoffs (Chicago surprisingly had a gain, even without including their doubleheader; although Chicago still averaged less than Boston, so yes attendance is not 100% performance driven). So the way I look at it, the move to Harvard made them go from losing 175 to gaining 10, so it can be looked at as a net of +185. That's what the better parking, transit, tailgating, etc got them. But they need to focus on other things like sales/marketing and building a better team, like Seattle did, to get that a real significant bump. Oh, and Boston didn't go about a year without a win from 2009-2010. Their last win of 2009 was the 5th to last game on July 19th. Their first win of 2010 was the very first game on April 10th. That's only a 4 game winless streak. Boston actually had a 7 game winless streak this year (although it wasn't a 7 game losing streak, some of those game were ties) and had two 4 game losing streaks.
My bad memory. Maybe almost a year with one win then? Not sure what the answer is, and not in a position to do anything about it. The organization is just missing something.
This is a franchise that has shifted direction drastically. They are more focused on the development structure than they are at marketing and retaining elite players. I think it is fair to say that Crossley is definitely better at marketing than Billiard both at the grassroots level and in the grand scheme. I think Billiard may have focused too much energy and resources on instituting a development structure than on the fine details to make the Breakers more marketable locally. I think there is a serious disconnect between the fans and the franchise on the new direction of the team. The frustrations with both the Harvard and Dilboy venues I think has kept some fans away as well. Ever since Leslie Osbourne left there has been a void in leadership in regard to community outreach. I think that Crossley and Osbourne knew how to connect with the community to drive interest in the team. The Breakers seem to have lost this connection. The lack of marketable elite players has hurt this team as well. In WUSA the Breakers had Lilly and Meinert. In WPS it was Lilly and Smith. In WPSLE it was Osbourne and Simon. First year of NWSL they had Leroux and Sanderson. Last year they didn't have 2 people they could use that were marketable enough to drive sales. If they don't market the Brazilian trio effectively it will be more of the same. The Breakers have also gotten the simple things wrong. Half the website leads to dead pages. The team and the players no longer tweet when they are going out into the community to announce their presence to their followers. The Q&A session that Joe Cummings and Andy used to have with the team's biggest supporters to talk about the team leading into the season no longer exists. Signing off on that schedule last year was terrible. And they don't seem to reach out to past fans to figure out how to make improvements to rekindle interest in the franchise. The good news is these are all fixable problems that don't cost a lot of money. They just need to have people willing to step up and get it done.
Great post and spot on. You identified so many issues, and as you point out they are fixable without a big cash outlay. They just need leadership who cares about those issues. Leaving your last line as the greatest issue of all, and maybe not fixable.
Agreed, the most difficult thing is I don't know if anyone currently in the Breaker's front office is well equipped to handle community outreach. If attendance doesn't improve this year I think Lee is gone I just hope it won't pull down the franchise with him.
I don't think if the attendance stays the same it'll bring down the franchise. There are two teams that had worse attendance this year (and three in 2013), and it doesn't look like they're about to fold.
I don't think you can directly compare attendance with other teams to assess viability. There are too many variables in operating costs and revenue streams to make it that simple. And the great unknown of how deep the owners' pockets are and what their tolerance level is. All-in-all, such comparisons between teams are apples-to-oranges. If my lousy memory serves, the Breakers were close to folding at the end of 2011 prior to the WPS shutdown but located new/additional investors? This was right around the time Andy Crossley left the organization, in part due to a great opportunity and in part due to great uncertainty? The move back to Harvard brought increased expenses. I am sure this was predicated on Dilboy being virtually sold-out in 2013 despite "venue deficiencies" (trying to be kind here) and the not unreasonable assumption that there was un-serviced demand. Despite the track record of "Year 2 drops", I think they assumed an increase of more than 10 in 2014 given increased capacity and an improved (but still not great) venue. I think further drops, or even staying even, could signal a demise. Billard may be a fine Director of Coaching, but GM not so much. Another season may be too late?
I agree you can't directly compare, but to say it's apples-to-oranges is a bit too much. The whole point of the NWSL was to set up a more sustainable model by keeping costs down. This included a lower salary cap and less expensive venues. Ownership should've been vetted to be able to withstand the expected losses for the first 3 years (at least that's what they told us when the league was formed). So looking at SBFC, for instance. Both teams play at college stadiums. Both teams played at those stadiums during the WPS. SBFC was reportedly able to get a better deal at Rutgers due to the smaller expected crowds needing less staffing. So too should Boston have been able to get a better deal at Harvard for the same reason. If they couldn't, then they made a mistake going there. With Boston having 797 more fans per game on average than SBFC, they should not be losing so much more money than SBFC to put them out of business. I expect all venue changes and leases had to be approved by the league offices (I know they do it for the lower division leagues like the WPSL and W-League, so it would be really sad if they didn't). So both the league and the Breakers should be well aware of the expense of playing at Harvard and whether playing there would let them keep their loses to the level that was expected. And, maybe I'm putting too much faith in the league but, I would hope the NWSL wouldn't have approved it if it looked like the losses from Harvard would've pushed them past that expected level.
Not to hold only a storm cloud over the franchise. I think there are reasons to be optimistic for the next year. The roster moves they have made I think could pan out well during a WC year. The Breakers will lose the least amount of players for the WC. TheBrazilian federation probably won't have as long a camp as the U.S. and Canadian federations will. Solo will hog all playing time in friendlies in the lead up so Naeher should be available to play with the Breakers for most games. So the team should be one of the more cohesive units in the league. If marketed correctly in the Somerville, Framingham and Ashland communities these 3 Brazilian players could tap into a passionate fan base the Breakers have only penetrated once. Which was during Marta's first game in Boston in 2009 which accounted for their highest attendance mark in WPS. If they can make these players part of these communities the Breakers should see a healthy bump in attendance and could change the game day experience for fans from screaming kids to more of a mixture with knowledgable adult fans. The big question as we have already discussed will come down to front office leadership. If Lee and his staff can't take advantage of these situations and also make in roads with fans who have left and address their concerns for leaving which have been largely ignored. I think he will definitely find himself out of a job.
Hello, all. I'm Ryan Wood, the Communications Manager of the Boston Breakers and would be glad to help answer any of your questions as best I can.
All, I appreciate everyone's views, i am more than happy to fill you in on details and decisions as to how and why we operate as we do. Unfortunately there are opinions, which i have no problem with, that have no real understanding as how the league operate, or what restrictions we have as an organization. I am happy to add facts to those opinions so fans gain a better perspective and understanding. Firstly, website has been in the hands of a third party who are doing a complete re-design. Final approval was given yesterday, we now need to switch data and hopefully will have the new site live in the next week. This has taken longer than we had hoped for. Second, please remember we are a business. Investment, corporate sponsorship, national league exposure is not what it was in WPS, thus operating budgets are lower. My job is to get this organization profitable, something it has never been. From a financial business standpoint we are in the best position we have ever been, predictions indicate we will be profitable in 2016. I am aware our marketing strategy has been reduced, for financial reasons, but we are correcting that as we grow as a business. We are investing in marketing and game day environment for the upcoming season, along with growing our front office staff to share the workload and be more streamlined. Third, i believe the roster movements we have made this off-season indicate how we want to compete and grow as a team over the next 3 years within the re-build. Defense has been strengthened, midfield has added flair/creativity and our forward line is going to be one of the most exciting in the NWSL (in my opinion). Playoffs in 2015 is our minimum goal and i expect that to happen, as do our coaching staff. I am happy to answer your questions and address concerns where i am able to. Regards Lee Billiard General Manager
Lee helped answer many of your questions. But from my end, here's some insight I can offer. Regarding the links on the website, those have been under construction and constantly updated when we notice an error or need to update information. I handle a majority of the website content, primarily the stories and news, updating player bios, etc. We try to keep it fresh and up-to-date. Obviously the offseason is slower news-wise, but we introduced a new element a few weeks ago called The Breakdown where we recap the week in Breakers news. Currently we have a few players who are actively playing either on the international level or overseas. We update their games on social media and recap that info weekly in The Breakdown. I feel we are very active on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Every NWSL team does a great job, especially in the offseason when not a lot is going on. Teams in other leagues during the offseason go silent for a couple days. We like to post a few times a day, and we always respond to fans on social media when it's a question we can answer. Our players are also active on social media, obviously more so during the regular season. They don't do many appearances during the offseason given the fact that 99 percent of the team is out of market. The players still do interviews with media during the offseason, and when they do, we put that info out on social media. And if they do make appearances, we promote it, and the players are encouraged to do so as well, and we feel they all do a great job. We have a lot of big things planned in terms of content, specifically video. Be sure to pay attention to our social media accounts for updates. I like interacting with fans and welcome any and all suggestions. I'll try to reply to people here as best I can. You can tweet at the Breakers, and I'll reply there as best I can as well. Same goes for Facebook. Don't hesitate to email me at rwood@bostonbreakers.com Thanks, Ryan Wood Communications Manager Boston Breakers
Ryan, Lee, I appreciate you becoming members of BigSoccer and taking the time post in this thread. I know what I am about to write will sound snarky and ungrateful so I will apologize now. Ryan, it may just be semantics, but I don't see where Lee "answered" much of anything, although he did generally acknowledge most topics presented here. So the website was run by a third party- the broken links and old info are still unprofessional and inexcusable, especially in terms of running a business as Lee alludes to. If you were responsible for content, then you need to use a much bigger bat with your vendor, or be more cognizant of what direction to give them. You state the site is updated as information becomes available---- were you unaware that NWSL had a website? That the Houston Dash joined the league? That Ocean Spray was no longer your jersey sponsor? That you have nothing for sale in your online store (but Breakers gear is available on the NWSL site)? Twitter activity is certainly subjective, but I disagree about the organization's volume and quality of info. Several other teams have been far more active in the offseason, especially during related "events" such USWNT team play (like yesterday). I have however learned from Lee of his great passion for Aston Villa.... kudos for that, must be hard at times..... but I hope the Breakers someday can build a fan base to mirror that passion. Overall, I would put the Breakers communications presence and execution very slightly ahead of their onfield results, meaning below average. You are saved from the cellar by Seattle's amazingly static site and scarce social media activity, just as the team on field was saved (barely) by Houston's results. Lee, yup, we get its a business. I think the posts preceding yours reflect that. Not much there that is not business related is there? Obviously, we are not privy to any kind of details and can only assume that revenue streams are limited, but a lot of the above are perceptions about effort and execution of low cost basics. No one here is asking for or expecting multi-million dollar salary caps, TV ad blitzes, national TV contracts or luxury suites. I am happy to hear that you are working toward profitability, and even better see it as attainable in the near future. I am also cautiously optimistic about the 2015 roster and share your hopes. The caution comes from past Breakers teams who looked great on preseason paper and failed to fulfill their potential. Best of luck, please do not be strangers here, and again, thank you for your time.
You know, we as fans would love to know more about that? Right? Not less. That's a huge problem with the NWSL, not us. The NWSL doesn't release info, so we just have to go on assumptions. For instance, why can't you even tell us how long you signed a player for? I understand you guys not wanting to mention the salary, but how is it that releasing the actual length of the contract so fans no how long a player is going to be with that team not seen as important? How long are the Brazilians going to be in Boston? 1 season? 2 seasons? 8 games when not away for the WWC? How does this lack of knowledge instill a sense of faith in your fanbase that the team will be successful? How you say that you "want to compete and grow as a team over the next 3 years within the re-build" and expect us to take that as fact, when we don't even know what players will be with the team in 1 year, let alone 3? And maybe you could tell us more about the Harvard Stadium move financially. Has it effected you negatively as other posters worried, or from the outset were it's costs kept within your expected budget to keep you financially solvent for the longer term without needing a large increase in attendance? Has there been any investigation into building your own stadium (see this thread)? Did you guys even look into the Assembly Square site? Or is spending $3 million on a stadium just so far above most owner's available capital that we shouldn't expect NWSL 2.0 anytime soon? (Not holding my breath to get any substantive answers about these questions)