I've wondered what the point of the Arsenal partnership is. Obviously Arsenal wants to have a footprint in the US and wanted to find an MLS club to sell AFC merchandise...aside from that and maybe some best practices sharing, I don't see what the Rapids, or their fans, get out of it. ...and the first game I went to I about crapped myself when the cannon went off...
Actually Plush said the fans aren't interested in a Mexican team friendly, which I don't think is that far off the mark. No kidding, and to have it happen in the midst of a 7 game losing streak? Not the best PR move. You answered your own question. If Kroenke really wanted Arsenal to come to the U.S. he could make it happen. He's just decided that its not as important as keeping Wenger happy. He's probably right in that case but that shouldn't prevent them from finding another team to come play here. If Man. City will play in Portland in a 5000 seat college stadium they'll come here for the right $$$.
Dear Mr. Plush, As a season ticket holder the above quote disappoints me. Who can foretell the future? To reuse your quote, I would love to see there is enough evidence that doing nothing would be competitive. I have yet to see that doing nothing is competitive, and I have 3 years of Rapids' data and counting. No team has won a cup with a DP, yet. Look at the top two teams in each conference year-by-year since 2007: 2007 DC, NE, Houston, Chivas USA 2008 C-bus, Chicago (Blanco), Houston, Chivas USA 2009 C-bus (Schelotto), Chicago (Blanco), LA (Beckham, Donovan), Houston (Landin) 2010 C-bus (Schelotto), NY (Angel, Henry), LA (Beckham, Donovan), RSL It seems evident to me that teams with DPs are doing well in the standings as of late. Also, please note that my beloved Rapids do not appear in this table. RSL built a team without a DP, yes, but they didn't do it by sitting still. For starters they traded Mehdi Ballouchy for an all-star, team-MVP-caliber player. This is step 1 in the RSL road map, good luck with getting that done. RSL also seem to bring in foreign talent on a regular basis. Some players do not work out but some do. Who have we brought in on par with Morales or Saborio under your watch? Staying the course that has resulted in a 36-42-29 record since 2007 is not acceptable for me. Please improve the team.
I can not believe this. The head of the Rapids organization just basically told the public point blank: "Even though things could be better, we're not really going to change anything because there are a million excuses." It's like I'm traveling through space...because KSE is on a completely different planet from the rest of us. A strange and mythical planet where change and risks are a foreign and abstract concept from a distant galaxy. I don't even know what to say except that it totally confirms all the negative things people say about this organization. What a fv<king disappointment.
I think Plush is just an extension of Kronke. How about we start making scarves in Green/White with the letters LRHK (Love Rapids, Hate Kronke) a la LUHG scarves in Manchester.
A planet in a sector of the galaxy known as Square-1, a time-space warp continually folding back into itself. (Just like the equation 1^2 = 1.) Oh, Bobby Rapids, where have you gone? When I need you most? (Multi-picture vertical format used to fool auto-resizer, apologies if it doesn't line up on your screen.)
Two things stick out to me. One, we are unable to sell a player on the merits of Denver, CO? Really? They must be the most incompetent sales force in the history of MLS. If Columbus can sell Boca legend GBSchelotto on Columbus freaking Ohio then they should be able to sell Denver, CO. Two, the fact that we haven't been able to sell a jersey sponsor really speaks to the lack of brand building by the Rapids organization. I know they've made a push into social media and the traditional media coverage has increased this year (it couldn't exactly decrease now, could it?) but the Rapids are a fringe player in the sports landscape. Being a fringe player in Denver, which is a big market (with plenty of consumer dollars to be reaped) would be OK for the Rapids if they had an actual identity. Are they tageting hardcore soccer fans, youth players and their parents, Lucha Libre fans, families, whomever? Pick a plan and stick with it. I think they are moving in right direction after moving supporters behind the north goal- it looks and sounds good as well as their ads targeting the more hardcore soccer fans during the world cup. However, without investment into players that may change the perception of those hardcore fans who think MLS is inferior, it is not going to change much.
People seem to like the terraces, but do they really have wide appeal, even to hardcore soccer fans? The view seems like it would be horrible when the ball's at the other end, there are no seats (how long have European stadia been all seaters?). And at that price point, I can't imagine the team sees them as much more than a niche thing. I count myself as a soccer fan, but I'm not sure why I'm supposed to be more like a European soccer fan (though maybe if they let us set fires...) than an American sports fan. I like baseball, too, but I don't feel the need to imitate Caribbean fans or Japanese fans.
Why aren't "hardcore" soccer fans at the Rapids games? No / not enough atmosphere? Rapids aren't good enough? Rapids aren't reaching out / marketing to them? To expensive? Other?
I don't think the soccer fans who avoid/ignore the Rapids do so because they don't see the value in watching the Rapids. They watch Premier League or other European leagues on Saturday/Sunday morning and they compare the product. Watching live soccer isn't enough merit on its own to justify heading to DSG Park. They don't think the Rapids play good soccer. They look back to the days at Invesco with the corner kick stampede and think the games are a joke. Mickey mouse. The Rapids need to figure out how to convince those fans there is merit to attending games. Terraces are a step in the right direction for a part of the market. Improving the play on the field will help bring another part of the market. They've got to sell the product to the market. I don't think they do a great job of that, although things have improved with the World Cup viewing party and the terraces. There is still a ways to go.
Everyone has such a hard-on for these psudo-hardcore fans that show up at Fados and the Bulldog at 7am. Most of these people will never come to Rapids games. Eurosnobs aren't any more easy to convert than the much larger numbers of Mexicans in the Denver area that follow their FMF teams. The terraces have had a lot more success getting people that have simply never been to a Rapids game rather than converting all the posers that watch Man U and Chelsea on FSC. Only way you'll ever get any of them to consider coming to a Rapids game is if the "scene" is better, the quality of the team improves, and/or we sign a foreign player people have actually heard of...not by a marketing blitz.
So it seems the term "hardcore" soccer fans is kinda like the term World Series, a gross exaggeration of something in an attempt to make it appear much more significant then it really is. Darren, I'm not from Colorado so the horsey jokes don't compute. I'm making the assumption, of course the saddle is for a horse, of course.
There are more soccer fans out there who don't go to Rapids games. I know at least 10 myself so I think it is safe to say there are more of them than there are Rapids season ticket holders/regular attenders. Of the ones I know I've regularly tried to get them to Rapids games, and they'll go to one or two a season, and they don't go to more because the Rapids don't hold their attention. They're not the Eurosnobs we love to look down on either. They're people who have gone to the World Cup or watch many of the games on TV. They're people who play the sport on the weekend. They're people who prefer watching other leagues and teams because they're better. The games are more entertaining. Its not that hard to understand. The Rapids put a product on the field. Many in the target market don't think it is a product worth supporting. The Rapids need to improve their product before more people start coming to games.
And herein lies the rub. Those mythical soccer fans who bash MLS and who won't come to a game because the quality sucks don't understand that without them coming and supporting the rapids, the rapids won't have the money to upgrade their team. Kroenke isn't just going to say to Plush, "Hey, go spend an additional million dollars per year to upgrade the quality of the product." Heck, even a smaller amount- an additional $150k in salary expense wouldn't improve the quality of play that much to increase revenues. They'd rather spend an extra $150k in sales staff to sell aditional tickets. At least then they theoretically have a good return on the $150k. I think it boils down to the Rapids have very smart businessmen running the club. Very risk-reward type direction for the front office- as if the club is run by accountants. Heck, they all run around on gamedays in 3 piece suits. We need execs / owners with a little more passion for the game and for the club who are willing to put some risk dollars behind building the brand and the team. The most successful clubs out there have owners who are not afraid to spend money behind players and their brand. Players, Brand, and stadium, the trifecta. We have a great stadium so we're 1/3rd of the way there.
Between what I do with youth soccer and 15 years of playing soccer I've met a lot of people who profess a preference for the EPL or some other league. What I have found is that very few of them watch more than one or two of those games a year. Mostly they see highlights of incredible goals. The people who meet at the Bulldog and Fado's for breakfast may be hard core, but they aren't some huge number either. For those numbers to mean anything you've got to have more than 10 friends and two bars. The Rapids should certainly be more entertaining, no dispute, but should do it for its own sake, not for these mythical people.
I think the Great One is correct. Jeff Plush is just a suit; he'd probably like to sign a DP or two, arrange a friendly and get a shirt sponsor, but he is hamstrung by having NO budget. To me it looks like the Walmart son-in-law has bought into the idea that someday soccer may be huge in the US and he can by a team on the cheap now. Then he issues orders that he gives not a shit about quality, just don't lose much money while he waits for the franchise to be valuable. If Stan wanted, he could get Arsenal here. Hell, we have every Arsenal banner and cannon already.... bit that costs money. He could find a DP or two; but agin...money..
This is the same crap I've been saying for years now. Kroenke just a small time hustler with way more money than he deserves. Short of that asshole dieing or deciding to sell the team, we're going to be stuck with a product thats going to look about as good as that cheap fv<king toupée on his head.
Interesting point about Wal-Mart. The Kansas City Royals also have Wal-Mart ownership and look where it gets them...revenue sharing pays the players salaries and tax payers pay for stadium improvements. The stadium is 1/3rd full unless the Yankees are in town. The whole thing is ran in terms of profits and losses, as opposed to wins and losses.
Geez-Louise, this Summer of Soccer tour and like tourney's are killing me !! All these reputable clubs coming over, packing the house, and not a one here in Colorado ???!?! It was absolute torchure watching the Burn vs Inter Milan last night from that pizza place stadium. Inter Freaking Milan to Frisco, where they hardly draw flies for a Saturday home game, and they get the current Champs of Europe ??? (nevermind Real to LA this Sat as that's old hat to Galaxy fans ). Then there's ManUre to KC for a friendly. Hey, there's alway Cruz Azul.
Not even. If we end up getting anybody this year, its going to play out exactly like this: 1) They get South American club nobody has ever heard of. 2) Have about a week to promote it. 3) Get a meager 5k-7k attendance. 4) Later decide that all friendlies are a waste of time because a game thrown together at the last minute against a no-name team somehow didn't bring in any money or make anyone in Denver care or notice.