At some point in the off-season, though they did not announce it. They just said Kokalis was the new coach at the preseason presser. To be fair, they weren't THAT bad. The point seems to be that some of the handful of folks who care about the team liked the coach and apparently thought he got a raw deal. (Even though he had no pro coaching experience, the team inflated his resume a bit and, as you say, coaches get fired all the time.) Hasn't so far. You can find a more affordable house out in the sticks, too, if you don't mind more of a commute. But affordability can only go so far if people won't make the drive to Kissimmee. And they apparently won't. (The ballpark there is being redeveloped into a soccer stadium for Orlando City B, with various other fields, so maybe Osceola County can become a soccer destination, but it has not happened yet.) It's a rodeo arena, yeah? Size-wise, this is the type of place this league needs to be in. But it is out of the way, and...yeah, they have never shown an ability to market. Mesquite has had exactly two games and there were loads of empty seats at the first one. And Sonora used to draw way more. So either people don't know that (marketing) or it's location, yeah? Would love to hear your marketing plan. Don't know who you'd consult in this league, don't know who exactly has figured it out. And the only other Orlando circumstance was the Sharks 12 years ago, which did not go well, either. But Orlando had less of a soccer culture then than it does now, you would imagine you could out-do the Sharks. Dates are hugely important. What good does it do to get an affordable arena and get bad dates? Is it worth noting here that the Blast's attendance dropped five percent last year and they didn't sell out their home opener? Maybe Cedar Rapids!
Saturday, December 7, 2020 Orlando @ Baltimore - 3,745 Rochester @ Harrisburg - 3,295 Florida @ Milwaukee - no report
Florida @ Milwaukee-4,527 Good game in Milwaukee last night. The Tropics, with their new acquisitions, look like one of the top teams in the MASL this season.
Definitely the largest home crowd that I can recall since the Heat (2) moved back to the Farm Show Arena. Interesting to note that there is a new inflatable kids zone on the South end of the field. Unknowingly, I asked to sit behind the goal in that section and I would have suffered an obstructed view of the field and most of the goal had I not moved. You would think this would have been communicated to the ticket staff so that game attendees would not be placed in those sections. In addition, there is a new video screen hanging from the rafters that can be best described as...puny. So small and high up that you can't tell the time left in the game or the score by looking at the screen. Furthermore, the Heat logo has been erased from midfield and replaced by the ReNu Solar field sponsor logo. I find it inappropriate to totally remove the team logo from the field and replace it with the field sponsor's logo. And finally, the Heat wanted to do a special opening video presentation prior to kickoff, but couldn't get the video to play. Wouldn't have mattered, because, like I said, you can barely see the video screen. If you are going to make an investment to the fan experience you can't muddle it up like the Heat are doing.
Bad paint kind of works in the Heat's favor on this one because you can still see the Heat logo below the solar logo and it looks like it was done on purpose. The Blast have a new turf and they put a sponsor sticker in the center circle. They put one sticker of the team logo in the corner and it's already torn up. No reason not to have the team logo painted in the center circle. The joke is on a lot of these sponsors because their white sponsor stickers just look like white rectangles on the webscast.
During their last couple of seasons, the Syracuse Silver Knights didn't have their logo in the center circle. Instead, The entire center circle was replaced by a Dave & Busters logo.
It looked pretty nice until the hockey team lengthened the ice and they had to shift everything on the turf so there were two center circles kind of like the MasterCard logo.
Do like the inflatable idea to fill up all that empty space behind the goal, but the Heat should of communicated better,about the view, to you for sure. Others are complaining about that video board also, One person had a good idea to only put the score/time on it and only use it for replays. I wonder if it could be lowered. Also was wondering what is going on with Tavoy Morgan and when will he be joining the Heat?
I agree, I like the team logo in the center, but I guess sponsorship money comes first. If your going to put the sponsor in the center, the Heat/Blast should of did it like Tacoma does it. Which is the logo and sponsor together. I also noticed the sponsors stickers look like blank rectangles on the webcasts.LOL Also was wondering if you know what is going on with Diego Zuniga and when he might play. Utica is suppose to announce some new signings soon too, I hear.
Is that due to poor planning by the teams/league/player, or is there some government batch process for sports that doesn't adhere to the indoor schedule? I don't want to assume that its the teams/league/player, as this happens a lot in baseball around spring training... then again it could be poor planning on their part, too.
I think it's new federal guidelines because players who has visas before are not being renewed and they are even revoking some visas. And it's affecting all teams, even the Blast and Wave.
You wouldn't if it were your money. Jesus, do you people think any MASL team is in a position to turn money down?
Saturday, December 14, 2019 Orlando @ Florida - 3,108 Utica @ Baltimore - 1,503 Rochester @ Harrisburg - 2,638 Monterrey @ Dallas - 2,029
That's probably Baltimore's smallest crowd ever. It's their smallest at SECU, but it's probably the smallest in Baltimore indoor history. Would have to check.
Without having any "insider" information, my best guess would be this: https://www.pressboxonline.com/2018...aving-baltimore-blast-joining-harrisburg-heat Kevin has proved himself to be a top-notch indoor soccer executive. This may also explain the improved attendance with Harrisburg so far this season.
That was going to be my guess, though I have no real insight. Tickets don't sell themselves, folks. You don't just say, "Hey, there's a game, and it's important" and people show up. It takes work, and much more than just putting up billboards or broadcast commercials. It's hammer-and-tongs work every day. Also, HBG is up about 300 people a game through two when compared to two home games a year ago. (That is about 11 percent, though.)
Also, long time Asst. GM Mike Conway left for the Philadelphia Fury of the outdoor NISA prior to this season.
But by the logic of the people on this board, Baltimore had a winning record last year so they should have good crowds, right?
Indoor soccer needs every dollar they can get. The total number of folding teams every year is staggering. My team, Wichita is in the M2 league and I will be surprised if they last a year. I'm sure most of the teams will fold, and they will have 8 new teams next year.
They should have good crowds because three years ago they were averaging 6,500 (announced) and now they only have 3,500 seats to fill.